Blackened Tuna

Tuna is probably one of the best fishes for blackening and by wonderful coincidence, no way of cooking tuna is better than blackening. The thing to know is that blackening fish (or anything else) creates a terrific amount of smoke and possibly flames. Best done outdoors over a very hot fire. - it can't possibly be too hot. A red-hot cast iron frying pan is ideal but you probably will not get it that hot.

You need

4 tuna steaks, about 300g each, cut at least 2 cm thick (but better if thicker.)

100 ml white wine

3 dashes. Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon paprika (sweet or hot)

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon salt

250 g melted butter

6 tablespoons softened butter

Cut off any dark parts of the tuna and discard.

Mix the wine, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and garlic in a broad bowl. Place the tuna steaks in this mixture for about thirty seconds on each side. Shake off excess marinade and reserve the tuna.

Strain the remaining marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce by half. reserve.

Place a large cast iron frying pan over the hottest heat source you have. The pan is ready when the surface is smoking.

Combine the paprika and pepper with the salt in a bowl. Coat both sides of the fish liberally. Spoon melted butter over both sides, enough for it to drip a bit.

Place the fish into the hot skillet. BE CAREFUL! There is a very good chance that this will flame up briefly, most definitely there will be a lot of smoke. Don't touch the fish for a minute, or you will break the crust. After a minute or so it will break free when lifted with a spatula. Turn it and cook the other side the same way. Spoon a little more butter over - It should be pink in the center.

To make a lemon butter sauce, reduce the marinade by half, then remove from the heat. Mount the softened butter in this sauce a tablespoon at a time until it is creamy.

Serves four.

Kingklip with Black Butter

Kingklip is a Southern Hemisphere fish, found in South African waters (which you might expect, as “kingklip” is an Afrikaans word) and off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America, where is is called congrio or cusk eel. This fish is available as fillets in supermarkets worldwide, but any firm white fish can be used, as long as it is not too oily. Also works for skate wings, if you like them. This does not take more than 30 minutes, including prep.

Ingredients:

1 Onion,

salt,

Bay leaves,

6 Black peppercorns,

Kingklip fillets, about 500g,

1 teaspoon capers, rinsed,

6 tablespoons butter,

1 tablespoon wine vinegar,

Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley.

Put 1 litre of water to boil, in a shallow saucepan, throw in the thinly sliced onion, a few bay leaves, the peppercorns and a teaspoon of salt. When it boils, slow it down to a simmer and leave it for 10 minutes. Slide the fillets into the simmering water, and cook for 10 minutes per 2 cm of thickness.

Melt the butter in a small frying pan, and let it foam and darken to a nut brown. you should be able to smell the nutty smell. Careful not to burn it. A stainless steel uncoated pan is best for this. Add the vinegar and a large pinch of finely chopped parsley, swirl, and immediately pour the whole lot over the fish. A squeeze of lemon and it is ready.

Dishwasher Salmon

I thought I would do something unusual here. Poaching fish in the dishwasher is a virtually foolproof way to shock your friends, prepare a succulent meal and do the dishes -- all at the same time. I tried it yesterday, trust me, it works. Pretty sure you can do this with other fish as well. You could probably also use ziplock bags, one small one for each piece

Dishwasher Salmon

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 (180g) salmon fillets, about 2 cm thick.

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heavy-duty aluminum foil

Cut two 30 cm square sheets of aluminum foil.

Oil the shiny side of the foil. Place two fillets side by side on each square, and fold up the outer edges.

Drizzle one tablespoon of lime juice over each fillet. Season with salt and pepper.

Fold and pinch the aluminum foil extra tightly to create a watertight seal around each pair of fillets. Make sure the packet's airtight by pressing down on it gently with your hand. If air escapes easily, rewrap.

Piquant Dill Sauce - This sauce will add some bite to your catch.

1 tablespoon butter

1 leek, white part only, finely chopped, then thoroughly washed

2 spring onions, minced

1 jalapeno or other green chili, seeds and membranes removed, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

125 ml chicken stock

150 ml lightly packed fresh dill, stems removed before measuring

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

A little salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tablespoons sour cream

Melt butter over medium heat in saute pan.

