The low-smell, low-stress fish recipe of your dreams

By Eric Kim, The New York Times

If you live in a small space, the lure of crispy fish skin — the bacon of the sea — can lead to fishy pillow cases until laundry day. (Totally worth it.)

But a fish dinner doesn’t have to be defined by a hard sear in a pan, oil splatter all over your stovetop, kitchen counter and clothes. For nights when you want something gentler on the cook (and the fish), you can turn to this oil-poaching method, which turns out the most flavorful, tender fillets imbued with the deep savoriness of scallions.

Cooking fish at home always begins at the store. You may already know the secret to great fish for dinner is getting to know your fishmonger, who not just sells the fish but also knows when it came in and where from. Fostering this connection is the best way to establish your own relationship to cooking fish.

“A fresh fish should have an ocean-like scent, not a strong fishy odor,” said Chris Addis, an owner of Fish Tales, a seafood market in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, adding that any skin “should be glistening and moist.” For this recipe, you may lean toward cod, halibut, black sea bass, haddock, flounder, tilapia or even lemon sole. But take Addis’ advice and grab whichever looks and smells the freshest that day.

Rather than fry that fish on high once you’re home, nestle a few fillets into a pan of hot, flavored oil. Simmering sliced scallions in olive oil over gentle heat removes their moisture, crisping them and concentrating their savoriness. In turn, the oil will be tinted a vibrant Chartreuse and perfumed with a scallion aroma. At this point, you can turn off the flame. The residual heat from that oil will softly poach the fish, leaving you with the silkiest texture — low splatter, low smell and low stress.

Think of the scallion oil, called pa gireum in Korean, as both cooking medium and irresistible sauce. If you’re a scallion fiend, you could even double the scallions and oil, and reserve half before cooking the fish for future uses beyond this simple meal: say, for frying eggs or eggplants, for whisking into vinaigrettes and for roasting vegetables.

Though this method doesn’t yield crisp skin, the pile of crunchy fried scallions in the pan, eaten with the tender white fish, is a worthwhile compromise. Be sure to dip crusty bread into that glorious scallion oil, and rest easy knowing that this lovely fish will linger in your dreams, not on your pillow.

Recipe: Scallion-Oil Fish

For the most flavorful fish, gently poach the fillets in scallion oil, which is called pa gireum in Korean and is the star of this easy, foolproof preparation. Simmering scallions in olive oil over gentle heat removes moisture from the alliums, crisping them and concentrating their savoriness. In turn, the oil will be tinted green and perfumed with an umami-saturated scallion aroma like nothing else. Be sure to dip crusty bread into that glorious scallion oil to enjoy with the tender fish. This dish is great with rice, too.

By Eric Kim

Yield: 2 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• Coarse kosher salt
• 8 ounces white fish fillets, such as cod, halibut, black sea bass, haddock, flounder, tilapia and lemon sole
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced crosswise (1 heaping cup)
• Flaky sea salt, for serving (optional)
• Crusty bread, for serving

Preparation

1. Sprinkle a heaping 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt over the fish fillets and refrigerate, uncovered, to brine and air dry a little, about 10 minutes.