|
< back to all articles...
As the customers and awards keep coming for Australia’s most famous seafood chef, Steven Snow shares recipes from his new restaurant on the NSW North Coast.
RECIPES BY STEVEN SNOW. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JARED FOWLER. STYLING BY CHERISE KOCH
As the name suggests, Fins concerns itself with seafood and since chef Steven Snow opened the doors, originally in Brunswick Heads in 1992, he has forged an enviable reputation for his way with all things piscatorial.
A move south a few years ago to Byron Bay brought fresh plaudits and now he’s moved his award-winning restaurant again, this time a little further up the coast to South Kingscliff.
Such ranging up and down the coast is what Steven does most mornings, seeking the best wave for his morning surf – and following the catch. Whether it’s fresh blue-eye trevalla from the waters of south-east Queensland, eastern king prawns or the local pearl perch, the starting point at Fins is always the fresh ingredient.
Steven keeps searching for new experiences and ideas. The menu that he prepared for the opening of his new restaurant, Fins at Salt, last month – some of which he shares here – includes dishes inspired by the food of Peru, Japan and Mauritius… Snow style.
Fins at Salt, 5/6 Bells Boulevard, South Kingscliff.
(02) 6674 4833
Peruvian sashimi with hot shallot oil and chilli
Serves 4
Shallot Oil
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
5 red shallots or eschalots, finely sliced
Sashimi plate
300g sashimi-grade firm white fish fillets such as kingfish
3 jalapeno chillies, thinly sliced
1 tomato, deseeded and finely diced
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 potato, very finely diced
20 coriander leaves
2 tablespoons chives, cut into 3cm lengths
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons eschalot, finely diced
lime wedges, to serve
To make the shallot oil, put oil an shallots into a small saucepan over a low heat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until shallots are crisp. Drain through a fine sieve. Reserve oil and set shallots aside in a separate bowl.
Place fish in the freezer for 15 minutes or until firm, but do not freeze (This will make it easier to slice). Using a sharp knife, thinly slice the fish and lay the slices slightly overlapping, on a chilled serving platter.
Sprinkle fish with chilli and tomato. Season with sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.
Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add potato, coriander and chives over fish. Drizzle with lime juice and soy sauce. Just before serving, reheat shallot oil. When hot, pour oil over the fish and sprinkle over the diced eschalots. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
Lime and tamarind fish
Serves 4
4 x 160g jewfish fillets
1 cup plain flour (optional)
100ml vegetable oil
Tamarind sauce
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 brown onion, sliced
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely shredded
1 small red chilli, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 fresh coriander roots, chopped
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
1 cup Shaoxing rice wine
1 cup palm or brown sugar
3 tomatoes, peeled
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup Japanese rice wine vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon arrowroot
Wakame salad
10g dried wakame (seaweed)
2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds
1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely shredded
Wakame dressing
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Daikon-wrapped asparagus
2 litres instant dashi stock
1 daikon radish, trimmed and peeled
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
Sushi rice
1 cup sushi rice
2 ½ tablespoons sushi vinegar
plain flour, for dusting
¼ cup vegetable oil
Season fish lightly with sea salt. Dust in flour, if desired. Place vegetable oil and sesame oil into a frying pan on medium heat and cook the pieces of fish on each side for 3 minutes or until golden and almost cooked in the centre.
To make tamarind sauce, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, ginger, chilli, garlic and coriander roots and cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes or until golden. Combine tamarind concentrate and ¾ cup cold water in a jug then add to onion mixture. Add Shaoxing rice wine, sugar and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Stir through fish sauce, light soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and chicken stock. Bring to boil. Combine arrowroot and 1 tablespoon of cold water in a jug. Add to boiling tamarind sauce. Stir until well combined and cook for a further 10 minutes or until sauce thickens. (Any unused sauce can be frozen in small containers for later use).
To make wakame salad, place dried wakame in water to soak for 5 minutes as per packet instructions. Drain and squeeze out water. Place in a large bowl. Add sesame seeds, chilli and ginger to wakame. Toss until well combined.
To make wakame dressing, whisk tamari, sesame oil, olive oil, vinegar, ginger and garlic in a jug. Set aside until required.
To make daikon wrap, prepare the dashi stock according to packet instructions and bring to the boil. Using the mandolin or vegetable peeler, peel 1mm-thick ribbons from daikon radish. Place ribbons into stock and set aside to stand. Remove ribbons after 30 minutes. Place asparagus spears into a shallow heatproof dish. Cover with boiling water and stand for 2 minutes or until just tender and bright green. Drain.
Place a daikon ribbon on a flat surface and put an asparagus spear at one end. Roll ribbon around the asparagus spear. Repeat with remaining asparagus spears and daikon ribbons. Place on a plate, cover and refrigerate until required.
To make sushi rice, cover a baking tray with baking paper. Wash sushi rice in a fine sieve under cold running water until water runs clear. Place rice into a saucepan with 4 cups of water and set aside to soak for 20 minutes. Place saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to low. Cook for a further 8 minutes. Turn off heat and stand for 20 minutes. Remove lid, stir rice and add sushi vinegar. Spread rice on prepared tray. Place another tray on top to press down the rice. Refrigerate until required.
