The Good Oil - Oily Fish Recipes
Western Australia is indeed the land of plenty. We are blessed by a Mediterranean climate, thousands of kilometres of some of the world's most stunning beaches and oceans that are not only a playground but provide us with a rich, diverse and bountiful harvest.
Our chefs and cooks in the city and up and down the coast have embraced with a passion the availability of such premium fish and seafood, as well as ‘clean, green' vegetables and wines and make a feature of 'regional' foods and wines on their menus.
South West chefs leading this charge are Dany Angove, (Vat 107's Head Chef), Heath Townsend, (Chef and proprietor of two of the best eating houses 'down south', Wise's Winery Restaurant and his latest, the transformation of the Gunyulgup Gallery Restaurant into ‘Otherwise' at Yallingup) and Hamish McCleay (Chef and proprietor of Cullen Dining).
Local fish falls loosely into two categories - the oily fish such as Spanish mackerel, herring and sardines and fish with delicate white flesh such as the prized reef fish from Northern waters.
Because oily fish are high in Omega 3 oils, they are good for your heart and your skin but cooking them, with their stronger flavour, can be a challenge.
Hamish McLeay, long-time Margaret River chef, provides us with some insights into oily fish.
"I love cooking fish because of its freshness and the huge variety allows for various styles and flavours to be used. A big part of cooking oily fish is the preparation of the fish, for example herring are so much more palatable when skinned as a lot of the strength of flavour lies just under the skin. I also find oily fish handles marinating, smoking and some of the 'harsher' cooking styles (e.g. BBQing and char-grilling) better than white-fleshed fish.
This is one of Hamish's favourite recipes.
Hamish's BBq'd Spanish Mackerel
(serves 5-6)
Ingredients
4 Spanish mackerel steaks on the bone
4 limes juiced and zested
1/4 cup light soya sauce
Good splash fish sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 soup spoon ginger crushed and chopped
1/4 cup white wine (semillon or sauvignon blanc)
Marinate fish in above mixture 1-2 hours, then prepare the following:
1/4 cup chopped coriander
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 chopped chillies
1 soup spoon sesame seeds
3 to 4 drops sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Juice of 1 lime plus zest
Method
Mix together all ingredients and pat one side of fish steaks and sear on hot BBQ plate with oil, or on char grill, but not for too long as you don't want to burn the herbs.
Turn over and cook for enough time to bring to medium.(do not overcook).
Serve with mixed green leaf salad tossed with remaining mixed herbs.
Dany Angove's food is what I call contemporary Australian , fresh and clean with a well-constructed balance of flavours and textures.
His recipe below uses choice WA swordfish caught in the clean cool waters off Geraldton.
Barbecued Seared swordfish steak
(on warm potato, Vasse asparagus and olive oil salad)
( Serves 4)
Ingredients
4 swordfish steaks, around 160-200 gms each
5 small waxy potatoes (pre-boiled)
20 asparagus spears, blanched in boiling water and refreshed under cold
10 basil leaves
20 pitted kalamata olives
3 lemons
Method
Grill already halved potatoes until golden brown and put on a heated plate
Add a little olive oil to BBQ and sear swordfish for approximately 1 minute either side, seasoning it with sea salt and cracked pepper.
While fish is searing, put asparagus onto chargrill until marked
Lay fish on potatoes topped off with asparagus, basil leaves and halved olives
Just before serving squeeze fresh lemon juice over fish.
This recipe is quick and easy to do on your outside BBQ. You could substitute other oily fish varieties like herring, tailor and even tuna and salmon instead of swordfish.
The wines Dany marries with his swordfish dish are Moss Brothers' Semillon and Voyager Estate Semillon, which has asparagus characters on the nose. In fact Danny suggests any semillon with little oak should go well with this dish.
Chefs must cater for folk who don't eat out a lot or are rather unadventurous in their dish selection and that's why you won't see many restaurant menus featuring strong flavoured 'fishy fish', or oily and bony fish like herring, sardines, anchovies, skippy or gardies. It's just too much plain hard work separating the flesh from the tiny bones.
