Broiled Monchong: It’s time to give tuna and salmon a break
It’s so easy to hastily pick up a tray of tuna or salmon at the market. But take a careful look around next time. If you see some light pink fresh monchong fillets, consider giving them a try!
While not the prettiest fish in the sea compared to ocean dwellers such as mahimahi and onaga, monchong can certainly hold its own in terms of flavor and texture.
Here are what the fillets look like when you buy them.
It’s a super simple preparation - marinate the monchong fillets in a bowl with about a cup of vegetable oil, a couple cloves of minced garlic, salt and pepper. Let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Broil the fish for about 5 minutes flipping once half way through. It cooks really fast so don’t step away for too long.
We had our broiled monchong with some of these yaki onigiri.
These “grilled” rice balls with soy sauce were pretty good. They come frozen and you actually heat them up in the microwave for a couple minutes. The shoyu flavor is subtle and adds a nice salty flavor to the musubi.
This was a really fast and light dinner…and if your taste buds are anything like mine, they will thank you for the change in pace!
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12 comments
I definitely need to get better with branching out to other types of fish. I’d love to give this one a try. I’ll look for it at the fish market. In terms of taste, does it have a strong, distinctive one?
Hey I learned something new today! I have never heard of this fish. I’ll have to ask my fish monger if he has or can get it! Thanks Lori!
yummy!
Hi sharon,
The taste is pretty mild, not as fishy as say salmon or tuna. But since it’s an oily fish, it stays nice and moist. It kind of reminds me of a mahimahi or maybe swordfish type taste/texture.
Hi noble pig,
Hope you can find it!
Hi kat,
Yummy is right! I love it because it stays so moist…and with that garlic oil on top - mmmmm.
I’ve never heard of this beautiful fish before. Thanks so much for the lesson! Mmm….
Thanks for the head’s up! I’ll try to see if I can find this.
Hi Elle and White on Rice Couple,
You’re welcome…have a great weekend!
We just found this fish for the first time this week at our Minneapolis fishmonger. He gave us a small piece just to try, since we hadn’t heard of it before. We topped it with a little fresh black pepper and pan seared it with grapeseed oil until done (maybe 4 minutes). Flavor was excellent, somewhere between whitefish and tuna. I would definitely purchase in the future for an easy, tasty, and healthy meal.
Hi Karla,
That’s great that you could find it in Minneapolis!
I have never had monchong. It looks pretty good!
Hi Kevin,
From the types of dishes that you make, I have a feeling you’d like it.
Oh boy…monchong. When was the last time I had that? Waaaay to long!! I’ve never seen those grilled rice balls either. Heat them up in a microwave?!? The islands are moving forward and leaving me behind!!!!