"fish and chips"
with sesame green beans and gochujang tartar sauce!!!
If you were expecting batter-fried fish and French fries… SURPRISE!!
Today’s “fish and chips” meal features good old fashioned potato chips, crunched up and spread on top of fillets of rockfish — a mild, meaty, non-fishy tasting white fish that’s a fave of mine to cook with (and that came in your Real Good Fish x What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking box, if you got one!). If you can’t find rockfish, no worries, we have tons of subs for you in the subs section. Chips add the perfect crispy, salty bite to the fish, which is also coated with a gochujang tartar sauce that brings in a touch of heat and tons of flavor.
On the same sheet pan, we’ll roast green beans for a crunchy veg, then we’ll plate it all atop a bed of soft jasmine rice. It’s a restaurant-quality meal that comes together in just about 30 minutes and will make you feel like a weeknight cooking STAR!!!
If you’re in the mood for a “bowl” for dinner, jasmine rice (as written in this recipe) is an excellent base. But you can also skip the rice and serve the fish and green beans on their own (or maybe with a good loaf of bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar?!).
If you do want rice but don’t feel like pulling out an extra pot, throw some steam-in-bag frozen rice into the microwave to eliminate having to wash that extra dish.
And feel free to add extra toppings, if you’re going the bowl route! Thinly sliced cucumber or red bell pepper, cilantro, basil, chopped up pistachios or almonds… all would be delicious. If you experiment with other toppings, let us know what you loved!!
As always, see the “substitutions” section below the recipe if you’re looking for a sub for rockfish, green beans, or legit any ingredient in the entire recipe.
Last week I got my paws on the first copy of the book! Woah. It’s hard to even describe the feeling of holding it for the first time. I kind of felt like I was going to throw up, but in a good way? I have since read it from cover to cover about fifty times. George keeps catching me and being like, “You just…reading it again?!”
YEP!
It’s not just a collection of recipes, it’s an anthology of stories, techniques, hacks, and substitutions. Every single recipe is packed with SO MUCH INFORMATION, just like the recipes here in the newsletter. It’s a perfect snapshot of my life and the way that I get dinner on the table for my family during this perfectly chaotic stage of life.
I feel so proud of this book, and I’d be so honored if you’d pre-order a copy. Pre-orders are so important to the success of a book! They help me convince my publisher to send me to more cities to meet all of you! They demonstrate to press that they should cover my book! They show booksellers that it’s an in-demand book that they should carry! And on and on and on…
We are plotting an absurd number of giveaways as a thank you for everyone who pre-orders, so don’t miss out! ILYSM, thank you, thank you, thank you for ordering.
In fact, let’s start today! If you’ve already pre-ordered, or you pre-order today, will you leave a comment and tell me where you live?! I’ll pick 3 winners to send my favorite wooden kitchen spatulas from Earlywood.
“fish and chips” bowls with sesame green beans and gochujang tartar sauce
Serves 4
Cook time: ~30 minutes
Tools:
Small pot (or rice pot)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
Kosher salt
1 pound green beans, trimmed and snapped in half
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper
4 scallions (AKA green onions), thinly sliced
1/3 cup bread & butter pickles, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons pickle brine (dill pickles would work, but add a punch of sugar)
1 cup mayonnaise (or plain yogurt, but mayo is better here)
2 to 3 tablespoons gochujang (depending on heat preference, start with 1 if your crew is extra wimpy)
18 ounces rockfish, cut into 4 fillets and patted dry
2 (1-ounce) bags plain potato chips, crushed (about 1 cup crushed)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
Heat oven to 425°F.
While the oven’s heating, get started on your rice. In a small saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice, 2 cups water, and a pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to the lowest heat possible on your stovetop and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and leave covered to allow the rice to steam until you’re ready to eat (at least 5 minutes but up to 1 hour).
While your rice is cooking, trim the stem end off of 1 pound of green beans (the skinny tip doesn’t need to be removed, though you can if you prefer it that way!). Snap the green beans in half (or just cut them in half with a knife to save time). Note to parents: This is a great kid task!
On a parchment-lined sheet pan, toss the green beans with 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil and season with 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Roast for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the gochujang tartar sauce. Trim off (and discard) the roots from 4 scallions. Thinly slice the scallions and finely chop 1/3 cup bread & butter pickles. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup mayonnaise, half of the sliced scallions, all of the chopped pickles, 2 tablespoons pickle brine, and 2 to 3 tablespoons gochujang (start with 2 tablespoons and taste it — if you want more heat, add the third). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
If your fish is in one or two large fillets, cut it so that you have 4 about-equal fillets of fish. Pat them dry with paper towels or a clean dish towel. When the 10 minutes on the green beans are up, scooch the green beans to one side of the sheet pan and add the 4 rockfish fillets to the other side. Season the fish all over with salt and pepper. Spoon about a tablespoon of tartar sauce onto each fillet, spreading it out over the fish. Crush up 2 (1-ounce) bags plain potato chips and spread the crushed chips evenly on top of the tartar sauce (about a 1/4 cup of chips per fish). Cook until fish is just cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, and green beans are tender, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle the fish and green beans with 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds. Fluff the rice with a fork and toss in the remaining scallions. Serve the fish and green beans over rice. Drizzle your bowl with gochujang tartar sauce. DIG IN!
link to printer version
Shortcut: Buy store-bought tartar sauce and add gochujang to it.
