The fish of Waitī with onions and kawakawa
Grilled Salmon with Crunchy Red Onions, Roasted Almonds and Kawakawa Crisps
Serves 4
The joy of a new culinary discovery really knows no bounds! So, when thinking about how I could include Kawakawa in this recipe I wondered if it would respond well to a quick deep fry. And yes. Indeed, it does. Have a light pot lid or splatter screen on hand as you toss the washed and very well dried leaves into the oil. It will spit and then crunch up almost instantaneously. And it’s a flavour bomb. Everything that’s good about kawakawa is intensified. It’s peppery, earthy and tongue numbing.
We know the protocol around harvesting kawakawa. Don’t take more than you need. And give thanks to the plant before during and after the picking. She’s listening.
This recipe is a good way to use you Legacy Pan both on the stove top and inside the oven.
On the stove top, you’ll pour the marinade over the fish and on a low heat watch it thicken in the pan. You’ll then baste the fish in the thickened marinade, turn up the heat, add some boiling water and plunge the pan into a super-hot oven on grill for 10 minutes. And in less than 15 minutes you’ll take that sizzling pan to the table.
Serve it up with some noodles and a crunchy fresh salad and give thanks to the stars. And in particular Waitī, star of freshwater.
Mānawatia a Matariki!
MARINADE
1 T soya sauce
1 T oyster sauce
1 T maple syrup
1 T hot mustard
½ t Chinese five spice
1 T cider vinegar
600 g fresh salmon fillet skin on
1 c boiling water
¼ c roasted almonds, chopped roughly
KAWAKAWA CRISPS
Kawakawa leaves, holy leaves look prettiest
2 c sunflower or canola oil
TO SERVE
½ red onion, sliced finely
Juice of ½ juicy lime
4 T mayonnaise
METHOD
Let’s start by making the kawakawa crisps. The Old Dutch Pot is an extremely good deep-frying pot. Heat the oil over a medium heat until it’s hot enough to make a little pinch of bread sizzle when it hits the oil.
Fry the leaves in batches of 2 or 3 and with leaves in one hand and light pot lid or splatter screen in the other, toss the leaves in and cover. The leaves will puff up and become translucent in a matter of seconds. They will stop spitting pretty much straight after the make contact with the oil so are easy to gently remove to drain on paper towels.
To make the fresh onion salsa, mix the onions and lime juice together and set aside for later.
Heat the oven to maximum grill temperature.
Mix the marinade ingredients together.
Lay the salmon fillets onto your lightly sprayed Legacy Pan and turn the heat to medium on the stove top.
Pour the marinade over the top of the salmon fillets. The marinade will bubble and thicken in the bottom of the pan. This will take only a minute or two. Turn the heat to low and use a dessert spoon to ladle the marinade over the salmon fillets. Then pour the boiling water into the bottom of the pan. It will sizzle and steam.
Move pan to under the grill for 5 minutes. Pull from oven and sprinkle with the chopped almonds and add more boiling water to the pan if it’s looking dry. Finish off grilling for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and garnish each fillet with the red onion, a dollop of mayonnaise and a kawakawa crisp atop.
Serve hot and sizzling to the table with extra kawakawa crisps, and take a look around at these people you have the pleasure of feeding. Are you thanking your lucky stars?
We hope so!
