I bought a slab of shark fillet from the supermarket without any idea on how to cook it. In fact, I had only eaten shark a few times and didn’t have much of a good impression of it but I couldn’t resist buying it as it looked fresh and meaty and it wasn’t expensive too. Shark meat itself is quite firm and lean and its texture is a cross between fish and chicken meat. The ones I’d eaten previously were cooked Chinese style in either salty fermented soy beans (tau cheo) or fermented black beans for a more robust flavour. But as I had some leftover panko in my pantry cupboard which I wanted to use up, I decided to cook this shark in a western way instead.
Panko Crusted Shark Fillet with Lemon Mustard Recipe
Ingredients (serves 2)
1 slab of shark fillet (1″ thick) of approx. 500g, sliced into half
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
zest & juice of 1 lemon
1 heaped tbsp Dijon mustard
1 heaped tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C with fan.
2. Rinse the shark fillet and pat dry with kitchen towels. Transfer to an oven dish and season with salt and pepper.
3. Mix the panko, lemon zest & juice, mustard, garlic and olive oil in a bowl and gently press the mixture on top of the shark fillet.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes till the top turns golden brown and crispy.
Though the shark didn’t look pretty when I took it out from the oven, the end result was better than I expected. The crispy panko on top lent a nice crunch to the otherwise flat-textured shark. The zesty lemon gave a refreshing, citrusy scent to the bland shark and the tangy mustard just made it more flavourful. One tip is to tenderise the shark fillet by pounding it with a mallet to break up the tough fibres so you’d not end up with a piece of chewy, hard shark fillet. Bon appetit!
i thought shark meat tasted like stingray. didn’t know we had to pound on them. hmmm… i usually cook them in assam or curry. this looked like a fantastic alternative 😀
Maybe it’s the cut? Assam sounds good….hmm..shark curry…on my to-cook list now!
This was the alternative the fishmonger sold me when they ran out of stingray. my grands cook shark meat (cubed) with kiam chye and a bit of slivered pork belly.
Oh I like that! Kiam chye and pork belly..so teochew! Shiok!