What we ate: Pan fried ocean perch, sauteed Kale and asapargus risotto

Much like pasta, rice also holds a special place in the heart of the Lo household.  Being Chinese, rice is what fuels me and keeps my blood flowing.  Rice is good anytime, for any meal and cooked in any way.  But admittedly, one of my favorite preparations of rice is not Chinese, but the Italian one.  Creamy smoth risotto perfumed with condiments and sharp parmigiano-reggiano.  I just love it.  There are a few misconceptions about risotto and hopefully this post will do away with some of your fears on making risotto.  First of all, it really doesn't take that much time to make, it should take no more than 18 minutes to al dente from beginning of cooking to the end.  That's all you need.  Second of all, you don't need to stand there and stir it constantly. Sure you need to stir occasionally and you need to keep an eye on it, but as long as you have a good heavy bottomed pan, you are golden.  Third, it should be silk smooth and relatively loose.  It should not be clumpy or thick or pasty.  If you serve it on a plate, the risotto should be loose enough to spread flat on the plate. Finely, use the right rice.  You want the short grain variety and something with a high starch content, which will help make your risotto nice and rich.  I commonly see people use arborio rice for risotto but I tend to stay away from that. I think Carnaroli is the best type of rice for risotto, or vialone nano is a very good rice as well, but it can overcook easily.

Risotto is very flexible and acts as a blank canvas.  You can change up the recipes very easily to make different kinds of risotto. You can use different flavored stocks, different veggies, different meats and even different juices (e.g. Chef Massimo Capri's beet juice risotto is a favorite). 

For this post, I have an asparagus risotto that's scented with lemon zest.  This is great served with fish and was a perfect accompaniment to the fresh ocean perch I bought at the market.  I sauteed some kale to complete the dish.

Asparagus Risotto
Half a bunch of asparagus, bottom inch of the stock removed (set aside and used for flavoring chicken stock) and cut into small pieces on a bias
2 shallots finely diced
1 cup of carnaroli rice
1 cup of dry white wine
3 cups of chicken stock
2 tablespoons of cold butter
1 cup of parmigiano-reggiano
zest of 1 lemon

Take the bottom 1 inch stocks of asparagus and add that to chicken stock and bring it to a boil, turn heat down but keep stock hot (this will help impart some asparagus flavor into the stock)
In heavy bottom pan (I use my Le Crueset dutch oven), heat to medium and add about a tablespoon of olive oil.
Add diced shallots and let it sweat out (cook to translucent but  don't let it burn).
Add carnaroli rice and let the olive oil coat each grain of rice, let it cook for a minute or 2 so the rice 'toasts'. 
Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the cup of white-wine and let the white cook down the rice.  Let it evaporate as this will infuse each grain with some white wine.
As wine evaporates, add a couple of ladles of stock and stir the rice a bit, let the stock cook down and evaporate.
Add more stock and continue the process for about 3 - 4 times (this process should take about 16 minutes from beginning to end)
Add your asparagus to the rice after the 3rd time you add stock.
Taste the rice for doneness.  It should have a bit of a bite in the middle (al dente). Then add one more ladle of stock for the last time to risotto so its nice and loose and turn the heat off (the risotto will cook with only residual heat the rest of the way).
Add the cup of cheese and lemon zest to the risotto and stir this vigorously (to whip air into the risotto and make it light and airy).  Risotto should be a bit loose, add a bit of stock if necessary. 
Add butter and continue to stir butter in vigorously until its all melted. (remember to use cold butter).
Risotto is done.

Pan fried Ocean Perch
4 small Ocean Perch fillets - drizzled with salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of capers
2 shallots thinly sliced
juice 1/2 lemon
tablespoon butter

Rinse perch fillets and pat dry with paper towels (make sure fish is very dry or it will stick)
Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Heat heavy bottomed fry pan to medium-high
Add tablespoon of butter and tablespoon of olive oil (butter for flavor and oil to prevent butter from burning)
Make sure butter and pan is hot and add fillets skin side down first.
Fry for 3 minutes (don't fuss and move it around, let it fry as is)
Turn the fish over and fry for 3-4 minutes (total cooking time should be around 7-8 minutes)
Remove fish from the pan and set aside.
Add a bit more butter into the pan, add shallots and let the shallots soften and brown a bit.
Add capers and lemon juice, reduce this a bit and scoop shallots and pan juice on top of the fish fillets.

Sauteed Kale
1 bunch of kale - washed and roughly chopped
1/4 white wine
1 clove of garlic finely diced
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
1 anchovy chopped
olive oil

Heat olive oil in pan at medium-high heat
Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and anchovy and sautee for 30 seconds
Add kale and then deglaze pan with white wine
Sautee for 3 - 4 minutes until kale is cooked and softened.

The mise en place

Timing and plating:
The kale can wait a bit but fish and risotto should never have to sit and wait for each other.  These dishes are best served once its ready.  The key to this is having a properly prepped mise en place before you start cooking. Assemble all your ingredients.  Wash, chop and prep all your ingredients and have it all in once place.

I saute the Kale first and set it aside and keep it warm until its ready to be served.
Start with the the risotto and after the second filling of stock (about 10 minutes in) start cooking your fish.  Remember, its important to keep an eye on the risotto and stir occasionally, but it doesn't need constant attention.  The fish takes about 10 minutes from start to finish and should time out nicely with the risotto.  When you put the fish in the pan, don't touch it, let it fry, which gives you a few minutes to tend to the risotto.

This multi-tasking may take some practice but once you've done it a few times it becomes second nature. Once you've made your fair share of risotto, you'll get to know the timing and temperament of the dish and be able to work around it as you prepare other stuff. 

Enjoy!