Add leek, shallot, jalapeno and garlic, sauteing about five minutes or until the leek and shallot are translucent but not brown. Reduce to medium heat and add chicken stock. Simmer, uncovered,15 minutes. (Adjust heat as required to maintain simmer.) The liquid should reduce by half.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Transfer to a blender or food processor and add dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Puree until smooth. Reserve and reheat just before serving. Stir in sour cream at the last minute.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COOK A WHOLE FISH!

Place fish packets on the top rack.

Add dirty dishes and lemon-scented soap. This optional step is not recommended for novices. However, as long as the salmon’s tightly sealed in its aluminum foil packet, it won’t absorb any soapy taste or smell.

Set dishwasher to the “normal” cycle. Modern dishwashers have “economy” and “cool dry” settings, which are undesirable since they conserve heat. However, on the other end of the spectrum, the “pots and pans” setting tends to overcook the fish. Run salmon through the entire wash-and-dry cycle — approximately 50 minutes for most models. When cycle’s complete, take salmon out, discard foil, place one fillet on each plate and spoon a generous serving of dill sauce on top.

From winexmagazine - Bob Blumer, thanks Bob

Prawns with Tomatoes, Chilies and Pepper

Sorry, I have been adrift in the bush with no internet connection. More about that later.

I nicked this Thai recipe from the Seattle Times. It is quick and defintely a keeper. It also was scoffed up before I could get a picture. (camera was still in my luggage) Try it, you will like it.

Ingredients.

60 ml of vegetable oil

30 ml minced garlic

2 red bird's eye chilies, chopped

1 teaspoon of tomato paste

12-16 jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, with tails on

3 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

75 ml Asian fish sauce

100 ml fish stock or water

1/2 ripe tomato, diced

1 spring onion, sliced

1 small handful of cilantro leaves, minced

Then do the following:

Place the oil, garlic and chilies in a wok over medium heat; stir-fry until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste, shrimp and sugar. Toss to combine. Add the pepper, fish sauce, fish stock and tomato. Increase the heat to high; heat to a simmer. Cook until shrimp are cooked through and turn pink, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the shrimp to a serving platter; cook the sauce to reduce, about 2 minutes. Pour over shrimp. Garnish with spring onion and cilantro.

Makes: 4 servings

Pan Fried Salmon with creme fraiche and horseradish

This is a delightfully easy mid week supper dish, you can get this on the table in less than ten minutes with a little bit effort. I served this to Lovely Wife with a small bowl of buttered new potatoes tossed with chives and a simple green salad.

You will need:

4 salmon fillets, skin on
200ml crème fraîche
3 tsp creamed horseradish
Juice from ½ lemon
Splash of tabasco
1 tbsp chopped chives

And then you need to:

Lightly score the skin of the salmon. This will stop it contracting when fried. Generously grind sea salt on the skin and leave it for a couple of minutes.

Heat a frying pan over lowish-medium heat, add 1 tbsp EVOO and when hot place salmon in skin side down. You will cook the salmon for about 80% of the time on the skin side. Fry gently for about 6 or 7 minutes, flip over and cook the other side for about 2 minutes.

Whilst fish is cooking mix together the crème fraîche, horseradish, lemon juice, Tabasco, chives and salt and pepper.

Place a spoon of the creamy sauce in the middle of a plate and place the salmon fillet on top. Serve with the extra sauce in a bowl on the table.

New Orleans Style Barbecued Shrimp

Barbecued shrimp, one of the best dishes in all of New Orleans cooking, is completely misnamed. They're neither grilled nor smoked, and there's no barbecue sauce. It was created in the mid-1950s at Pascal's Manale Restaurant. A regular customer came in and reported that he'd enjoyed a dish in a Chicago restaurant that he thought was made with shrimp, butter, and pepper. He asked Pascal Radosta to make it. Radosta took a flyer at it. The customer said that the taste was not the same, but he liked the new dish even better. So a legend began.

