For all those who avoid cooking fish for fear of ruining it, this tried and true set of much-loved recipes from the Bite team will have you changing your ways and enriching your life.
Bevan Smith
Pan-fried sole with wet polenta, garlic, chilli and basil
This is my all-time favourite fish dish because it is packed with flavour, so easy to eat and has a nice chilli kick. Make the polenta ahead of time and the whole dish only takes 5 minutes from start to finish. If necessary you can substitute parsley for the basil to good effect, and if fresh chillies are not available, dried chilli flakes work just as well, so it’s also a great dish to make on holiday or if you go bush with the family. The ultimate comfort food!
Serves 4
Wet polenta (see recipe below)
120ml olive oil
450g sole fillets, skin removed and seasoned
Salt and pepper
2 cups baby spinach
5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1½ large red chilli, seeds removed and finely sliced
1½ cups basil, picked, washed and roughly torn
Juice of 1 lemon
- Heat wet polenta in a small saucepan with a little milk over a medium heat, stirring often to avoid catching. Once warmed, remove from heat and reserve.
- Heat half the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a high heat and cook sole, being careful not to overcook.
- Divide wet polenta between 4 plates, scatter with baby spinach and top with sole fillets.
- In the pan in which the fish was cooked, heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Add garlic and chilli and cook for 10 to 15 seconds until garlic begins to turn golden. Add basil and lemon juice, remove from heat, pour sauce evenly over the fish and serve immediately.
Wet polenta
Serves 4
400ml milk
40g polenta
1 Tbsp butter
50g parmesan, shaved or ground
- Bring milk to the boil in a small saucepan over low to medium heat.
- Pour into a stainless steel bowl and place over a pot of boiling water.
- Add the polenta and whisk occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes until grains start to thicken.
- Cover with plastic wrap and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the grains are soft. Season and whisk in butter and parmesan.
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Nadia Lim
Goan fish curry
This curry has lots of levels of flavour. It is sweet and tangy and very fragrant. For extra goodness I have loaded it with vegetables and served it with brown rice. Use a firm fish, such as monkfish, hapuku or kingfish, that will hold its shape once cooked.
Serves 4
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cm piece ginger, finely chopped
20 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 chilli, finely sliced, optional
2 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
4 star anise
6 cloves
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate, mixed with 2 Tbsp water
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 can coconut milk
150g green beans, trimmed
2 red peppers, diced
600g monkfish (or other firm fish), cut into 3cm pieces
Coriander leaves, to serve
- Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan with high sides over medium high heat. Cook the onions until soft and slightly coloured, about 5 minutes, add the garlic, ginger, curry leaves, mustard seeds, chili (if using), cumin, coriander, turmeric, star anise and cloves.
- Cook, stirring often, for a few minutes until it smells fragrant. Add the brown sugar, tamarind and coconut milk and let it come to a rapid simmer.
- Add the green beans, peppers and fish and cook until the fish is just cooked through and the vegetables are cooked but still crunchy. Scatter over some coriander leaves and serve with brown rice.
To cook brown rice
Combine 2 cups brown rice, 3 cups water and 1 tsp salt in a pot and bring to the boil. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to low and let it cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it steam for a further 7 minutes. Don’t open the lid at all during this time.
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Warren Elwin
Miso glazed fish
Black miso cod is a signature dish of Nobu restaurant in New York and Nic Watt serves a variation at Masu in Auckland. Salty and sweet and scrumptious, it’s a simple Japanese preparation of marinating and grilling chunks of rich and buttery black cod until golden and flaky. Here’s my version.
Serves 8-10 as a small plate or 6-8 as a main
800g-1kg thick fish fillets such as hapuku, kingfish or salmon, with skin on
¼ cup sake
¼ cup mirin
4 Tbsp white miso paste
1 Tbsp sugar
- Bring sake and mirin to the boil. Turn the heat to low, add white miso paste and sugar and whisk until dissolved and thick. Remove from the heat and cool.
