12

Dec

Japanese Soba Noodle Soup With Mackerel

I’ve written before about how the synergy between various ingredients that are high in the umami producing molecules (glumates, inosates and guanylates) works and this dish is another attempt to try to maximise that interaction. Of all cultures Japan has turned working with umami into an artform so I decided to make a noodle soup using dashi, mackerel (cured as though for sushi) and shiitake mushrooms as these all contain ample amounts of these compounds.

The recipe here for the basic noodle broth comes from one of the finest English languages guides to this cuisine, Shizuo Tsuji’s Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art. He lists the various types noodles you can use such as udon, somen or soba and I chose the latter. There are a many types of soba but all contain buckwheat either wholly or in combination with normal wheat. Unfortunately the only all buckwheat ones I can find are wide and flat like linguine and for me don’t go well with the soup so I used the mixed grain version that’s more like thin spaghetti.

As mentioned, I lightly cured the mackerel before cooking: it’s a fairly simple process and only takes around an hour although I made a couple of changes to the curing process described in the link above. I arrived at this through trial and error as there are no measurements given and leaving the fish coated in salt for an hour rendered it almost inedible the first time I tried so I reduced the time to fifteen minutes. The most surprising thing for me here was how much moisture the first step involving sugar removes but contrary to what you’d expect the flesh tasted much juicier than an uncured fillet does.

Mackerel coated in sugar

The amount of moisture expelled by the sugar was surprisingly large

The other components in the soup are Japanese staples: wakame is a type of seaweed readily available, in fact, you’ll even find it in supermarkets now and mirin is a type of sweet rice wine which once again is very easy to find. If you don’t have any light soy sauce just use the dark stuff and double the amount although as the former is saltier you may want to adjust the seasoning a bit.

Japanese Soba Noodle Soup With Makerel

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
For the cured mackerel
2 small mackerel fillets
40g sugar
25g salt

For the soup
1l dashi
125g soba noodles
5g wakame
4 small dried stiitake mushrooms
25ml light soy sauce
25ml dark soy sauce
15g sugar
15ml mirin

Method:

  1. For the cure, place the mackerel on a plate and sprinkle the sugar over each side (i.e., skin-side and flesh-side) of the fillets.
  2. Place in the fridge for 40 minutes.
  3. Remove from the fridge and wash the sugar off with water.
  4. Dry the mackerel and the plate thoroughly and then sprinkle the salt over each side (i.e., skin-side and flesh-side) of the fillets.
  5. Place in the fridge, for 15 minutes.
  6. Remove from the fridge and wash the salt off with water.
  7. Thoroughly dry the fish and return to the fridge.
  8. For the soup, in separate bowls, soak the mushrooms and seaweed in warm water for around fifteen minutes.
  9. Remove the rehydrated seaweed and roughly chop.
  10. Remove the rehydrated mushrooms. Reserve the shiitake water remembering to strain through a sieve to remove any grit.
  11. Slice the mushrooms in two and if the stalks are too tough remove them.
  12. Boil the noodles in a pot of water according to the packet instructions.
  13. When cooked, strain and rinse the noodles under cold running water.
  14. Bring the dashi to the boil and pour in the shiitake water, soy sauce, mirin and sugar.
  15. Add the noodles, wakame and mushrooms and simmer for 2-3 minutes to reheat.
  16. Heat some oil in a pan on a high heat and fry the mackerel skin side down for around 2 minutes.
  17. Take the pan off the heat and turn the fillets over to finish.
  18. When cooked, slice the fish into bite sizes pieces.
  19. Divide the soup between two bowls and top with the mackerel.

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28

Nov

Beetroot, Smoked Mackerel, Horseradish, Rye

Roast beetroot and smoked mackerel is a combination I really like, the saltiness of the fish tempers what can be a very sweet vegetable and it’s a great basis for a salad. For this dish though, I wanted to do something a bit different to that and really concentrate on the beetroot whilst still retaining the great contrast between warm and cold ingredients.

The idea of using the beets raw and sliced into very thin rounds comes from a post on Honest Food I’ve mentioned a few times before although I have made a change by marinating the discs overnight in a cider vinegar vinaigrette after seeing something similar on Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social blog. There was also an appeal unconnected to taste as I knew it would make for a really pretty presentation on the plate.

