This fish, a random shopping cart item at Fubonn, gets its name from having a whitish, almost opalescent sheen to its rather smooth skin. Because of its thin frame and lack of exterior armaments (scales, spines), one would assume this is a fish found in tropical or temperate waters. It actually looks like something one might find in an exotic aquarium. But, nonetheless, I found it in the freezer aisle at the Asian grocery store.
The fish would probably taste great skewered and roasted over an open fire. It has lots of small bones and there isn't a whole lot of meat to it. Eating it reminded me of perch, an equally bony fish that is the equivalent of a sunflower seed (lots of work, little reward). I've only cooked up the first of the two that came in the pack and it tastes ordinary, like the "white fish" you'd find in a breaded, fried fish fillet.
I braised (poached?) it in some olive oil and Chinese rice wine with a sprinkling of Himalayan pink salt. That was probably not the right approach for the fish. It might have been better to bake or steam it because the skin stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Ahh, what to do with its companion...
[Updated: 12/2/2010] When this fish cooks, it smells a lot like the "fish powder" condiment (not furikake) that is used on Chinese rice porridge (xi fan, also known as congee). For the second fish, I cooked it over rice in the oven. In retrospect, I think that moonfish would make a great fish stock type of fish because it's very bony and with the right mix of spices and salt, you'd get a very flavorful broth out of it.
I made the brown basmati rice (a long grain) the way Alton Brown does, heated in a foil-covered baking dish at 375 degrees F for about an hour. Because I am cooking for one, I don't really like reheating leftover rice, so I try to minimize it to a meal or two.
In my pantry, I have Mexican saffron which is several iterations cheaper than real Spanish saffron (from Spain). I picked up a few ounces of it several years ago, probably from hole-in-the-wall spice shops in California.
1 c. brown basmati rice
1 1/2 c. water
pinch of saffron
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a small saucepan, bring water, saffron, butter and salt to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over rice in a baking dish.
Wash the moonfish and gently place on top of the rice. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for an hour. The essence from the fish adds a nice layer of depth to the rice that makes it more flavorful.
If you have sweet potatoes on hand, these bake in the same amount of time at the same heat setting as the rice.
I made a special sauce for the fish, which is a variant on the soba noodle sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
2 tsp brown sugar
1 clove of garlic, minced
Bring ingredients to a simmer for about two minutes (long enough to infuse the sauce with garlic flavor) and pour over fish.
