Aahh…halibut! Thick, juicy flakes of white fish fillet – moist and toothsome. Preferably, with a little ‘crunch’ for textural contrast and a comforting wave of warmth in the aftertaste…so seductive!
Spicy and crunchy halibut
I love to prepare my halibut dish with a special breading and spicy seasonings, served with Mango Jalapeno Mayo and garnished with a few stripes of a hot Chipotle Aioli. Recommended side dishes include Stuffed Tomatoes, Sauteed Asparagus or Steamed Broccoli, and Bourbon Vanilla Pecan Praline Sweet Potatoes. Are we hungry, yet?
How to Prepare a Fresh Halibut Fillet
- Skin the fillet with a sharp chef’s knife
- Season the fillet pieces with your choice of any Cajun-type seasoning blend
- Drizzle some freshly-squeezed lemon juice over the fillets
- Dip the fillets in flour and egg wash
- Coat the fillets with a special breading
More Details on Breading Halibut or Other Types of White Fish Fillets
1. Seasoned flour:
Mix your favorite seasoning blend, i.e. seasoned salt, blackening spices, or seafood spice mixes with white flour. Or, make your own blend with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, paprika, dried herbs, etc.
2. Prepare an “egg wash”:
Whisk 3 eggs into 2 cups of milk. Adjust these amounts for larger or smaller batches of fish cooking.
3. Get creative with your breading:
In your food processor, pulse all or part of the following ingredients into a coarse mix – tortilla chips, corn flakes, toasted hazelnuts (filberts), almonds, and/or pecans, sesame seeds, crackers, bread crumbs – and season this with sugar, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes. Be generous with the peppers as the heat blends real well with the entire dish.
4. Dip the fillets into seasoned flour, then egg wash, then breading mix.
5. Cover the breaded fish with film and refrigerate for an hour to allow the breading to solidify.
Skinning Halibut Fillet
Seasoned Halibut Pieces
Breading For Halibut
Breaded Fish Fillets
Frying Halibut Fillets
Baked Halibut
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How to Cook Halibut Right
Fry the breaded pieces in hot oil, and if they’re thicker than 1/2″ to 2/3″ – finish the cooking in a hot oven. Look here at another post of mine for more info on how to cook fish perfectly.
I like to serve my halibut on top of a Mango Jalapeno Mayonnaise Sauce. You can make your own chutney-type marmalade or buy a spicy fruit jam of your favorite kind. Mix this with mayo and freshly chopped jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, and some lemon juice. Be creative and taste until you like your flavor combination!
For a little garnish on top, I squeeze a chipotle aioli (from a simple plastic squeeze bottle) across the fillet. I use a can of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce and run it through the blender together with 2 cups of mayo and one clove of garlic.
Choose your favorite side dishes: steamed broccoli or asparagus, stuffed tomato halves, a sweet potato casserole, rice pilaf, mashed taters – anything you like, in bright colors.
Mango Jalapeno Mayo
Cipotle Aioli
Plated Halibut
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You know what would be a really nice (and fancy) appetizer or entree addition for this baked halibut? One or two Maryland crab cakes! Yes, crab cakes…wow!
And it’s quick and easy to do, as well. Simply bake off these ready-to-go premium crab cakes from CrabPlace.com and serve them side-by-side with your fish, or as a meal starter with a bit of tartar sauce.
Watch this short video showing how easy to handle the crab cakes are…
Simply click on the link “Best Crab Cakes” under the video for your ordering info.
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Here are a few more recipe links for mayo-based sauces
Mango Jalapeno Mayo
Pecan Catfish with Mango Jalapeno Chutney
Chipotle Aioli
Club Sauce has an excellent selection of chutneys and dipping sauces for seafood and meats. Please check out their popular peach chutney, loganberry ancho preserves, and fabulous dry rubs by clicking on this graphic:
Happy Halibutting, y’all! Following are my favorite fresh halibut online resources…
Please visit my personal “Seafood Online Store” for sauces, dips, spices and books for your Halibut recipes!
Chef, I was looking around for some ideas for next weekend — we are hosting a Hawaiian themed house party with about 18 people — hubby is doing shrimp skewers on the grill — I’m trying to come up with some ideas — maybe steak kebabs? Have any suggestions for me — oh, it’s too warm for me to try stuffed cabbage rolls — but I was thinking maybe tiny Polish pierogies.
Make your pierogies and think a bit outside the box for your fillings. Look for inspiration on a good empanada recipe site, i.e. http://www.squidoo.com/homemade-empanada-recipes
Since hub is grilling anyway, and your theme is “Hawaii” – throw a few pineapple slices on the barbie and serve them along with grilled scallions and some sour cream (wasabi, for a little heat?) with your “South Pacific-Style Polish Pierogies”.
Imagine the colors! Put a slice of pineapple on the plate, 2 pierogies on top, 3 scallion stems fanned-out on the side, and a dollop of sour cream across the green ends. Dust with a little Hungarian paprika. Now I’m hungry.
That’s a cool idea — sliced pineapple! Sour cream wasabi — that sounds interesting. Thanks for taking time to offer these mouth-watering suggestions!