For the mackerel, the best smoked one I’ve found is from The Burren Smokehouse and given this recipe has its roots in the ludicrously trendy localism of Noma it makes sense to use as much Irish produce as possible although if I were really going to go to the appropriate extremes I would have been scouring hedgerows for wild horseradish. Unfortunately, there’s none near me but I did manage to incorporate one foraged element and that was a garnish of wood sorrel I found growing underneath the bay leaf tree we have in our back garden. I’ve no idea how it got there but it would have been a shame not to use it.

Another fantastic Irish ingredient I made use of was Llewellyn’s Balsamic Cider Vinegar which I found in the Dublin Food Coop but have  seen in Fallon & Byrne and a few other places in town too. It’s expensive but has a lovely flavour and it formed the basis for a glaze on the roasted beetroots so there would be some nice acidity to balance the beets’ sweetness.  To increase the tartness a bit more I also used some excellent unsweetened apple juice I bought in the market; given how shamefully hard it normally is to find homegrown apples I was very pleased with that discovery and will definitely be getting more just for drinking (and possibly mixing with Zubrowka!).

Beetroot, mackerel, horseradish, rye

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
For the beetroot discs
2 medium sized beetroot
30ml grapeseed oil
15ml olive oil
10g honey
15ml cider vinegar
2.5g salt

For the horseradish cream
100g crème fraiche
15g horseradish, finely grated
5ml sherry vinegar
5g caster sugar

For the glazed beetroot
2 medium sized beetroot
Grapeseed oil
2 sprigs thyme
Smoked sea salt
50ml balsamic cider vinegar
50ml unsweetened apple juice
100ml veal stock
25g butter
Salt

For the rest
1 smoked mackerel fillet, cut into bite sized pieces
1 slice of rye bread
10g butter
Wood sorrel, to garnish

Method:

  1. For the beetroot discs, scrub the beetroot well to remove any dirt and using a mandolin, slice them as thinly as possible.
  2. Dissolve the salt in the vinegar and in a food processor add to the oil and honey.
  3. When emulsified, mix with the beetroot in a Ziploc bag and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.
  4. For the horseradish cream, dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and mix with crème fraiche and horseradish. Leave to stand in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
  5. For the glazed beetroot, preheat the oven to 190C.
  6. Coat the beetroot in the oil and sprinkle with the smoked salt.
  7. Wrap each beetroot in tin foil with a sprig of thyme and roast for 60-80 minutes.
  8. When done remove from the oven and leave to cool a bit before rubbing the skin off (you may want to wear gloves as it will stain you hands).
  9. In a saucepan, add the apple balsamic vinegar, apple juice, veal stock and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil.
  10. Reduce by half and then lower the heat before stirring in the butter.
  11. Add the beetroot to the pan and simmer slowly, rolling the beetroot around the pan or basting with a spoon to develop a rich glaze (if the glaze gets too hot the butter might split).
  12. Cut the crusts off the rye bread and whizz in a food processor until you have fine breadcrumbs.
  13. Over a medium heat melt the butter and when the foaming has stopped add the breadcrumbs.
  14. Fry for around 3-5 minutes until crispy.
  15. Grill the mackerel pieces skin side up for 2-3 minutes to slightly crisp up.
  16. To plate, arrange the beetroot slices in a wide circle in the middle of the plate and dot the horseradish cream on the slices at even spaces; cut the bottom off the glazed beetroot so it will stand upright and place in the middle of the circle; place the mackerel pieces in a circle around the beetroot and top with a little of the glaze; sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and garnish with the sorrel.

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22

Aug

Warm Smoked Mackerel Salad With Beetroot And Gooseberry Vinaigrette

I was meant to post this a few weeks ago and only for a helpful reminder in the comments section I would never have gotten round to writing it down. Unfortunately though, now gooseberry season is pretty much over it might be hard for anyone to use the recipe until next summer! However, I do have a way of lengthening the the season a little bit by making a big batch of gooseberry puree and freezing it so it means I was able to have the salad again last Saturday.  All you have to do is boil the fruit down in some water and whizz in a blender until smooth; I don’t add any sugar or salt yet because it might create problems incorporating it into whatever recipe I’ll eventually use it in. I make the vinaigrette in the food processor (I’m sure you could just use a jam jar) and one thing I’ve noticed is the puree can make for a thick emulsion so you’ll probably have to thin it out with some water to get a more pourable consistency.

That said, the best thing for me about this is the contrast between the sweet beetroot and the salty smoked mackerel so if you’ve no gooseberries don’t worry just improvise; I’ve made a lovely dressing before using horseradish cream which is just as good.

