Cooking In, Dinner, Quick PostKerry Alaric CheeseboroJuly 10, 2012apple, applesauce, brown sugar, chili, cilantro, Cooking In, cornmeal, crispy, Dinner, fish, fish sauce, flour, fresh, fried, fruit, garlic, ginger, heat, herbs, honeydew, Melon, mixed, onion powder, Oyster, oysters, Quick Post, rice, rice vinegar, sauce, scallion, scallions, seafood, shrimp, soy sauce, spicy, sriracha, steak, thyme, tilapia, tuna, turmeric, vinegarComment

A Mixer-Supper

Mixed Seafood Fry | Cornmeal-Fried Tilapia, Tuna Steak, Shrimp, Oysters | Spicy Chili·Apple·Garlic Sauce | Vinegared Rice with Honeydew Melon

SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO DO a mixed seafood grill over the summer. Others enjoy a good fish fry. I prepared the best of two worlds with a mixed seafood fry, dredging tilapia filets, jumbo shrimp, sectioned tuna steak, and full oysters in flour, then an egg and heavy cream wash, then finally in some cornmeal flour seasoned with salt, black pepper, turmeric, thyme, ginger powder and onion powder. In then quickly fried them in two inches of corn oil over medium hot heat, just enough for the tilapia, oyster and shrimp cook through and for the thicker tuna steak bites to cook to medium.

In a smaller sauce pan, I stirred together sriracha, applesauce, sliced garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, scallions, fresh cilantro, salt and pepper over medium heat to a light reduction. A cooked pot of white rice got a chopsticks stir-through of rice vinegar, then had cool chunks of honeydew melon.

The fried seafood finally got arranged on top of the melon-mixed rice, and the spicy chili-apple sauce got modestly spooned over each piece of seafood and across the whole dish.

The crispy, seasoned and aromatic exterior of all the seafood morsels held nicely to their still tender and moist interiors. The sauce's spiciness was all flavor on the front of the taste, finishing with a back heat that was tempered by the rice and cleanly rinsed of the tongue with the cut of the sweet melon with each bite.

I love it when a first-try dish comes out so well, and love it even more when I come across a culinary idea I can see repeating often and easily, for myself and guests.

What are you doing next weekend...?! ;)