Last week I went to Kabab Express for the first time in a while, and wanted to try a beef kabab. I’ve had their delicious chicken kababs and koobideh kababs, but not the beef yet. So I went back again today to try a beef kabab, but Jawid told me they usually only have chicken and koobideh kababs.
But Kriss, the other guy in the cart who does much of the grilling, said they had barbecued fish today. It wasn’t fish in bbq sauce, but rather it was fish grilled over flames, not cooked in oil on a griddle. He held up an order that was in the middle of being grilled, and it looked pretty interesting. The fish was in one of those wire grillers used for barbecues. I decided to give it a try.
Today’s Lunch is barbecued fish over rice ($7) from Kabab Express.
It only took a few minutes to grill the fish, and when it was ready, I asked for brown rice instead of yellow, which I had last week. The yellow rice was good, but I wanted to try the brown rice to change things up.
The fish had been rubbed with spices, and it had an orange color to it. It looked really tasty by itself, so I asked Jawid to put the white and hot sauces on the side of the container.
When I got back to the office, there were two pieces of fish with light charring just around the edges. Kriss really knows how to grill over flame! The kababs I’ve had in the past and today’s fish were all perfectly grilled.
I really like fish, and don’t get it too often because I’m the only one in my house who likes fish. Several vendors have fish cooked in oil on a griddle, or deep-fried for fish & chips, but Kabab Express is the first street vendor I’ve seen who barbecues fish over flames – and the difference was readily apparent.
The fish was still quite moist, and it flaked very nicely, showing a white fish inside that contrasted sharply with the orange color from the spices. Despite the vibrant color, the spices were fairly mild. I’m glad that I didn’t get white and hot sauce on the fish because they would have buried it. I did dip bites of the fish in a little of the white sauce, which picked up the flavor a little. But the hot sauce was way too hot for the mild fish, and I’m glad it was on the side.
I hadn’t had the brown basmati rice here in close to a year, and forgot how good it was. The brown rice was much more complex than the yellow rice, with plenty of interesting Middle Eastern spices and flavors. I would suggest the brown rice for lighter, milder dishes and the yellow rice for dishes with stronger flavors.
Today’s Lunch from Kabab Express was very good. Barbecued fish from a street vendor was definitely something new for me for lunch, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Now if I could only get one of those beef kababs! 🙂
