Seafood Sunday

I was in the mood for some sweet and sour shrimp and have been for some time.  So i decided that i would make some over the week-end.  Typically when i’ve had any sweet and sour dish i bought a jar of the sauce from the store.  However most of the jar sauces are packed with sugars, corn syrups, dyes and other additives.  Since i enjoy feeding my family food as natural to mother nature as possible i decided to try my hand at making my own sweet and sour sauce.  Also, since the only shrimp available at my local market were from the Gulf, i decided to use some fresh and local halibut instead – which the fish monger told me was just brought in that evening.

The beauty about stir fry dishes is that you can be really creative and put all kinds of fresh goodies into the pot.  My sweet and sour stir fry included halibut, a range of colorful sweet peppers, yellow onion, fresh chopped ginger, carrots, green onions and pineapple (i did cheat with the pineapple and purchased 2 cans of organic chunky pineapple).  I also whipped up some purple and green string beans that i sautéed with butter and fresh ginger.  Amira, the 9 year old picked them out while we were at the market and wanted me to cook them.

In case you’re tired of store-bought sweet and sour sauce for your stir fry dishes, try my recipe below and see how you like it.

Sweet and Sour Seafood

Ingredients

3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

4 TBSP fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1 medium onion, cut into chunks

2 carrots, thinly sliced

5 mini sweet peppers, roughly cut

2 lbs halibut, cut into large chunks

2 TBSP potato starch

2 stalks green onions, cut into large pieces

2  10oz canned pineapple chunks packed in its own juice (fresh chopped pineapple can also be used), reserving drained liquid

2 cups pineapple juice

3/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

1/2 cup unpasteurized soy sauce

Directions

In a medium bowl, lightly salt and pepper halibut and sprinkle with potato starch to evenly coat fish.  Set aside. In a large wok, on medium heat, add olive oil and sauté ginger, onion, carrots and peppers.  Stirring constantly, cook until onions become translucent and have a light aroma.

Next make some space in center of wok and add pineapple liquid, all vinegar, and sugar.  Stir to incorporate making sure sugar is dissolved.  Add soy sauce and then turn heat to medium-high and let sauce mixture come to a roaring boil.  Reduce heat, and stir mix.  Add halibut and gently stir until fish is cooked through.  Last add pineapple chunks and green onions.  Remove from heat and cover for about 5 minutes.

Serve hot over brown rice and enjoy!

[slideshow]