MACKEREL, CUCUMBER, APPLE AND PONZU

OVERVIEW

This is the perfect summer starter. Mackerel is a delicate fish and it needs to be cooked with a lot of love. Here, the sourness of the buttermilk sauce really cuts through the fish and balances beautifully with the brightness of the cucumber relish. In the restaurant, we use a clever technique to create neat rolls of fish, but to simplify things here we’ve left the fish fillets flat and intact. We also finish the dish by pipetting on a little parsley oil, which you can make easily enough by blitzing the herbs with extra virgin olive oil.

You should be able to find ponzu – a Japanese citrus and soy sauce – in a large supermarket or specialist grocers, but if not you can approximate its flavour by adding lemon juice and rice wine vinegar (or even white wine vinegar) to some soy sauce.

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MAKE THE RELISH AND DRESSING

Start by mixing together the ingredients for the cucumber relish. To make the ponzu dressing, pour the vinegar and sugar into a pan and bring to the boil. Stir thoroughly, then leave to cool. Add the ponzu when cooled.

SET UP YOUR EGG

Set up your EGG for direct cooking with the Cast Iron Searing Grid in place. Target temperature is 240°C.

Quickly grill the apple and cucumber slices until lightly caramelised. Pour half of the ponzu dressing into a bowl, then add the grilled apple and cucumber slices and leave to marinate.

In a pan, gently warm the buttermilk, milk and salt, then whisk through the remaining ponzu dressing. Do not boil or the sauce will split.

COOK YOUR FISH

Time to cook the fish. First, gently melt the butter in a Cast Iron Saucepot or small pan. Meanwhile, heat your Plancha with a little oil.

Dust the skin of each fish fillet with flour. Once the Plancha is hot, add the fillets skin-side down and grill for 2 minutes. Now pour the melted butter over the top of the mackerel and cook for 2-3 minutes more, while using a spoon to constantly baste the fish. Once ready, the skin should be crisp and the flesh should be firm but still slightly pink.

Place a pile of cucumber relish on each place with the mackerel on top and a pool of buttermilk sauce around. Top with slices of marinated cucumber and apple and a scattering of dill fronds. Add a few drops of herb oil at the end if you have some.