I had “minor surgery” on my gum yesterday morning and the dentists recommend that I eat a “soft diet” for a few days until the stitches heal a bit. I had some pospas or lugaw (congee) for lunch and dinner yesterday, and half a ripe papaya for a snack somewhere in between. It helped that I was high on pain killers and had an ice pack on my cheek for most of the afternoon and evening, but two consecutive pospas meals is about all I can take. :) So today, I decided to cook myself both lunch and dinner while trying to keep the spirit of a “soft diet” in mind. I remembered we had two large fillets of dapa (our version of sole or flounder type of flatfish) in the freezer, so I had the main ingredient for my “soft diet” dishes…

For lunch, I did a take on lemon sole (or sole meuniere), by just seasoning the dapa fillets (dry well with a paper towel first) with salt and pepper, then lightly dredging them in flour, and pan-frying briefly in butter until just cooked through. I removed the fillet and made a quick sauce with the butter in the pan, the juice of one lemon, and some chopped parsley and thyme. Drizzle this over the fish and enjoy. It certainly was soft, but for “sick food,” uncharacteristically delicious. I like dapa a lot, and while not as delicate as a true sole, it’s pretty darned good. Will have to remember to prepare this dish more often — it’s easy, quick and relatively economical.

For dinner, I was yearning for some “brighter” flavors, and I still had the other half of the fish so I scrounged around the fridge and pantry and came up with this simple, quick and incredibly flavorful dish… I seasoned the dapa fillet, dredged lightly in flour and seared the fish in a pan with hot olive oil. After 1 minute or slightly less, I turned off the heat, then flipped the fish over onto some thin slices of jamon serrano, then quickly added some chopped sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, grilled red and yellow peppers and ripe cherry tomatoes into the pan. Top with more jamon serrano and place in a hot oven for say 2 minutes more. Take it out, sprinkle with some fresh flat leaf parsley and basil and drizzle with just a touch more olive oil if necessary. This was a surprisingly good dish. The jamon serrano got a bit hard and crisp (NOT good on a soft diet, but great otherwise) and provided the salty touch, the fresh and sun-dried tomatoes were just warmed through and provided an fresh slightly acidic burst of flavor, the bell peppers the sweetness and the herbs more flavor. Shallots and garlic would have been a nice addition. With a bit of bread to sop up the oil and juices and you are in dinner heaven in less than 10 minutes! For some reason, salty pork and seafood are a wonderful match… So much for boring and bland “soft diets”! :)

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Bottom dwellers, these fish lie flat on soft seabeds, awaiting their prey. Over eons, they have evolved so that one side faces up and both eyes are on that side. Imagine if I slept for a few thousand years on my stomach, would my eyes move to the back of my head?

This beautiful specimen was purchased at the Seaside Mart in Baclaran. It was P200 a kilo and it yielded four nice fillets on a fish that was about 1.5 kilos. Thus each fillet was roughly P75. Many foreigners, particularly Europeans look for whitefish fillets such as sole and have sometimes never seen the whole fish. While dapa (whether flounder or more sole like forms) is not as buttery as European sole, they are a good substitute. I find that the meat is very white, flaky and delcious. It is an excellent foil for a lemon butter sauce. If you purchase several dapa at the same time, you can fillet them then either cook immediately or freeze for up to several weeks..

Dapa with lemon butter sauce. Dry dapa fillets with a paper towel and lightly dredge in flour with salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat up a pan and add lots of butter (I prefer unsalted). Fry the fillets briefly until just slightly colored and turn over. When the fish is cooked, remove to platter. Put pan back on the flame, add the juice of 2-3 lemons, add more butter, chopped Italian parsely and pour over the dapa fillets. Serve with boiled new potatoes or steamed rice. Fast, easy and delicious.

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