The dish is simple: huge whole shrimp in a tremendous amount of butter and black pepper. The essential ingredient is large, heads-on shrimp, since the fat in the shrimp heads makes most of the flavor. You can improvise on this. Sometime beer or wine is added, but I think it is fine as is.

The amount of butter and pepper in here are fantastic. But understand that this is not a dish you will eat often, although you will want to. You should to try it once, though.

Ingredients

1.5 Kg fresh large shrimp with heads on, about 40 shrimp.

50 ml lemon juice

30 ml Lea & Perrins or any worcestershire sauce.

3 cloves garlic, chopped

45 ml freshly ground black pepper

5 ml salt

750 g butter, softened

30 ml olive oil

15 ml Crystal or Tabasco hot sauce.

1 loaf French bread

This is how you do it.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C.

Devein the shrimp if you wish, rinse them and shake off the excess water. Put them in a large baking dish, and distribute the liquid ingredients over them evenly. Cover with a thin even layer of black pepper. Don`t worry, just do it, it is almost impossible to use too much pepper. Cut the butter into small chunks and distribute evenly over the top. Add salt over this.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Stir. Back in until shrimp are just done. You will have pink shrimp in a reddish-brown sauce. Serve in large bowls with lots of the liquid. No utensils here, use your hands. the bread is for sopping up the juices. Don`t check your cholesterol level for at least a month.

About 4-6 servings.

Pesce all'Acqua Pazzo

You can do this with any kind of really fresh fish, or with shrimp. Or both. I sometimes put in some squid as well. Acqua Pazzo means crazy water, in the language spoken in the boot-shaped country. This goes well with lots of rustic Italian bread. It is easy, quick and delicioso.

Ingredients:

100 ml extra-virgin olive oil (yes, lots)

1 medium onion, cut into 1 cm dice

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

30 ml fresh hot chiles

250 g fennel, cut into 1 cm dice, fronds reserved

1 large can tomatoes with juices, squished by hand

2 cups white wine (Corvo is best, Frascati will do)

125 ml S. Pellegrino sparkling water plus 5 ml salt

16 fresh large shrimp, peeled and heads left intact, or equivalent quantity of fresh fish fillets, cut into pieces. Or a combination.

5 ml Ricard, Pernod or Ouzo.(optional)

Freshly ground pepper

Do it like this:

In a large pot, heat the oil until smoking. Add the onion, garlic, chiles, and fennel and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and light golden brown. Add the tomatoes, wine, and salted water and bring to a boil. Add Pernod if using. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add the shrimp or fish and simmer until cooked through, about 7 minutes. Don't overcook. Check salt. Pour into a soup tureen, garnish with fennel fronds or lots of chopped parsley, and serve with plenty of freshly ground pepper, and Italian bread.

Serves 4 hungry people.

Moqueca Capixaba

Sometimes spelled ~Muqueca~ This is an excellent regional dish from the state of Espirito Santo in Brazil. The locals insist this is the only true version. People from the state of Bahia say theirs is the only true version. Try both and decide which you like best. If you don't like coriander, try it with parsley, but it won't be the same thing at all. But it could be good, haven’t tried it with parsley.

To make the Bahian version, which has a strong West African influence, just add 15 cl of unsweetened coconut milk to the paste, and subsitute dende (palm oil) for the annatto oil on top before cooking, but not on the bottom, use olive oil there. Watch out for the palm oil if you are not used to it. It can have a “cleansing” effect on some people. It does add a distinctive taste and smell, though,

You will need.

• 1 kg of firm fish fillets (bass, snapper, etc) You can also use peeled shrimp or any shellfish

• 2 bunches of spring onions, coarsely chopped

• 2 bunches of coriander, with roots if possible, coarsely chopped.

• 1 large onion, sliced, 1 cm slices

• 5 cloves of garlic (always odd numbers with garlic)

• 4 tomatoes, peeled & sliced 1 cm thick.

• Olive oil

• 2 cc Annatto, ground. (achiote) (Mexican section of the supermarket)

• Malagueta pepper (small bird peppers) Or any hot pepper sauce.

