Dragon cod poached in red wine and eggplant steaks

cod poached red wine

I found a nice piece of what’s called dragon cod at the huge fish supply market. It’s a 1/5 of the price of regular cod and the only English references I could find in Google is allegedly from a fast food place in China substituting it in their fish burgers. It’s called 龙鳕鱼 in Chinese.

cod dragon

Dragon cod is supposed to have fat that the human body cannot digest but I ate a piece of the sample (the tiny bit that comes in the package – you know, for like tuna) raw and it tasted fine to me.

cod okra

I ate it like that coz it’s from one of those huge fishing clearing house that can have much fresher produce than your local fishmonger.

dragon cod fish

It tasted really good and paying RM 12 instead of RM 58 for the same size sounds like it’s worth a try! 🙂

dragon cod

I pan-fried the dragon cod after patting it dry with serviettes. The good thing about dragon cod is that it has no bones (except for the obvious one) – much like a regular cod.

pan seared cod

However, it has a very high moisture content. I wanted to dry it sufficiently so it’ll have a nice sear on the fish steak.

red wine poaching

I used a lot of butter for frying the dragon cod. I initially wanted it to be served like that – with a reduced butter sauce before I saw a really old bottle of red wine in my fridge.

red wine cod

I poured the entire remainder of the Crimson Cabernet bottle into it – about 1/4. It’s a very sweet red wine. Think of the sweetest red one you’ve ever had and multiply it by a factor of 10 and you’ve got an idea of how this wine tastes like, which is why I couldn’t finish it.

red wine sauce

I let the dragon cod poach in the red wine for a while and then took it out and reduced the sauce before thickening it with some corn starch for some bubbling goodness that I spooned over the fish.

sliced okra

My other half was responsible for the eggplant steaks. She just sliced them down the middle…

fried okra

…seared them, and before

okra sauce

….made an awesome sauce of chopped garlic, shallots and chilli fried in oil to bring out the flavor.

okra steaks

It’s poured right on top for a delicious meal we ate together with rice! 🙂

cod red wine reduction

I’m quite proud of the dragon cod poached in red wine. It tasted really good, the taste of the sweet Cabernet still shines though in the sauce and the cod was flaky and moist!

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21 thoughts on “Dragon cod poached in red wine and eggplant steaks”

  1. HB, you got yourself a winner this time in cooking this meal. I never thought of cooking with cabernet. I always cooking or drink merlot. The eggplant was the best every. Look like at a restaurant made. It make a vegetarian person happy indeed if that was main dish of the meal.

    Reply
    • Thanks Vickie! I thought of the red wine coz of a comment you left on one of my cooking posts. 🙂

      The ultra sweet Cabernet is not much of a drinking wine – it’s apt to give someone diabetes, so I just left it in there until I cooked this dragon cod.

      (which I intended to coat with beer batter but thought it’ll be a waste so I poached it in red wine instead)

      It tasted good with just the butter and sweet Cabernet poaching! 😀

      My better half cooked the eggplant (kept on referring to it as okra, just corrected it, my dear told me I’m blur) – it’s good as an eggplant steak and one of the veggies I have liked as a kid.

      Reply
      • I think dragon cod is the same fish as the infamous escolar! 🙂

        It has wax that’s indigestible to the human body and over-consumption causes diarrhea. It’s sold as “white tuna” (as in the color, since tuna is pink) in sushi and sashimi counters sometimes.

        Reply
    • That’s a good question Ken! I don’t know! 🙂

      I just read about that in the article – apparently dragon cod is like escolar, that infamous fish that’s sometimes found in sushi bars. It has the same indigestible wax.

      In fact, I THINK IT’S THE VERY SAME FISH!!!

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escolar

      It’s sold as “white tuna” and called various types of “cod”. No harm done, you’ll just get diarrhea if you eat a lot but gotta eat it in moderation, that’s all.

      Reply
    • Yup, true that! 🙂

      It tastes remarkably good too! Some people even prefer the taste of dragon cod/escolar (“white tuna”) to albacore tuna.

      I like the fish though coz it tastes awesome! It’s remarkably similar to cod – which would cost us RM 58 for the same size (frozen too).

      Reply
    • Thanks Claire! 🙂

      I think it’s not cod fish at all but escolar! It’s the fish with the indigestible wax, perfectly safe when eaten in moderation but can cause GI issues if you eat too much of it.

      It’s only RM 12 for 1/2 kg while cod fish sells for RM 58 per 1/2 kg. That steak is 1/2 kg.

      The same size cod steak would be RM 58 coz it sells for RM 120 / kg frozen! It’s even more than Jusco.

      It’s at that fresh fish clearing house that sells to restaurants, wet markets, markets, and smaller shops although they have a retail presence that sells for slightly higher than wholesale (but close) prices for the general public.

      Reply
  2. wah the fish so pricey geh.. the most delicious and expensive i ever eaten was sou mei, had it in sabah and the flesh is really different, macam cotton candy, melt in yout mouth kind 😀

    Reply
    • Yeah, cod is a very expensive fish! That size steak is 1/2 kg and should cost about RM 60! 🙂

      However, I bought “dragon cod” which I’m quite sure is escolar now. It’s cheap at 1/5 the price of regular cod (the 1/2 kg steak is just RM 12 instead of RM 58).

      Oh! I think “sou mei” is humphead fish or what they call “parrothead” in KK. Yup, it’s a very expensive fish but there’s a freshwater fish called “empurau” in Sarawak that’s even more expensive.

      It’s good too, but the local businessmen have driven the prices so high it’s almost impossible for regular folks to eat. It has become a prestige kinda thing.

      Reply
    • I’ve never heard of a dragon cod before! 🙂

      I think it’s the fish known as “escolar” now – quite a notorious fish but delicious if you eat it in moderation. It’s quite cheap too!

      I would purchase it again. Frozen cod at this fresh fish clearing house is RM 120 / kg which would make a steak the size I have above RM 58!

      Reply
  3. Dear, surprising the dragon cod was as good as white cod. I am looking forward for the typical Chinese steamed..soy sauce with garlic oil.hehhe

    Reply
    • Yeah dear! I think it’s not a species of cod at all but escolar! 🙂

      It will explain the price. The same size that we saw at the same place for cod is RM 58.

      This is only 1/5 of the price. It’s a cheap fish and it’s delicious but can’t eat too much of it coz of an insoluble wax.

      I would like to eat it that way too dear. My favorite one. Haha! <3

      Reply
  4. I never heard of Dragon Cod until I read this post. Now I know how to save $$..!! You are certainly the best blogging Chef I have known whose culinary skills is above many. Just look at your simple egg plant will do. So erotic and canggih to make me drool. Awwwww!

    Reply
    • I think dragon cod is just another name for escolar! 🙂

      It’s a fish that can cause diarrhea due to insoluble wax but it’s cheap and it’s delicious and safe to consume in small amounts.

      Haha! Thanks bro but mostly I’m just having a lot of fun and experimenting.

      I love to cook and it’s something we both enjoy doing together!

      Reply
    • Thanks! The brinjal was awesome, especially with her sauce! 🙂

      Yup! The good thing about this ultra sweet red wine is that it’s so intense that it seeps into the fish after poaching (cod/escolar doesn’t have a powerful native taste, unlike, say, salmon) so you can still taste it without it being too overwhelming.

      I don’t think the taste will transfer as well to something as strong as salmon though.

      Oh, and the reduced and starched red wine sauce would do wonders too – used just a spoonful! 😀

      Reply

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