Crispy Skin Jewfish

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Crispy Skin Jewfish

Published on Thursday, 21 April 2011 18:53

Written by Jay 'Yakfisher' Penfold

crispy_skin_jew
I know I have struggled over the years to get that awesomely delicious crispy skin akin to restaurant served Atlantic Salmon. The skin is loaded with healthy Omega-3's and essential vitamins, so it's worth perfecting. It's also delicious. There are, as it turns out, a few tricks of the trade to make it work.

Bring the fish up to room temperature.
The skin must be dry. Wipe the fillet with paper towel, then rub the skin with salt and leave for 15 minutes. If water moisture appears on the skin, then wipe it dry and salt it again.
Use a HOT pan to begin the process, cook for a few minutes skin side down, turn over and cook for another two minutes then finish in a hot (200 degrees C) oven for a further 2 minutes. (Unless you are cooking salmon and want it rare.) A good quality stainless steel pan is ideal, as it can handle temperatures where non stick pans will fail.
Let the fish cook unprovoked for its cooking time, don't go and poke it evry ten seconds and expect it to stay together.

Once you have mastered this you probably want something nice to serve the fish with. For this dish I have made an old school Boston Baked Beans to accompany. It's a lot of work, but fills the house with a wonderful warmth and aroma, perfect for a Wintery rainy Jew season day when you've got a nice fish and rain calls off play.

The beans
1 x cup dried Lima beans soaked overnight in cold water
1 x cup dried Borlotti beans soaked overnight in cold water
Drain, rinse and cover with plenty of cold water, simmer for 20-35 minutes or until soft.Drain, cool and put aside in the fridge.

The Sauce
1 x brown onion diced finely
2 x cloves garlic
1/2 x teaspoon paprika
400gm tin crushed tomatoes
2 x tablespoons of tomato puree
Sweat off the onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent, add tinned tomato and paste and simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside.

The Ham Hock
1 x carrot roughly chopped
1 x brown onion halved, skin on
2 x cloves garlic, whole and unpeeled
2 x sticks celery roughly chopped
1 x bay leaf
1 x smoked ham hock
Place all ingredients in a stock pot, cover with cold water and simmer for three hours, or until the meat begins to fall off the bone. pull the hock out of the stock and leave aside until cool enough to handle. Shred the meat from the bone and set aside. Strain the remaining liquid off and reserve for a soup or something else.

Putting it all together:
In a large heavy based pot, put the beans, the sauce, and the shredded hock meat in and simmer for ten minutes. Serve a ladle full on the plate then top with the fish and garnish (if the sauce is too thin, strain through a sieve before serving). A slice of citrus would be nice, and so would a nice light, young Pinot Noir.

With some crusty bread and a little green salad this should serve 4-6 people, or leave enough for 'beans on toast' for breakfast another day.

This technique is great for snapper, kingfish, mackeral and tailor too.