Smoky Poached Tilapia

If I had to name this dish for a restaurant menu it might be something like 'Fillet of tilapia poached in a bonito infused tomato ragout.' I had stumbled into an Asian market a couple of months ago and picked up a package of dried bonito flakes (aka katsuobushi or hana katsuo.) I had been meaning to use them, but as I have no experience, I didn't know where to start. I knew that bonito flakes are most often used for making dashi, so at first I was thinking of poaching some fish in dashi. However, I soon realized that dashi requires kombu (dried kelp), which we don't have.

I still wanted to use the bonito flakes for something so I decided to make up a new recipe. (Not that fish poached in dashi is a traditional recipe or even a recipe at all.) While tilapia is less flaky than, say, red snapper, the fillet that I had wasn't very thick and I didn't trust it not to fall apart when poaching. I had seen a recipe for fish poached in tomato sauce and thought that a viscous poaching liquid might prevent the thin fillet from flaking to pieces.

I now had a plan: poaching in a simple tomato sauce with added bonito flavoring. Having never used bonito flakes before, I didn't know how strong of a flavor they would have so I tried to keep the tomato sauce as pure and simple as possible. As I found out, the bonito flakes had a very subtle fish flavor but a more pronounced smoky flavor that made the sauce delicious. It was so good that after I had finished eating dinner, I ate the rest of the poaching sauce as a soup.

Smoky Poached Tilapia:
1 fillet of tilapia or similar fish (red snapper, bass, flounder, etc.)
1/2 can of whole peeled tomatoes (3-4 tomatoes plus surrounding juices)
1 shallot, minced
1 cup dried shaved bonito flakes
2 cups water
olive oil
salt and pepper

Put the bonito flakes in a bowl and bring the water to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the bonito flakes, cover the bowl and let steep for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a pot just big enough to hold the fillet, heat 1 tsp olive oil and sauté the shallots until they are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and juices to the pot, crushing the tomatoes with the back of a spoon or your hands. Pour the bonito flavored water into the pot, leaving the bonito flakes behind. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Submerge the fillet as best you can in the sauce. Cover the pot and cook at a gentle simmer for about 10 minutes or until the fish is barely cooked through. Without the fish this could also make a great variation on tomato soup.