Prep ahead: You can make the tartar sauce days ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also make the rice up to 2 days ahead of time and wash, trim, and halve your green beans if you want to prep some earlier in the day.
What’s gochujang? If you’ve been here for a while, you’re well acquainted with gochujang. We’ve used it a ton, like in our 30-minute honey gochujang glazed salmon and broccoli bowls, 30-minute pork and kimchi bowls, and beef bulgogi bowls. It’s a fermented sweet and savory Korean chili paste that you *should* be able to find on the “international” aisle wherever you shop. Along with delicious umami flavor and a hint of sweetness, it also has a little heat. Not a ton, but enough that spice wimps might complain if you use 2 to 3 tablespoons of it in your tartar sauce. If you’re feeding a whole family of spice haters, you can cut the amount you use to 1 tablespoon, swap it out for 1 tablespoon miso paste + 1 tablespoon soy sauce + a pinch of sugar, OR just make (or buy) a traditional tartar sauce. For a basic tartar sauce, use 1 teaspoon yellow mustard and 1 teaspoon lemon juice instead of the gochujang.
Riff: Mexican fish and chips: Save those chippies at the bottom of the bag of tortilla chips and make it Mexican. Use tortilla chips instead of potato chips, and your fave mexican hot sauce instead of gochujang!
Love your leftovers: When stored in the fridge in airtight containers, cooked fish, green beans, and rice leftovers will be good for up to 3 days, and tartar sauce will last up to a week. I personally don’t love fish leftovers, so would halve the meal (or at least the fish portion!) if cooking for 1 or 2.
I hate fish: This would be great with chicken! See the subs section below for cook time.
Do your thing: Did you skip over the intro?! If so, scroll back up and read it for extra topping ideas for your bowls and other ways to tweak the meal.
Vegetarian: Tofu! Drain and press a block of extra-firm tofu to get the excess liquid out. Cut it into 4 “fillets,” then set them on a paper towel-lined surface, top with more towels, and press them under something heavy for about 15 minutes. Coat them with EVOO and some corn starch or arrowroot powder (which helps them crisp up) and bake for 15 minutes. Flip and top with the tartar sauce and chips, then bake for another 15 minutes. Green beans can cook along with them the whole time.
Dairy-free/gluten-free: It’s already DF! If you’re avoiding gluten, check the gochujang as some brands contain it. See below for gochujang subs if needed.
Jasmine rice: Any kind or color of rice, just read the cooking instructions on your bag and adjust the amount of water you use and cook time as needed. Quinoa or farro would also be a great grain base for your bowls. Or omit the rice/grain altogether — it’s optional!
Green beans: FYI, green beans are sometimes called string beans, French beans, or snap beans. Snap peas, asparagus, red bell pepper, broccoli... all would be good subs! Chopped up potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and cauliflower would also be great but you’d need to roast them for 25 minutes before adding the fish.
Toasted sesame oil: Toasted sesame oil’s ideal for its flavor, but you can sub in a mild-tasting oil like olive oil, grapeseed oil, walnut oil, or avocado oil if needed.
Scallions: Chives! Or 2 thinly sliced leeks, but they’re much more high-maintenance to clean. Or 2 tablespoons of finely minced shallot or onion, or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder.
Bread & butter pickles + brine: Dill pickles, cornichons, or even kimchi would work. If you’re not using B&B pickles, add a big pinch of sugar to the sauce.
Mayo: Plain yogurt, plain Greek yogurt, or a dairy-free plain yogurt
Gochujang: A combo of miso + either sambel oelek or sriracha would be the best sub. You can just sub it out for sambal oelek or sriracha, but it’ll be much spicier than it would with gochujang, so I’d cut it by half. You can also just omit and make a traditional tartar sauce. For that, swap the gochujang with 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon yellow mustard.
Rockfish: Any mild white fish like cod, halibut, mahi mahi, tilapia, pollock, haddock, or sole. Peeled and deveined shrimp would be delicious — they’ll need to bake for 7-9 ish minutes (so, start the green beans first, then add the shrimp). Cluster them together so it’s easier to spread the tartar sauce and chips on top. If you don’t like seafood, you could sub in 1 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They’ll need about 35 minutes of cook time to reach an internal temp of 165°F, so start them first, then add the green beans when you have 20 minutes left. Chicken breasts or tenders would also work (they’ll need to bake for 15 to 20 minutes). See “vegetarian” note above for another sub.
Potato chips: Any plain potato chips work! If you have a big bag of chips, crush as many as you need to get a cup of crushed chips. Feel free to experiment with other chip flavors and report back if you find a winner. You could swap chips out for a crunchy breadcrumb and nut topping like we did for macadamia-crusted halibut.
Toasted sesame seeds: Plain sesame seeds if they’re what you have (and you don’t feel like toasting them). You can also omit and/or add a nut or seed like pistachios, almonds, or pepitas to your bowls.
Click here for the full index of What to Cook recipes categorized by protein, cook time, season, and *mood.*
Editor: Molly Ramsey
Richmond, VA! Come to VA please!!
Preordered for the bookstore I work at in Arlington, VA - and it sounds like the store (One More Page Books!) would be a great tour stop with all of your Virginia fans!!