Striped Pangasius Veracruz

Monday April 30

We bought this pack of frozen fish at Trader Joe's, only to find that it was the poster child for fishy false advertising.  Still, our only intention was to have something flat and white to play our succulent variations upon (as they say on "Iron Chef America"), so we don't feel defrauded.

Today's savory sauce was a tupper of red gravy left over from last Tuesday.  We made it Veracruz with a couple of Tablespoons each of chopped green olives, capers, and fresh oregano leaves.

Preheated the oven to 400° F., smeared a little sauce and a slosh of olive oil over the bottom of a square baking dish, and arranged the two defrosted fish fillets pisces-fashion in the dish.  Sprinkled their tops with salt and pepper, and spooned remaining sauce over.  Baked them uncovered until the fish was just opaque in center, about 18-20 minutes. 

In the meantime, sautéed some half-moon discs of zucchini in olive oil for 5 minutes on one side, 4 on the other, until brown and crispy, to serve on the side.

Verdict: pangasius is sorta like swai, which is sorta like basa, i.e., an undistinguished white fish whose virtue is being farmable and cheap.  Amp up the flavorings, and it's fine.