Then you need to:

Wash the fish well and leave it in a bowl in cold acidulated and salted water. Place the garlic, half of the onion, half of the coriander and half of the spring onion and a little salt in a mortar and reduce to a pulp. (or use an immersion blender)

Now, you ideally need a clay dish for this. In Brazil they use a shallow baked clay baking dish. If you don't have one, use a fairly shallow pyrex dish. Or - here's a good use for that Romertopf that has been in the back of the cupboard for 10 years, just leave the cover off. Don't use a metal pot or dish. Pour some oil (a lot, say 15 cl) into the bottom of the dish and spread it around.

Now add the paste from the mortar and spread it around. Take the fish out of the water, shake it dry and spread them in one layer in the dish. OK, turn them over, still in one layer. Add the rest of the coriander, the green onion, the tomato on top of the fish, in that order.

Pour some more olive oil on top. Cover with a cloth and leave the whole thing to stand for about 60 minutes. In the meantime heat the achiote in a little olive oil for 5 minutes and strain. You will have a reddish-brown oil.

Heat the oven to 350° C. Pour the achiote oil on top and place the dish, uncovered, in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Do not stir at all, just shake the dish once or twice during the cooking. Check for salt, and that's it.

This goes well with white rice, and serve hot peppers or hot sauce on the side. and is traditionally served with something called "pirão", which is fish stock mixed with manioc flour and which looks and tastes like glue. You don't want to even think about that.

Serves 4. Of course you will need a Caipirinha to drink with this.

Oh, and Alexander, as you virtually threw down the glove for the definitive chili, I'm up for it, watch this space.

Salmon with Tarragon-Leek Sauce

This is another fabulously easy, very quick and jolly tasty salmon dish. I cut it out of a magazine about 100 years ago and I have no idea which one I am afraid.

Serve this again with some yummy creamy mashed potatoes and mange-tout.


You will need:

4 nice salmon fillets, skin on.
4 tablespoons butter
2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped
150ml cups dry vermouth
150ml cups whipping cream
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon or 1 teaspoon dried

All purpose flour

Additional chopped fresh parsley


And then u need to:


Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large frying pan over medium-low heat.

Add the chopped leeks and sauté until soft and transparent, about 15 minutes.

Add vermouth, turn up heat and boil until the liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, which should take about 5 minutes. Add the cream and boil until thickened to sauce consistency, this will take another 2 minutes or so.

Stir in the chopped flat leaf parsley and tarragon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce into a jug or bowl and cover to keep warm.

Sprinkle the salmon fillets with salt and pepper and then dust them lightly with flour.

Melt the rest of the butter in the frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot add the salmon fillets, skin side down, to the pan and cook until opaque in center. About 80% of the cooking time should be on the skin side.

Once done transfer the salmon to warmed plates and spoon the sauce over each filet. Sprinkle with additional parsley and serve.

Salmon Fillets with Honey-Hoisin Glaze

I made this last night and was delighted with the result. Very, very simple but really very tasty.

I served it with my creamy mashed potatoes and some sautéed leeks. You could just as well serve this with some noodles or rice.


You will need:

4 salmon filets, skin on
4 tbsp hoisin sauce
4 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp mirin
Juice of a fresh lime
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2cm square knob of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine
A good handful of chopped fresh coriander
1 red chilli chopped fine


And then you need to:

Mix the glaze ingredients in a large shallow dish and throw the salmon in. Turn them over a few times to give them a really good coating. Leave for about ten minutes.

Preheat your grill until very hot. Line the grill pan with foil and place salmon on top, skin side up. Not too close to the fire.

Grill on the skin side for about 5 minutes, then turn and grill on other sides for about 2 mins each. You want the fish to still be very moist inside. Do watch the fish the glaze will burn quite easily. You should plan for about 80% of the cooking time to be on the skin side. The reason why I always buy fillets with the skin on is that if the skin does burn you can just peel it off and no one is any the wiser!

In a small saucepan gently heat the glaze sauce until bubbling slightly.

Spoon the mash into the middle of the plate, place salmon fillet on top and drizzle some of the heated glaze sauce around.

