Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [84]
¾ cup (175 ml) cooked sweet potato (1 medium)
3 garlic cloves
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
1. Push the cooked sweet potato through a sieve or ricer into a bowl, for a smooth puree.
2. Finely chop the garlic on a cutting board, then add the salt and crush the garlic using the flat side of the knife to obtain a smooth puree. Whisk it into the sweet potato, along with the olive oil.
Fish Head Curry
Is there any use for oily fish trimmings? Yes, with this Thai-inspired recipe for salmon heads. For a few months after taking a Thai cooking course in Bangkok, I faithfully pounded my own curry pastes, but now I admit to buying them ready-made: not totally authentic, but neither is this dish. Buy two good-sized salmon heads, so you have half a head per person, and have the fishmonger split them in half and remove the gills. There are no real bones but lots of cartilage, so pay attention when you eat this.
2 tablespoons tamarind pulp
2 salmon heads, 3 pounds (1.35 kg), cleaned and split
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
One 13.5-ounce (400-ml) can coconut milk
½ cups pea eggplant, trimmed, or 1 Asian eggplant, cut in ½-inch (1-cm) dice
¼ cup (60 ml) julienned fresh ginger
6 green onions trimmed and cut into 2-inch (5-cm) lengths
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
6 fresh lime leaves
1 hot red chile pepper, thinly sliced, optional ½ cup (125 ml) Thai basil leaves ½ cup (125 ml) coriander leaves
1. Place the tamarind pulp in a bowl and pour over 1 cup (250 ml) boiling water. Leave to soak for 30 minutes.
2. Rinse the fish heads well under cold running water. If they are bloody, soak them in a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes to leach out the blood, then rinse again and drain.
3. Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan over low heat. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the paste is fragrant and beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat.
4. Using your fingers, squeeze the tamarind pulp together with the water to make a paste, removing any seeds. Strain through a sieve into the curry paste, then add the fish sauce and sugar. Slowly stir in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then add the pea eggplant, if using, and the ginger, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add the diced Asian eggplant, if using, and the fish heads, cover and cook for 10 minutes, turning the heads once. Add the green onions, tomato, lime leaves, and hot pepper, if using, and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.
6. Just before serving, stir in the basil and coriander leaves.
Whole Fried Whitebait (page 179)
Grilled Sardines with Gooseberry Sauce (page 182)
Whiting en Papillote (page 185)
Skate with Butter and Caper Sauce (page 193)
Rabbit in Saffron Sauce with Spring Vegetables (page 216)
Roasted Rack of Venison with Cape Gooseberry Sauce (page 224)
Tamarind, Pineapple, and Chile-Glazed Boar Ribs (page 229)
Venison Shank in Rosemary-Wine Sauce (page 234)
Whole Fried Whitebait
Tiny fish known as whitebait, ranging in size from about 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm), are eaten whole, heads, skin, bones, and yes, even their guts. Whitebait is not a species of fish but a catch-all name for very young fish—usually herring, sprats, smelts, or shad. Their bones are so soft that once cooked, they can be eaten whole. Whitebait have a short season, but they are always available frozen.
1 pound (450 g) whitebait
⅓ cup (40 g) flour
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups (11) vegetable oil
Fine sea salt Lemon wedges
Flat-leaf parsley sprigs, optional
1. Sort through the whitebait, discarding any broken ones, and pat dry. Mix the flour with the cayenne pepper, if using, then season it with salt and pepper.