Sweet & Sour Halibut

This grilled halibut gets a sweet-and-sour treatment that works far better than you’d expect on a mild white fish. The glaze is a quick stir-together of brown sugar, rice vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Simple pantry ingredients that balance sweet, tangy, and savory in one coat.

The smart move here is reserving a quarter cup of the glaze before the fish goes in. That reserved portion stays clean and gets spooned over the finished dish as a fresh sauce, while the rest works as a marinade. No double-dipping, no food safety worries.

Grilling the bell peppers alongside the fish chars and sweetens them, and those smoky pepper strips draped over the halibut with julienned scallions make the plate look like it came from a restaurant.

Pro Tips

• Halibut is lean and dries out fast on the grill. Five minutes total, turning once, is all it needs. Pull it when the center is just barely opaque, not flaking apart.
• Spray the grill rack away from the flame to avoid flare-ups from the cooking spray.
• Use a fish spatula if you have one. Halibut sticks to grill grates more than fattier fish, and a thin, flexible spatula slides underneath cleanly.
• The glaze has sugar in it, so watch for burning. Medium heat, not high, prevents the sugar from charring before the fish cooks through.

Variations

• Use salmon or mahi-mahi steaks if halibut isn’t available. Both hold up well on the grill with this glaze.
• Add a splash of sesame oil and sesame seeds to the reserved sauce for an Asian-inspired finish.
• Serve over steamed jasmine rice to soak up the extra sauce.