Balık Buğulaması 
Steamed Fish

Ingredients:

1 kg fish of desired variety
½ c water
½ c olive oil
½ bunch parsley
½ bunch dill
1 lemon, sliced into rounds
Salt, pepper

Optional: sliced onions

Clean fish and arrange in a wide low pot. Mix ½ c water, ½ cup olive oil, salt and pepper and pour over the fish. Sprinkle herbs over fish and then place the lemon rounds over the top. Cover the pot and simmer until the fish is done. If desired, sliced onions can be spread on the bottom of the pot before the fish are added.

The dish may also be baked in the oven.

Domatesli Balık 
Fish with Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 kg Gray mullet, sheatfish, bonito or other such fish
1 c olive oil
3-4 tomatoes or 3-4 T tomato paste
Salt, pepper
Chopped parsley

Add oil and cubed tomatoes or tomato paste. Add salt and pepper and cook until tomatoes disintegrate. Add finely cut, skinned fish to the pot, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve cold, garnished with chopped parsley.

Karides Pilakisi 
Shrimp Pilaki

Ingredients:

½ kg shrimp
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled and cubed (or 2 T tomato paste)
½ c olive oil
2 c water
1 potato, sliced into rounds
1 carrot, sliced into rounds
½ bunch parsley, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt, pepper

Boil shrimp briefly and remove shells, set aside. Saute finely chopped onions in the oil till transparent, add tomatoes or tomato paste and garlic. Add 2 c water. In another saucepan, boil carrots and potatoes. When done, add to the tomatoes, add shrimp. Simmer for 20 minutes, serve garnished with chopped parsley.

Balık Pilaki 
Fish Pilaki

Ingredients:

1 kg.  fish of desired variety
2 potatoes
1 carrot
2 onion
1 leek
½ c olive oil
1 bunch parsley
1 s tomato paste
Bay Leave
2 lemon
Salt, pepper

Clean fish and slice. Rub with salt and pepper and arrange in an oiled pan. Cut the onions in half lengthwise and then into half moon shaped slices. Cube potatoes, carrots and celeriac and sauté in oil with bayleaf for several minutes, add minced garlic and chopped parsley. Add tomato paste, salt and pepper. Pour this mixture over the fish, add the juice of 1-2 lemons and bake at low heat until fish is tender. Alternatively, the lemons may be sliced and arranged over the top; in another variation, sour green grapes may be added to the sauce.

Karides Güveç 
Shrimp Casserole

Ingredients:

500 gr shrimp
1 onion, minced
2-3 tomatoes, peeled and cubed
1 T tomato paste
2 “sivri” peppers, minced (or 1/2 c of any flavorful green pepper)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c grated young kashar cheese
Salt, pepper
3 T olive oil

Boil shrimp, drain, shell, set aside. Saute onion till transparent, add peppers and cook, stirring a few minutes more, add tomatoes and cook till they begin to break down; add tomato paste and mix well. Add garlic, salt and pepper. Pour half of this mixture into a baking dish/casserole. Place the shrimp in a neat layer, then pour in the remainder and bake in a medium oven for 10-15 minutes. Spread grated kashar cheese over the top and bake until the cheese has melted and begun to brown.

P.S. This rich dish is a common hot meze in the fish restaurants of Istanbul. It is typically baked and served in a glazed clay casserole called a güveç. It may be made in small individual casseroles as well.

Kalamar Tava 
Fried Squid

Ingredients:

500 gr squid
2 T flour
1 egg
1 ½ t baking powder
Salt
Vegetable oil for frying

Wash squid, drain and cut into rings. Mix the egg and flour in a bowl, add the baking powder. Dredge the squid in this mixture and fry in hot oil. Drain on a paper towel before serving. Serve with tarator and lemon.

Asma Yaprağında Sardalya 
Sardines Wrapped in Vine Leaves

Ingedients:

1 kg sardines
As many vine leaves as there are fish
2 tomatoes
½ bunch parsley
½ c olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt

If  using preserved vine leaves, wash in water and spread for stuffing, vein side up. (This will be on the inside.) If using fresh, remove stems, then shock in hot water for 10-15 seconds and drain. Scale and clean sardines. Grate tomatoes, discarding peels, and cook together with the garlic and parsley to make a sauce. Put a spoonful of this sauce in each vine leaf, and then place the sardine across the bottom of the leaf. Roll, arrange in the pan and pour the olive oil over. Cook in a medium oven for ½ hour, serve hot.

Balık Çorbası
Fish Soup

Ingredients:

1 red gurnard or gray mullet
¼ c lemon juice
1/3 c rice
1 celeriac root, cubed
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 potato, cubed
2 carrots, grated
1 onion, diced
2 egg yolks
Salt, black pepper

Clean fish, and if there are scales, remove them. Place the fish in a wide pot, and over it put the onion, parsley, 10-12 c water, salt and pepper. Simmer until the fish is tender, then strain, reserving broth, and set the fish and onions aside. Add the carrots, celeriac, potatoes and rice to the fish broth and cook until the vegetables and rice are very tender and falling apart. Cut the fish into small pieces. When the vegetables and rice are ready, pass through a sieve or puree with a blender and bring to a boil, add the fish and let simmer. Whisk egg yolks and lemon together in a bowl. Remove soup from heat, and whisk a ladle of the broth into the egg mixture, then pour back into the soup in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Add the black pepper and serve.