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Smoked Arctic char with forage
Ingredients
Smoked Arctic char:
- 2 fillets (8 to 10 oz/227 to 283 g, each) Arctic char, skin on, pin-bones removed
- 1 cup (240 ml) kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) ground juniper berries, plus more for smoking
- Black pepper
- Smoking wood chips, fine bits (or untreated sawdust)
- Dutch oven and smooth 3-inch fire-safe stones (such as Dekko slate beach stone)
Warm seaweed salad:
- 1-1/2 cups (350 ml) dried arame seaweed
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) butter
- Salt and pepper
- 1-1/2 tablespoons (22.5 ml) fresh dill, chopped
- 1 lemon, zest only
Pickled spring onions:
- 3 small spring onions with greens
- 2 cups (470 ml) white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) sugar
Spiced crème fraiche:
- 1 cup (240 ml) crème fraiche
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground cardamom
- Salt
Brown butter and lemon chanterelles:
- 24 button chanterelles, stems cut to 3/4-inch (18 mm)
- 1/3 cup (60 ml) butter
- 1 lemon, juice
- Salt and pepper
Directions
- For the smoked Arctic char, heat the fire-safe stones in the oven at 550°F (288°C) for one hour.
- Combine the salt, sugar, juniper berries and pepper, and sprinkle over the char to cover the flesh with a thin coat of cure. Refrigerate for two hours, then remove the fish from the refrigerator, rinse off cure, and gently pat dry. Cut into 2 x 2-inch (5 x 5-cm) squares.
- Mix smoking wood chips and juniper berries.
- For the warm seaweed salad, rehydrate seaweed completely in warm water for 10 minutes, until soft. Drain off and discard the water, and pat dry.
- Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat, add the arame and toss to coat. Cook for one to two minutes, until warm through.
- Add dill, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Toss and cook for one to two more minutes again, until the flavours are well combined.
- Remove from heat, and keep warm.
- For the pickled spring onions, trim the onions to 6-inch (15 cm) lengths. Trim the root bulbs to remove any unsightly, dirty, or discoloured bits. Do not remove the core as it will help the onion stay intact for pickling and plating.
- Cut each onion in half lengthwise, from root core through the greens, to create six portions with both attached greens and a flat side on the bulb.
- In a small saucepan, bring vinegar and sugar to a gentle simmer over medium-high heat.
- Holding the onions by the greens, poach the bulbs in warm vinegar for two to three minutes. Remove from vinegar.
- Refrigerate vinegar-sugar mixture until cool. Place spring onions flat in a high sided dish and cover with the chilled mixture. Marinate for at least two hours.
- For the spiced crème fraiche, thoroughly combine the crème fraiche, paprika, coriander, and cardamom in a mixing bowl. Season with salt.
- For the brown butter and lemon chanterelles, start by cleaning and trimming the mushrooms.
- Heat butter in a small sauté pan over medium-medium high heat. Let bubble for three to four minutes until lightly browned.
- Add mushrooms and cook for four to five minutes until the mushrooms are tender and any released liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove from heat and swirl in the lemon juice.
- To serve, in a well ventilated space, make a quick smoker by placing one layer of the extremely hot, fire-safe stones in the bottom of the Dutch oven, and sprinkling on the mixture of wood chips and juniper berries. The chips should begin smouldering immediately.
- Working quickly, place a piece of the cured char on a room temperature stone, then carefully place that stone over the hot stones with the smouldering chip mixture. Cover immediately with a tight fitting lid.
- Smoke the fish for exactly 45 seconds, then remove the lid and remove the fish from the smoker. Gently remove the skin from the char with a fillet knife before serving.
- For the plate, place a whole pickled spring onion, flat side of the bulb facing down, across a large, round white plate, ensuring that the leaves are flat on the plate.
- Cover bulb of the onion with half a cup (120 ml) of the warm seaweed salad. Place the char neatly over the pickled onion greens.
- Add a small dollop of spiced crème fraiche over one of the corners of the fish. Finish the plate with a few of the brown butter and lemon chanterelles arranged over the fish and between the fish and the seaweed.
