Seared True Cod with Shiitake Mushroom Oyster Sauce


During my freshman year in college, after having used up all of the money on my food card, I had to start getting creative with dinner.  I was going through a period of no meat in my diet, just seafood and veggies.  Hard to believe, right?  It was shortly after my days of working in my parents’ restaurant and working with or watching my mom work with meat all the time.  I guess it turned me off for a while.  Anyhow, one day I decided to buy some dover sole and microwave it in my dorm room.  That must have been scary for my roommate, but I don’t remember it being particularly stinky.  Maybe that is why she sunk into a deep depression that last quarter of our freshman year, whereby every time I returned to the room, I found her sleeping with all of the curtains drawn.  This occurred at all times of the day.  That was the last quarter I spent in the dorms.  But I digress…
The fish.  Yes, I microwaved it with a little bit of oyster sauce and that was it.  It was a two minute meal and pretty darn good too.  I chose dover sole because it is a very thin fish, easy to quickly microwave, less chance of creating a really foul odor by overcooking.  Plus, there is always the critical mass, explosion factor in the microwave.  Not thrilled about cleaning up fish splatter... it does not go well with microwave popcorn.
Tonight’s fish is just a little fancier.  I used true cod and seared it in a little bit of oil.  For the sauce, I sautéed some sliced, fresh shiitake mushrooms, added a little oyster sauce, a splash of light soy sauce, some water and some white pepper.  Bring to a boil, and use a mixture of corn starch and water to thicken.  Serve with a shredded scallion garnish.  
The fish was super fresh.  A couple of quotes from the gals on this and the beef bing I made:
"I can't choose what to eat!  I want to stuff it all down at once!"
"Don't know why I saved that for last... I guess I was distracted by the fish!"
A good night at the Emerton table!

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