Shopping for fresh garnishes & accompaniments

Though this box comes with all of the core ingredients required to make four beautiful dishes, there are some fresh items that you’ll want to buy to make these dishes sing.

If you don’t see one of our recommended garnishes, find a substitute that you like. Also, if the recommended option doesn’t look fresh, choose an alternative that makes you excited to play in the kitchen!

Thawing Frozen Seafood

Thawing frozen ingredients is a simple, but important step. The best way to thaw fish is to leave it in the fridge overnight. This ensures a gentle thaw and preserves the protein in its best state. However, we will also include a few sneaky ways of accelerating the process if you’re running short on time. Some of the alternatives can work surprisingly well!

Rice & Salads to Accompany your dishes

There are a few staples that Thai and Mr Johnson always have on hand at Asiatopia. They include a good quality sesame oil for finishing and a traditional fish sauce for adding umami to dishes. Thai recommends serving most of these dishes with a high quality rice and Jasmine is his preferred variety. Follow the instructions that come with the rice that you buy as each producer’s product may be slightly different. You can find all of these items at his marketplace in Willow Point if you live in the Campbell River area. Asiatopia Marketplace

Vietnamese cuisine is known for fresh vegetables and salads. Thai recommends mixed greens, cucumbers or any fresh vegetables as a good accompaniment to the dishes below. Try his simple, tasty Citrus-Soy Vinaigrette recipe (see below) as a bright option.

Boil Wontons

• Bring Asiatopia Spicy Satay Sauce to room temperature

• Bring water to a rolling boil and salt lightly

• Add frozen wontons, stir gently, and boil for precisely 5 minutes

  • Remove one wonton with a slotted spoon and check filling is cooked. See images below.

  • Remove all wontons from water

Garnish & Serve

We suggest 5 wontons served in separate bowls.

1. Drizzle Asiatopia Satay Sauce into the bottom of each bowl.

2. Add 5 wontons to each bowl and drizzle more sauce on top. It’s spicy, so be careful!

3. Cut lime into quarters and squeeze one part over each bowl

4. Garnish with other options to suit your taste;

   • For example, chopped green onions, toasted sesame seeds, chopped cilantro stems, fried shallots, more fish sauce/soy sauce

What’s in the box

• Spot Prawn & Pork Wontons (20)

• Asiatopia Spicy Satay Sauce (1 pkg)

Recommended Garnishes

• Fresh lime

• Cilantro

• Chef’s Tip: Test a wonton for doneness by removing from the boiling pot with a slotted spoon. Cut in half. Filling should no longer be translucent. Cooked when filling is opaque white and firm, typically after 5 minutes. See photos below for example of not done and done.

• Chef’s Tip: Toss some chopped veggie into the boiling water part way through cooking wontons, to add some fresh crunch and bright green to your bowls. Broccoli or asparagus works well!

Chef’s Detailed Tips: Pan-Searing Fish

1. Thaw fish fillets in fridge overnight.

   • In a pinch, you can use the alternative methods in the Chef’s Tips section.

2. Pat fish dry with paper towel.

   • This is important to avoid water mixing with oil and splattering when you add your fish to the hot pan.

   • This also helps ensure a crispy, brown crust on the outside of your fish.

3. Cut fillet into manageable portions

   • It’s a good idea to cut petrale sole into sizes that you can manage easily in a pan. It is a delicate fish that will break apart if you’re not careful when flipping.

   • At home, we recommend cutting the fish lengthwise down middle of the fillet, then several times diagonally across each half.

4. Optional: organize fish into similar thicknesses to make cooking easier

   • Thicker pieces may require more time in the pan than thinner pieces. Some people find it easier to handle pieces that require a similar amount of time to cook at the same time.

5. Heat a high quality vegetable oil on high in a large frying pan

6. Lightly season fish with salt

7. Gently place pieces of fish into the pan with the nice side down first.

   • The nice side of the fish will be served face up, later.

   • Make sure that you leave plenty of space between each piece of fish. This helps ensure even browning.

   • If the oil starts to smoke, turn your element down slightly.

8. Feel the firmness of flesh.

   • The fish is done when firm to feel, and opaque white on the inside

   • Make sure to not overcook the fish, it should remain moist in the centre.

