Although untraditional, fish shawarma is a favorite in our house. This recipe calls for halibut, but you can use another meaty white fish, such as cod or monkfish, instead. Serve the fish shawarma in a pita with all the fixings: onion-sumac salad, tahini sauce and schug, or on a platter with potatoes and fresh vegetables. Either way you got yourself a winning dish. If you don't want to make your own schug, you can easily swap with our Signature Harissa as an added flavor component for the dish
Serves 2-3
Fish shawarma:
1 pound halibut, cut into pieces about 1½ inches square
Season the halibut with the salt and Shawarma BBQ Sauce. Set aside. Cut the onions in half lengthwise, then crosswise into thin half-moons. Place the onions in a large sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat without stirring until they start to brown, about 1 minute. Stir the onions so that more of them are exposed to the heat of the pan and cook without stirring to promote more browning, about 1 minute. Add 3 tablespoons of the neutral oil and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are caramelized but still slightly firm. Transfer the onions to a bowl; set aside.
While the pan is still hot, add the remaining 1 tablespoon neutral oil, then add the fish and cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, stirring gently halfway through. Add the onions and cook until the fish is just cooked through, 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.
Cut the onion in half lengthwise, then crosswise into thin half-moons. In a medium bowl, stir together the onion, parsley, Preserved Lemon Paste, olive oil and Ground Sumac.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini paste, water, Preserved Lemon Paste and salt until fully combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.
Schug:
2 large bunches fresh cilantro, bottom one-fourth of the stems removed, remaining cilantro washed and dried
4 jalapeños, stemmed, halved lengthwise and seeded, plus more as needed
In a food processor, combine the cilantro, jalapeños, garlic, olive oil, Preserved Lemon Paste, salt and Kafe Hawaij and blend until it reaches the consistency of pesto. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, acid (Preserved Lemon Paste), spice (Kafe Hawaij) or heat (jalapeños) according to your taste.
