Directions

Heat oil in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until coated with oil. Let the garlic cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes until just beginning to color. Lower the heat to low and add broth, brown sugar, vinegar, fish sauce, and half of the chopped mint. Stir often until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and cover the pan while you prepare the fish. Heat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until nearly smoking. Salt & pepper the fish fillets generously on both sides. Add them, skin side down to the dry pan. Cook until the skin is very crisp, dark brown and releases easily from the pan. This should take 2 to 3 minutes. Do not be tempted to check or move the fish around in the pan during this time. You will only succeed in making it stick to the pan or worse ruin your beautifully crisp skin. As it cooks you will notice that the fish gets lighter and more opaque. Do not let it cook more than about 1/4 of the way through the thickest part at this point. You might be worried that the rest of the fish seems quite raw, but honestly this is a good thing. Once the skin has crisped flip the fish, and cook it an additional 2 minutes more, or until cooked to your liking. Do not let it cook all the way through, however. The fish will continue to cook after it leaves the pan. Your goal is a succulent flesh graduating from a rare to medium-rare center outwards to a crispy crackly skin. The nature of char with it's thick and thin parts assures you will get plenty of variety in texture and doneness. Once the fish is cooked. Remove the fillets to a warm plate. Pour the sauce into the hot skillet through a sieve. Discard solids. Cook the sauce, scraping any bits from the bottom of the skillet, until it is reduced somewhat and a bit syrupy. Plate the fish and drizzle some of the minted sweet & sour pan sauce over or around each fillet. Garnish with remaining chopped mint. Serve warm.

Directions

Infused Oil 1. Combine half of orange zest, lemongrass, ginger, chopped fennel, and oil in a small microwave safe bowl 2. Heat the oil to a near boil in the microwave. Approximately 3 minutes. Remove from microwave cover, and steep overnight. Strain and reserve oil the next day. Braised Fennel 1 Trim the fennel bulb and quarter it lengthwise. If the bulb is large you may need to cut it 6 or 8 pieces. Each about 1" across at widest point 2. Place the fennel in a skillet just big enough to hold the fennel in one layer. Barely cover the pieces with water about 3/4 of a cup. Add the 1 tablespoon of the infused oil, butter, peppercorns, pink peppercorn or bay leaf, sugar and a pinch of salt. There is a delicate balance between pan size, vegetable size and cooking times. You want it all to reduce to a glaze about the same time the fennel is cooked to perfection. 3. Bring the liquid and fennel to a boil, then lower the heat and gently simmer about 20 minutes. The liquid should reduce down to a shiny glaze in this amount of time. Try and work the timing out so this happens with out overcooking the fennel. You may have to remove the fennel and continue reducing the glaze to get the timing just right. When finished glazing, remove the fennel from pan and set it aside. You will return the fennel to the pan and gently reheat it when you are ready to plate. Citrus Emulsion 1. For citrus emulsion combine all the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor. Blend on high for 2 minutes. You may substitute any combination of citrus you have handy. Arctic Char 1. Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in a sloped sided skillet large enough to hold the fish with out crowding. Bring the oil to near smoking. 2. Then add the rest of the orange zest, orange juice, lime zest & juice, rice wine vinegar, ginger and remaining 3 tablespoons infused oil. Cook undisturbed, skin side down for about 2 minutes. The skin will release itself from the pan when it is ready. Do not attempt to turn it over before that. You will see a nice golden crust forming around the edges. 3. Flip the fillets and cook an additional 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until almost medium rare (it will continue to cook after it leaves the pan). 4. Drizzle some of the citrus emulsion onto a plate in an attractive manner. Lay one fillet in the center of each plate and top with 2 slices of the reheated braised fennel. 5. You may garnish with any combination of extra pink peppercorns, fresh fennel fronds and fried shallots. Add a drizzle of the infused oil over the top. Serve warm.