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Grilled skate wing
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 680-900g whole skate wing (or other firm flat fish such as sole or flounder), cleaned, cut into 4 portions
- juice of 1 lemon or lime
- 1tbsp tamarind concentrate
- 8 red Asian shallots, peeled
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled
- 2 lemon grass stems, white parts only, roughly chopped
- 4-6 dried chillies, softened in hot water
- 2tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for coating
- 1½tsp dried shrimp paste
- 1½tsp palm sugar (jaggery) or dark brown sugar
- 1 long red chilli, sliced
To serve
- 3-4 limes, cut in half a few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
Method
2 large pieces of banana leaf (or 4 pieces of foil) 4 toothpicks, soaked in water charcoal barbecue or grill.
Rub the skate with lemon or lime juice and some salt, then set aside for 10 minutes. Mix the tamarind concentrate with 250ml warm water in a small bowl, then strain (discard seeds). Set aside.
Process the shallots, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, dried chillies, oil and shrimp paste in a blender or food processor until it forms a fragrant paste. Cook the paste in a small heavy-based pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the strained tamarind, palm sugar and salt to taste and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, then allow to cool.
Cut each banana leaf in half, then soften in hot water. Dry well with a kitchen cloth, then lightly coat with some vegetable oil. (If you are using foil, it should also be lightly coated with oil.) Spoon half the sauce evenly among the banana leaves or foil parcels. Lay the skate fillets on top, then spoon the rest of the sauce over the fish and top with the sliced chilli. Fold the banana leaves or foil pieces over and secure with toothpicks. Cook the parcels on a hot charcoal barbecue or grill for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, turning once only. At the same time, cook the lime halves on the grill for 2-3 minutes until lightly charred. Serve the skate parcels with the lime and a few sprigs of coriander leaves.
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