Asian Fish with Miso Noodles and Crunchy Veg

I’m just loving Asian flavours at the moment. They tend to wake up so many of the dishes that we have become so use to making. On my menu plans I would often have “Fish and salad” or “Fish and veggies” to try and keep things healthy. I would pop some frozen fish into the oven and roast some veggies or throw together a bit of a salad. And as enjoyable and healthy and quick that was, I was soooo bored with it! This recipe is just as healthy and quick but the flavours just whack you in the mouth and make you feel as though you are eating something very special and some what exotic…

If some of the ingredients look foreign to you, fear not!  You can find them all at a Chinese Supermarket (and even some good supermarkets) If you need names, email me and I can recommend a few in the Johannesburg area. But please don’t be put off by ingredients that you have never used or seen before. Cooking is about being adventurous! And you can trust me with this one!

I used fresh salmon and fresh hake which made a big difference. Don’t use the frozen stuff… your taste buds will thank you.

I really loved the veg combo!! oh my goodness! The difference that a spash of soy sauce, olive oil and lime juice can make to some veggies is just phenomenal, and mixed up with the noodles…. mmmm! A WNNING dish!  Enjoy!! xxx

Fish

2 tsp sesame oil

300g salmon fillet, skin off and pin boned

300g of any white fish fillet, skin off and pin boned

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 lime

1 tbsp runny honey

2 springs fresh coriander

Noodles

1 x 15g sachet of miso paste

2 tbsp low-salt soy sauce, plus extra to serve

5 dried kaffir lime leaves

3 nests of fine egg noodles

1 fresh red chilli

½ a cucumber

200g sugar snap peas

4 spring onions

1 little gem lettuce

200g radishes

1 lime

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• Preheat your oven to 200 C
• Rub half the sesame oil on a small shallow baking dish or ovenproof serving platter.
• Pat both fish dry with kitchen paper, slice them into 1.5 cm-thick strips and arrange randomly around the dish or platter. Cut the Salmon slightly thicker as it tends to cool a little quicker than the white fish.
• Rub gently with the rest of the sesame oil, sprinkle with the sesame seeds and season with salt and pepper.
• Scatter over half the juice, then drizzle over the honey.
• Place in the oven to cook through (about 7 minutes)
• Pour 1 litre of boiling water into a casserole pan with the miso paste, soy sauce, crumbled lime leaves and noodles, making sure they’re fully submerged.
• Slice the chilli and add to the broth. Finely slice the cucumber. Sugar snaps, trimmed spring onions, lettuce and radishes in a food processor.
• Tip the sliced veg into a bowl and dress with the juice of 1 lime, a little soy sauce and the extra olive oil.
• Check the noodles and switch off the heat when they’re done, drain most of the excess liquid, leaving some. Season to taste with soy sauce.
• Pile the veg in the centre of the noodles and toss together at the table.
• Serve the fish sprinkled with coriander leaves.

Recipe and photo by Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

Seared Asian Tuna, Coconut Rice and Jiggy Jiggy Greens

Another one from the fabulous Jamie Oliver! This recipe has rocketed right to the top of my favourites list!

WOW. . .

It was date night on Saturday and I wanted to make my husband something delicious and special for dinner without having to spend hours in the kitchen! (not on date night! come on!) I had planned to do this meal as it seemed to tick all the boxes. It was quick, easy and man oh man…. the flavours!  We were in heaven. The beautiful freshness of the grapefruit juice adds something amazing and the green tea (strange I know) and sesame crust is just to die for.

What a treat!! I just can not recommend this one enough….

