Chef James’ Creamy White Wine Fish Sauce
For this recipe Greenfish supplied us with some super tasty Silver Fish. You can prepare it as in our Crispy Skinned Fish Recipe before tackling the sauce I am about to cover here.
I was fortunate enough to have Chef James pass on some inspiration for this delicious sauce! I used his guidance in combination with our crispy skin fish fillets to come up with this recipe. Utilizing fresh ginger, lemongrass and thyme in a reduced white wine sauce with some finishing touches of cream, it is simply to die for!
This sauce is very versatile and can be used on just about any white fish. The trick is to allow it enough time to reduce and simmer properly, enhancing all the delicious flavours.
Adding the cream at the end gives it a silky smooth texture and rich flavour.
Make sure you strain the sauce before serving to remove any bits and bobs.
Add some fresh asparagus and baby potatoes covered in Garlic and Parsley Butter (explained in our Crispy Skin Fish Fillet Recipe) and the meal is complete.
- 2 Greenfish Silver Fish Fillets (prepared as in our Crispy Skinned Fish recipe)
- 1 Onion
- 2 Tbsp Clarified Butter (explained in our Crispy Skinned Fish Recipe)
- 1 Stick of Lemongrass (finely chopped)
- 1 Thumb of Ginger (grated)
- 1 tsp Garlic
- A handful of fresh Thyme
- 1 x Star Anise
- 250ml White Wine
- A few Fish Trimmings (from your fillets)
- 250ml Fish Stock (or chicken stock)
- 250ml Cream
- Serve with sides of Asparagus and Baby Potatoes
- FOR THE SAUCE: Slice up your onion and sweat it in your clarified butter until sweet and soft
- Add your lemongrass, ginger, garlic and thyme and allow all to sweat down and release aromas in the pan.
- Add your Star Anise, White Wine and Fish Trimmings to the pan.
- Reduce this sauce to approximately a quarter and then add the Fish Stock.
- Reduce again to approximately a quarter, keeping an eye on the reduction process and not allowing it to burn or catch in the pan.
- Add Cream and allow to simmer a little before straining.
- FOR SIDES: Blanch asparagus (3-4 minutes)
- Boil baby potatoes (8-10 minutes)
- Add the asparagus and baby potatoes to a pan and toss with a bit of the garlic, butter and parsley sauce (explained in our Crispy Skinned Fish Recipe).
Crispy Skinned Fish
There’s nothing nicer than a piece of crispy skin coating your flaky fish fillets and achieving this is a lot simpler than one thinks! The trick is to follow a few simple rules:
-
- 1. Make sure your fillets are incredibly dry.
-
- 2. Make sure you season the fillets with fine table salt 5 minutes before frying to assist in removing any excess moisture from the fillets.
-
- 3. Make sure you use clarified butter to pan fry the fillets.
- 4. Make sure you use a plate or some form of a weight to keep the fillets flat in the pan to prevent them from curling up.
If you follow these few simple rules, plus read the recipe provided carefully, achieving crispy fish skin will be a breeze!
TO MAKE THE CLARIFIED BUTTER:
Place your butter in a glass jug or bowl and leave in a sunny spot to melt on its own.
Once the butter has melted it will separate, the clear liquid on the top is your clarified butter.
Either scoop this clear liquid butter out with a spoon or syringe or pour through a muslin cloth. I only had a fine sieve, so I used this and it worked out ok. Put in a separate dish to use for this recipe and keep the leftovers in the fridge as it’s great to have some readily available for future use.
- 2 Greenfish Fish Fillets (for this recipe I used Silver Fish)
- 1 Block of Butter (500g)
- Fine Table Salt
- 1 tsp Garlic
- handful of Parsley
- TO MAKE THE CLARIFIED BUTTER: place your butter in a glass jug or bowl and leave in a sunny spot to melt on its own.
- Once the butter has melted it will separate, the clear liquid on the top is your clarified butter. Either scoop this clear liquid butter out with a spoon or syringe or pour through a muslin cloth. I only had a fine sieve, so I used this and it worked out ok. Put in a separate dish to use for this recipe and keep the leftovers in the fridge as it's great to have some readily available for future use.
