Fish Baked in Tahina Sauce ~ Syria & Lebanon

[Twitchin Kitten]

This recipe I got from my book, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food; by Claudia Rodan.

I was looking for something different to make and had a hankering for fish. I know I like Tahina and I like fish and I like onions so this had to be good. I was right! This is HEAVEN! It's easy to make and you can even use this as an elegant / gourmet entrée at dinner parties.

From the book:
This is very popular in Syria and Lebanon and can be served cold with salads such as tabbouleh or hot with rice.
serves 6

Tajen Samak bi Tahina
Fish Baked in Tahina Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fish fillets, skinned and cut into 6 pieces (I used cod)
  
• Salt
  
• 2 large onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
  
• 2 - 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1 cup tahina
  
• 1/2 - 2/3 cup lemon juice or to taste
  
• 1 cup water, or more as required
  
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
  
• 2 or 3 lemons, cut in wedges to serve with
  

Season the fish with salt.

In a large skillet sweat the onions in 2 -3 tablespoons oil with the lid on over a very low heat, stirring occasionally until soft and just beginning to color. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, beat with a small whisk the tahina and lemon juice until smooth. Don't be alarmed if it looks like it 'curdles' when you first add the lemon juice! Just keep mixing..... it will smooth out. Add small amounts of water until you get a nice loose creamy consistency. You want this tahina sauce to be a bit on the loose and runny side for baking. Add salt to taste.
Note: I omitted the salt in the tahina sauce as the fish already had salt on it.

In a baking dish, spread the onions out on the bottom of the dish, lay the fish on top and pour the sauce all over the fish.

Bake in a pre heated 400º F oven for 20 - 30 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Serve sprinkled with the chopped parsley.

Variation:
Some fry the fish very briefly first, in shallow oil over high heat so that it is lightly browned but not yet cooked inside, then bake it with the onions and the sauce for a further 10 minutes.

I will take a photo next time I make this dish and insert it here. I made the sauce a little too thick and I think I would like to add more onions too.
We had ours with steamed broccoli and no rice and a garden salad. We also agreed that no extra lemon was needed to be squeezed onto the fish to eat it. The tahina sauce was lemony enough!

click to enlarge:
   

[Twitchin Kitten]

Well we made this again last night. I watered down the tahini sauce a little more and it came out much nicer!

I added pics. Sorry, forgot to garnish it with the lemon wedges but you get the idea. I can't tell you how difficult it was getting them out of the pan and onto the plates in one piece!

This was served with Konriko brand Wild Pecan Rice.