Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [177]
Trim the fish, skin it if you like, or if you are cooking sheepshead fillets. Pour the rum over, season and leave for at least an hour.
Dot the fish with the butter and bake for about 20 minutes, or until just done.
Meanwhile, make the sauce by beating together the cream (s) and egg yolks in a basin over barely simmering water – or directly over a low heat if you are confident with egg sauces. Season, especially with cayenne. Spoon any juices from the cooked fish into the sauce and then pour the whole thing over the fish.
The original recipe had a garnish of puff pastry crescents, but that seems to me fussy and out of place. Pasta with a light finish of chopped green coriander seems a better idea.
PEBBLE-ROASTED FISH (Horoku-yaki)
This is a most attractive and healthy way of cooking fish. I would suggest however that you try it out first with some cheaper fish than sea bream, to see how well you manage it.
Attend first of all to your equipment. You need a large shallow pottery or metal dish of agreeable design, filled with a tight layer of well-washed pebbles the size of large cherries. On some beaches you will find banks of even-sized round grey stones, and they are ideal. The next item, though not essential, is a handy pine tree. Pick and rinse enough small branches of pine needles to cover the stones, with some left over. Lastly cut a piece of foil that will be large enough to cover and balloon up over the dish.
Serves 6
3 sea bream, each weighing about 375 g (12 oz), scaled
sea salt
6 huge prawns or langoustines
12 large mussels, scrubbed, scraped
12 fresh shiitake, stems removed or other mushrooms
SAUCE
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons dashi or chicken broth
8-cm (3-inch) piece white radish, peeled, shredded hair-fine
10-cm (4-inch) length Welsh or spring onion, sliced
If they have not been cleaned by the fishmonger, remove the innards of the sea bream through a cut made to one side. On the same side, slash the fish three times in the thickest part. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of salt over them and leave at least 30 minutes.
De-vein the prawns or langoustines, removing the heads if they are very large, but leaving the shells in place; put with the mussels. Slice the mushrooms thickly.
Put the dish of pebbles into a cold oven, then switch it on to gas 8, 230°C (450°F). Leave at least 15 minutes, or until the temperature is well set. Take out the dish, scatter on the pine branches and put the bream on top, slashed sides down. Put the remaining items round them quickly and decoratively. Encase your hands in oven gloves and fix the foil in place, pressing it tightly round the edge of the dish, and ballooning it up so that it clears the contents.
Put the whole thing back into the oven. Leave for 6 minutes, then check and remove the mussels which should be open, and the prawns or langoustines if they are cooked: keep them warm. Re-cover the dish and put back for about another 8 minutes, until you judge the fish is ready.
Meanwhile mix the sauce ingredients together, and divide between six little bowls.
Remove the dish from the oven, discard the foil and, using kitchen tongs, replace any unsightly pine needles with fresh ones. Put back the mussels and prawns or langoustines and serve immediately.
In Japan, Horoku-yaki would be accompanied by soup and a salad dish. Usually it is served in winter-time, but the method fits in well with our own style of summer eating – with or without pine needles.
SALT-GRILLED SEA BREAM (Tai Shioyaki)
When I wrote Fish Cookery in 1971 and 1972, it seemed necessary to apologize for the eccentricity of including a few Japanese recipes such as this one. Then came the new cookery, and Japanese and Chinese ideas were effortlessly incorporated into the French repertoire: now they are taken for granted. Sashimi (see the following recipe) has perhaps been the most noticeable newcomer. Another has been the cooking of chicken and fish in mounds of coarse sea salt.