Voila!

Warm Potato Salad with Smoked Haddock

Sometime ago whilst back in the UK we visited a beautiful Suffolk coastal town called Orford. Of course it was raining.

Orford is well known to foodies for having two traditional smokehouses and producing very fine, locally caught, smoked fish of all description. Actually they seem to smoke everything for in the little shop were big blocks of smoked cheddar, smoked cod roe, smoked hams, even smoked garlic bulbs, but it was for the fish that we had come. I bought some smoked haddock, smoked mackerel and my favourite, kippers (smoked herrings) and then had to figure out what to do with them!

With the haddock I decided to do a big platter of a warm potato salad as a sort of light lunch and it was yummy. I got the idea for the recipe out of a Woman&Home magazine which is rather embarrassing so I’ll keep that bit quiet.

This dish is a bit of a fiddle putting together but it is very, very easy, and I have to say, it is really divine.

You will need:

1 smoked haddock filet per person
500g of new potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed. Cut any largish ones in half.
4 baby gherkins, chopped roughly
Small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
4 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped into quarters
1 tsp capers, chopped
Small amount of chopped fresh tarragon or fresh dill would also be good (optional)


Dressing:

1 egg yolk
2 cloves garlic (blanched for 2 mins and mashed with fork)
2 anchovy filets
Juice of half a lemon
1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
½tsp Worcester sauce
150ml EV olive oil
50g grated gruyere cheese

And then you need to:

Boil the potatoes in salted water until cooked, drain and set aside.

Make the dressing by either whisking in a bowl or in a food processor. First add egg yolk, anchovy, mustard, mashed garlic and Worcester sauce. With blade running or your arm whirring slowly add EV olive oil until all incorporated. Then, whilst still whisking add the grated gruyere cheese.

Stir in chopped gherkins, parsley (and other herbs if using) and the capers.

Gently poach the haddock in a small amount of milk, and when warmed through drain and flake into largish pieces.

In a bowl toss the potatoes with the dressing. Get your platter and spoon potatoes on the plate. Arrange the quartered boiled eggs around the side and spoon the flaked haddock all over the top of the potatoes. If there is more dressing left spoon some more on top. Serve whilst all still warm and delicious.

If you want a bigger garlic hit rub a cut raw clove over the bottom of the plate before putting the potatoes on it.

Maple Hot-Smoked Darne of Scottish Salmon

I have discovered that you get an even better result if you make a foil 'saucer' for the fish, instead of placing it directly on the grill - prevents the skin side from burning and lets the smoke cook the fish more evenly.

Ingredients

• 1 side of fresh Scottish salmon, skin on
• Salt, for brining (sufficient to completely cover salmon)
• Maple wood chips, soaked in water

Marinade

• Maple syrup
• Scottish (single) malt whisky

First, remove the 'pin bones', that row that runs along the lateral line of the fish. This is easily done with your best needle-nose pliers, or if your partner is the sort to use your good razor to shave her legs, her nice new eyebrow tweezers would work equally well.

Once de-boned, place the fish in a glass dish, and cover with salt. After 1 hour, remove from salt, wash off any excess, pat dry with paper towels and place in marinade for up to 4 hours. The salt will have drawn off some of the moisture, and this will be replaced by your marinade, intensifying the finished flavour.

To hot-smoke, use a Cobb or kettle-type barbecue. Light a small quantity of charcoal and wait until it goes white, then cover with well soaked maple chips to produce smoke. Place fish on grill and cook covered for around 30 minutes or until cooked through – the fish will be firm and take on a rich colour.

Guest barbecue guru: EyeOnDubai

Creamy Risotto with Prawns

My lovely Wife loves risotto, and that would be love with a capital ‘L’ as well. She will inevitably order it on a menu if she sees it but more often than not she is disappointed with the results. Risotto seems to veer between a dry lumpen mess to a soggy pile of ooze, or between a pile of plain rice with nothing in it to a pile of vegetables through which you might be lucky to catch a glimpse of the odd grain of rice.

