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Crispy Fried Coral Trout Wings Taro Chips and Chilli Ginger Sauce
Recipe by Rhett Willis
Rhett cooked up an Asian styled seafood dish. Bursting with flavour he has based the recipe around Fried Trout.
- Steps
- Ingredients
Steps
- Place sugar in a clean dry frying pan and over a medium heat, allow sugar to melt, making a dry caramel. The sugar will melt to hot spots that will turn quicker, so try to gently agitate and swirl the pan to ensure the sugar evenly caramelizes to a deep amber colour. Add water to stop caramel from turning darker, being careful as the mixture may spit. Gently stir with a metal spoon to incorporate.
- Add chilli, ginger, lemon juice, vinegar and fish sauce, stirring to combine and set aside. If caramel turns thick, thin with a little water to a syrup consistency.
- Heat the oil in a deep fryer or large deep saucepan to 160°C. Fry taro shavings until crispy and golden. Drain well on absorbent towel, while still hot, season with sea salt to taste and set aside.
- In a clean dry frying pan over a medium high heat, toast Szechuan pepper and white pepper for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, cool. Transfer to a mortar and pestle and grind to a powder. Add sea salt and grind again.
- Take a coral trout, place trout on a clean dry chopping board. Start a cut from the tail, working up the fish following the backbone and taking the flesh away from the ribcage. Slice the knife diagonally across the fish behind the pectoral fin and your fillet should come away. Carefully cut away the flesh above the ribs, leaving the stomach cavity intact. Repeat on the other side.
- Detach the wing piece from the fish by running the knife between the head and the pectoral fin. Then running your knife along the base edge of the rib cage and stomach cavity and down to the underbelly fin. This will remove the pectoral wings in a whole piece. Flatten so the piece resembles a butterfly. Repeat with the other trout and discard the remaining pieces of fish and bones. (Don’t throw away discarded pieces, the whole fillets are lovely pan fried and served with a squeeze of lemon and the bones will do well for a fish stock.)
- Use a the same process to remove the back bone from the mackerel, removing the fillets and cutting away the head, rib cage and tail. Discard these pieces and set the back bone with the wing pieces.
- Season the dusting flour with sea salt and lightly dust fish pieces. Tap off excess.
- Using the hot oil from the taro chips increase heat to 180°C and fry off fish pieces until golden and crispy. Drain well on paper towel and sprinkle over Szechuan pepper salt while still hot.
- To plate, arrange a coral trout wing on a serving plate, garnish with backbone, a drizzle of caramel and a scatter of taro chips