- Cut fish into 5-10cm portions and pat dry with a paper towel. Place fish skin-side down in a dish and cover with miso marinade. Refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
- Remove fish from marinade and place skin side down on a hot, lightly oiled grill pan. Sear until the skin has darkened, turn the fillets over and finish in the oven under a hot grill, approx. 5-10 minutes. Alternatively, place the fish skin side down on a lightly oiled foil covered tray, and grill in a hot oven until deeply caramelised and flaky, 10-15 minutes.
- Serve as a small plate with finely chopped pickled ginger or serve as a main with warm sushi rice and a Japanese salad (seaweed or baby kale with a sesame oil and rice wine vinegar dressing).
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Kathy Paterson
Fish stew
This fish stew is full of flavour, yet simple in its construction. I have added fresh salmon rather than using all white-fleshed fish. Bread and aioli is all you need with it or, if you are a fan of anchovies, try the anchovy toasts in the next recipe.
Serves 4
1½ cups dried pasta, I used torchiette (twists)
Pinch saffron threads
2 Tbsp warm water
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 fennel bulb, tough outer leaves removed and discarded, very thinly sliced and fronds reserved and chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes in juice
1 piece of orange rind
1 litre well-flavoured fish stock, or more if needed
750g firm-textured fish, cut into large chunks that will sit easily on a soup spoon
Chives and sweet marjoram, for serving
Lemon wedges, for serving
- Cook pasta in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water according to the packet instructions or until al dente. Drain then quickly rinse under cold water to arrest cooking and set aside.
- Infuse the saffron in the warm water.
- Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan and add the fennel and onion. Cook over a low heat for at least 10 minutes, stirring until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for a further 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes, orange rind, saffron and its liquid and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Pour in the fish stock and simmer until the vegetables are very tender. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add the fish pieces and cooked pasta and cook for a further 3 minutes until the fish is just cooked.
- Gently stir through some snipped chives, sweet marjoram leaves and the chopped fennel fronds.
- Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over the stew.
Anchovy toasts
115g anchovy fillets, soaked in a little milk for 10 minutes
2 shallots, very finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
¼ cup chopped parsley leaves
1 baguette, cut into slices
- Heat the grill to high.
- Toast baguette slices under the grill. Pat dry the anchovy fillets and finely chop.
- Add the shallots and garlic and continue to chop until they are very fine.
- Place in a bowl and add the oil, vinegar and parsley. Season with freshly ground black pepper and mix well.
- Spread on the toasted baguette slices and pop under the grill to warm.
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Geoff Scott
Pan-fried fish
This is one of my favourite ways of cooking fish at home and we eat it regularly at Vinnies for our staff meal because it’s so tasty and quick to prepare.
The fillets are in a sort of protective coating of flour and egg and this helps keep the fish beautifully moist, but at the same time there is this lovely buttery caramelised coating. To make this dish a little indulgent I serve it with my favourite simple sauce (see recipe below).
Be careful with the cooking time — it will vary depending on how thick the fish fillets are — allow extra time for the fish to cook through if they are thicker. Also keep a close eye on the heat of the frying pan. It needs to be hot when the fish goes in, but not too hot or the butter will burn. Put a little of the butter in to test the heat — if the pan is too hot, just lift it off the heat for a minute or two, then carry on.
This recipe is perfect with snapper or any other variety of fresh fish. Try to buy the freshest fish possible.
When you are shopping smell the fish, it should have no odour at all and the fillets should look dry, not wet or slimy. Before seasoning and cooking fish fillets place them on paper towels, pat dry and remove any stray bones or scales.
Serves 2
2 fresh fish fillets
Flour for dusting
2 eggs
2 Tbsp butter
Lemon wedges
- Season the fish with salt on both sides then dip into flour, shaking off the excess.
- Whisk the eggs then pour into a shallow dish.
- Heat a large frying pan until hot, then use tongs to dip the fish into the egg, completely coating the fillets on both sides.
- Add the butter to the pan, allow to melt, then add the fish. Cook until golden on both sides and serve on hot plates with wedges of lemon.
Simple butter sauce for the fish
Once the fish is out of the pan, add an extra Tbsp butter, cook until it begins to bubble and go brown, add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, some freshly ground pepper (capers are also great) and spoon over the cooked fish.