Done well risotto is a dish of perfection; a soft, creamy pile of just so slightly al dente grains with a few nuggets of mushrooms, vegetables or seafood gently stirred through it. My delight with risotto was reignited by the dish we had at ‘Le Manior aux Quat’ Saisons’ in the summer, it was a risotto of summer vegetables and even now, some months later, I am salivating at the thought of it.

Usually risotto is made with Arborio rice which is a medium grain rice named after the town in the Po Valley in Italy where it is grown. The grains are short and stubby and due to its high starch content this variety is absolutely perfect for making risotto.

There are two other types of grain suitable for making risotto: carnaroli and vialone nano and all three types can be bought quite easily in Dubai.

Risotto is one of those fantastic dishes that you can really play around with, below is my prawn version and it incorporates delightful flavours like the aniseed from the pernod and fennel which goes so well with seafood, but there are so many other ideas that you can try. Another favourite is a mushroom risotto with a lovely pile of curls of parmesan on top. If you want to try this use mushrooms that won’t ‘bleed’ too much. Look for button, chanterelle of course, shitake is okay but the king would be porcini. Using something like a portobello mushroom would result in a black, goopy mess!

Anyway, enough rambling, here we go.

Ingredients (serves 2)

200g Arborio rice (do NOT wash)
300ml chicken stock (good quality-homemade)
200ml white wine
2 tbsp Pernod
2 tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded and chopped into small cubes
50g frozen peas
1 onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
100g frozen or fresh prawns, de-shelled. Thaw if frozen.
½ tsp fennel seeds
50ml double cream, or for a creamier result, about 2 tbsp of mascarpone
Small handful of chopped flat leaf parsely

Making risotto is a slow, gentle process though it is quite possible to have a lovely bowl of it on the table within 45 mins from the minute you walk into the kitchen. However, what it does need is concentration, walking away from the saucepan to attend to something else is going to end in tears.

•In a large saucepan (give yourself plenty of room) over a lowish heat melt a good size knob of butter and about 2 tsp EV olive oil.

•Once melted add the onions, garlic and fennel seeds and gently cook them for about 6 minutes of so until they are translucent and soft.

•Add half the chopped tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. They will break down and form a sort of paste.

•Add the rice and stir gently to ensure a good thorough coating all over the grains.

•Add the pernod and about half of the wine.

•Gently stir the rice until the liquid has mostly been absorbed. It is important to keep the rice moving so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

•Add the rest of the wine, continuing to stir.

•When absorbed slowly add the stock, a little bit at a time. When getting a little dry add some more.

•After about two-thirds of the stock has been added, thrown in the peas, rest of the chopped tomatoes and the prawns. Stir gently and slowly add the balance of the stock.

•Keep tasting the rice, adjust seasoning, and when you feel that the rice is cooked to your liking (it needs to still be a little al dente), add the cream or mascarpone. Give a final gentle stir, add some chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately.

Baked Salmon with Nori and Wasabi mashed potatoes

This recipe is a ‘work in progress’ and I continue to tinker around with. I served it on Thursday night to some friends and it was very well received so I thought I would post it up.

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 salmon fillets, skin on.
2 full sized sheets of nori (japanese dried seaweed)
200ml teriyaki sauce
1 tsp sesame seeds

2 large leeks, washed and cut into thin rings
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Mashed potatoes (as per this recipe)
1 tsp wasabi paste (or more)

Put the salmon in a freezer bag, pour in the teriyaki sauce, seal and leave for at least two hours.

In a large frying pan heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium heat, throw in the leeks and garlic and saute until they are a little soft, about 5 minutes.

Once cooked tip them into a baking dish and spread them evenly over the bottom.

Cut each of the nori sheets in half and using a bowl of cold water dip them in for 1 or 2 seconds to soften them slightly. Lay flat on a board, remove salmon from marinade (reserve the liquid) and place one salmon filet on each. Gently roll the nori around the fish. Place all four fillets in a line on top of the leeks and sprinkle the sesame seeds all over the top of the fillets.

Heat oven to 200C/400F and cook salmon for 20-25 minutes.

