Last night I made a porgy for dinner. I also made a half of a salmon neck. Here is the porgy recipe… I would say it’s macrobiotic. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong though. Maybe it has too many spices.
First, this is a porgy. I get mine in Chinatown.
Cumin-Tahini-Miso Grilled Porgy Recipe
Ingredients (1 serving)
- 1 medium porgy
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1/2 tablespoon miso
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
- Make the marinade. Mix together the tahini, miso, vinegar, cumin, chili, and pepper. If it’s still very thick you can add a splash of water.
- Prepare the porgy – cut off the fins, the tail, and cut out the gills. I usually have my fishmonger do this, but if he didn’t, it’s actually simple. Use scissors to cut off the fins and tail, and use a small knife to cut out the gills (they are red looking). Rinse the fish and pat it dry.
- Cut 3 slits (all the way to the bone) on each side of the porgy and coat it (inside and out) with the marinade. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, turning it once in the middle so that both sides get to sit in the marinade.
- Preheat your broiler. Broil on each side for ~8 minutes. When you put it on the pan and when you flip it make sure to brush on some more marinade. I try to use it all up.
- Serve with a grain (white rice pictured here).
You could easily use my Tahini-Miso dressing recipe in this marinade!
I also served a salmon neck – recipe coming soon (so simple). I had most of the salmon and a little bit of the porgy; I wanted Bobby to have most of the porgy because I already knew it would be a great recipe. It was so tender and so perfect. If it weren’t for the bones, I think it would convert a non-fish person.
I forgot to mention that I first learned about porgies in my cooking class with Auntie Jo last week (still have to post about this…). The recipe we did that night was also grilled/broiled, but very different from this aside from the cumin. I honestly think mine is better 😀
Onto my daily rambles…
This morning I went to a macrobiotic talk at Souen in Soho. I did not eat there afterwards because I was meeting up with friends for brunch (at The Mudspot on 9th Street and 2nd Ave – it was really good! The coffee was fantastic). I am so glad I went to this talk (speaker – John Kozinski). He told a new story of macrobiotics that I hadn’t really heard before. I had always focused so much on the macrobiotic diet specifically, but he expanded to talk about balance in life overall.
Some things I learned…
- The only foods you should really “eliminate” from your diet are the ones advertised on TV (from Michael Pollan’s book).
- Even meat is okay, if you balance it out. It should be naturally raised, organic, etc…
- Fish is great. So are beans. Try to have 1 cup of beans at lunch and dinner, or a serving of fish (fish 3-6 times a week). Some good fish are cod, scrod, sardines, small salmon, flounder, and red snapper. Ocean fish are better than lake fish, which tend to have PCBs.
- Most supplements are totally pointless.
- Eat seasonally. Eat natural foods. Eat whole foods.
Oh so many more… I’ll try to keep giving little tips I got from the session.
After the session I met up with my friend, her boyfriend, and Bobby. After brunch Bobby and I headed down to Chinatown again for some cheap veggies and fish. We came back, and now we have a friend over. My dinner was a very macrobiotic meal – steamed kabocha, broccoli, purple sweet potato, burdock, daikon, and lotus root. I put some miso-tahini dressing on top, and finished off the rest of my cornbread from yesterday.
For some reason I’m really feeling the macrobiotic thing. Especially after today, when John emphasized fitting it to your own needs and way of life.
I like rambling. But now I have to go do a bit of work. I’m trying to cut back on my hours, but there are some things that need to get done! Hope y’all had a good weekend.
I’m wary about any diets that have a label on them…but I agree with most of the points you listed. Supplements…why is it necessary when you can get all the nutrients you need in real food, and when targeting a specific nutrient isn’t the way health and a body works? I don’t eat any of them, and I’m not dying of any nutrient-deficiency. I try to eat seasonally if I can, mostly because they are the cheapest and tastiest when they are seasonal. But…as you know, I’ll never give up my kabocha even if they are not in season, lol!
Haha, what a funny name: porgy! At first, I thought you were giving pork some cutesy name. lol!!
