Name: Catfish with Mark Franz’s Black Bean Sauce
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 1 gallon peanut oil; 1 teaspoon salt; 4 whole catfish; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley; ½ cup Chinese fermented black beans, soaked in water 1 hour and drained; 2-ounce piece ginger, peeled, finely chopped; 1 teaspoon Chinese chili paste; 2 tablespoons butter; ½ cup tomato concasse; ½ cup cornstarch; 2 tablespoons sesame oil; 2 cups fish stock; 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Jeremiah Tower's New American Classics

By Jeremiah Tower

Published 1986

About

The first fish we cooked whole and served to the public at the Santa Fe Bar & Grill was viewed with great skepticism by myself (though I loved the idea) and the waiters (who were afraid the public would leave). Mark Franz, one of the chefs, prevailed and created this spectacular sauce, with the help of some favorite memories of Hong Kong, where we introduced the food of the Santa Fe Bar & Grill to the Mandarin Hotel in 1984. The first fish was a pike, and we later u