Crispy Halibut Orange Ginger Bites, amazingly crispy coating holding succulent halibut with hints of orange and ginger coming through in every bite.
Crispy Halibut Orange Ginger Bites, a great way to start an Asian dinner night, with its delectable citrus and ginger flavors using Gourmet Food Bar's Orange & Ginger Sunshine sea salt, along with the juiciness of the halibut encased in a crispy tempura batter, makes this a dish that will quickly dissipate due to many reaching chopsticks.
[This post is sponsored by Gourmet Food Bar. We were financially compensated, but the opinions are completely our own].
When we were contacted by Gourmet Food Bar, Nicoletta and I were very excited to see what they wanted to promote as far as their latest products. Flavored sea salts among one of many spices offered. The sea salts come in various flavors: Cool Chili Lime, Fiery Chipotle, Lemon Basil Twist, Metro Espresso, Orange & Ginger Sunshine, Smooth Vanilla Bean, and Teary Onion. My mind was going a mile a minute thinking of these salts, and sweet or savory ideas, from scones to spiced cakes, and Mexican tacos to Asian fair. After much deliberation and thought, one idea stuck with me strongly, and I envisioned a crispy halibut morsel dish flavored with this orange ginger sunshine.
Crispy Halibut Orange Ginger Bites: the Intuitive Process!
I have to say Asian cuisine is one of my favorites. The one thing I love about this style is the mode of eating it. Plates are served on the table, people sharing, promoting great conversation and a beautiful harmonious movement of pick, taste, and savor. When thinking about how I wanted to do the halibut, two things came to mind. One, how to keep the halibut moist and also infuse the orange ginger into it without it being too salty. Second, wanted this to be a dry dish, crispy, spiced, with a bit of freshness from some vegetables. I don't know about you, but I have this inner voice, no I don't hear voices, this is an intuitive voice that helps me when I am being creative in the kitchen. I think about what I want to achieve and ideas flow through via intuition and I try them to see if they would work. Thus far there have been many delicious recipes and very few flops. This is what my intuition came up with to create this wonderful Crispy Halibut Orange Ginger Bites.
To keep the halibut moist I am going to marinate it in some sweet soy sauce, sesame oil, orange ginger sunshine sea salt, lemon grass, and some white pepper and paprika, along with a bit of orange zest. To keep that moisture in, I dredge the marinated halibut bites in tapioca starch, that I season with a little of the flavored sea salt, white pepper, onion powder, Chinese five spice and a touch of grated lemon grass. I am in love with this seasoning. It adds such freshness to any dish.
After the halibut is all coated with that lovely seasoned tapioca, I get some sunflower oil heating up in a medium sauce pan. When it is at around 350° F it's ready to go. I put enough oil that the morsels will be submerged. I place the halibut into the hot oil carefully and fry for about 1 minute just to seal everything up and form a crispness to the fish. Out they come and onto a plate with some paper towel to catch the excess oil.
The next step, mix up some tempura batter with ice cold water, lemon grass, white pepper, paprika. I leave out the salt as I will dust them with the orange ginger sunshine after they are done. I take the halibut that has been coated and cooked once, dip the morsels into that smooth velvety tempura batter and back in the frying process they go and cooked until golden brown and onto another plate with paper towel and a dusting of Gourmet Food Bar's Orange & Ginger Sunshine. The smell is wonderful. That lemon grass along with aromas of orange and ginger brings nothing but sunshine and smiles to my face and a growling in my stomach, ready to taste.
The coating is so beautiful, golden brown and when I tap it with a chopstick a wonderful sound comes through, meaning crispness. I wanted some veggie component with some color to give a great foundation to these crispy halibut pieces. Well, multi-colored peppers stir-fried quickly to preserve their freshness with a bit of ginger and garlic will do the trick. I love the colors with that deep moody raku plate.