I love fish and beans, so that’s good to know I’m doing something right 🙂 Glad you found a diet that you’re into. Aside from being vegetarian (the exception being fish — haha), I’m pretty anti-rules with my food these days. I try to stick to whole, real foods though. I can’t see the good in having an ingredient list the size of a novel.
i have to kindly disagree about the supplements. i suppose in a perfectly functioning system we could all get our nutrients via the food we eat. heck, if my body worked right, i would be the most nutrientest girl in town with my diet!
but the fact is, some people for many reasons (mine of course are in my blog) are going through digestive issues that counter the absorbtion of nutrients through their food. ive been terribly deficient in many nutrients and vitamins because my digestive system isnt able to properly extract/absorb them from my food. so i take many supplements to counter this and keep my body functioning the best it can right now, and also to allow my digestive system to heal by maybe not having to work so hard.
i eat a very well rounded and very healthy diet, fresh, raw, organic, grass fed yadda yadda. but i still need help. so i take a lot of iron supplements, b12 with intrinsi, digestive enzymes, various herbs, lots of probiotics, vitamin C and E and calcium and vitamin D. magnesium is very important for my body’s functioning. that is one supplement that i notice a huge physical difference right away if i dont take it.
i agree with the idea that nutrients should be gained through a healthy diet first. but just because someone takes supplements doesn’t mean they dont have a healthy diet. sometimes there are other things going on.
also, sometimes someone might have an allergy that may not allow them to get the proper nutrients from certain foods, and supplementing may be a way to help them.
Wow I’m seriously impressed by your fish!!! Seafood scares me, I’m so nervous to cook it. That seems totally intimidating to me, but yours looks great!
Your lotus root looks great! I still have to try that. Can’t wait to hear about your cooking class!
I loved your points about the food, especially the first! It’s funny I never thought about it that way, but you never see rice or beans being advertised. hehe Just dunkin hines brownies and doritos.
I liked reading Clare’s comment too. I thought it had some good points. I just wrote about Amazing Grass on my blog (not sure if that’s a supplement) but w/e it is, it’s been working for me. I think a person can eat a well-rounded, healthy diet but still not get enough of everything. It’s very easy to hit 100% of your daily recommendations for fats, sugars, etc. but sometimes it’s harder for things like vitamins or minerals. I don’t see a problem taking a vitamin or supplement to ensure that you’re reaching 100% everyday for those things. Obviously you’ll still be healthy regardless – like Sophia said, it’s not like you would die of deficiency. I guess ultimately a person would just have to try life w/ and also w/o supplements and decide on their own, or w/ the help of a dr. or nutritionist which works best and makes them feel best. So many diff. diets (vegan, raw, fish-only, etc) help ppl out and change their lives. I wouldn’t choose to live by those, but it doesn’t mean it’s wrong for them.
Miso and Tahini? Holy crap, I think I hit that link so fast my keyboard jangled.
I think some supplements are good, like Vitamin D3, and Omega-3s. And for vegans, B12. But a lot of the drugstore supplements are pointless because they don’t last long enough in your system to be absorbed. I take the former two, but stopped bothering with multivitamins.
sounds like an interesting talk. I so want to learn more about macrobiotic.
You cooked full fish? I haven’t had it since i came back from China.. it’s just scary for me to cook it! 🙂
The fish looks delicious! Sounds like an interesting talk too, can’t argue with any of those points 😉
Hi Maggie!
I always love your info on macrobiotics! please keep posting about it!
I haven’t had kabocha in a while…need to get one soon!
xoxoxo
I would have loved the hear that talk Maggie, and I’m loving all the colors on your plates as of late.
Never cooked a porgy, but you make it sound so easy and yummy. 🙂
Wow your fish looks wonderful. I bet even my husband would try that and he does not usually do cooked fish.
I, too, like hearing about the macrobiotic diet and what you are learning. Everyone’s body processes things so differently but the basic idea of eating seasonally and locally is great. I like to try incorporating some of the things I read in blogs like yours and others–so thanks!