In the meantime pour the reserved teriyaki marinade into a small saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce to about one-quarter of volume until it is quite thick and syrupy. If you also want to add 50ml of mirin or some dry sherry to give it a bit of a lift please go right ahead!

Once the fish is in the oven make the mashed potatoes and add the wasabi along with the butter, philly, cream etc. Taste, add more wasabi if necessary.

I have used wasabi paste from a tube as that was all I could find at the time but it is not as ‘hot’ as the stuff made from a powder. I used almost the whole tube for ten people though one night and it was still very mild. If you are using the powder make up a paste with an equal amount of cold water. One heaped tsp of paste made from powdered wasabi is enough for four people, you want just a hint in the mash, not a sinus clearing explosion!

Spoon mash into the middle of four warmed plates, spoon leeks on top of the mash and then place one salmon fillet on top of each. Drizzle the thickened teriyaki sauce around and serve immediately.

It looks fabulous, the nori keeps the salmon lovely and moist so it tastes great and as you can see it is so very, very easy.

Grilled Prawns with Clam Sauce, Macau Style

We used to visit Macau a lot from Hong Kong and almost always to go and eat at a fantastic little restaurant called “Fernando’s” which was situated on a black sand beach on the last of the three islands that make up Macau. This restaurant was very unprepossessing, the front of it was the usual Macanese style of open to the elements, plastic tables and chairs, TV blaring in the corner and overhead fans whirling lazily. However, those in the know, would march straight through to the back where it opened up into a lovely little garden, a wood and brick circular bar and a large, light and airy restaurant with checked table cloths and a big log fire burning in the cooler months. On your way through to the back you would pass the open kitchen which had charcoal pits ablaze over which would be roasting suckling pig and ‘road kill’ chicken (as we used to call it!). Pots of soup and sauces would be on the boil, particularly the famous Portuguese soup, caldo verde, but most importantly of all would be the buckets of huge king prawns and the utterly delicious, garlicky, spicy ‘clam sauce’. Luckily the table would be generously served with home made, rustic bread so that not a drop of the clam sauce would escape.

I asked the owner, Fernando himself, for this recipe on many occasions and he would just smile, tap his nose and basically tell me to bugger off. Now I have tried, over many years, to perfect this recipe and I reckon I have got it pretty close. And because I am such a nice guy I am going to share it with you all. Here goes:

You will need

1 kg large prawns, head and legs off, tail and shell on. Give them a good wash.
1 kg Clams in shells
200ml White Wine
1 Onion chopped
1 bulb Garlic, each clove crushed and roughly chopped
1 Thai chilli, chopped (or more)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
1 big handful chopped coriander
2 tsp sugar

And then you have got to:

Give the clams a wash and drain them in a colander.

Heat a splash of EV olive oil in deep saucepan, add about five cloves crushed garlic, stir for a minute or two and then add wine. When wine is boiling add claims, put lid on saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 5 mins.

Drain clams but RESERVE COOKING LIQUID and then pick clam meat out of shells.

In another saucepan heat 1 tbs EV olive oil, add onions, chilli and rest of the garlic. Stir over medium heat for about two minutes and then add the tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, clam meat, clam/wine liquid, sugar and three-quarters of the coriander.

Cook over low-medium heat for about ten minutes or so until it thickens slightly. It needs to be sort of thick soup consistency. Put the sauce into a food processor and whiz until quite smooth, don’t try and finely puree it, it should have a few little bits of garlic and clams through it.

Grill prawns over BBQ until cooked and place on a large shallow serving dish

Stir remainder of chopped coriander into sauce and pour over prawns.

This is a messy dish to eat, prawns to be picked up with fingers and pulled apart. Lots of finger licking, bread mopping and a huge pile of discarded shells in the middle of the table! Serve with a crisp green salad with a classic vinaigrette and lots of farmhouse-type bread to mop up the yummy sauce.

Pan Fried Salmon with ‘northern-style’ Chinese noodles

Northern-style noodles are served cold and I suppose are a close relative of the famous Sichuan ‘dan-dan noodles’ though without the fiery kick in the head that the Sichuan version often provides!

