How to re-create this recipe:
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)
- 2 Whole Porgies (scaled and gutted)
- 1 pound of Campari tomatoes
- 3.5 Fluid Ounces of Sherry Vinegar
- 5.5 Ounces of brown sugar
- 1/2 a teaspoon of ground fennel seeds
- 1/2 a teaspoon of ground coriander seeds
- 1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/2 a teaspoon of smoked paprika
- 2 and 1/2 Tbsp’s of Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Star Anise pods
- Olive Oil or vegetable oil as needed
- Micro herbs for garnish (optional)
Putting it together:
To make the barbecue marinade:
- Slice your tomatoes in half, drizzle olive oil (or vegetable oil) on them and blister them in a hot cast iron skillet.
- Add your tomatoes, sherry vinegar, brown sugar, the ground fennel, coriander, black pepper, paprika and worcestershire to a blender or a food processor and blitz all the ingredients to a puree consistency.
- Pour the puree into a large saucepan, add your Star Anise Pods and cook over medium heat for about 35-40 minutes until the sauce reduces and becomes thick and fragrant. Remove your Star Anise pods and pour the puree back into your blender. Puree on high until completely smooth and afterwards cool to room temperature.
- Score the flesh of your fish on both sides (4 score marks, evenly spaced apart), place in a dish large enough to accomodate the fish and pour your marinade all over your fish, making sure to coat both sides and inside the score marks. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, place it in the fridge and let it marinade for 3 hours.
- Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and set your oven to the broil mode. Transfer the fish to your sheet tray and broil for 6 minutes on each side. Garnish with micro herbs and enjoy!
Nourishment for your body: Porgy is a lean protein that is low in fat and sodium. It is high in vitamins B-6 and B-12 as well as Selenium, niacin and phosphorus.
Tips when cooking: The Porgy fish (a.k.a. Scup) has a mild, delicate and sweet tasting flesh. The best way to cook it is whole roasting, grilling or pan frying. Scoring the flesh is recommended because the skin of Porgies is prone to curling when cooked. Due to having more bones then other types of fish varieties, cutting the fish into Fillets is not recommended (needless to say, use caution while eating these lovely fish). Porgies are also a highly sustainable fish and are abundant from Long Island to Massachusetts. I was inspired to make this dish while reading the book “The Whole Fish” by Josh Niland. In the book he had a recipe for BBQ Glazed Bar Cod Ribs and this BBQ marinade is similiar to the BBQ Sauce he used for his recipe. I had to tweek the recipe a little because I had Porgies in my fridge waiting to be cooked and I had to substitute the Malt Vinegar for Sherry Vinegar and omit the Vegemite because I did not have either of them. This BBQ marinade had a really intense, zesty, acidic and spicy flavor profile. I would imagine that it would make a great marinade or glaze for any type of protein that you choose to grill.