- PREPARING & FRYING YOUR FISH: Place your filleted, pin boned and scaled fillets flat on a board or plate. (You can use our recipes on how to fillet and scale fish if your fish fillets still have these attached).
- Score your fillets 1mm deep from the back to tummy of the fish (refer to pictures in this recipe which display the correct direction to score)
- Dry your fillets with paper towel on both sides until all the moisture has been removed.
- Five minutes before frying, season on both sides with fine table salt, this will allow any further moisture to be absorbed.
- Heat your pan to a medium high heat and add a generous amount of clarified butter.
- Place your fillets in the pan skin side down and use a plate to weight them down to avoid them from curling upwards.
- Cook the fillets until they are about 80% cooked through.
- Turn the fillets over and cook for the remaining 20% to finish off.
- Brush with your garlic and parsley butter before serving.
- TO MAKE THE GARLIC AND PARSLEY BUTTER: In a small pot on the stove add 1/3 cup of Clarified Butter, 1 teaspoon of Garlic and your handful of chopped Parsley.
- Melt together on a medium heat ensuring that the pot doesn't get too hot as cooking at too high a heat will kill off your delicious garlic flavours.
Lemon & Parsley Pan Fried Gurnard Fillets
Gurnard is a fish you may not always find on the menu or in the supermarket. Being not only delicious but a SASSI Green Listed species, it is a no brainer to buy some of these beautiful white fillets when you can source them.
Here’s a tasty, buttery recipe that is so very simple and utilizes minimal ingredients. This means you work out with a seriously cost effective, sustainable meal that tastes like five star dining at home. Its a win win for your pocket and the environment!
- 4 Greenfish Gurnard Fillets
- Flour for dusting (approx 50g)
- Salt & Pepper
- 100g Butter
- Small handful of Parsley
- 1 Lemon
- If you have purchased fillets that have not been pin boned, use our Yellowtail pin boning recipe to remove the bones
- Place flour in a bowl
- Season the fillets and place fillets in flour one at a time, coating both sides. Shake off any excess flour and set aside ready for frying
- Melt 80g of the butter in the frying pan allowing the butter to bubble. Once bubbling turn down to a medium heat and add the fillets to the pan
- Fry the gurnard for 3 - 4 minutes using a spoon to constantly baste in butter
- Turn the fillets over and cook for a further 1 - 2 minutes while still continuing to baste with butter
- The fish should turn a lovely golden colour on each side
- Remove the fish from the pan and set aside on your serving plates
- Add the remaining 20g of butter to the pan and increase the temperature, allowing the butter to bubble and produce a lovely nutty smell
- Add the chopped parsley and a good squeeze of lemon cooking for a minute
- Turn off the heat and spoon this mixture over the fillets
- Enjoy with your choice of starch and vegetables. I like to serve with baby potatoes as the basting sauce compliments these nicely
Yellowtail on the Braai
With the weather warming up for summer, braai season is in the air! And what better way to celebrate a perfect summer evening than a lekker fish braai. 
This recipe is seriously simple and quick to put together. Make sure to read our simple method to removing Yellowtail pin bones before you attempt this recipe.
- 1 pack of Greenfish Yellowtail Fillets
- 2 tsp of Crushed Garlic
- 2 Red Onions
- 1 Lemon
- A few knobs of Butter
- Coriander
- Salt & Pepper
- Place your pin boned fillet of fish on a piece of foil (shiny side up) large enough to cover the whole fillet
- Smear the fillet with the crushed garlic
- Cut your red onions into slices and place along the fillet
- Generously place your knobs of butter along the fillet
- Cut your lemon into slices and place along the fillet
- Sprinkle with coriander and seasoning
- Cover with the foil and place on grid above medium coals (you should only be able to hold your hand over the grid for 10 seconds)
- Cook for approximately 20 minutes until the flavours soak into the fish
- Your fish is done when it flakes with a fork but is still moist and juicy
- If your tinfoil starts to puff up, you have secured it tightly enough so as not to lose any of the moisture and juices.
How to Pin Bone a Yellowtail Fillet
You may often find when you come home with a fillet of fish that the pin bones are still present. This is due to the fact that leaving them in keeps the meat intact and effectively “undamaged” which preserves the shelf life. Luckily for you, you have me, the trusted Fish Wife to guide you through this simple process of removing them.