Cut rounds from cold rice using a 5cm round biscuit cutter. Lightly dust in flour. Heat vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add 3-4 rice rounds and cook for 2 minutes or until golden. Turn and cook for a further minute. Transfer to plate.
To serve, place wakame salad on one end of the plate and top with daikon-wrapped asparagus. Place fish on top of sushi rice round, pour over tamarind sauce and serve immediately.
Note Wakame and instant dashi stock can be bought at supermarkets and Asian grocery stores.
Mauritian seafood sambal with green pawpaw salad and lotus leaf-wrapped rice
Serves 4
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
½ teaspoon cardamom seeds
½ cup peanut oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 brown onions, thinly sliced
2 small red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
3 tablespoons red curry paste
500g octopus, cleaned and cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons kecap manis
1/3 cup fish sauce
6 tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1 lemongrass stalk, crushed and tied in a knot
270ml coconut milk
8 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
4 green Balmain bugs, cut in half lengthways and deveined
400g skinless boneless firm fish fillets, cut into 16 pieces
8 king prawns, peeled leaving tails intact and deveined
4 small squid hoods, cleaned and quartered
1 bunch bok choy, trimmed and washed
Green pawpaw salad
2 cups green pawpaw, deseeded, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons dried garlic
1 tablespoon dried eschalots
1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
12 mint leaves
12 Thai basil leaves
2 eschalots, peeled and finely chopped
Green pawpaw salad dressing
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Chinese black sweet vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar, roughly chopped
1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Lotus leaf-wrapped rice
1 cup Thai jasmine rice
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 lemon myrtle leaf
1 dried lotus leaf
To make sambal sauce, preheat oven to 150°C. Put fenugreek seeds and cardamom seeds into roasting pan and cook in oven for 5 minutes or until aromatic. Place roasted seeds into a mortar and pestle, or small food processor, and process until finely ground.
Place peanut oil, sesame oil, onion, chilli, garlic, ginger, curry paste and ground spices into a large saucepan. Cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until golden. Add octopus, kecap manis, fish sauce and tomato. Cook for 5 minutes or until thickened. Stir through stock and bring to the boil. Add lemongrass to mixture and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes. Stir through coconut milk.
To make the green pawpaw salad, combine pawpaw, dried garlic, dried shallots, chilli, mint, basil and eschalots.
To make green pawpaw salad dressing, place lemon juice, ¼ cup cold water, vinegar, fish sauce, palm sugar, chilli and garlic into a food processor. Process until a smooth sauce forms. Add dressing just before serving and toss until well combined.
To make lotus leaf-wrapped rice, rinse rice in a sieve under cold water until liquid runs clean. Place rice, 1 ½ cups cold water, sesame oil and lemon myrtle leaf into a heavy-based saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat. Cover rice mixture with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, soak lotus leaf in a large bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Drain. Remove stem and cut the leaf into quarters. Place leaf quarters on a flat surface. Place quarter of cooked rice in centre of each one and roll into a cone. If lotus leaves are not available, serve with white rice.
Place sambal sauce over a medium heat. When simmering, add mussels to sauce and cook for 1 minute. Discard any unopened mussels. Add Balmain bugs and fish and cook for 2 minutes. Add prawns, squid and bok choy and cook for 1 minute.
Place in a serving bowl and serve with green pawpaw salad and lotus leaf-wrapped rice.
Note Dried garlic, dried shallots and lotus leaves are available from Asian food stores. Lemon myrtle leaves can be bought at gourmet food shops or at Herbie’s spices.
Ginger pannacotta
Serves 6
1 ½ cups caster sugar
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon powdered gelatine
2 cups thick cream
2 cups milk
Finger lime syrup
½ cup sugar
1 finger lime, flesh removed, plus extra to garnish
Place 1 cup caster sugar, ginger and ½ cup cold water into a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove ginger and set aside.
Sprinkle gelatine over ¼ cup cold water in a heatproof bowl. Whisk and stand for 5 minutes to soften. Combine thick cream, milk and ½ cup caster sugar in a medium saucepan. Place saucepan over a low heat. Stir cream mixture is well combined and hot. Be careful not to scald or boil the mixture.
Meanwhile, place bowl with gelatine over a saucepan of boiling water, ensuring bowl does not touch the water. Stir until gelatine is dissolved. Cool slightly.
Remove cream mixture from heat and strain through a fine sieve. Add gelatine to cream mixture when both are at the same temperature, and stir until well combined. Pour pannacotta mixture into six ¾ cup capacity wetted moulds. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.
To make finger lime syrup, combine sugar, ½ cup cold water and finger lime flesh in a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve.
To serve, invert pannacottas onto serving plates, garnish with ginger and extra finger lime flesh, and drizzle with finger lime syrup.
Note Finger limes are available from Asian food stores, but if they are difficult to find, use lime segments with the rind and pith removed instead.
|
