Baking shark

It's quite a challenge to cook out new dishes every day. Sometimes, I use rare ingredients. Sometimes, I start out with one successful dish and toy with variations from there. Here are two variations of a basic shark dinner for two. (Note that shark tends to have high mercury content and should not be eaten more than twice a month. Pregnant women should avoid it altogether.)


Recipe 1. Shark baked in Chinese fermented black bean paste (a.k.a. douchi; 蒜蓉豆豉酱)
Note: the so-called "black bean" is actually fermented soybean. The paste is made with fermented soybean, garlic, light soy sauce and very little sugar. It has a distinctive aroma when heated up.


Ingredients:
- 2 fresh shark steaks (about 1/2 lb), trimmed and washed
- 1 tablespoon (TB) Chinese fermented black bean paste
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 TB olive oil
- 1 teaspoon (tp) sesame oil
- 1 spring onion, sliced to 2" strips, separate the white from the green


Procedure:
1. Cut shark steaks into large chucks about 2" cube and place in a baking pan that fits (7"x7"x2" does well for me). 
2. Rub all sides of fish evenly with black bean paste, olive oil, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Sprinkle white part of sliced spring onion on top. Cover with foil. Let set for 10 minutes. 
3. Bake in oven at 350F for 30 minutes or until the aroma of black bean paste comes out of the oven. 
4. Sprinkle remaining spring onion greens on top. Serve hot with steamed jasmine rice.

Recipe 2. Shark baked in hot cherry pepper preserve
Note: hot cherry pepper preserve is available in latino market. It is very spicy and very sour, and goes very well with white wine.


Ingredients:

- 2 fresh shark steaks (about 1/2 lb), trimmed and washed
- half a small onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon (TB) olive oil
- 2 TB white wine
- 1 teaspoon hot cherry pepper preserve

Procedure:
Place shark steaks into small baking pan. Mix well with olive oil, white wine and cherry pepper preserve. Top with chopped onion. Cover with foil. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes or until the aroma of white wine diffuses out. Serve hot by itself.

While these two dishes are very similar in their cooking methods, they have very different flavors, and create totally different atmospheres at the dinner table.

Unlike other fishes, shark meat is less fatty and more muscular. So it tolerates more cooking. Generally, prolonged cooking let the seasoning go into the meat, while light cooking keeps the meat juicy.