Salona: Sweet-and-Sour Fish Casserole W/Eggplant & Tomatoes

Amarante

Fri, Jul 15 2022, 2:18 pm

I don't know much about Sephardic cooking except for Moroccan but I am attempting recipes that look appealing and doable to me. I haven't worked myself up to some of those rice dishes that are supposed to be flipped as I can barely handle an omelet. LOL

I did salt and let the sliced eggplant stand for about a half hour as that gets rid of the bitter liquid in Italian eggplant.

This recipe appealed to me because I like the ingredients - eggplant and beautiful tomatoes are in season. It was excellent and pretty easy to make. I don't know how "authentic" it is but it was still good. It is from a cookbook I got fairly recently which has traditional "Jewish" recipes from different countries - some unexpected like Indian

I used cod because it was available but any white fleshed fish would be good like halibut. I don't eat tilapia but that would also work if you do eat it.

SALONA | Sweet-and-Sour Fish Casserole with Eggplant and Tomatoes

Excerpt From: Janna Gur - Jewish Soul Food

IRAQI - Country of Origin

Similar to Ingriyi in flavors and technique, salona has many variations. I’ve always made it with eggplant and tomatoes, but while researching recipes for this book, I discovered other versions of this famous Jewish Iraqi fish casserole. Some contain only tomatoes; some are cooked on the stove, while others are baked in the oven; in some cases fish fillets are breaded before they are fried, while in others they are not. The only constant is the sweet-and-sour sauce—the hallmark of Jewish Iraqi cuisine. I like the following version because it is hassle free and light: Fish fillets are briefly fried just to add a bit of crispness and flavor, and the layered casserole is baked in the oven. Yes, there is eggplant, because it is so delicious when it absorbs cooking juices. If you don’t like eggplant, you can leave it out and still have an authentic salona.

Serves 4 to 6

1 eggplant, peeled and sliced lengthwise into ½-inch (1½-cm)-thick slices
⅓ cup olive oil
Coarse salt
3 to 4 onions, cut into ⅓-inch (1-cm) slices
4 to 5 firm, ripe tomatoes, cut into ⅓-inch (1-cm) slices
1 pound (500 g) white fish fillets, such as cod, halibut, or tilapia, skin on, cut into portion-size chunks
¼ fresh hot green chile pepper, seeded and sliced - I used jalapeño pepper

For the sauce

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
½ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup tomato paste
⅓ cup water
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. Brush the eggplant slices with a little olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. Roast on the baking sheet until golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.

3. Heat half of the remaining oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Arrange at the bottom of a baking pan or casserole deep enough to hold the layers (see the photograph). Arrange half of the tomatoes on top of the onions and then layer on all the eggplant.

4. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan the onions were sautéed in and fry the fish fillets briefly, skin-side down, only until golden and crispy, about 1 minute. Arrange the fillets, skin-side up, over the eggplant. Add the rest of the tomatoes on top of the fish and sprinkle the sliced chile over the vegetables.

5. Prepare the sauce Mix the brown sugar, lemon juice, tomato paste, water, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Taste, and adjust the seasoning. Pour the sauce over the fish. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Serve over rice.

VARIATION

ON THE STOVE Arrange the layers in a large wide pan, as explained in the recipe steps. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Make sure the contents of the casserole is covered with sauce at all times. Add a little bit of water, if necessary.