Karatay Interpretation for Fish Table

At the beginning of September, the fish season opened and this year is going to be a fruitful year. So I started buying fish more than once a week and eating fish with lots of salad. Anchovy's time has not come yet, but there are plenty of bonitos everywhere, and bonitos are incredibly delicious these days. When my home is in Beşiktaş, I like to walk to Beşiktaş Fish Market whenever I can and choose fish, then buy salad ingredients and return home to prepare a fish table. Since fish is very rich in Omega3, it is a very useful protein source, and it is an incredibly healthy, nutritious, satisfying and delicious dinner with plenty of salad. Of course, the cooking and preparation parts should be suitable for the Karatay Diet :)

I met my friend in Beşiktaş Square in the afternoon recently. I was thinking of consuming legumes for the evening, thinking whether I should buy red beans or cook them from the peas I put in the freezer on the way home, I stopped in front of the Fish Market and thought it would be best to have a fish evening tonight. I bought "Gypsy Bonito", the smallest of the sized acorns, and chose fresh arugula from the counter right next to it, and went home. I'll tell you how I cook the fish a little later, but the point you should pay attention to when buying is that you do not forget to tell them to grill and cut them accordingly. Otherwise, they cut the bonito in circles so that they can be fried. Let's get grilled fish at home without making the house smell..

I said grill, but you don't actually need to use a smokeless grill or anything like that at home and then hassle to clean it up. Of course, you know if you want to do it and you like to cook like this. But a large pan at home is enough to grill. You put the fish that you have washed and cleaned thoroughly in the pan, which you are sure is heated well (in some pans, the middle ring changes color, etc.). Without adding any oil!! If your pan also has a lid, this lid will help you grill the fish without drying it out. Since the pan is hot enough, it will lose very little heat when you put the fish in, but it will immediately start to reheat itself. In the meantime, it is enough to turn the bottom of the stove down and close the lid. After a few minutes, one side of the fish will be cooked. One trick of how to understand this is that when the fish is undercooked, it sticks to the pan and it is very difficult to remove it from the pan, but when the sticky fish leaves the pan again, that side is cooked. Your fish is ready when you cook the other side in the same way, with the lid closed and the bottom low, until it separates from the pan. It takes an average of 10 minutes to cook, the disadvantage is that you can cook a maximum of 3-4 pieces at the same time, depending on the size of your pan. It is not an ideal cooking method for a large fish table because some of the fish may cool down before serving. In this case, baking in the oven will be a better alternative. But a quick and delicious solution for a fish table for 1-2 people is to grill it in a pan.

The fish table is not complete without arugula or salad. I prepared 2 different salads that can be eaten very well with fish at this table. I also added a couple of slices of feta cheese and a few slices of lemon to the table. I don't need to say that there is no bread anymore ;) One of the salads was arugula and the other was mostly onions. Here are the materials:

Arugula salad

• 1 bunch arugula
• 10-15 cherry tomatoes (the amount will be adjusted according to the size of the tomatoes)
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Very little ground rock salt

Since arugula is a very tasty green, a very delicious salad can be created without too many ingredients. Tomatoes go well with arugula to balance the harsh taste of arugula. If you wish, instead of cherry tomatoes, you can grate 1-2 tomatoes and pour them as sauce on the arugula.

Onion Salad with Parsley

• 1-2 onions
• Half a bunch of parsley
• 1 tablespoon of sumac
• 1 teaspoon of chili pepper
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• Juice of half a lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Very little ground rock salt

Finely chop the onions in the shape of a crescent moon and leave them in warm water and lemon for 5-10 minutes so that we don't get burned. Finely chop the parsley and add the other ingredients and onions. This is such an easy, yet incredibly delicious salad. Sumac adds a very nice sourness, I say you should try it.

As you can see from the photos, it was a very appetizing fish table. In total, it took 15-20 minutes to prepare the salads and 10-15 minutes to cook the fish, so everything was ready in half an hour. That day, I dreamed of opening a fish restaurant with 5 tables in a coastal town. Then I gave up :)

Have a great year with lots of fish!

Written & Photographed by Sinem Çomarlı