South African Country Life – September 2019

Serves 4

• 800g fresh hake fillet, bones removed


• 1 cup coarse sea salt
  Carrot Sauce


• 3kg large organic carrots


• 1 tbsp Atchar spice mix (see recipe below)


• 1 cup coconut cream
  Atchar Spice Mix


• ½ cup yellow mustard seed


• ½ cup black mustard seed


• ½ cup fenugreek seeds


• 4 tbsp fennel seeds


• 4 tbsp chilli powder


• ½ cup salt


• 1 tbsp garam marsala
  
  
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  
  
  • ½ cup canola oil
  
  
  • ½ cup atchar marsala
  
  
  • 4 tbsp treacle sugar
    Slow Roasted Carrots
  
  
  • 2 large organic carrots
  
  
  • 150g unsalted butter
  
  
  • fresh thyme
  
  
  • pinch of Maldonsalt
    water/ vegetable stocktocover
    Atchar Spiced Dressing
  
  
  • 2 tbsp atchar spicemix
  
  
  • 125ml fresh limejuice
  
  
  • 2 cloves garlic, finelychopped
  
  
  
  

METHOD Cover the base of a container, just
large enough to lay the fillet down flat, with
coarse salt. Lay the fish skin side down and
cover with the remaining coarse salt. Leave in
refrigerator for 15 minutes to cure. Rinse the
fish under cold running water to remove all
salt, pat dry with a clean kitchen towel, cut into
four equal portions and place covered in the
fridge until ready to use
For the spice mix: Combine the mustard
seeds, fenugreek and fennel seeds in a pan and
lightly toast over a low heat on the stove top.
Remove from the heat. Once cooled, crush to
a medium consistency (not too fine). In a bowl,
thoroughly mix the spices with the remaining
ingredients.
For the carrot sauce: Remove the tops of
the carrots and cut into pieces small enough
to fit easily into a vegetable juicer. Juice the
carrots. You should yield about 1 litre. Strain
the juice through a fine sieve. Place the juice
in a big pot and set over a medium heat on
the stove top. Add 1 tablespoon of the atchar
spice mix and reduce the juice by half. Add
the coconut cream and simmer for 10 minutes
or until the sauce has a coating consistency.

Season with salt ifneeded.

For the roastedcarrots:Removethetops

and peel the carrots.Placethemwholein a

wide, thick-base pan.Addthebutter,thymeand

Maldon salt and coverwiththewater/vegetable

stock. Simmer ona stovetopovera medium

heat. Once the carrotshavestartedto soften,turn

up the heat and reducealltheliquidin thepan,

turning the carrotsoftenforevencooking.Once

the liquid has evaporated,lowertheheatand

allow the butter toslowlybrownandcolourthe

carrots. The carrotsshouldbefirmontheinside

and caramalised ontheoutside.Removethepan

from the heat andallowthecarrotsto coolin

the pan so that theycansoakupthebutter.Once

cooled, slice the carrotsintosmallbite-sized

rounds and place ina smalloven-proofdish.

For the atchardressing:Combineallthe

ingredients, excepttheoil,in a mixingbowl

and whisk while graduallyincorporatingthe

oil. Taste and seasonwithfinesaltif necessary.

For the tempuraleaves:Ina bowl,

combine the flour,sugarandsalt.Slowly

pour the sparklingwaterintothemixtureand

mix gently using chopsticksora whisk.The

batter should havea smooth,light,coating

consistency.Pourtheoilintoa deeppotand

heatona medium-highheatuntiltheoil

reaches 180 ̊C.Coateachleafin thebatterand

deep-fryonebyoneuntilgoldenandallthe

bubbleshavestopped.Usinga pairoftongsor

a slottedspoon,removeeachleafanddrainon

kitchenclothorpapertowel.Seasonwithsome

Maldonsalt.

Forthefish:Ina wide,thick-basefrying

pan,heatcanolaoilovera medium-highheat.

Lightlyscoretheskinofthefishwitha sharp

knifecuttingacrossthesurfacein 1 cm

intervals.Placethefishskinsidedownin the

panandfryuntilgoldenandcrisp.Witha fish

spatula,turnthefishandcontinuecookingfor

2 minutesoruntilsoftandwarmedthrough.

Removefromtheheat.

To serve:Placethefishin a deepbowl.

Arrangetheslicesofcarrotsalongside.Pour

thecarrotsaucearoundsothatthereis a small

poolofsauceat thebaseoftheplate.Coat

thefishwitha goodhelpingofthedressing,

makingsureto getallthelovelybits.Place

somefreshcoriander,mintandthetempura

leavesontopofthefish.

WinesuggestionMaisonCheninBlanc 2017

• 1 thumbginger,finelychopped


• 1 redchilli,seedsremoved
  andfinelychopped


• 2 tbspcastorsugar


• 72.5mlblendedoliveoil
  TempuraCeleryLeaves


• 12 largeceleryleaves,
  washedanddried


• ½ cuptempuraflour


• 1 tspwhitesugar


• pinchoffinesalt


• 1 cupcoldsparklingwater


• oilforfrying
  Specialisedequipment:vegetablejuicer

Pan-seared Hake with Cape-Malay Spiced Carrot Sauce

http://www.countrylife.co.za 101 September 2019

DAVID SCHNEIDER COUNTRY CHEF