I love to cook  consequently we do not go out often. When we are out-of-town, on the other hand, I look forward going out and eating out. I look for places that are avant-garde. This allows me to see the different fares that are available out there, other than  what we are exposed to here in Spartanburg. A few months ago, I had dinner in Greenville at Devoreaux – I highly recommend it, very good, very different, it is a new cuisine, very modern, very inventive in its preparation and flavors.  My friend ordered Seared Foie Gras with Oolong Tea. I loved the flavors. In fact I loved the dish so much that I have been dreaming of making something with oolong tea ever since. I wanted to try a recipe with fish, a very fine fish such as Mahi or monk fish. So I have been making those recipes with various teas, and various way but never got the flavors I was looking for until now. In this recipe, the fish is poached in tea and white wine and served over basmati rice.

Ingredients: 1 lb of monk fish cleaned up and diced in 1 inch squares, 1 big red onion or 2 small ones chopped very thinly, 1 cup of white wine, 4 cups of water, 4 tea packets of oolong tea, and 2 tea packet of acai berry pomegranate tea, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, 1 cup of basmati rice, salt and pepper, 2 tbsp of butter.

Place 4 cups of water in a saucepan and bring the water to boil. Place all tea bags in the water to steep for 5 minutes. You will use  2 cups for poaching the fish, and 2 cups as the sauce for the fish to which you will need to add 1 tbsp of sugar.

In a small saucepan, add 2 cups of water, 1/4 tsp of salt and bring the water to boil. When the water if boiling, add the rice, stir and lower the temperature. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Drain the rice, add 1 tbsp of butter, stir and set aside.

In a frying pan, place 2 tbsp of butter and saute the onion until the onion is getting translucent and soft. Remove 1/2 of the onion from the frying pan and place it in a small container. Continue cooking the other half of the onions until they are caramelized and turning brown and crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In a small saucepan, place the soft onion, 1 cup of white wine, 2 cup of tea, 1/8 tsp of salt, 1/16 tsp of pepper and bring to boil. When the water is boiling, add the fish and poached for 5 minutes, or until the fish is becoming translucent. Drain the fish and the onion from the broth and set aside.

To serve, spoon the rice in a shallow plate. Top the rice with the fish and the onions. Place a few caramelized onions atop the fish and add 1/2 cup of the sweet tea. Et Voila….

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!