…cooked in paperbark with seaweed, burnt honey & Warrigal greens

 

Aquna Murray Cod with Jesse McTavish on The Festive Kitchen at the Sydney Christmas Market.

 

Ingredients:
1 x Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod
Paper bark (enough to wrap and contain the whole fish)
Salt
Lemon leaves
Smoked butter
Warrigal greens

 

Smoked Butter

150g Cold butter
20cm square piece of paperbark that has been placed in water for 30 seconds. (This will stop the bark from igniting and create a soft white smoke not a carbon black smoke which is bitter.)

 

Utensils:
Oven tray with matching lid to seal or another identical tray to cover and seal in the smoke.
Blowtorch

 

Method:
Place the butter in a stainless oven tray at one end. At the opposite end place the paperbark. Place the lid on to create a seal and blowtorch the underside of the oven tray directing it at the paperbark inside. The paperbark will smoke but not ignite. We want a very smoky cabinet, we want to create a white smoke, not a dark or black carbon filled smoked that is bitter. If heated for too long the bark will start to produce dark smoke.

Leave for 20 minutes to infuse. Remove the lid and store the butter.

 

Seaweed

1 large piece brown kelp collected from the beach or shoreline unattached to any rocks.
500ml shoyu
100g castor sugar

 

Method:

Wash the seaweed thoroughly under fresh water to remove any critters, rocks, shells and sand.

Remove the stalk or trunk and root if still attached.

Place in soy and sugar and low boil for 1hr until the seaweed has changed texture to a springy texture and will tear like dried fruit.

Cool and then cut seaweed in fine strips ready for use, set aside soy for the dressing.

 

Burnt Honey dressing/sauce (whatever you want to call it!)

200ml honey
500ml seaweed soy
Finely cut Seaweed
Sesame seeds (toasted)

 

Method:

Heat a small pot until hot. Add honey and boil until it darkens slightly, add the seaweed soy and bring to boil, remove from heat.

Add seaweed and sesame

 

For the Cod:

Preheat oven 220ºc

Soak the paperbark in water overnight.

Ask the fish supplier to scale, gut and gill the fish leaving the belly fat in place. Trim all fins from the fish using kitchen scissors. Clean the belly cavity with paper towel to remove any remaining blood.

Place lemon leaves, salt and smoked butter in the gut cavity and wrap Cod in paper bark. Place on a tray and bring to room temperature (about 25min).

Place in oven cook for 17 minutes or until the collar or thickest part of the fish is at 42ºc on a probe thermometer. Remember the temperature will rise 10ºc while resting. Rest for 15 minutes.

After resting, remove the paperbark, peel off the layer of skin, pour over the sauce and serve with sauteed warrigal greens.

 

Yum.

 

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