I think more people should be cooking fish at home, and that is a hill I am willing to die on. It cooks quickly, it takes kindly to most flavor profiles, and under the right circumstances (and with the right recipes) it can be prepared without an avalanche of anxiety. Surely you must be looking for an alternative to chicken thighs, which I know you’re cooking multiple times a week. Well, fish is here for you, and so am I.
I’m not talking about salmon, which I know you already love, and I’m not going to try and get you to cook a whole fish again (not this week, anyway). I’m talking about the options in the middle: meaty, mildly flavored, boneless, skinless fillets that even the most fish-phobic can get down with.
Especially so when gently cooked in a light, brothy base made of burst tomatoes — a one-skillet technique that is impossible to mess up — and finished with a sprinkling of chile-laced fried shallots. My goal is to always provide you with foolproof recipes, but here I especially mean it.
To further persuade you to make this recipe, know that there’s no searing in a skillet, no uncalibrated ovens to worry about — just unfussy cooking done on the stovetop. Thanks to the brothy, thicker-than-bouillabaisse, thinner-than-sauce situation in which the fish is poached, the fillets simply cannot overcook. There will be no lingering “fishy” smell either, a thing people in small kitchens tend to be concerned about (speaking as a person with an extremely small kitchen who has been concerned about this).
And not for nothing, everything comes together in about 25 minutes, which seems to be the magic number for how much time most people are willing to devote to cooking indoors in the summertime, and to fish in general.
When it comes to the question of how to buy fish ethically, I always encourage people to have a conversation with the person they’re buying from. But there’s also my favorite app, Seafood Watch, which I consult nearly as often as I check my weather app (which is, maybe too often). It’s an excellent tool for helping you determine which fish are preferred by environmental groups, no matter where in the country you are, and what can be easily substituted in the event that what you’ve got your heart set on is not on the “green” list.
Use a mildly flavored, boneless, firm white fish fillet here.CreditMichael Graydon & Nikole Herriott for The New York Times. Prop Stylist: Kalen Kaminski.
Here, you want a decidedly unfishy fish that will complement and not compete with the assertively flavored, summery sauce. While I prefer cod or haddock for this dish, for their availability and neutral taste, most firm white fish fillets will work here. Thick, meaty halibut? Yes! Thin, delicate flounder? Oh, you bet.
After the fish is cooked, it’s ladled into shallow bowls and finished with the fried shallot-chile oil mixture you made when you were starting the sauce (not only does this mixture taste great, it also lends lots of excellent crispiness, since our fish, after all, is skinless and delicate), a healthy squeeze of lime and a smattering of fresh herbs. Cilantro is my go-to, but if that’s not your jam, parsley works too (or even dill, surprisingly). For carb enthusiasts, rice, toast or tortillas are all welcome here — anything that will soak up the spicy, tomatoey juices.