Rice

1 x 400g tin light coconut milk

1 x coconut tin (300g) of basmati rice or jasmin rice

1 lime

Tuna

1 x 450g piece of yellowfin tuna steak

2 x green tea bags

1 tbsp black and white sesame seeds (mixed)

Olive oil

Pickled ginger

2 spring onions

1 fresh red chilli

The juice of 1 small pink grapefruit

low salt soy sauce

½ bunch fresh coriander

Greens

2 bok choi

1 large bunch of asparagus (300g)

200g tenderstem broccoli

2 tsp sesame oil, plus extra to serve

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp teriyaki sauce

• Pour the coconut milk, 1 tins worth of rice and 1 tin of boiling water into a small pan. Season with salt and pepper, stir well, cover and cook for roughly 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn the heat off.
• Halve the tuna lengthways, then empty the contents of the tea bags on to a board with the sesame seeds and a pinch of salt and pepper. Roll and press the tuna in the flavours to coat, then put in the frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sear for about 40 seconds on each side, then remove to a plate, leaving the pan on the heat.
• Halve the bok choi, then finely slice in a food processor with the trimmed asparagus and broccoli.
• Put the sesame oil into the frying pan and turn the heat up to high. Squash in the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher, then tip in the sliced greens. Toss and move around for 2 minutes, then season to taste with Teriyaki Sauce and remove from heat.
• Arrange pieces of pickled ginger around a serving platter and about a tablespoon of the juice.
• Finely slice the trimmed spring onions and chilli and sprinkle over the top.
• Squeeze over the grapefruit juice and season to taste.
• Slice the tuna 1cm thick and place on the dressing, drizzle with a little soy sauce, then sprinkle with coriander leaves and a few dribbles  of sesame oil.
• Serve with the rice, lime wedges and greens.

Serves 4

Recipe and photo by Jamie Oliver

Hake Fillets with a Melanzane Twist

I created this dish in one of those ‘stare blankly in the fridge’ moments. It was the end of the month and I only had fish left in the freezer and an aubergine, some parmesan and mozzarella. So I decided to experiment a bit and it turned out beautifully. Ive made it twice now and my family love it !

6 frozen hake fillets

Olive oil

Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

1 fresh lemon, sliced

2 medium onions, sliced

2 medium carrots, grated

1 cup red wine

2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 tin tomato puree

2 Tbsp Banditos sauce (or other chili sauce that you like) – optional

1 handful fresh basil (leaves only, finely chopped)

1 Tbsp sugar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

1 large aubergine (eggplant)

Olive oil or peanut oil to fry

2 or 3 balls of buffalo mozzarella (you can use normal mozzarella)

100g fresh parmesan cheese, freshly grated

A sprinkle of origanum to garnish

–       Preheat your oven to 200 C

–       Line a baking tray with foil and place the frozen hake fillets onto the tray. Sprinkle with a little olive oil, sea salt and pepper and a slice of lemon on each fillet. Bake for about 10 minutes until nearly done. Take out of the oven and set aside.

–       Turn the oven down to 180 C

–       While the fish is in the oven you can start your tomato sauce. Fry the onions in about 2 tbsps olive oil and once they soften a bit add the carrots and fry for a minute and then add the red wine. Allow to cook for about 2 minutes.

–       Add the fresh tomatoes and the tomato puree, sugar, salt and pepper and then simmer gently for about 30 – 40 minutes.

–       While the sauce is simmering, prepare the Aubergine. Cut off the top end and the bottom end and then slice (about 5mm thick). Place the slices in a colander in an empty sink. Cover the slices with some coarse salt and leave like that for 30 minutes) This will draw out any bitter juices and is a very important step.

–       Once that is done. Rinse the slices under cold water and place on some paper towel to get rid of any excess water.

–       In a frying pan, heat about 3 – 4 Tbsp olive oil. When hot, add the aubergine slices and fry until beautifully golden. Place on paper towel to drain. You will have to do this in batches to avoid over crowding in the pan.

–       Once the sauce has simmered form 30 – 40 minutes, Turn the heat off and wither use a hand blender or place it in a blender and blitz to make it smooth.

–       In a large casseole dish, place most of the tomato sauce at the bottom and then put the fish fillets (without the lemon) on top of the tomato sauce. Then layer the fried aubergine slices on top of the fish.

–       Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top of the aubergine and then a few more dollops of tomato sauce. Then cover with sliced mozzarella and a sprinkle of origanum.

–       Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. If the cheese has not turned golden then grill it for a few minutes at the end watching it carefully.

