Grilled spiced John Dory fillets with stir-fried morning glory, butternut and fried shallots

Serves 4 Starters and mains

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Method

Sprinkle the flesh side of each John Dory fillet very lightly with a few sea salt flakes. Put the lime juice, ginger, sesame oil, ground coriander, chilli powder and ground zedoary root in a small bowl and mix to a paste. Rub the mixture into the flesh side of each fish fillet and put aside in a cool place until ready to use.

Carefully heat the 200ml of oil in a wok or deep pan, then fry the finely sliced shallots one third at a time until golden. After each batch has been fried, strain through a metal sieve set over a bowl to catch the hot oil. Tip the shallots onto a plate lined with kitchen paper. Reheat the oil from the bowl and continue frying the next batch. When the shallots are cold, store in an airtight container. This step can be done in advance.

Put 1tbsp of the oil, the chopped shallots, the green chillies and the shrimp paste in a mini processor. Finely chop 2 of the garlic cloves and add along with 1tbsp of cold water, then pulse to a fine paste. Cut the peeled butternut squash into 4 pieces lengthways and slice thinly. Blanch in boiling salted water for 3 minutes until just tender. Drain well in a colander.

Heat 2tbsp of the oil in a wok and add the chilli paste. Stir for 1 minute, then add the drained butternut slices. Stir-fry for around 1 minute, then add a few tbsp of water and some sea salt flakes to taste. Stir-fry for around 7 minutes until just cooked. Transfer to a warm serving dish.

Grate the remaining 2 garlic cloves and put them into a wok with the remaining tbsp of oil over a medium heat. When it fizzes, stir and quickly add the morning glory and stir-fry for around 2 minutes, until cooked to your liking.

Grill the fish flesh-side up for 6 minutes under a hot grill set on a rack 10cm from the heat.

Serve the fish with the morning glory and the butternut squash and scatter with the fried shallots.