Ginger and Coriander Marinated Fish

In contrast to the Prawn Fried Rice we had earlier this week, this dish contained all the promising ingredients - soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic, fresh coriander (cilantro). The problem were the quantities - the recipe suggests marinating the fish in a marinade of 1 cup (250ml) soy sauce and a third cup oyster sauce (80ml) for an hour.

Just for comparison: one single tablespoon (15ml) of soy sauce contains 980mg of sodium, approximately half to two-thirds of the daily recommended intake - and then we haven't even mentioned the oyster sauce. Obviously, you shouldn't drink the marinade, or use it for a sauce, but yet you need little imagination to know that a marinade containing more than ten times your daily sodium allowance cannot be a good idea.

All other points are just minor in comparison, I guess. I would never recommend finely slicing a stalk of lemongrass - lemongrass works best crushed, infusing a simmering liquid like a bay leaf. Fresh coriander in a marinade hardly makes any difference, it works much better added to the fish after grilling.

How did it taste? Actually, the blend of ingredients was a good one. If you'd use just a few spoons of soy sauce and even less oyster sauce, adding the coriander just before serving and perhaps omitting the lemongrass - I could see that. We used sardines, which wasn't a good match with the soy sauce - any lean fish would probably work.