Kiwi as: homegrown recipes from Christall Lowe’s beautiful Kai cookbook

Raw fish. Photo / Christall Lowe

‘My food story begins at home, on my nana’s lap, as she fed me kamokamo mashed with butter when I was just a young thing. Too young to walk or talk, I’m sure that first meal set me up for a life of loving good, homegrown kai (and butter).’ — Christall Lowe

Kaimoana chowder

Serves 4 as a main

I've tried many seafood chowders in my lifetime — it's become a bit of a thing to do when I see one on the menu. There have been a few disappointments, but also some absolute standouts. I believe a good chowder is hearty, creamy, and absolutely steeped in the flavour of kaimoana. It should really be a celebration of the sea, and I like it loaded! You can use whatever kaimoana you can get your hands on, so long as you keep the general quantities for ingredients the same. Using shellfish as well as the fish and prawns or shrimp adds another dimension to that kaimoana flavour, and really epitomises what a good seafood chowder is all about — a celebration of kai from the sea.

1 cup water

1 cup white wine

800g shellfish (e.g. mussels, cockles, clams, pipi), cleaned

1 Tbsp butter or olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large leek, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped

2 Tbsp flour

1 carrot, diced

1 small kūmara, peeled and diced

250g raw fish (eg snapper, tarakihi), cut into 2–3cm chunks

250g raw prawns or shrimp 1 cup cream or coconut cream

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper small bunch parsley, roughly chopped or torn

Lemon wedges, to serve

Fresh crusty bread, to serve

1. Put the water and wine in a large stockpot and bring to the boil. Add the shellfish. Cover with a lid, and steam until the shells are at least 5mm opened. Using tongs, lift the shellfish from the pot into a large bowl. Pour the cooking liquid through a sieve to remove any remnants, then reserve liquid.

2. In a heavy, deep saucepan or large stockpot over a medium heat, melt the butter or oil, and sauté chopped onion, leek and garlic, stirring until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the flour to make a roux, and slowly add the reserved shellfish broth, while stirring, until combined.

4. Add carrot and kūmara to the pan, cover with a lid and simmer until vegetables are tender, stirring every minute to prevent it sticking on the bottom of the pan. Add more water if necessary so that the soup is not too thick.

5. Add the raw fish and prawns or shrimp, and continue to simmer until just cooked through. Add the cream or coconut cream, stirring until combined into a creamy chowder. Season with salt and pepper and add the cooked shellfish.

6. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of parsley, lemon wedges and fresh crusty bread to mop up the sensational, creamy chowder.

Kaimoana chowder. Photo / Christall Lowe

Smoked fish bites

Makes 18

Grandad has an old rusty fridge in his back yard. It's been there for over 40 years. There it stands in the middle of the rows of vegetables, near the old swing and the hāngī pit, as if it's absolutely meant to be there. I mean, everyone has an old retro fridge in the middle of their vege garden, right? But this is something special. This is Grandad's smoker, which has smoked eels, kahawai, salmon, trout — everything that has needed to be smoked over the years has gone through that fridge smoker. It's something of an institution in our life of kai. These days you can buy smoked fish from the supermarket, and I created this recipe using smoked kahawai that I bought. But I've also used home-smoked salmon and eel — all equally delicious. The filling of these bites goes all soft and oozy and bursts out of the crispy coating when you bite into it — my gosh! Luxury in every bite. What's more, you can use the sour cream and smoked fish mixture as a dip or spread. Just combine the first five ingredients as per the instructions — so simple and so good.

1 cup sour cream, plus extra to serve

125–150g smoked fish, flaked

1 Tbsp lemon zest

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cracked black pepper

2 cups panko crumbs

3 eggs, whisked

Neutral oil for cooking eg canola oil or rice bran oil

1. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, smoked fish, lemon zest, salt and pepper.

2. Put panko crumbs into a bowl, and whisked egg in another beside it, and at the end of the row an empty plate for the coated fish bites, ready to cook.