Now for the taste! With chopsticks in position, I grasp the crispy halibut getting some peppers to get the full spectrum of flavors. The sound of the crunch as I bite into them is phenomenal. The hints of orange and ginger packed in those crystals of sea salt give an abundance of flavor punch. The batter: crispy, nutty, complex mixtures of Chinese five spice, onion powder, sriracha, and that lemongrass! I am on a bit of a lemongrass kick these days. Nicoletta says I am putting that s__t on everything, lol. Well, not everything. I will put it away for a while until it calls me again. Now back to the flavors and textures! The halibut with that light crispy texture of the fried tapioca holds the moisture in and when you finally bite through, the flakes of this fleshy fish fall on your tongue with its orange ginger juices playing irrevocable delightful havoc on your tongue. Bite after bite, crispy halibut after crispy halibut with traces of those freshly cooked peppers, garlic and ginger playing with the batter of this fish, until there were none. Well, until you make these Crispy Halibut Orange Ginger Bites again, lol.
Enjoy!
I want to thank Gourmet Food Bar for allowing us to work with them and this wonderful product. All their products are handmade, all natural, msg free, and gluten-free. You can't get it better than that. Check out their website. Nicoletta and I look forward to maybe working together in the future with some of your other products.
Crispy Halibut Orange Ginger Bites
Crispy Halibut Orange Ginger Bites, amazingly crispy coating holding succulent halibut with hints of orange and ginger coming through in every bite.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
Halibut and Marinade:
- 300g fresh halibut
- 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 1 tsp light soy saucee
- 1 tsp grated lemon grass
- Pinch of Chinese five spice
- Drop of Srirach sauce
- 1 tsp orange ginger sea salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- pinch of paprika
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Tapioca starch dredge:
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- ½ tsp orange & ginger sunshine sea salt
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ teaspoon Chinese five spice
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- ½ tsp grated lemon grass
Tempura batter:
- ¾ cup of tempura flour
- ½ tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp lemon grass
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp paprika
Pepper stir fry:
- ¼ cup of red pepper slivered
- ¼ cup yellow pepper slivered
- ¼ cup of orange pepper slivered
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp slivered fresh ginger
- 1 clove garlic minced
- pinch of salt and crushed black pepper
- 2 cups plus sunflower oil for frying.
Garnish:
- 1 green onion chopped in thin rounds.
Instructions
Halibut:
- Wash, dry, and cut halibut into bite size pieces. Place in a bowl.
Marinade:
- In a bowl, blend sweet soy and light soy sauce, lemon grass, five spice, sriracha, orange ginger sea salt, white pepper, sesame oil. Pour over and massage into fish.
- Sprinkle with a pinch of paprika and let sit for about 15 minutes.
Tapioca dredge:
- In a bowl combine tapioca starch, orange & ginger sunshine sea salt, onion powder, Chinese five spice, black pepper, lemon grass,
- Take halibut bits and place into bowl with tapioca mixture and coat each piece well and set aside.
First fry:
- In a medium sauce pan heat up sunflower oil to 350° F.
- Shake of any excess tapioca flour off the fish.
- Place tapioca coated halibut pieces in oil carefully and cook for 1 minute.
- Take out and set on a plate with paper towel.
Tempura:
- In another bowl combine tempura flour, lemon grass, onion powder, white pepper paprika. Add cold water till it forms a smooth velvety substantial batter. roughly ½ cup cold water.
Peppers:
- Heat up some sunflower oil and sesame oil in a wok.
- Toss in ginger and garlic and then slivered red, yellow, and orange peppers.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir fry for about 2 minutes.
Second Fry:
- Take crispy tapioca halibut bites and coat in tempura batter.
- In same sauce pan with hot oil at 350° f place halibut bites.
- Fry for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
- Take out of oil and set on a plate with paper towel.
- Toss crispy tempura halibut bites in wok with peppers.
Serving:
- Place peppers on the bottom of a serving dish.
- Place crispy halibut bites in the center.
- Sprinkle with chopped green onion, orange & ginger sunshine sea salt, and some of the cooked ginger slivers.
- Ready to serve!
- Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main, Fish
- Method: Deep frying
- Cuisine: Asian inspired
When I am not cooking, I enjoy playing musical instruments, singing, writing. I have learned over the years to live in gratitude and enjoy the moment.
karrie @ Tasty Ever After says
That tempura batter is gorgeous! Looks so light and crispy. I'm picking up halibut tomorrow at the grocery store for dinner (because it's on sale right now ;)) and I'm going to make this recipe! Hubby will be so surprised too because he loves tempura battered and I never make it at home (the only fried fish I make at home is English fish and chips). Can't wait to try it!