The recipe for the noodles is an adaptation of a Ken Hom version.

Ingredients (for four persons)

For the Fish:

• 1 salmon filet per person, skin on.
• 1 good sized knob of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine
• 3 cloves garlic chopped fine
• 150ml mirin or sherry
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc nam)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce


For the Noodles:

• 350g dried or fresh egg noodles
• 2 tbsp Sesame oil
• 3 tbsp finely chopped Spring onions to garnish

For the sauce:

• 3 tbsp sesame paste or creamy peanut butter
• 2 tsp finely chopped root ginger
• 2 tsp chilli bean sauce
• 3 tbsp Chinese white rice vinegar or cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns (if you have them)
• 2 tsp groundnut oil
• 1 tsp Sesame oil

And then you need to:

In a freezer/sandwich bag put the fish and the marinade ingredients. Let to sit for at least an hour.

Bring to the boil a pan of lightly salted water, when ready throw in dried noodles and cook for 3 mins.

Drain noodles and plunge into cold water. Drain again and tip into large mixing bowl. Add 2 tbsp sesame oil and give them a toss. Set aside.

Mix all sauce ingredients together and whisk with a fork.

In a frying pan heat some groundnut oil over a medium or medium low heat. You must not have this too hot otherwise the fish will burn very quickly from all the sugars in the mirin.

Place salmon skin side down and cook for about 2 mins. Flip over and cook for about another 1 min.

To serve noodles, pour the sauce on top and toss well, put into four bowls and then garnish with the spring onions. Place cooked salmon filet on top of the noodles. Serve straight away.

Salmon Fishcakes, with an Asian Twist

Asian style fish cakes tend to be a bit rubbery, and I don’t mean rubbery as in the way a HK Chinese chap would say “lovely” but rubbery in the way that they bounce. High.

This recipe is straight from camp Ken Hom’s “Travels with a Hot Wok” and it is all about English styled fish cakes but with Asian flavours. These fishcakes are really damn good and very easy to make.

Ingredients, serves 6 as a starter or 2 hungry people as a main course:

• 250g salmon fillet
• 175g breadcrumbs
• Small handful of finely chopped Coriander
• 3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 2cm square of fresh Ginger, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Mirin
• 2 Spring Onions, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp fish sauce (nam pla)
• 2 eggs
• Plain flour

For the sauce:

• 150ml, Plain yoghurt
• Cucumber
• Mint

And then you need to:

Place the salmon in a shallow bowl, pour on the mirin and half of the chopped ginger. Leave to stand for about 30 mins.

Place the bowl of salmon in a steamer over a saucepan of boiling water and steam for about 15 minutes until cooked.

Drain the salmon from the cooking liquor, flake into small pieces with a fork, discard any bones you might find and tip salmon into a large glass bowl.

To the salmon add 100g of breadcrumbs, garlic, rest of the ginger, spring onions, coriander, fish sauce and the olive oil. Add a good grind of fresh pepper and mix well.

On three separate plates put the flour, the eggs (beaten) and the rest of the breadcrumbs.

Shape the salmon mixture into circular cakes. You should get about 6 out of this amount. I make mine about 3 cm (1.5inches) thick.

Heat a large frying pan over high heat and add 2 tbsp peanut (groundnut) oil. When very hot turn heat down to low.

Immediately dip fishcakes first into the flour, then the beaten egg and then the breadcrumbs, making sure both sides are well covered. Place fishcakes into frying pan.

Cook for about eight to ten minutes on each side. Don’t keep poking or moving them around, just let them cook away nicely and turn them carefully after about eight or so minutes.

To make the sauce finely chop some cucumber and some fresh mint leaves and stir into a good dollop (150ml) of plain fresh yoghurt. You could add some crème fraiche, some mayonnaise, some Tabasco, some horseradish or whatever else takes your fancy.

Serve fishcakes with a fresh green salad (frisee leaves work well, though something bitter like radicchio would also be nice) with a sharp vinaigrette dressing, and a bowl of the yoghurt sauce on the side.