My husband scared the bejesus out of me when we sat down for dinner a few weeks ago. All of a sudden he yelled, “OH MY GOD!!!” I thought he saw a spider or something worse. So I let out a little shriek of my own. But he followed it up with, “THIS IS THE BEST FISH I’VE EVER HAD!!!” After I punched him in the arm and screamed at him for scaring the crap out of me, I took a bite of the halibut on my plate. It really was delicious. It was soft, moist, and so flavorful.
Truthfully, I don’t cook fish at home as much as I should. But ever since that dinner, I’ve made this at least once a week. So I figured I should share the recipe. It goes without saying that it is super quick and easy to make – and healthy! – as with the vast majority of the recipes here. So go pick up some fresh wild halibut and give this a try. We got our wild halibut fillets from Costco the last time we had this. If you have a Costco nearby, I highly recommend it. It’s so much cheaper than what you’d pay elsewhere and the difference in quality is negligible.
It’s been a particularly busy and stressful summer for me, especially since we’re trying to eat the majority of our dinners at home. So having quick and easy recipes like this broiled halibut helped me out significantly. I hope you find it useful as well.
Broiled Halibut with Asian-Style Pineapple Sauce Recipe
Serves 2 people
Ingredients
3/4 – 1 lb halibut fillet (~1″ thickness)
1-2 tsp canola oil
2 tsp lemon juice
2/3 – 3/4 cup chopped pineapples
2 TB tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
1 – 1 1/2 TB honey or maple syrup
1 TB balsamic vinegar
1 TB mirin
1 TB water + more as needed
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
salt & pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub the fillet with oil and lemon juice. Set it aside for a few minutes while you get the ingredients together for the sauce. For the sauce, stir together honey, pineapples, tamari, balsamic vinegar, mirin, ginger, water, and toasted sesame oil in a small sauce pan. Bring the contents to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce becomes thicker.
- Lightly salt and pepper the fish. While the sauce is simmering, bake the halibut for about 9 minutes. Turn the heat up to broil. Brush the halibut with the sauce from step 1. Brush it with enough sauce (liquid part)* to coat the fish. Place the halibut in the broiler and broil for about 3 minutes until the sauce is caramelized and the halibut flakes easily. Remove from heat and let it rest for a couple of minutes.
- Top with the sauce from step one. Sprinkle with some fresh chopped pineapples and some scallions. Serve immediately.
*Cook’s Note
The sauce will not have completely thickened when you have to glaze the halibut in step 2. That’s perfectly fine. Just use the liquid part of the sauce to coat the fish and continue simmering the sauce. Add a splash of water if the sauce becomes too thick.
Make sure you don’t overcook the fish. It will become dry. Keep in mind that if you are using a thinner fillet, it should take less time to cook.
If you want the sauce to have the type of thick texture like some of the commercially bottled sauces, you can mix a little bit of corn starch in water and mix it in the sauce. But I prefer my sauce without any starch.
OH my! Your Broiled Halibut with Asian-Style Pineapple Sauce is gorgeous. The flavor must be wonderful too as I love all the ingredients that you used. 🙂 LOL…usually I’m the one “screaming” at the dining table.
My In-Law loves fishing and the last time he brought back so many halibut fillets and I made many dishes out of them. I can’t wait to get more “free” halibut…but mean while, I’ll take your suggestion and get some from Costco to make this recipe, soon. 🙂 Have a lovely weekend.
Thank you so much Amy! So jealous you have access to just-caught fish! I’m not a huge fan of fish, but I had to make an exception for this. It’s so flavorful and tastes really luxurious. You should still have a few weeks to get fresh fish from Costco. I think most of their wild-caught fresh fish is limited to the summer season. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!! 😀
Nice and simple, tasty and healthy!
Thanks Kevin!
Halibut is such a great fish – one of my favorites. This pineapple sauce looks fabulous! I gotta try this – thanks so much.
One of my favorites too! Thanks John!
I also should eat more fish (a big sigh!). I love all the fish varieties (apart from salmon, I know I’m one of the rare people), but I somehow don’t buy it often enough… Your halibut looks excellent and I love the sauce idea. I wonder… if I put a tablespoon of gochujang into it, it shouldn’t be bad 😉 Just joking! It looks perfect as it is.
I’m with you. I don’t know why I don’t cook fish as much I do other proteins. It might be because I would rather get my fish via sushi than the cooked variety! Many in my family don’t really care for salmon either. But you like the sushi kind though right? 😀 BTW, I make black cod with gochujang. Really good! Hope you are well Sissi!
WOW – that does sound good! Halibut is one of my favorite saltwater fish, right behind salmon (which I guess could be fresh water fish as well). We usually grill ours, but I love this recipe for the winter, when grilling is not that appealing. That basting sauce sounds irresistibly delicious! Aren’t husbands great for scaring the crap out of us? 🙂
Thanks MJ! Salmon and halibut are the fish that I cook the most. They taste good without much work. 🙂 And so true about husbands. We (more him than me) had a good laugh! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
I saw this on G+ and really love it! Halibut is delicious, and I really like the pineapple sauce. That sauce alone will get so much attention from the kids! 🙂
Thank you Nami! I think it would be great for kids as my husband is sort of like a kid and loved it. 😀 I hope you and your family enjoy it!
haha, that’s funny, my husband can do the exact same thing – yell for no (apparent) reason. Almost gives you a heart attack! Looks delicious though, and I’m sure I would have yelled as well 🙂
Thanks Yvonne! Yeah, they can be odd that way. I can tell you that this wasn’t the first time he almost gave me a heart attack. And it often times involves food. 😀
Dang looks so delicious! I love how it’s so simple, yummy, and healthy (like all your other recipes). I totally want some! The flavors sound amazing.
Thanks Miss Kim! It’s our favorite fish dish of the moment. We have it quite often. Give it a try. It’s so quick and easy. I hope you’re having a wonderful week!