Cocoa-Orange Catfish

Name: Cocoa-Orange Catfish
Yield: 4 - 6 Servings
Ingredients: 2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 3½ tsp. Morton kosher salt; 1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder; 2 tsp. benne seeds or sesame seeds; 2 tsp. maple sugar or light brown sugar; ½ tsp. caraway seeds; ¼ tsp. dried bird chile flakes or other crushed red pepper flakes; 2 medium oranges; 2 lb. catfish or other skinless whitefish fillets; 5 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

By Nicole A. Taylor

August 11, 2021

Photo by Oriana Koren, food styling by Lillian Kang, prop styling by Jillian Knox

Unsweetened cocoa powder can transform savory dishes. Its luxurious richness adds depth to proteins, like the catfish in this recipe from Nicole A. Taylor, featured in Bryant Terry’s book Black Food. You can swap the benne seeds with sesame seeds and maple sugar with light brown sugar, depending on what you have on hand. Instead of catfish, feel free to use any skinless white-fleshed fish fillet.

What you’ll need

Fish Spatula
$18 At Amazon
Rimmed Baking Sheet
$32 At Amazon
Large Bowl
$27 At Amazon

Recipe notes

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