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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Smoking can jazz up just about anything

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

A light, stove-top smoking — just a few minutes for quick-cooking foods, up to a half-hour for more dense foods — can give even a simple recipe a sophisticated flavor boost. Here are a few recipes that illustrate how smoked foods can become ingredients in other dishes (as in the salad dressing), how a marinade can be used to keep smoked fish moist (as in Martin Yan's Wok-Smoked Fish) and how smoking can be the sole cooking process for foods that cook very quickly (as in Steve Collins' Tea-Smoked Shrimp).

Smoked Tomato Salad Dressing

2 large, fresh tomatoes

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

18 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced

1 teaspoon capers, drained, rinsed, finely chopped

1 2/3 cups mayonnaise

2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Cut tomatoes in thick slices and smoke 30 minutes (see directions elsewhere in this section). Cool tomatoes and squeeze each slice over sink to expel as many seed as possible. Chop tomatoes roughly.

Place the tomatoes in a bowl with the olive, sugar, salt and garlic and marinate 45 minutes.

Puree tomato mixture in blender or food processor. For chunkier salad dressing, pour tomatoes into jar and stir in capers, mayonnaise and parsley. For thinner dressing, blend capers, mayonnaise and parsley with tomatoes, then pour into jar.

Makes 3 cups. Keeps in refrigerator for one week.

• Per 2 tablespoon serving: 130 calories, 14 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 115 mg sodium, 2 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 2 g sugar, 0 protein.

This recipe from Martin Yan illustrates the Chinese technique of smoking with tea, often used to make tea-smoked duck — a time-consuming procedure in which the duck is first marinated in strong tea with other flavorings, then smoked over a blend of tea, rice, fruit, sugar and spices.

This is a much simpler approach. You can use any firm white fish, such as mahimahi, ono, opah or monchong. The dish also illustrates how a marinade can be used to add layers of flavor and moisture to fish, which otherwise can dry out in smoking. Don't be intimidated by the length of the ingredient list. It's basically just a two-step process: Whisk together marinade and allow the fish briefly to absorb the flavors, then smoke the fish and serve.



Wok-Smoked Fish

1 1/2 pounds firm white fish fillets, such as sea bass or red snapper, about y´-inch thick

Marinade:

2 teaspoons minced ginger

1/4 cup rice wine or dry sherry

3 tablespoons regular soy sauce

3 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice

1/2 teaspoon ground toasted Szechwan peppercorns

Smoking mixture:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup uncooked long-grain rice

1/3 cup black or oolong tea leaves

Julienned honeydew melon and cantaloupe for garnish

Cut fish crosswise to make 3-inch square pieces. Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add fish and stir to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Combine smoking mixture ingredients and spread evenly in a foil-lined wok. Set a round cake rack over smoking mixture. Place fish on rack and place wok over high heat.

When mixture begins to smoke, cover wok with a foil-lined lid; reduce heat to medium-low and smoke until fish flakes with a fork, 7 to 8 minutes.

Turn off heat and allow to sit with lid on for 5 minutes. Serve fish hot or cold, garnished with melon, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

• Per serving: 190 calories, 3.5 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol, greater than 1,500 mg sodium, 3 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 2 g sugar, 33 g protein.

This recipe from Steve Collins, who bills himself The Home Chef, would make a nice pupu, arranged on a platter with the sauce drizzled over.



Tea-Smoked Shrimp with Ginger Miso Sauce

For ginger-miso sauce:

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon yellow miso

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon walnut oil

For shrimp:

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon five-spice powder

Smoking mixture:

2 tablespoons Earl Gray tea

1 star anise seed

A half-hour or more before serving, blend the ingredients for the ginger-miso sauce and allow to sit so flavors can meld.

Put shrimp and five-spice powder in a reclosable plastic bag and shake to coat the shrimp evenly. Put tea and anise seed in the center of a stovetop smoker. Place on the burner over medium heat; heat until a wisp of smoke appears. Place the shrimp on the rack and cover. Smoke for 15 minutes; be sure the entire shrimp has turned color and lost its glossy pallor. Serve with the sauce.

Makes 4 entree servings or 6 pupu servings.

I Per entree serving: 110 calories, 4.5 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 135 mg cholesterol, 310 mg sodium, 2 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 0 sugar, 15 g protein

I Per pupu serving: 80 calories, 3 g total fat, 0 saturated fat, 90 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 0 sugar, 10 g protein