Grilled Rainbow Trout with Hoisin Glaze

From Fish Without a Doubt: The Cook's Essential Companion by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore.

Serves 4

Simple pleasure here, and it’s a very fast weeknight supper when you make this on a Foreman grill. The texture of trout is firm and resilient, like a flatfish; it grills well.

Accept Substitutes
Salmon, char

4 (6- to 7-ounce) dorade fillets, skin on
Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper
Olive oil
Hoisin Glaze

1. Season the fish with salt and white pepper and coat each fillet with oil. You can prep this well in advance and keep it cold in the refrigerator.

2. Grill the dorade on a Foreman grill for 3 to 4 minutes. Give the fish a poke—it will feel firm when it’s cooked.

3. You can use a hot cast-iron grill pan too. Grill the fillets for 1 1/2 minutes on the skin side, then turn and grill for another 1 1/2minutes or so.

4. Alternatively, prepare a grill. When the coals are hot, set the grate on the lowest level (closest to the coals) and get it very hot.

5. Brush the grate with vegetable oil. Grill the fillets for 1 1/2 minutes on the skin side, then turn and grill for another 1 to 1 1/2minutes, until the fish feels firm.

6. When the fish is done, remove from the grill and brush the skin side with the glaze. Serve right away, with a side of slaw.

Variation
Skip the hoisin glaze and serve the fish on a bed of arugula tossed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Surround with Simple Salsa.

Hoisin Glaze

Makes about 1/4cup

Sweet, spicy, and thick, hoisin sauce is often referred to as Chinese barbecue sauce or seafood sauce (though it’s made with soybeans). Here I kick up the sweetness quotient by adding honey and thin the sauce with lime juice for a bit of tang. This quick glaze turns a simple piece of grilled or sautéed fish into something special. Brush it on as soon as the fish is cooked.

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
Juice of 1/2lime
1 teaspoon honey
1 small garlic clove, minced or put through a press
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
Coarse salt

Stir the hoisin, lime juice, honey, garlic, and cilantro together in a small bowl. Season with salt.

This can sit on the counter for a couple of hours; or store it, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days.

From FISH WITHOUT A DOUBT: The Cook's Essential Companion by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore. Text copyright (c) 2008 by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore. Photographs copyright (c) 2008 by Ben Fink. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Posted: 01-Jan-1900; Updated: 01-Jan-1900