Cast-Iron Seared Okra with Herbs, Fried Shallots, and Bonito Flakes
served with ginger steamed tilapia and rice
This week’s recipe is inspired by my recent adventures with a beloved vegetable— okra. I grew up eating it primarily in soups like “Nkruma nkwan”, with braised goat, or instead with fried white fish. It was recently at Birds of a Feather in Brooklyn that I ate okra prepared in a different way than what I was familiar with. The lightly steamed okra was wrapped in thinly sliced pork, sitting in a savory Sichuan sauce. It was phenomenal. I was talking to my dear friend Emma about this dish and learned that she grew up eating steamed okra with bonito flakes. I came up with this recipe by trying to pull from some of my favorite parts of the forms of okra I’ve had to date (steamed, stewed, sauced, prepared with fishy flavors), and also by fiddling with different ingredients and preparation styles (fresh herbs, cast-iron searing).
This recipe serves 2
Ingredients
2 medium shallots
1/2 cup neutral oil (grapeseed, avocado, canola)
6 cloves finely chopped garlic
1- 1.5 pints of long green and red okra (I used a bit more than 1/2 of a quart which was about 10 large okra = 20 slices halved)
One large chunk of fresh ginger (~1inch wide x 2 inches long. half for chopping and the other half to slice into matchsticks)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
~1.5 tablespoons of coarse sea salt or kosher salt (for the okra and fish)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 dried red serrano chili (or another chili you enjoy)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon of rice vinegar
2 pinches of bonito flakes (or about 2 teaspoons)
2 fillets of tilapia
A quarter of one 1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons of bonito flakes
Preparation
Shallots
Slice two medium shallots into thin rounds. Separate out the inner rings from each round
In a medium saucepan or heavy-bottom pan on medium heat add 1/2 cup neutral oil and let warm-up for 2 minutes until glistening. Test heat by adding a few shallots at a time. Once the oil is hot and the shallots are sizzling add the rest in
Stir the shallots regularly, making sure that they don’t burn
Once shallots are crispy and a dark golden brown, turn off the oil and remove them from the pan. Put the shallots on a plate with a paper towel to drain the excess oil
In the still-hot (but with the burner turned off) oil add your whole red chilies, 2 cloves of chopped garlic, and half of your chopped ginger. Cook the garlic and ginger in oil until lightly golden. Let cool and then sieve the garlic and ginger from the oil. Reserve most of the shallot oil for cooking the okra, but set aside a tablespoon or two for finishing the fish. I used some of the fried garlic to top the okra, and also the fish.
Chopped herbs and garlic soy sauce
Bunch up and then finely chop 1/4 cup of fresh parsley and 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro
Add 2 cloves of chopped garlic
Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Add 1/4 teaspoon of rice vinegar (or lemon juice)
Sprinkle the mixture with cracked black pepper and 1-2 chopped red serrano chilies.
Mix well and set aside for okra
Okra
Wash and cut the top tip of your okra. Then slice them in half lengthwise through the middle
Pat your okra dry and then put in a bowl. Sprinkle them with salt, a generous amount of ground black pepper, and two cloves of chopped garlic. Add cornstarch and toss the okra around in the bowl, making sure to lightly coat all the slices. Set aside while you prepare the oil to fry them
Warm half of your shallot oil on medium heat in a cast-iron or a large pan
Once the oil is glistening, lay the okra cut side down into the oil and let cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until both sides are seared and dark brown
Place the pan-fried okra onto sheets of paper towels to drain excess oil
Let cool for about 3 minutes
On a clean plate dress the seared okra with the herb and garlic mixture
Then add the crispy fried shallots, garlic, ginger and finish with bonito flakes
Steamed Tilapia
Using either a bamboo steamer, rice cooker steamer, or a shallow sieve/colander in a large pot as a steaming device, steam your tilapia on a sheet of parchment paper with nothing but a few pinches of coarse sea salt and sliced ginger. Let steam for 5-9 minutes until tender but not overcooked. A tender tilapia breaks apart easily, while overcooked tilapia can be rubbery. Smaller fillets could take as little as 4-5 minutes to become tender while steamed over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 minutes of steaming based on the size and thickness of your fillets.
While the fish steams prepare a light sauce using the juice of a quarter of a lemon and 2 tablespoons of the remaining shallot oil. Mix the juice and oil and drizzle over the steamed fish and ginger. Top with more chilies and serve with okra and rice
Tell me what you think!
*Kar