Fish with Mango Salsa

I go way back with fish with mango salsa and it represents the happiest of meals. It’s fresh, light, decadent, and special. It’s summer sunshine on a plate and no one can imagine how something so simple is so delicious.

Sundays were special days as they should be with 7am Mass, breakfast at my grandparents, pranks on friends, an afternoon nap (if lucky), plenty of barn work, and my favorite meal of the week.

We’d be at the barn doing hard work, but once my mom would call, the work ceased. Supper would be salad, a main dish with two sides, and some kind of fruit dessert. It was relaxed with special “Sunday” foods and rejuvenating before the last round of barn duties. It was the best way to start the week.

Sunday was also a day my mom would try new dishes and they were not always well received, but that didn’t stop her. Among the fails of couscous, tofu, and chilled cantaloupe soup (I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t like that one), fish with mango salsa was discovered. It was an idea she got from an American Cancer Research newsletter. While it might not seem exotic, it was the mid-nineties in rural America. I want you to remember to always embrace new recipes and new foods. You might not like it, the dish might be a disaster, but risk brings great reward.

You can use different species of fish and broil, grill, or pan fry them. Eat the fish hot with chilled or room temperature salsa with a couple of sides or you can chill the fish and put it on top of raw spinach for a salad.

Julia Child taught me via The Way to Cook how to pan fry fish. If you could only eat fish cooked one way for the rest of your life, this method should be it.

Fish with Mango Salsa 
3-4 servings

Mango Salsa Ingredients
1 mango
10 grape tomatoes
¼ c chopped purple onion
¼ c, packed cilantro
¼ tsp cumin
⅛ tsp cayenne
½ Tbl lemon juice
Salt (optional)

Mango Salsa Directions
Slice off both ends off 1 mango. Stand it upright and slice off the peel. Keep it vertical and slice in 1/4 “ planks. When you hit the seed, rotate the mango and repeat until all sides are done. Munch on the seed because there’s still some good flesh on there. Lay the planks of mango flat and cut them into ¼” strips. Turn the strips 90 degrees and cut into ¼” squares. Put it into a bowl.

Lay 10 tomatoes flat and cut it pole to pole (stem to the end) Lay it with cut side up and slice it again in the same direction. Cut each wedge across in thirds. Add it to the bowl along with the cut onion.

Stack ¼ c cilantro (makes it easier to cut) and slice it into thin strips, then cut it 90 degrees in the other direction. Add it to the bowl.

Add ¼ tsp cumin, ⅛ tsp cayenne, and ½ Tbl lemon juice to the bowl. Mix it. Taste it right before serving and add salt.

Pan Fried Fish with Clarified Butter Ingredients
4-8 Tbl butter (see notes)
1 lb grouper fillets
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp black pepper
¼ c whole wheat flour

Pan Fried Fish with Clarified Butter Directions
In a small saucepan add 4-8 Tbl butter, heat butter to medium. It will foam and bubble. When the milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan, the liquid will be clear. Remove it from the heat. Pour the butter through a fine mesh strainer.

Dry off 1 lb of fish with paper towels and lay the pieces flat, touching but not overlapping. Mix ½ tsp salt and ¾ tsp black pepper in a small saucer. Hold your hand high over the fish (helps with even distribution) and sprinkle half of the mixture evenly over the fish. Flip the fish and repeat.

Heat ⅛” clarified butter in a heavy-bottom frying pan (cast iron works great). Put ¼ c flour on a plate. Work with one piece of fish at a time, lay it flat on the flour and flip it over. Both sides should be lightly coated.

When you add fish to the hot pan, put one corner of the fish down closest to you and lay the fish away from you (helps prevent some bad burns). You should hear a sizzle and see bubbles. If it’s quiet or has no bubbles, remove the fish, and make the butter hotter. If it starts splattering or smoking, your butter is too hot.

Repeat the process and add other pieces to the pan. Make sure your fish has plenty of room. Depending on how thick your fish is, you’ll have varying cooking times. When about a ⅓ of the depth of the flesh turns opaque, flip it. Keep a close eye on it and remove it from the pan when the center just turns opaque. Put it on a paper towel-lined plate. If you overcook it even in the slightest, it will be dry.

Top your fish with salsa.

Notes
Usually I use about 4 Tbl of butter. This amount will vary depending on the size of your pan. If you have extra, save the butter for other uses. You don’t want to run out of it so I clarify 8 Tbl at a time.

After you strain the butter, crispy milk solids remain. I sprinkle them on toast or on top of a salad. You’ll only get a small amount of solids, but no need to waste the deliciousness.

When frying foods, my dad taught me to season the protein and not the flour. If you season the flour, the cooking oil gets more seasoning with each batch which leads to salty food. 

I made the salsa many times that it didn’t taste like my mom’s. I recently read the recipe closely and realized it’s supposed to be lemon juice, not lime. Lime juice is equally delicious, but isn’t the same.