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FISH FACTS
Buying: Rockfish should have clean, silver skin, prominent stripes that run from gill to tail, and a faintly sweet smell. Wild-caught rockfish will have a bolder flavor and firmer flake than farmed.
Cooking: Flaky and mild, rockfish is neutral ground for adding flavor, whether in a raw preparation like ceviche, a simple pan fry or a more complex dish such as bouillabaisse.
COMEBACK STORY
Now threatened with overfishing, rockfish were once abundant in the Chesapeake Bay. Moratoriums on fishing for rockfish along the East Coast have helped replenish numbers, but ecologists warn that preserving the bay is essential to maintaining a consistent stock.
AROUND RVA
Metzger Bar & Butchery: Start dinner with a smoked rockfish latke, the bitterness from the fennel and smokiness of the fish brightened by Meyer lemon and cara cara orange.
The Boathouse locations: Order rockfish pan-seared or grilled, or grab two uncooked fillets from the restaurant's marketplaces and do your own thing.
Heritage: Pan-seared rockfish crowns a bed of chickpeas, escarole and rice. Make sure to drag your fork through Chef Joe Sparatta’s craveable almond romesco.
“The sweet, firm-but-flaky texture of rockfish plays well with flavors from every season.” —Nicholas Hall, chef at Rappahannock
COOK LIKE A LOCAL
RBLT (Rockfish BLT)
By Nicholas Hall, chef at Rappahannock
Rockfish is versatile, and Rappahannock Chef Nicholas Hall suggests home cooks experiment with different cooking techniques to discover what they like best. For beginners, he recommends pan-frying the fish in butter, then basting it with the butter and fresh herbs. Hall takes full advantage of fresh summer tomatoes in a rockfish BLT.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Serves 4
4-6 strips of bacon
4 rockfish fillets, 4 ounces each
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
Oil or butter, for frying
4 large Romaine lettuce leaves
4-8 tomato slices
4 buns
Salt, to taste
Your favorite tartar sauce
Fry the bacon slowly in a pan until it’s almost crispy, then set it aside.
Create a dredging station by filling two shallow containers — one with cornmeal, flour and Old Bay and another with the beaten eggs.
Dredge the fish fillets in the egg, then the cornmeal mixture, making sure to coat evenly. Heat oil in the pan over high heat, then gently lay the fillets into the pan. Make sure they are not touching each other. Fry the fillets until they are golden brown, about 2-5 minutes per side. Set on paper towels to drain any oil. Spread the tartar sauce on both sides of the buns, then add the lettuce, fish fillets, tomato and bacon — and enjoy.
