A Prayer for the Dying (Fish)
I saw this prayer for people who eat. It was in some cookbook, but unfortunately I don't remember which one. It was a nice expression of gratitude that you recite before each meal, a pause to recognize the living things that give their lives so that we may eat, and thus continue to live. A bit more direct-to-the-source than God is great-God is good-Let us thank him for our food.
I bought a live tilapia from Sunset Super yesterday. I've never bought a Chinese fish before. It was a Chinese fish because it was swimming in a huge tank with 5,000 other tilapia. The butcher scooped it out with a net, whacked it on the head, twice, and slid it into a plastic bag for weighing. As I carried it around the store, I noticed it was still warm. I know fish are always cold, but this guy was warm I tell you.
I called my mom to ask how to steam a whole fish. People came over for dinner. I asked everyone to pause for a moment to give thanks to the fish for giving its slimy gray life for us. When you see something get its head smashed for your eating pleasure, you kind of feel a new intimacy with it. It's as if you've been invited to glimpse a deeper truth in the world, one that you usually ignore because it's too uncomfortable to be intimate with it too often. Things die, but all life goes on. For the lucky, life goes on because things die. For that reminder, as well as for the tasty gift of milky tender fish flesh, I was grateful to the tilapia.
The tilapia was delicious. Six of us picked it to the bone in five minutes. No one fought over the eyeballs because we're a little too American. Here's the recipe:
salt and pepper
1 whole tilapia
1 T ginger, sliced into thin strips
1 stalk green onion, cut into 1-2 inch strips
corn oil
rice cooking wine
soy sauce
At the store, ask the butcher to clean and gut the fish for you. You can say, "Ni keyi clean ma?" Rub salt and pepper over entire fish. Allow to marinate one hour or overnight in the fridge. Place fish on a stovetop-safe plate or steamer, then place all of it in a large pot filled with 1-2 inches of water and 1 Tbsp rice cooking wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and steam for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer fish to a large serving plate and place ginger and onions on top. In a small frying pan, heat oil. Do not overheat. Pour hot oil over fish, ginger and onions. This will bring out the flavor of the ginger and onions. Add 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp cooking wine. Say a prayer for the fish's sacrifice before consuming: Thanks to this poor tilapia for giving its life so that we may eat. (Pat fish's head.)
I bought a live tilapia from Sunset Super yesterday. I've never bought a Chinese fish before. It was a Chinese fish because it was swimming in a huge tank with 5,000 other tilapia. The butcher scooped it out with a net, whacked it on the head, twice, and slid it into a plastic bag for weighing. As I carried it around the store, I noticed it was still warm. I know fish are always cold, but this guy was warm I tell you.
I called my mom to ask how to steam a whole fish. People came over for dinner. I asked everyone to pause for a moment to give thanks to the fish for giving its slimy gray life for us. When you see something get its head smashed for your eating pleasure, you kind of feel a new intimacy with it. It's as if you've been invited to glimpse a deeper truth in the world, one that you usually ignore because it's too uncomfortable to be intimate with it too often. Things die, but all life goes on. For the lucky, life goes on because things die. For that reminder, as well as for the tasty gift of milky tender fish flesh, I was grateful to the tilapia.
The tilapia was delicious. Six of us picked it to the bone in five minutes. No one fought over the eyeballs because we're a little too American. Here's the recipe:
salt and pepper
1 whole tilapia
1 T ginger, sliced into thin strips
1 stalk green onion, cut into 1-2 inch strips
corn oil
rice cooking wine
soy sauce
At the store, ask the butcher to clean and gut the fish for you. You can say, "Ni keyi clean ma?" Rub salt and pepper over entire fish. Allow to marinate one hour or overnight in the fridge. Place fish on a stovetop-safe plate or steamer, then place all of it in a large pot filled with 1-2 inches of water and 1 Tbsp rice cooking wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and steam for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer fish to a large serving plate and place ginger and onions on top. In a small frying pan, heat oil. Do not overheat. Pour hot oil over fish, ginger and onions. This will bring out the flavor of the ginger and onions. Add 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp cooking wine. Say a prayer for the fish's sacrifice before consuming: Thanks to this poor tilapia for giving its life so that we may eat. (Pat fish's head.)
posted by Justina at 2:22 AM
1 Comments:
Cool. I just discovered Tilapia this last year as well. Yoga is cool. So is swimming, but the Hudson ain't the Bay. Margaret Cho is cool, too. So is being unemployed and trying to piece together a living on the web. So is visiting Asia. So is writing, and writing well, and writing on the web.
Good on you, sister!
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