Pan Fried Mullet with Sauce Vierge
Ingredients
- 300ml Extra Virgin olive oil
- 2 red mullet, filleted
- ½ red onion, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 4 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
- 1 small bunch each of chervil, dill, chives and tarragon, chopped
- 1 lemon
- Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
1)Deseed and deskin the tomatoes. Take out the eye of the tomato and put a small cross at the bottom.
2)Put into a pan of boiling water for approximately 15 seconds, then put them into a bowl of ice cold water.
3)Peel with a knife. Cut into quarters and remove the seeds, then dice.
4)Add the red mullet fillets to a hot non stick pan with a small amount of oil. Cook each side of the fish. It only takes approximately 1 minute to cook each side.
5)Season with salt and pepper.
6)For the sauce, add extra virgin olive oil and warm in a pan.
7)Crush the coriander seeds and chop the garlic. Finely chop all the herbs and red onion.
8)Add the juice and zest of the lemon.
9)Add all ingredients to the pan and add the tomatoes last.
10)Warm through ready to serve.
What does a red mullet goes well with?
Red mullet is classified as a white fish but has a much stronger taste than many of its counterparts. The flavor lends itself to punchier ingredients – floral herbs like rosemary, thyme and oregano will stand up to red mullet bravely as will chili and garlic. Red mullet is a typical Mediterranean fish and therefore can be accompanied by other Mediterranean ingredients such as squid, tomatoes and fennel or Parmesan, artichokes and green olives.
Red mullet has a real taste of shellfish probably because that’s what they typically feast on. Keep this is mind when constructing a red mullet dish by including flavors that partner particularly well with shellfish, like white wine, garlic and ginger.