–       Serve with fluffy cous cous

Serves 4

Crispy Thai Fish Salad with a Sweet Lime Dressing

I made this the other night and it was such a great new way of doing fish. I used frozen fish and it worked beautifully. A nice difference to boring old fish and veggies for a mid week meal. This is super easy and so tasty!

For the Salad: 

500g fresh or frozen hake

Olive oil

Coarse salt

1 English cucumber, very thinly sliced

1 small red onion, very thinly sliced

80 ml (1/2 cup) fresh coriander

One handful of bean sprouts

60ml (4 tbsp) toasted cashews

– Preheat your oven to 220 C

– Drizzle fish with a little olive oil and some freshly ground salt and black pepper and roast for approximately 20 minutes or until fish is jut cooked through. Remove from the oven and flake half the cooked fish with a fork until its is very fine. Set aside the remaining half.

– Heat a little oil in a small frying pan and fry the finely flaked fish in batches on high heat until very crispy. Drain on paper towel and set aside.

– Break the remaining half of the cooked fish into large pieces and crisp quickly in the same oil. Drain on paper towel. Set aside until ready to use. Do not cover with anything as it will go soggy.

For the dressing: 

1/2 tsp fish sauce or soya sauce

60 ml (4 tbsp) fresh lime juice

30 ml (2 tbsp) soft brown sugar (muscovado)

– Mix the dressing ingredients together and heat to dissolve the sugar.

– Place the large pieces of fish on a serving platter. Top with cucumber slices, onion, bean sprouts and cashews. Sprinkle with the crispy fish. Drizzle with dressing just before serving.

Serves 6

Recipe by Sharon Glass

Fish Curry with Lime and Coconut Rice

Not only is this curry packed with delicious flavour, its also a great way to stretch fish! I have used frozen fish and frozen mussels, which works perfectly well, but its obviously better with fresh fish and mussels if you can. Its a spicy one! So you can reduce the amount of chilli if you want to. Great to serve with friends as it looks gorgeous in little separate pots. Keep the rice separate until you serve as it looks and tastes gorgeous on its own, so let people serve it separately and mix as they wish!  You can serve any firm white fish that wont break up. I’ve only ever used hake and it works perfectly 🙂

For the fish curry:

400g hake fillets cut into bite size pieces.

400ml coconut milk, mixed with 400ml water

500g mussels in their shells

1 tbsp palm sugar

2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce

150g sugar snap peas

3 – 4 spring onions, finely chopped

1 handful of basil or coriander leaves to garnish

2 tbsp groundnut oil (or sunflower oil)

For the Curry Paste 

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3 large shallots, roughly chopped

6 – 7 mild red chillies, desseded and chopped. (if you have hot chillies you only need 2 or 3)

5cm piece of ginger, roughly chopped

A small handful of coriander stems, chopped

1 lemongrass stalk , finely chopped

2 Kaffir lime leaves finely chopped (or finely grated zest of 2 limes)

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

3 – 4 tbsp water

For the Lime and Coconut rice 

300g Thai fragrant rice (Jasmine or Basmati Rice) washed and drained

200ml coconut milk, mixed with 200ml water

Juice of 1 lime

2 kaffir lime leaves

Pinch of sea salt

Toasted coconut shavings, to garnish

– Pit the fish pieces into a large bowl with a little sea salt and pepper and spoon over a few tablespoons of coconut milk. Cover with cling film and chill until ready to cook. If your fish is frozen you can just leave it out on the counter to thaw a bit.

– Wash the mussels and set aside

– To make the lime and coconut rice, put all the ingredients – except for the coconut shavings into a medium saucepan. Bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat and cover the pan. Simmer fir 8 – 10 minutes until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Without removing the lid, turn off the heat and leave the rice to steam for 10 – 15 minutes.

– While the rice is cooking, put all the ingredients for the curry paste into a food processor and whiz to a smooth paste, stopping the machine once or twice to scrape down the sides. As necessary, add a little more water to get a finely ground paste.

– Heat the oil in a deep pan or a wok. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for about 2 – 3 minutes over a low heat, just until the paste smells fragrant. Pour in the coconut milk and water, then stir in the palm sugar and fish sauce. Bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

– Tip in the sugarsnap peas and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mussels and fish to the pan, cover and summer for a few more minutes until the mussels have opened and the fish is opaque and just cooked through.

