If you’re looking for an easy and delicious meal, this spicy tomato poached fish is perfect for you! We try to eat fish often and poaching is a healthy way to cook fish with firm white flesh. I used haddock fillets but cod, flounder, and halibut are good choices too. Poaching is a method of cooking using moist heat by submerging food in liquid and heating it at a low temperature. My poaching liquid is a combination of water and white wine but you could use butter, broth or even milk. I use a garlic chili oil with slivered shallots to build the sauce before adding in cherry tomatoes and a garnish of fresh basil. Yum!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves slivered
- 1 small shallot slivered
- 1-2 teaspoons chili garlic paste I like Sambal Olek or Huey Fong Chili
- 1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 11/4 pounds fresh white fish haddock, halibut or cod
- 1/4 cup fresh basil thinly sliced (chiffonade)
- Squeeze of fresh lime juice
Servings: servings
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Add the slivers of garlic and shallots and cook, stirring until light golden brown about 2 minutes or so. Add the chili paste and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Remove the sauce from heat, transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
- Place the tomatoes and a splash of olive oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat and season with salt and pepper. Cook the tomatoes stirring occasionally, until they burst, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the water and the wine. Stir to combine the ingredients. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 8 minutes or so.
- Season the fish with salt and pepper and gently lay the pieces in the sauce. Cover the skillet and cook until the fish is opaque and just cooked through, 6 -8 minutes or slightly longer for thicker pieces of fish. Drizzle the fish with the chile garlic sauce. Top with fresh basil and serve with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.