Mike Meeker Actually Licked The Plate!

When we were in Hawaii, we ate at Roy's of Hawaii. We ordered an appetizer that the hostess recommended called miso butterfish. We split this appetizer and it is one of the deepest regrets of our lives. We should not have split it. And we should have ordered this dish for each and every course. Then, we should have gone back each day and had it again until our vacation ended. Imagine my utter glee to find the recipe on The Today Show's website demonstrated by Roy himself when he visited the show and prepared it. I have now prepared it myself and Mike really does lick the plate when he is done. We cannot get Hawaiian butterfish so Roy recommends substituting Chilean sea bass (best choice), salmon (2nd best choice) or halibut (3rd best choice). Please try this. You will not be sorry. It is beautiful (as you can see above), healthy and the best entree of any kind (beef, chicken, pork, fish - including lobster) I have ever had in my life.

Hawaiian Style Misoyaki Butterfish (Sea Bass) With Kimchee Lime Butter

INGREDIENTS

For the butterfish
• 7oz. butterfish (also known as black cod). Sea bass, salmon or halibut can be used instead. (This is enough fish for one person. Double fish amount but no need to double marinade amt)

For the miso marinade
• 1 cup sake (Japanese wine found in any wine aisle)

• 1 cup mirin, a sweet Japanese cooking wine (You can find this at ANY grocery store in the Asian aisle. It looks like rice vinegar and is sometimes called Aji-Marin. It does NOT taste like rice vinegar so don't try to substitute )

• 1/2 lb sugar

• 1/2 lb miso paste(this is a refrigerated product found in produce aisle or health food section of any grocery store)

For the kimchee lime butter sauce
• 3 tablespoons. olive oil

• 1 small sweet onion, chopped (like vidalia or white onion)

• 1 tablespoon shallots, chopped

• 1 clove garlic

• 1/3 cup white wine (to avoid buying an entire bottle, they sell individual bottles with screw top caps so you can keep the extra bottles for future recipes)

• 2 teaspoons fish Sauce (Again, Asian aisle of any grocery store)

• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

• 2 tablespoons cream

• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 tablespoons. kimchee sauce (Again, refrigerated item found in produce - need to just the red sauce - not the cabbage part.)

• 3 tablespoons chili sauce (He uses the Asian chili sauce, again in any grocery store in the Asian section)

DIRECTIONS
Combine marinade ingredients in small saucepan and simmer until it becomes a dark, caramel color. Sake, mirin and miso can all be found at any grocery store or market specializing in Far East foods. After marinade has cooled, submerse fish completely and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Begin sauce by slicing the garlic thinly and slow roasting it in the oven for 40 minutes, at 250F. Using a small amount of the olive oil, sauté the onion, shallot and roasted garlic, until they become translucent. Deglaze the pan with white wine and fish sauce, and then reduce by half. Add cream, lime juice and a pinch of cilantro. Reduce the mixture until it thickens and slowly blend in the kimchee sauce and butter. (Kimchee sauce, which originates from Korea, is hot and spicy.) Strain sauce through a mesh strainer or cheese cloth and then mix in 1 tablespoon of cilantro and the chili sauce.
Take the marinated fish and place it into a sauté pan on medium heat with a small amount of oil. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes on each side. Place fish on the center of the plate on top of your starch of choice. (recommend steamed jasmine rice) Ladle the Kimchee Lime Butter Sauce around the fish and top with chopped cilantro.

TIPS
$26.00 per person for this dinner at Roy's, accompanied with either panko breaded deep fried tofu or rice and a vegetable. Cost to make at home, $8.55.Note: Marinade quantity is sufficient for several pieces of fish.