Satay Spiced Hake, Coconut and Lime Dressing and Steamed Rice
The Seafood Pub Company has just opened its first Yorkshire venue – The Fleece at Addingham, near Ilkley. This is one of the dishes you’ll find on the menu both here and at one of their 10 Lancashire venues, the Oyster & Otter at Feniscowles.
Ingredients (for one serving)
Hake portion 1
Satay Rub
Fennel seeds 10g
Cumin seeds 10g
Coriander seeds 15g
Black peppercorns 4g
Palm sugar 30g
Coconut milk 200ml
Turmeric 10g
Chilli powder 2g
Lime zest ½
Sea salt 8g
Coconut Dressing (30ml)
Coconut milk 30ml
Fish sauce splash
Limes (zest & juice) 1
Pilaf Rice (150g)
Ginger – finely chopped 10g
Garlic - minced 10g
Shallots – finely chopped 50g
Black mustard seeds 1 tbsp
Basmati rice 170g
Butter - clarified 10g
Bay leaf 1
Veg stock 350g
Cardamom pod x1
Coconut milk 60ml
Lemon zest 1
Papaya 50g
Pickled veg 30g
Peeled coconut 5g
Spring onions 5g
Baby basil 5
Toasted cashew nuts 8
Sliced chilli rings 3
Method
Firstly, start off by making the satay paste by dry roasting all spices in a medium to hot frying pan moving all the time until they smell aromatic and release their natural oils. Add spices to a motar and pestle, allow to cool a little then grind spices to a fine powder.
Grate palm sugar into a pan and add coconut milk, bring to a simmer then add all other ingredients and reduce the mixture by a third until it thickens to a sticky consistency. If you are struggling to find palm sugar then soft dark brown sugar can be used as an alternative. Add mixture to a container and chill.
When the mixture is fully chilled rub liberally onto fish portion. In the restaurant we use 6oz hake portions with skin removed, alternatively cod, monkfish or most white fish work very well with this paste. Leave to marinade for at least half an hour or overnight if you have time.
When ready to cook add the fish to a lightly oiled clay pot or oven proof dish and cook in a pre-heated oven at 180°c for 12 minutes.
Before cooking the fish make the pilaf rice. It is very important to rinse rice well under cold running water before cooking. By doing so you rid the grains of surface starches which prevents clumping, and yields a clean fresh taste.
The next step if using butter is to separate or better known as clarify the butter by melting in a pan a putting aside to settle. When it settles all the natural curds and proteins will sink to the bottom leaving you with pure ‘clarified’ butter on the top. If you are able to source ghee which is traditionally used in most Indian cooking then use that instead.
Heat ghee in a sauce pan and add the bay leaf and spices. Stir around the pan and when they start to cackle and release flavour add the chopped shallots, ginger and garlic. Cook until soft. Add in the rice and stir a little. Then add hot stock. As a rule of thumb, you add exactly double the amount of stock to rice for the perfect fluffy rice. Bring pan to a simmer. At this point we add a lightly greased cartouche which is basically a round cut out of greaseproof paper large enough to cover the surface of the pan which stops all steam from escaping whilst cooking rice and helps steam the top later in the cooking process. Add a lid to the pan if you have one too and cook on a low temperature for 10 minutes then turn off the heat and leave to stand for another 5 minutes. When ready to serve fluff up the rice with the back of a fork and gently fold in coconut milk and lemon zest.
Whilst rice is cooking add Hake into oven. While both are cooking add ingredients for coconut dressing to a bowl of bottle and mix well.
When ready to assemble spoon dressing over the fish then neatly place pickled veg of your choice on top. We use ingredients like baby corn, mooli, radishes and spring onions for our veg but down to you what you pick, have a good look around and see what crunchy veg you have available. Add chunky diced papaya, coconut shavings, some toasted cashews, chopped chillies and fresh Thai basil.
This is a fantastic dish for a summers day with a nice glass of white wine to accompany it.