Smoked seabass is a new discovery. I came across it in the virtual aisles of Ocado and thought I’d give it a go. I wasn’t disappointed. A little of the seabass’ subtlety may be lost, but I enjoyed it. The consistency of the eggs and optimum bite to the asparagus are central to this salad.
Serves 2
Ingredients
- Smoked seabass – pack of two fillets
- Mixed watercress, spinach and rocket salad
- 2 small organic carrots
- A bundle of English asparagus
- 1 tbs capers (I prefer the small salted ones which must be soaked first), rinsed
- 2 eggs
- A nice fruity extra virgin olive oil
- Sherry vinegar (I use one by A.R.Valdespino, from Brindisa, a fabulous spanish deli with a concession at Borough Market and a shop on Exmouth Market, London, )
- Wholegrain dijon mustard
- Lemon
- Black pepper
Method
Easy peasy.
Take the eggs out of the fridge (cold eggs straight out of the fridge can crack when put into boiling water).
Snap the ends off the asparagus and discard. They will give at the point they are supposed to be snapped.
Put the asparagus into a steamer, with a little sprinkling of Maldon sea salt, for about five minutes depending on the thickness of the spears. They should be soft enough to bite through but crisp enough to taste fresh still, and retain their colour. Cool under cold running water briefly, but run the tap gently or you may damage the tender tips. Put on one side.
Whilst the asparagus is steaming, put a small pan of water on to boil. Once boiling lower the eggs into the water and simmer fairly rapidly for five mins. With a slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the pan, cool under running water to take the edge off, then place on one side.
Make the dressing by mixing the oil with the vinegar (3 parts oil to 1 of vinegar), then stirring in about a teaspoon of the mustard according to taste (I like it quite punchy so use a really heaped teaspoon). Grind some pepper into it.
In a bowl, mix two really big handfuls of the leaves (these should be ready washed) with the capers and carrots, which have been peeled (normally I try and avoid peeling vegetables in order to preserve their nutrients but I find even organic carrot skin can be bitter), and then made into ribbons (carry on peeling them until all the carrot is in a mass of curls on the board). Coat with a little of the dressing with your hands so it is all shiny but not greasy or soggy. Pile this salad mixture onto two plates.
Place a seabass fillet (not straight out the fridge, but brought to room temperature) on top of each pile of salad. Then arrange the asparagus around the salad. Peel the eggs (carefully, as they are only just cooked, so can come away with the shell if you’re not), slice in half lengthways (the yolk should still be ever so slightly runny and deep orange – as the French do it) and also arrange on the plates.
Spoon as much dressing as you like over the asparagus and the seabass, then squeeze a little lemon over the whole lot, and serve.
mmmmm…
Sounds delish, and smoked sea bass sounds worth a try. Interestingly (or not…) that made me think of two things:
First, why is it that most smoked fish are the oily ones like salmon, mackerel, etc. I suppose that trout and tuna are less oily and also work well.
Secondly, any feedback on self-smoking packs (not the Amsterdam sort)? I bought a couple in Steamers Cookshop a few weeks ago and haven’t got around to test-driving them yet. They’re imported from Norway and apparently you can use them in a normal oven to hot smoke stuff. I was going to see if could get hold of some fresh cod’s roe to make homemade taramasalata or a smoked cod’s roe salad (’salade Athenoise’?).
D x
Hi Davo
Also tried some smoked tuna recently… absolutely delicious, and wanted nothing else but a squeeze of lemon and a really crisp, green salad on the side.
I think the reason most smoked fish is oily is that it may be hard to keep it moist otherwise. I imagine the process is quite drying. Although smoked haddock’s quite a staple…
I have no idea about the self-smoking packs (these days:)) but I reckon if you pop into Kevin’s fishmongers on Richardson Road in Hove he’ll be able to tell you a thing or two as he smokes his own on the premises (:))
Can I come round for taramasolata (the dyed pink stuff you can buy is so disappointing) and salade Athenoise? _ Did you make that up?!!! x
Sorry to be finicky, but it’s taramosalata and most supermarkets spell it wrong wrong wrong… (see, I learnt something in eighteen months at Greek school).
Correction noted
I haven’t ever seen smoked seabass here in New England; (though i think we may be talking about 2 different fish)
the only smoked fish you canfind are salmon & trout & maybe rarely bluefish. I bet trout would probably work best as a substitute; though without a lot of the flavor.
Smoked trout is fab too, and yes, would work well. Smoked seabass is also a new one to me. There’s this great company called H.Foreman and Son (http://www.formans.co.uk/) who are producing all sorts of wonderful fish dishes, from simple smoked fillets, including swordfish (which is incidentally great as carpaccio too) to salmon marinated with wasabi and ginger. We have some beetroot marinated salmon in the fridge at the moment, and some black cod with miso. Can’t wait to try them both.
Oooh, black cod with miso. One of life’s great pleasures.