Karrie, always a pleasure to read your comments, I feel your passion and drive. Thank you for that. Your husband is in for a real treat, pick up some Asian beer and you are set for an amazing evening.
Have a great week, Happy cooking!
Loreto
Tiffany says
Looks so beautiful and sounds absolutely wonderful. I have been known to fall of the vegetarian wagon for a good piece of halibut. Bookmarking this if I ever forgo the neighbourhood fish and chips place and make it at home.
I feel honored that this recipe would make you give up vegetarianism for a moment. I truly understand that state of mind. I am not a strict vegetarian, but at times will have periods of this lifestyle. When I do stray away I sooth my mind with thoughts of grate gratitude to the animal or fish that gave its life for me, its all about respect. You are going to love this dish, the textures, and explosions of flavor are wonderful, to me this is the essence of cooking. knowing someone will enjoy it and make them feel special.
Have a wonderful day
Loreto
Margaret @ Kitchen Frau says
Oh, my oh my! Your description of the sound of the tempura batter crunch makes me salivate! My secret guilt is deep-fried crunchy coated battered things. The flavour combination sounds so delicious. Have got to try it soon!
Hi Margaret, you are so kind. Nicoletta and I are thinking of making this for our get together on the 4th. I am with you on fried foods, I know not great for you but they taste so dam good.Thank you for complimenting my writing, it is so hard to have confidence when writing, so I try to write from my authentic experience of the moment.
Looking forward to our dinner.
Cheers!
Loreto
Redawna says
Love halibut, it is one of my favourite fish. This looks fantastic.
Going to add fish to the menu in the next week. The tempura sounds amazing!
Hi Redawna, you are so right with Halibut. It is so succulent and hearty, a great fish for this type of dish, ensuring that the morsels are very crispy yet the fish is in a juice pocket of flavor. Thank you for commenting we appreciate it so much. Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Loreto!
Meaghan says
I love everything about this dish!! It looks so fantastic. I must try this soon 🙂
Hi Meaghan, thank you. You have to love creativity and also companies like Gourmet food Bar who reached out to us to develop this recipe. I was quite pleased with how it turned out and by double frying first with the tapioca then the tempura it made it texturally sublime.
Cheers!
Loreto
annie@ciaochowbambina says
This meal would be such a treat in our house! We all love Asian cooking, but rarely (it's actually been too many years to count) do we make it! You've inspired me!
Hi Annie, you are going to love these. Make lots they disappear quickly and sometimes don't even make it to the table. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
'Have a wonderful Sunday.
Loreto
Cassie | Crumb Kitchen says
These look AMAZING. Like they're fresh from an Asian takeout place, but much better! I so rarely make takeout-like food at home but I would definitely make these bites. Yum!
Hi Cassie, thank you for your comment we really appreciate it. I would highly recommend trying these. We could not keep the plate full it was like eating chips once you had one, two three four where to follow. You have to love when you have inspirational and intuitive moments like these and they turn out so well.
Happy Cooking!
Loreto
Michelle @ The Last Food Blog says
Wow! This is something else! I have never tried halibut this way but that's about to change. This looks and sounds divine, awesome post x
Thank you Michelle, these were purely developed through intuition. I love when inspired by flavors and the excitement of trying something new and not knowing what the outcome may be. It could be a flop and never tried again, or in this instance a success and so tasting that it leaves you craving, time and again. I hope you try this recipe and would love to hear you how you made out.
Have a wonderful day!
Loreto
Kitty says
This looks unbelievably delicious! Fried fish is one of my guilty pleasures.
Hi Kitty, thank you, it has become one of our guilty pleasures too, but have decided to take the guilt out of the recipe. This halibut was so tasty we will be making it again next week, can't wait!
Have a wonderful day
Loreto
Eileen says
I love the flavors in this dish and halibut is my favorite fish. Definitely trying this one.
Hi Eileen, thank you, make sure you get some extra halibut, I think it will go quickly as it did here, then came the sad faces realizing it was all gone! Good thing is it is on the menu this week Yeah!!!!!
Have a superb start of the week!
Loreto