Warm Smoked Mackerel Salad With Beetroot & Gooseberry Vinaigrette

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
100g mixed baby salad leaves
2 medium size beetroot
2 smoked mackerel fillets

For the dressing:
45ml gooseberry puree
40ml olive oil
50ml grapeseed oil
30ml sherry vinegar
5g salt
Sugar, pinch of

For the gooseberry puree (makes 150ml):
200g gooseberries
150ml water

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Coat the beetroot in oil, sprinkle on some salt and wrap each one in tinfoil.
  2. Put in the oven and bake for around 90 minutes. When cooked, remove the outer skin (it should peel off easily) and chop into bite size pieces.
  3. For the gooseberry puree, remove the stems from the gooseberries and place in a saucepan with the water.
  4. Bring the water to the boil and then simmer for around ten minutes until the fruit has collapsed.
  5. Transfer to a blender and process to a smooth paste.
  6. Strain through a fine sieve and reserve.
  7. For the dressing, dissolve the salt and sugar in the vinegar.
  8. Add the puree and vinegar to a food processor and put on medium speed.
  9. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and grapeseed oil until emulsified.
  10. If the vinaigrette is too thick it thin with a few drops of water. Adjust the seasoning if required.
  11. Place the mackerel fillets under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes to heat them up and slightly crisp the skin.
  12. Chop the fish into bite size pieces and add to a bowl with the salad leaves.
  13. Pour the vinaigrette over the leaves and mix thoroughly.
  14. Divide the salad amongst the plates and top with the roast beetroot.

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24

Jun

Mackerel With Parmesan Crust, Horseradish And Pea Sauce And Roast Mushrooms

There’s a supposedly unbreakable rule in Italian cooking that says you are never meant  to mix seafood and parmesan although like many of these things it appears to be entirely arbitrary; I read an article about this by Heston Blumenthal years ago but only recently did I look more closely behind the science of why the two are actually a very good combination. The main reason is due to the compounds present in parmesan (glutamate) and fish (inosinate): when these two combine they have a synergistic effect and this increases the perception of umami by a factor of eight.

After discovering mackerel has some of the highest concentrations of inosinate of any fish I got the idea for adding a parmesan crust as a way of combining the two ingredients. This is one of the few times I would recommend using a non-stick pan because it really helps here as the cheese often sticks to the surface when browning and this can make it difficult to flip the fish.

There is also a third compound called guanylate which enhances the umami synergy even more and is very prevalent in mushrooms  (especially when dried) so I decided to add some of those too. The process of drying increases the amount of guanylate significantly but I didn’t think the texture would be appropriate and instead I chose to slow roast fresh portobellos at a low temperature in the oven to cook them and partially dry them out as well.

Finally, a word of warning about horseradish is that its pungent flavour is dissipated by heat: make sure to add it to the sauce just before you serve for maximum impact.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
For the mackerel
50g flour
1 egg lightly beaten
50g breadcrumbs
50g parmesan
2 mackerel fillets
15ml rapeseed oil

For the sauce
200ml creme fraiche
100ml chicken stock
100g of peas
15g freshly grated horseradish
Sugar
Salt

For the mushrooms
25ml olive oil
2 large portobello mushrooms
Salt
Pepper

Method:

  1. For the mushrooms, preheat the oven to 100°C.
  2. Season the mushrooms generously, pour over the olive oil and cook for 6 hours.
  3. For the sauce, cook the peas in the stock with a pinch of sugar and salt.
  4. When cooked, remove the peas and reserve the cooking liquid.
  5. Place the the creme fraiche and the stock in a pan and reduce by a third.
  6. Add the peas to heat them through and just before serving season to taste and add the horseradish.
  7. For the mackerel, mix the breadcrumbs and the parmesan together thoroughly.
  8. Coat the skin side of one of the fillets in flour, shaking off any excess.
  9. Dip the floured side of the fish into the beaten egg and then dip the same side into the breadcrumb mixture whilst ensuring there’s an even coating over the skin.
  10. Repeat for the other mackerel fillet.
  11. Place a pan on a medium heat to warm up and then add the oil.
  12. Place the fillets skin side down in the pan for around two minutes or until the coating has browned.
  13. Season the uncoated side of the fish lightly with salt and after taking the pan off the heat turn the fillets over.
  14. To plate, cut the mushroom in to large slices and place in the middle, lay the mackerel skin side up on the mushrooms and top with the horseradish sauce.

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