Grilled King George whiting with buttermilk dressing, radishes & cucumber
Prep time 20 mins
Cook 10 mins
Serves 6
"I love cooking whole fish over charcoal and King George Whiting is my favourite," says Jemma Whiteman of sake bar and restaurant, ANTE. "It does have a pretty short season, so if King George isn’t available, you can definitely use sand whiting or garfish instead. Our buttermilk dressing is great at using up all the delicious pickle liquor you have floating about your fridge.. at home I use the pickle from guindillas, which gives the dressing a little kick of heat."
2 whole King George whiting, gutted and scaled
BUTTERMILK DRESSING
½ cup (125ml) buttermilk
2 tbsp pickling liquid from your favourite jar of bread and butter pickles
1 ½ tbsp mayonaise
Pinch of salt flakes
CUCUMBER & RADISH SALAD
1 bunch of chives, sliced into thin rounds
½ bunch red radishes, washed
1 cucumber
1 bunch mint, leaves picked
1 bunch chervil, leaves pickled
1 lemon, cut into 2 big cheeks, keep the centre piece for juice
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1. Heat a charcoal barbecue, barbecue or chargrill plate to low-medium heat. While you have this going, bring the fish out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Pat the skin well with pepper towel to make sure it is as dry as possible, this will help stop the skin from sticking to the grill.
2. To make the dressing whisk together the buttermilk, pickle juice and mayonnaise in a small bowl, season well with salt and black pepper.
3. Slice the radishes thinly using a mandolin and pop them into iced water to keep them crisp. Peel the cucumber and cut in half lengthways and using a teaspoon scoop out the seeds. Slice the cucumber diagonally into slices about 1cm thick.
4. When the grill is ready, brush the fish with a little olive oil, season well with salt. Grill the fish turning occasionally until the it is just cooked, approximately 10-15 minutes. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes while you assemble the salad.
5. Strain the radish slices and part dry with paper towel. Toss together in a bowl with the cucumber and torn mint and chervil. Squeeze over a little of the reserved lemon, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve the fish on a large plate with buttermilk dressing, the salad off to the side and the cheeks of lemon.
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
Recipe Jemma Whiteman of ANTE, Photography Alicia Taylor