We have become accustomed to cooking , serving, eating and expecting tender moist fillets of fish- not that there is anything wrong with that.
However, I still love the taste of fresh-caught herring for breakfast.
Tossed lightly in flour seasoned with lemon pepper, pan-fried in a little olive oil and butter until golden brown, some fresh chopped parsley and lemon juice squeezed into the pan and served with lots of thick toast and a good cup of tea - fresh, simple, healthy and flavoursome !
At my old restaurant in Augusta one of the biggest sellers was an entrée dish of smoked Flinders Bay pike fillets, pike being a superb smoking fish, as is herring and river mullet.
Peeling back the skin off Blackwood River smoked mullet reveals a golden layer of very healthy, delicious and not too ‘fishy' oil that lightly coats the moist flesh.
A decade or so ago it was almost unheard of for Anglo-Saxon people to be eating the Australian pilchard, or sardine, but through the passion and enterprise of folk like the Mendolia family of Fremantle, these 'bait fish' have been seen for what they really are......fresh, tasty, flavoursome and healthy.
Smoked or simply marinated in a little chilli oil, or bread-crumbed and gently pan-fried they are a treat.
Heath Townsend from the Wise Vineyard Restaurant shares a fresh sardine recipe with us and says:
"The thing I most enjoy about oily fish is that it is well suited to simple foods. My recipe shows all these attributes.it is quick and simple and most of all refreshing.
“I like to compliment oily fish with fresh warm or cold salads. I cook all my oily fish with a good olive oil, seasoned with Maldon sea salt, cracked black pepper and fresh lime. Oily fish should be enjoyed in moderation.
“Other favourite oily fish cuts are tuna, swordfish and butterfish. Salads that compliment these fish are Nicoise salad, udon or soba noodles.
Heath's Freo Sardines with Greek Salad and Salsa Verde
( Serves 4)
Ingredients
16 sardines fillets
splash olive oil
Method
Sear fillets in a hot pan quickly on both sides
Greek Salad
A colourful mixture of the following diced into 1 cm cubes then gently tossed together; burpless cucumber, roma tomato, a handful of Kalamata olives, fetta cheese and chopped red Spanish onion.
Salsa Verde (Makes 1 cup)
1 large handful of washed parsley
1 tbspn washed capers
3 pickled cucumbers
4 tbspns olive oil
1 tbspn lemon juice
2 anchovies
pepper
Method
Blend in a food processor the oil, cucumber, capers, anchovies and lemon juice, then add parsley. The sauce should be very green and quiet thick. Season to taste with a little pepper. Best used within 24 hours.
To serve the dish, place salad on plate topped with 4 warm grilled sardine fillets and drizzle with a tablespoon of salsa verde and wedge of lime.
One of the nicest ways I have ever eaten sardines was on a sandy beach with a little fire of hot coals. Here we simply wedged whole gutted and salted sardines through some thin lengths of driftwood and slowly grilled them (turning when necessary) on the outer reach of the fire. 'Heaven on a stick', especially washed down with an ice-cold beer
Don's Salad of warm Western Australian sardines
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
16 sardines, heads removed and filleted
10 tbspns olive oil
flour for dusting
1 tbspns coriander seeds, crushed fine
1 tbspns pink peppercorns
4 tbspns unsalted peanuts finely chopped
2 tbspns balsamic vinegar
salad leaves like baby spinach, small cos lettuce hearts, rocket, curly endive and iceberg
cracked black pepper
Method
Heat half the olive oil in heavy-based large frying pan.
Toss the sardines lightly in flour and saute for a few minutes either side until golden.
Drain on paper towels.
In a smaller frying pan, dry-fry the coriander seeds until they smell ‘roasted'.
Add 3 tbspns of olive oil, the pink peppercorns and peanuts, and toss for 30 seconds.
Remove pan from heat, stir in remaining olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
Adjust seasoning.
Arrange mixed leaves on large white plate, place four warm sardines criss-cross fashion on top of leaves and spoon over some dressing
You can substitute fresh lime or lemon juice for the balsamic vinegar and if the dressing is a little tart, add a touch of sugar and blend well.
| Top |
