I mentioned in a previous post how it is not easy to find good, fresh seafood in Warsaw. But sometimes you get lucky and I picked up a nice swordfish steak. Calling it "steak" is no misnomer. Swordfish meat is extremely dense and robust, unlike white fish like cod that has light, flakey meat. So I thought it would go well with a strong sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 swordfish steak
• 0.5 onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp ginger, grated
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 0.25 cup soy sauce
• 0.25 cup water
• 5 tsp sugar
• corn starch
• cooking oil

Method

• Lightly dust both sides of the steak with corn starch. Some people prefer to skip this step for a "cleaner" steak. I like it because of the texture and it helps thicken the sauce later.

• Add oil to a pan and turn heat to high. We need a very hot pan because we want to sear the surface of the fish as quickly as possible to lock in moisture.
• When the oil just starts to smoke, place the steak in the pan. Sear it until you can see that the edge is starting to cook. This should only take 30-60 seconds.
• Flip the steak and sear the other side the same way.
• When both sides are seared, turn the heat down to medium.

• Cooking fish is both a science and an art. Unfortunately, I'm not versed at either. My method is best described as guessing. Fortunately, swordfish is one of those fish that's harder to overcook. I usually cook it until I can see that all the edges cooked, plus a little estimated time. My estimates are about as good as the added time a football referee adds at the end of the game. (Notice how I said "football" instead of "soccer"? Gosh, I'm so European now!) Swordfish is rather dense, so I estimate on the high side. If in doubt, underestimate, because in my opinion, the fish should be slightly rare in the middle. And you can always cook it some more if it is really underdone. But you can't uncook the fish, barring some quantum miracle.
• Remove the steak onto a plate and throw the ginger, garlic and onion into the pan. Toast them for a minute or so.

• Add soy sauce, water and sugar.
• Stir while simmering this down. You can start on high heat then turn the heat down as it starts to thicken.

• When it becomes syrupy, pour over the steak.
• Garnish the steak with some more fresh grated ginger and sliced onions. When using onions this way, I like to slice them paper thin and soak them for a few minutes to make them milder. Having them thinly sliced also makes them look good because they scrunch up nicely.

This recipe should work equally well with a beef steak or pork chop.