– Scatter over the spring onions and basil or coriander leaves. Serve immediately with the lime and coconut rice, garnished with a sprinkling of toasted coconut shavings.

Recipe by Gordon Ramsay

Sticky Salmon Skewers

This is a great way of doing salmon. The flavours are incredible and this meal is a great, light and healthy and very quick meal to do for mid week dinners.

4 medium to large salmon portions, skinned

MARINADE
30ml (2 tbsp) honey
125ml (½ cup) soya sauce
10ml (2 tsp) sesame oil
15ml (1 tbsp) Ponzu *
Juice of 1 lime
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 garlic clove, grated
7cm fresh ginger, grated
bamboo skewers

TO SERVE
A selection of fresh microgreens
Wild rocket
200g mange tout, julienned
2 spring onions, sliced
3 Mediterranean cucumbers, sliced into ribbons
30ml (2 tbsp) white sesame seeds
30ml (2 tbsp) black sesame seeds
2 or 3 limes, cut into wedges

– Cut the salmon into bite-size chunks.
– Place all of the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Place the salmon chunks in the marinade, coat the fish, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
– Remove the salmon from the fridge and thread the chunks onto bamboo skewers.
– Heat a griddle pan over medium high heat and sear the salmon for 1 – 2 minutes on each side; don’t overcook it.
– To serve, place the greens, rocket, mange tout, spring onions and cucumber on a large serving platter. Top with salmon skewers, sprinkle the salmon with sesame seeds and serve with fresh lime wedges.

* you can buy ponzu sauce at a Chinese supermarket.

Recipe from the Food and Home Magazine.

Tuna Sashimi and Strawberry Salad

This makes a fantastic starter as its packed full of flavour and is light! It looks so pretty on a plate too and will definitely impress. Just make sure your guests are sushi lovers as it could go a bit wrong if they don’t like raw fish! 🙂

1 x 800g fresh tuna fillet

8 radishes

1 x 400g punnet of strawberries

4 bulbs of baby fennel

Pickled ginger for serving

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the dressing, mix together:

2 minced small shallots

2 Tbsp Soya sauce

2 tbsp Rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp Lemon juice

– Thinly slice the tuna and divide between four chilled plates

– Thinly slice the radishes and cut the strawberries into bite size chunks, then arrange on top of the tuna.

– Run the blade of a vegetable peeler down the fennel bulbs to create shavings, then scatter over the tuna.

– Drizzle over the dressing and serve with a few petals of pickled ginger and a good crack of black pepper.

If you can find then,  a few edible flowers on the plate will make it look beautiful! 🙂

Recipe from the Woolworths Taste Magazine.

Pan-fried Salmon with beetroot quinoa salad

I’ve been on a few diets where they recommend that you substitute whole grains such as quinoa for processed carbs. They state it like its an easy thing to do…. but have you ever tasted plain quinoa? BLEAGH! However, i found this recipe and the beetroot really does add a bit of magic to the dish and you are able to enjoy the quinoa and feel healthy! Its also such a pretty dish! Very different to your usual colours. I really love this dish!

12 Baby Beetroot (cleaned)

4 Tbsp Avocado Oil

Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

1 C cooked quinoa (cooked according to the package instructions)

4 x 200g salmon fillets

Fresh mint for serving

– Preheat the oven to 180 C.

– Toss the beetroot in 1 tbsp avocado oil and then arrange on a baking tray, sprinkle with sea salt and top with thyme leaves. Roast for 35 – 40 minutes or until tender and caramelised.

– Remove the skins from the beetroot, then puree the flesh with 1Tbsp avocado oil

– Fold the beetroot puree, lemon juice and parsley and 1 tbsp avocado oil into the cooked quinoa. Season to taste and set aside.

– Cut the salmon fillets into bite-sized cubes then rub with the remaining avocado oil and season to taste. Sear in a pan over a high heat for 30 seconds or until deep golden in colour but still pink inside

– Serve immediately with the beetroot quinoa salad and shredded fresh mint.

Serves 4