9. For thin pieces of fish, usually near the tail, try searing for 2-3 minutes with the pretty side down and then flip and sear on the other side for additional 15-20 secs

10. For thicker pieces, start by frying for 2-3 minutes with the nice side down. Then, flip the fish gently every 30-45 seconds to avoid burning the fish while still cooking the inside.

11. We think this is a great fish to serve family-style with a bowl of rice. We recommend placing the heated tomato sauce on a plater and stacking the seared fish on top. Garnish with fresh cilantro and some flaky Maldon salt

Chef’s Tips: Thawing Frozen Fish

Recommended Method: In the Fridge

Most fish thaws best in the fridge. Place the halibut package on a plate and put it in the fridge the evening before or early in the morning on the day you’d like to serve it. This method takes some planning-ahead of time, but will reliably produce good texture.

Alternative Method: On the countertop

Fish can be thawed on the counter at room temperature. Place the halibut package on a plate and keep it out of sunlight and proximity to heat sources such as coffee machines and toasters. 5-6 hours should suffice to thaw the fish. We don’t recommend leaving fish out much longer than this amount of time and it should remain relatively cool to the touch though not frozen.

Quickest Method: In the microwave, defrost setting

In a pinch, you can defrost thick halibut filets in the microwave. Each microwave is different, so we recommend you experiment to find the right settings; you want to thaw the fish without cooking it. As the protein cooks, it will turn from translucent to white. If your microwave does not have specific instructions for defrosting, try defrosting the halibut steak for 5 minutes on the defrost setting. Look to see that the fish is no longer frozen on the inside but also make sure that too much of the outside isn’t turning white. 

Black Bean Halibut

This dish is super simple to prepare and looks beautiful served family-style with rice.

What’s in the Box

• Halibut marinated in Asiatopia’s Fermented Black Bean Sauce

Suggested Garnishes & Sides

• Green onions

• Fresh ginger

• Jasmine rice

Quick Steps

1. Thaw halibut in fridge overnight

2. Garnish fish before steaming

   • Peel fresh ginger and finely grate onto fish; work it into the Black Bean Sauce.

   • Thinly slice green onions on an angle and cover fish liberally

3. Steam directly on a plate set in water within a pot

4. Serve family-style on the plate it was steamed on, ladling the broth from the plate onto rice

Steaming Halibut

Making a DIY steamer

You don’t need any fancy equipment to steam Halibut. The following works great:

• A sizeable pot with a tight fitting lid, ideally with lower walls for less steam volume

• A plate that fits inside the pot easily enough to place into and lift out of the pot

• Optional - a rack for plate to sit on in the pot. This lifts the plate further out of the water and stops boiling water from bubbling over the edge of the plate.

Instructions

Halibut is a delicate, firm and lean fish. It requires extra attention to keep moist. This dish is perfect for steaming since it cooks the fish evenly without overcooking. A tasty broth will build up around the fish that can be ladled onto rice or roasted greens. 

Find a pan with a tight fitting lid that is large enough to accommodate a plate in its bottom. Remove the halibut from the package and place it on the plate, making sure you don’t lose any of the tasty black-bean paste around the fish. Put enough water in the pan to cover the bottom, but not so much that it flows over the lip of the plate when the water boils gently. Place a lid on the pan and bring the water up to a gentle boil.

Once boiling, let the fish steam for 8 minutes. Check the fish by carefully inserting a knife to see if the centre is still translucent. If it’s still very translucent, allow the fish to steam for another 2-3 minutes and test again.

What’s in the Box

• 1lb of BC Lingcod in a spice rub

  • a fragrant mix of lemongrass, crushed chillis and turmeric.

Suggested Sides & Garnish

• Serve with white rice - Jasmine is fragrant and light

• Mixed fresh salad with Citrus-Soy Vinaigrette

  • easy recipe below; also tasty on other veggies

• Fresh mint or cilantro leaf

Quick Steps

1. Thaw fish in fridge overnight

2. Pat dry with paper towel, cut into portions

   • Coat the fish evenly with the spice rub that is included in the same package.

3. Pan-sear with veg oil on high heat

   • ~ 2-3 minutes per side

   • check for flaky, opaque white flesh

   • for additional help, see the instructions provided above for petrale sole.

4. Serve family-style on a platter

   • Garnish with some fresh mint, tarragon, or cilantro leaf