3. Using 2 spoons, make a small oval-shaped ball with a tablespoon of the smoked fish mixture, shaping it firmly.

4. Drop the smoked fish ball into the panko crumbs and turn to coat thoroughly.

5. Then dip the ball into the egg mixture, coating thoroughly, then drop into the panko crumbs again, turning to completely coat. This step is very important as it will create an extra crispy and strong coating, as the inside softens while cooking.

6. Repeat with the remaining smoked fish mixture, and refrigerate for 15 minutes before cooking.

7. When ready to cook, heat oil in a frying pan over a low to medium heat, ensuring it is about half a centimetre deep throughout the cooking process (top up if necessary). Fry 5 or 6 smoked fish bites at a time, turning often until golden and crispy all around, about 2 minutes.

8. Serve immediately with extra sour cream for dipping. Break open or bite into each crispy morsel to reveal the soft, creamy and super tasty centre.

Smoked fish bites. Photo / Christall Lowe

Raw fish

Serves 4

This is probably my favourite way to eat fresh fish - raw. Well, essentially it appears 'cooked', but it's not done with heat. The acid in the fresh lemon juice 'cooks' the fish by reacting with the protein in the flesh - it's quite remarkable. I have such fond memories of enjoying raw fish at the marae, during hākari (feasts).

500g boneless, skinless white fish, eg tarakihi, trevally, snapper, kahawai

⅔ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ red onion

1 medium capsicum

2 tomatoes

2 spring onions

½ cup coconut cream

1 tsp salt, or to taste

1. Dice the fish into 1–2cm cubes, and place in a non-metal bowl. Thoroughly mix in the lemon juice, cover, and leave to chill and 'marinate' in the fridge for 1 hour, or until the fish turns an opaque white colour.

2. Finely chop the red onion, capsicum, tomatoes and spring onions.

3. Once the fish has marinated, mix in the chopped vegetables and coconut cream, and season with salt to taste. Keep chilled until serving.

Raw fish. Photo / Christall Lowe

Creamy lemon garlic crayfish

Serves 2 (or more, if served as a side dish)

Crayfish are a real treat, but incredibly expensive to buy. I am so fortunate that my husband not only grew up by the sea, but he and his brothers spent their weekends and holidays learning the ways of diving for and gathering kaimoana. It's also super handy to know people who go diving regularly who have a stash of crayfish in their freezer, and who are keen to swap kai, or even pay you in crayfish — good kai is the best currency! While I usually love to enjoy crayfish with no extra frills, cooking it with a creamy, garlicky sauce is next level. You still get to savour that authentic flavour of the cray, and at the same time the lemon and garlic creates a taste explosion when combined with the delicious juices. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, as I ponder how I might get my next feed of crays...

2 crayfish (500g–1kg each)

2 Tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup cream

1 lemon, juice only

Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus extra to garnish

1. If the crayfish is frozen, allow it to defrost in the fridge before cooking.

2. To cook, in a large stockpot bring well-salted water to the boil, then add the crayfish. Cook for 5–8 minutes depending on size, until the shell is bright orange. In this case it's best if the crayfish is slightly undercooked, so that you don't overcook it in the final part of the recipe. Keep an eye on it and don't cook it for any longer than necessary.

3. Remove from the pot and plunge the crayfish immediately into a large pot or sink of ice-cold water to stop the cooking process.

4. Cut the crayfish in half lengthways and remove meat from the shells. Cut the meat into bite-sized chunks. Don't discard the shells, as the crayfish will be served in them, and besides, there's still great meat to be pulled out of the legs! You can either serve the crayfish in the tail alone, or in the entire shell.

5. Melt the butter in a skillet or frying pan over a medium heat and add the garlic. Sauté for about 30 seconds, then add the crayfish and sauté for another 30 seconds.

6. Add the cream and lemon juice to the pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper, and spoon the crayfish and sauce into the shells.

7. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with warm crusty bread to mop up the creamy sauce with extra parsley on the side as a garnish.

Creamy lemon garlic crayfish. Photo / Christall Lowe

Edited extract from Kai: Food stories and recipes from my family table, by Christall Lowe, photography by Christall Lowe, published by Bateman Books, RRP $59.99

Kaimoana chowder