STEP 1:
Buy yourself a good pair of pin boning tweezers or borrow a pair of hubby’s long nose pliers that you can throw in the dishwasher.
STEP 2:
Run the blade of a knife over the centre of the fish which will expose all the pin bones.
STEP 3:
Using your tweezers or pliers, gently grab the pin bone, push down and pull out each individual bone one by one (there should be about 5-6 pin bones per fillet). If you are using Greenfish yellowtail fillets all other bones would have been removed.
And voila! Yes, it is that simple! Now you have beautifully prepared Yellowtail fillets ready to cook.
Teriyaki Marinated Tuna Belly
To me the Tuna Belly is the “foie gras” of tuna. It is like eating Wagyu beef compared to eating a plain old shop bought steak. Tuna belly or “toro” is generally considered the king of all sushi ingredients in Japan.
Only a small portion is available per tuna and in the Japanese market it is extremely expensive. South African’s however don’t realise the value of this beautiful piece of marbled fatty fish, and often discard it as waste! This is a simple tragedy in my book, as once you have tried it you will understand exactly why the Japanese pay a small fortune for this small cut of tuna.
The belly is very oily and high in omega 3 and it literally melts in one’s mouth. Due to the marbled fatty content, it is important to cook the belly just through, allowing the fat to break down.
- 1 pack of Greenfish Tuna Belly Steaks
- Salt & Pepper
- Japanese 7 spice (or 5 spice)
- 1/3 Cup Teriyaki Sauce
- 3 Tbsp Sesame Oil (can substitute with olive oil)
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- Sprinkle the 7 spice, salt & pepper to both sides of the steaks. (You do not need to use a lot of the 7 spice as it has some heat to it!).
- In a glass dish marinate the Tuna Belly in the Teriyaki Sauce, Sesame Oil and Lemon Juice for at least 45 minutes. (You can leave overnight in the fridge).
- Heat the pan on high heat and quickly pan fry the steaks. Thin steaks will take approximately 1 minute per side and thicker steaks approximately 2 minutes per side.
- You can substitute the Sesame Oil with Olive Oil - however the Sesame Oil gives a lovely nutty flavour.
- Other nice additions to this recipe include: ginger, garlic and finely diced chilli.
You can create some delicious dipping sauces for the Tuna Belly by mixing 1:1 ratios of the following:* Sweet Chilli Sauce and Sushi Mayonnaise
* Hoisin Sauce and Sushi Mayonnaise
or simply plain Sushi Mayonnaise on its own.
Chilli, Ginger and Garlic Tempura Squid
There isn’t much that beats crispy squid, especially with the enhanced flavours of ginger, chilli, sweet baby spring onions and garlic! 
If you have a deep fryer at home this would be ideal, however, for those of you who don’t you can fry in a wok or pot on the stove. Just make sure that your oil is hot enough to allow the tempura batter to crisp and turn a delicious golden brown. Optimum temperature is about 180 degrees. When the squid is cooked it should float to the top. A handy tip for working with hot oil on the stove is to allow the tempura batter to coat your fingers, this will protect them against any splashes when placing the squid into the hot oil.
- 1 pack of Greenfish Squid (tubes and heads)
- Tempura Flour (I purchased mine from Woolworths)
- 250ml ice cold water
- 4-6 baby Spring Onions
- 1 medium Hot Red Chilli
- 4 Garlic Cloves
- 1 small stick of Ginger
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil (can substitute with canola or sunflower).
- 1 Lemon
- 1 bottle Canola / Sunflower oil for frying
- Defrost and drain the squid in a colander.
- Using paper towel pat off any excess water.
- Cut the spring onion and chilli finely and set aside.
- Cut the garlic cloves into paper thin slices and set aside.
- Cut the ginger into small cubes and set aside.
- In a bowl mix together 200g of the tempura flour with the 250ml ice cold water to form the batter. It is normal for the batter to have a few lumps visible.
- Heat the oil in the deep fryer or on the stove to approximately 180 degrees.
- Coat squid in the batter.
- Carefully place a test piece in the heated oil. The squid should immediately start frying and float to the top when done. The batter should go crisp and golden.
