Caramelized Ginger Sole with Kecap Manis and Green Beans

I've been looking for a recipe to use with this frozen sole that's been sitting in my freezer forever, and I finally got an idea from the Banana Leaf menu when we were there last week.

Here's the menu description:

Alaskan Black Cod in Caramelized Ginger Sauce with "Kicap Manis" / $20: Alaskan black cod steak topped with "Malaysian black sweet sauce" with caramelized ginger, garlic & shallot, enriched by Chinese wine.

If I didn't already own kecap manis because of last summer's cooking class, I might have thought this sounded exotic. But because I knew what it was, instead I thought: I can make this.


My own version:

Caramelized Ginger Sole with Kecap Manis

Ingredients
olive oil
2 shallots, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
roughly the same amount of ginger, finely chopped
1/2 cup Bianco Vermouth
1 Tbsp Kecap Manis
1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp butter
3 sole fillets, salted & peppered

Directions
Sweat shallots in olive oil until translucent. Add ginger and garlic; slowly let brown, occasionally deglazing the pan with 1 Tbsp or so Vermouth as needed (so ingredients don't burn).


Pour in the remainder of the Vermouth, let the alcohol cook off for a minute, then add the kecap manis and reduce. If more liquid is required, add water; reduce.


In the meantime: cook sole fillets in butter in another pan over low heat (perhaps covering it at some point), until flesh flakes.

Smother fish with sauce and serve on a bed of green beans.

Note: I was afraid to overdo it with the kecap manis, but next time I might double the amount and also add more water, so I have a bit more liquid. Also. I used Bianco Vermouth but any kind of white wine or dry Vermouth is probably good.