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Sumac battered fish nuggets with mojo criollo and herby pea pesto
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 800g thick cod loin
- 1tsp sea salt flakes, crunched up
- ½tsp ground sumac, plus extra to garnish
- vegetable oil, for frying
- rice flour, for dusting
For the batter
- 150g plain flour
- 65g rice flour, plus extra
- 1¼tsp baking powder
- ½tsp sea salt flakes, ground
- ¾tsp ground sumac
- 250ml Heineken Pure Malt lager, chilled
For the herby pea pesto
- 180g frozen peas, defrosted
- 12g pea shoots
- 3 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 2tbsp pine nuts
- 2tbsp freshly grated Italian hard cheese
- ½tsp ground sumac
- ½tsp sea salt flakes
- 80ml extra virgin olive oil
For the mojo criollo
- 4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- juice 1 lime
- juice 3 clementines
- 1tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed
- 1tsp white balsamic vinegar
- 2tsp tomato ketchup
- pinch sea salt flakes
- pinch freshly ground black pepper
- ½ mango, peeled and chopped into small cubes
- 1tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
Method
To make the herby pea pesto, put all the ingredients apart from the oil in a mini processor. Add freshly ground pepper and a little of the oil and pulse a few times until everything is coarsely chopped. Gradually add the remaining oil and pulse until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and pulse once more. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
To make the mojo criollo, combine all the ingredients in a serving bowl.
Cut the cod into approx. 4cm pieces. Coat the fish with the crunched up salt, then set it aside for 20 minutes.
Pat the fish with kitchen paper to remove the excess salt and dust lightly with the sumac before making the batter – you need to be ready to use it immediately or the nuggets won’t be so crisp. Put the flours in a large bowl and whisk in the baking powder, salt and sumac to aerate the mix.
Heat the oil in a deep pan or deep fat fryer to 180C (you will need to fluctuate the temperature as it cools down once you start frying). Preheat the oven to 200C/180C F/Gas 6.
Toss the fish pieces in rice flour, a few at a time. Set a wire rack over a baking tray lined with kitchen paper, and line another baking tray with foil.
Whisk the cold beer into the flour mix in the bowl but don’t over-whisk – it’s best to leave a few lumps.
Dip the fish pieces, a few at a time, into the batter to coat, then deep fry for around 4 minutes until golden. Lift each batch on to the wire rack to drain. When they are all cooked, lay them on the foil-lined tray and place in the oven for around 2 minutes to ensure they are all hot.
Serve immediately with the mojo criollo and herby pesto, lightly sprinkled with sumac.
This recipe was taken from the January/February 2021 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
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