[CH] RE: Pickled Fish - was Sad Day
Sue Callaghan (scallagh@african-life.co.za)
Mon, 17 Nov 2003 17:09:44 +0200
Cameron wrote:
"Anyone have a pickling method that could be touched by the breath of El
Grande? I was thinking of something more long lasting than escabeche (which
I have made often of course) which would keep for weeks or months in the
fridge."
Pickled/Curried fish is a popular dish here so I dug out a few typical South
African recipes from my files....
Pickled Fish
1 teaspoon seasoned Sea Salt
2kg Yellowtail or Cape Salmon, Kabeljou or Hake, skinned and filleted (These
are all firm fleshed fish found in SA waters - substitute whatever you can
get locally)
500ml chicken or vegetable stock heated to boiling point
7 onions
10ml oil
45ml medium curry powder
10ml Turmeric
2 Bay Leaves
1 chile, finely sliced (or more as desired)
500ml Cider Vinegar
125ml brown sugar
7.5ml black peppercorns
40ml corn flour
250ml sultanas
1. Salt the fish and leave in the refrigerator to firm for at least 30
minutes.
2. Pour the boiling-hot stock into a large, rectangular oven pan. Pack the
fish in a single layer in the stock. Cover the pan with foil and bake at
220°C for 20 minutes until just cooked. Leave to cool in the stock.
3. Pickling Sauce: Sauté the onions in the oil until just shiny, not limp.
Add the curry powder, turmeric, bay leaves and chilli, and stir-fry for 1
minute.
4. Add the vinegar, stock, sugar and peppercorns and boil rapidly,
uncovered, for 10 minutes. Thicken the sauce with corn flour and season to
taste.
5. Add the sultanas. Layer the fish and sauce in a glass container, cover
and refrigerate. It keeps for a month in the refrigerator and is best after
1-2 days maturing.
Pickled Fish No 2
2 kg fish fillets (kabeljou, snoek or yellowtail are best, but you can also
use hake), skin removed, filleted and divided into portions.
sunflower oil for shallow frying
750 ml dark vinegar
200 ml water
200 ml brown sugar
1 tablespoon turmeric
a couple of black peppercorns
30 ml curry powder (mild, medium or strong, according to your taste)
4 large onions, thickly sliced into rings
8 bay leaves
1 to 3 fresh chiles, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup smooth apricot jam
1 tablespoon flour
salt and black pepper
Fry fish in hot oil until just done, remove and place on paper towels to
drain. Set aside and leave to cool. Put all the ingredients, except for the
fish and the flour into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and let it simmer for
about 10 minutes. The onion must not go soft. Mix the flour with a little
water to form a paste and stir into the sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring
frequently. When the sauce has thickened, remove from heat. Place a layer of
fish in a non-metal dish and, using a slotted spoon, scoop some of the onion
from the sauce and pour over fish layer. Repeat with second layer. Then pour
the sauce over the fish. Let it cool, then place in refrigerator. Wait at
least 24 hours before serving, but usually at its best between three and
seven days. Wholewheat bread and a plain green salad go well with this dish.
Hout Bay pickled fish
For the pickled fish you will need a healthy kabeljou, geelbek (Cape
Salmon), yellow tail or snoek weighing between 2 and 4 kg. Have the fish
filleted and sliced into 10cm size portions.
2 tablespoons of sea salt
6 large onions sliced
4 bay leaves
6 curry leaves, if you can get them
2 chillies, seeded and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 to 3 tablespoons curry powder (more or less, depending on your taste buds)
3 tablespoons sugar
15 peppercorns
5 cups of brown vinegar
2 tablespoons smooth apricot jam
Put a little olive oil in a pan and fry the onion for three minutes, turning
often. Put the onion and all the rest of the ingredients except for the fish
into saucepan. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and set aside to
cool. Heat about 1 cm oil in a large pan, dust the fish in flour and fry
quickly on both sides, then drain on paper towels. Use a large, non-metal
dish and layer the fish, onion and sauce. Leave to cool. Cover and place in
the refrigerator. Let it stand for at least 24 hours before serving.
Summer has finally arrived here (it's very late) and I can finally plant out
my seedlings (Jals, yellow Rocoto, Cayenne, Thai and a few others). All my
overwintered plants have survived and have been moved outside into the shade
of a friendly tree to acclimatise to the sun and heat. I have several red
Rocotos (the oldest is now 4 years old), a single yellow Rocoto (planted
last year) that hasn't produced a single flower let alone any fruit, two
Caribbean Reds and two Tepins so at least I should get some fruit fairly
soon. The seedlings are going to have to race Winter to produce any fruit at
this rate. I usually have my plants in the ground by the end of September at
the latest. Thank goodness I was tardy in planting anything as we had a
below zero cold snap in the second week of October. This is totally unusual
for this part of the world and these were the coldest temps we have
experienced in nine years of living at this house. And the scientists say
that the weather isn't changing!
Cheers from Sue in a (finally) sunny South Africa.