- Fry all of the squid and place in a bowl lined with paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
- Once all the squid has been fried set aside for later.
- In a separate wok or large frying pan fry the spring onions, chilli, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper in the sesame oil allowing the flavours to release, but being careful not to burn.
- Add the tempura fried squid you have set aside and toss with the spices allowing the flavours to absorb into the squid.
- Squeeze some lemon juice over and serve with a side of Sushi Mayonnaise or Wasabi Mayonnaise.
Smoked Angel Fish and Baby Potato Salad
For this recipe, refer back to our simple method of smoking fish at home without using a smoker. If you have a smoker at home, even better! But for those of you who don’t, it will only take you a few minutes to use our method to create smokey, golden delicious Angel Fish to use in the following recipe.
- 350g baby potatoes
- 100g crème fraîche
- 1 heaped tsp horseradish sauce / cream
- juice of 1 lemon or 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 smoked angel fish fillets
- 1 bag of watercress, baby spinach or similar leafy green
- Rinse the baby potatoes and boil in a pot of salted water for 15 - 20 minutes or until tender
- While the potatoes are cooking mix the crème fraîche, horseradish cream and lemon juice in a separate bowl and season with salt and pepper as desired. Set aside to dress the salad at the end
- Separate the angel fish fillets into strips and set aside
- Once the baby potatoes are cooked, drain and allow to cool
- Cut the baby potatoes into halves
- In a large bowl add the leafy greens, baby potatoes and three quarters of the angel fish strips
- Pour the dressing over and toss until covered
- Place the dressed salad on a serving dish and garnish with remaining angel fish strips
This recipe is great served as a side with a braai, or even as a whole meal on its own. Enjoy!
Garlic and Herb Pan Fried Angel Fish
Before I get started with this juicy recipe, let me first give you a quick guide to easily removing the pin bone from your Greenfish Angel Fish fillets.
STEP 1:
Place your fillets on a chopping board and identify the long pin bone running down the centre.
STEP 2:
Using a sharp knife run the blade along either side of the pin bone, removing it from the centre.
STEP 3:
Wasn’t that easy… pin bone removed and two beautiful fillets ready to get soaked in garlic, butter and herbs!
Now that you have successfully removed the pin bone, lets get stuck into our recipe!
- 4 x Greenfish Angel Fish Fillets (pin boned)
- 2 x lemons or 6 Tbsp lemon juice
- 4 x garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoon dried Thyme
- 2 teaspoon dried Mixed Herbs
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 4 Tbsp Butter
- 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
- In glass dish add the juice of two lemons, minced garlic cloves, herbs, salt and pepper and cover the fish fillets with the marinade on both sides.
- Leave covered in the fridge for approximately half an hour.
- In a frying pan add the butter and olive oil and heat the pan on a high heat.
- Add the fish to the sizzling pan (reduce the heat to medium).
- Allow the fish to cook for approximately 3-5 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the fillets.
- Baste the fish with the butter and olive oil frequently while cooking.
- Fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork.
5 Simple Steps to Smoking Fish without using a Smoker
Smoked fish in salad or paté is quite simply delicious and really easy to do at home without having to go out and buy a smoker. Here’s a quick method to create your own smoked fish at home.
YOU WILL NEED:
- A wide pot or pan with a lid that seals tightly
- Tin foil
- Wood chips or shavings
- A wire rack to fit the base of the pot or pan
STEP 1:
Line your pan with tinfoil (shiny side up).
STEP 2:
Place your wood chips in the centre of the tinfoil.
STEP 3:
Place your wire rack on top of the wood shavings.
STEP 4:
Place your chosen fish fillets seasoned with salt and pepper on the wire rack (in the image I have used Angel Fish fillets). Make sure the wood chips are not touching the fish.
STEP 5:
Place the pan on a high heat. It will take approximately 5 minutes for the wood chips to start smoking. Once smoking allow the fish to smoke for a further 10 – 15 minutes (you may wish to turn the heat down to medium here). The fish is done when it has turned a lovely golden colour. You may need to smoke for a bit longer if the fillets are thick.
Remove from the pan and enjoy as is, in a salad or turn into a lovely paté!
