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

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