Cooking fish in papillote - cooking in paper - is a classic French cooking technique. You don't need to use parchment paper. Aluminum foil works fine too. It's a self-contained steaming method, locking in flavors and making clean-up a breeze.
I used whole pompano but I wrote the recipe below to use any white fish fillet, such as sole, striped bass, or snapper. We stopped in a major-league Asian supermarket and they had beautiful pompano for cheap, cheap, cheap. It's a great fish, with white, slightly oily flesh. If you can find it, I recommend it but if you cook them whole, you are in for a little surgery. Their bones are big and there are no pin bones at all, which makes them easier to eat than trout. But, if you don't like dealing with bones, stick to fillets. That said, fillets are perfectly delicious prepared this way.
This recipe grew out of one in Mark Bittman's Fish. His recipe is pretty classic with pine nuts, shallots, and lemon juice. I had also bought some beautiful fresh shiitakes at the Asian mega-mart (again, cheap, cheap, cheap) and wanted to use them. Which led me to an Asian spin on the classic recipe.
My experiment can guide you on your own variations of the classic recipe. Use a different fat, preferably something tasty like butter, good olive oil, even bacon fat. Switch out the mushrooms for another quick cooking vegetable (or julienne it to speed up cooking - good for carrots). Instead of rice vinegar, use another acid such as lemon or lime juice, or another type of vinegar. You get the idea. It's a great way to throw together a tasty fish dish.
Asian Fish in Papillote
(serves 4)
