Eat this fish. Eat it without guilt.

Since I don’t want this blog to earn the subtitle, “Ali’s wet blanket,” I’m going to pass along some good news now. Despite government recommendations to the contrary, a recent study published in the Lancet found that pregnant women should eat lots of fish. Of course, this is good news only if you happen to really like fish. If you’re one of those who can barely choke down a chunk of salmon, well, you might find it as depressing as yesterday’s poop-meat blog.

This is actually big news, because it flies in the face of government recommendations that pregnant women — in fact everyone — should limit their fish consumption due to methyl mercury concerns. I was surprised, but relieved when I read the recent article. Not that I’m pregnant (I’m not. I know how rumors get started, though, so I will repeat, and loudly. I’m NOT). But I now feel less guilty about all that salmon we grilled last spring while Charlotte was in my tummy.

The study doesn’t distinguish between different types of fish, and it should be noted that some fish (generally those higher up on the food chain) are much more contaminated with mercury than others. I’m still going to reference this handy little fish advisory card to make sure that I consume mostly those that are less contaminated…I figure, why mess around with industrial pollution?

With that in mind, I pass along this kickin’ recipe for Oven Steamed Chinese-Style Fish with Scallions. We made it with friends a couple of nights ago, and it was yummy. Yummy. Yummy enough that I made it again two nights later. This recipe is yet another I’ve borrowed from Andrea Chesman (I’m telling you, I love her Garden Fresh Vegetable Cookbook…so far, the recipes have all been easy, fast, and good. I believe it’s coming out in paperback soon under a different name. I’ll let you know). Here’s my less-precise-than-Chesman variation:

Ingredients
1 small bunch scallions (mine had 6),
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
3 smallish garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup soy sacue
Splash of rice wine (Chesman says 2 TBSP, FYI we used cider vinegar)
Same-sized splash dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
Lots of freshly ground pepper (Chesman says 1/4 teaspoon, but we didn’t measure, just opted for “lots”)
1 ½ to 2 lbs fresh white fish fillets (cod, halibut, tilapia – we used tilapia)
A handful of chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 450. Chop scallions and ginger. Scatter half of the scallions, ginger, and garlic in shallow roasting pan. Stir together soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, and pepper in a bowl. Pour half into the roasting pan.

Place fish fillets in pan. Cover with remaining scallions, ginger, garlic, then pour the liquid over the top.

Seal the pan with foil. Bake until fish is flakey, about 20 minutes. Scatter cilantro on the top.

I like this recipe, because (1) it’s fast, (2) the yum-to-effort ratio is really high (in other words: lots of yum, little effort), (3) the baking takes the precise time required to make up a batch of rice in the rice cooker (and if your rice cooker, like ours, has a steamer option, you can steam a veggie during the last 5 minutes of the cooking process), and (4) Merrie ate it. My daughter, who once ate little besides grocery store rotisserie chicken, carrots smothered in ranch dressing, and rice. Yes, this child ate tilapia in a Chinese sauce. Her words: “I guess I don’t really like the seeds and nuts that are on it…” (note there are no seeds, no nuts, just ginger and garlic, but I thought it prudent not to explain this) “…but the FISH is pretty good.”

(If you suspect your kid wouldn’t appreciate the Asian-inspired sauce, you can take a bit of the fish and cook it separately, with no sauce. But if my kid ate it, yours might, too).

It should be noted at this point that I tried to get creative with this recipe on a subsequent night; I scattered cabbage over the top of the pan, thinking that it could steam with the fish. It turned out fine, but the recipe got thrown off; it took much longer to cook, I wound up having to add water, and the yum-to-effort ratio went down substantially. Next time, I won’t try to outsmart a cookbook author. Here’s what it looked like, though (note it was also served with rice and—um— some Ling Ling frozen potstickers – not a whole food, I know, although I did recognize all of the listed ingredients as being food). The fish is a bit buried under the cilantro and cabbage…but doesn’t the plate just glisten? Oh, see how it glistens!

Now go forth! Cook fish! Get pregnant! Repeat!