Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo’s seafood and spring onion pancake – haemul pa-jeon
This dense, savoury pancake makes a fantastic starter or sharing dish with everyone diving in with their chopsticks, mopping up some of the soy dipping sauce along the way. Extremely popular as a snack in Korea, this dish can be made your own with whatever selection of seafood you like.
Serves 2
mixed squid rings and prawns 200g
garlic 4 cloves, crushed
sesame seeds 1 tsp, toasted
roasted sesame seed oil 2 tsp
plain flour 100g (or white spelt flour)
glutinous rice flour 3 level tbsp
(or cornflour)
eggs 2, beaten
sunflower oil 2 tbsp
spring onions 6, sliced lengthways
green chilli ½, deseeded and sliced
red chilli ½, deseeded and sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dipping sauce
soy sauce 2 tbsp
rice wine vinegar 1 tsp
roasted sesame oil ½ tsp
garlic 1 small clove, crushed
toasted sesame seeds ¼ tsp
In a bowl, combine all the dipping sauce ingredients together and set aside.
Wash the seafood and drain. Place it in a bowl with half the crushed garlic, the sesame seeds, sesame oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the flours with a ¼ teaspoon of salt, then add half the beaten egg, the remaining garlic and slowly whisk in 150ml of ice-cold water. (Do not add in all the water at once, as you may not need the full amount.) The batter should be the consistency of thick pouring cream. If you are not using fish, add the garlic, salt, sesame seeds and sesame seed oil straight into the batter.
Place a 22cm non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, add the sunflower oil and when hot ladle in two thirds of the batter. Use the back of a spoon to coat the base of the pan with the batter. Place the spring onion strips onto the pancake, with the green ends lying in both directions, then scatter over the chillies and seafood. Add the remaining beaten egg to the remaining batter and whisk to combine, then drizzle it over the spring onions and seafood so that they do not come loose when flipping the pancake. Fry over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until the bottom is set, then carefully invert the pancake onto a plate and slide it back into the pan and fry for a further 3-4 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the pancake is golden and crisp.
Serve up the pancake by cutting it into bite-size pieces. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.
From Our Korean Kitchen by Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £25)
Giorgio Locatelli’s spaghetti and lobster – spaghetti tagliuzzati con zuppa di aragosta
You need to buy very fresh lobsters for this, from a fishmonger that you trust; or, preferably, buy live ones and dispatch them yourself. I know this is an emotive issue, but we have done a lot of research into killing lobsters painlessly, and in the kitchen we have a special machine that knocks the lobster unconscious. At home the best way is to put the lobster into the freezer for about fifteen minutes, so that the creature goes into a torpor, then, holding the claws still, insert a sharp knife into the head behind the eyes and cut straight down, so that the head is cut completely in half. It is agreed that this is much more humane than plunging a live lobster into a pan of boiling water.
As the name of the dish suggests, this is quite a soupy sauce, which Italians call a broth, and the spaghetti is broken up into shorter lengths before being cooked and added to it.
Serves 4
fresh or live lobster 1 medium (about 1kg)
plum tomatoes 4-5
olive oil 2 tbsp
onions 2, diced
carrot 1 large , diced
celery stalk 1, diced
flat-leaf parsley 2 tbsp, chopped
bay leaf 1
tomato purée 1 tbsp
garlic oil 1 tbsp
fresh red chilli 1 tsp, chopped
dry white wine 40ml
sea salt
spaghetti 400g, broken into pieces
parsley and garlic 1 tsp (see note after seafood salad recipe)
extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp
If using live lobsters, dispatch them as described above. If using fresh ones, split the heads in half between the eyes. Separate the heads from the tails.
Put the tomatoes into a pan of boiling water for 10 seconds, then drain under cold water and you should be able to peel them easily. Cut them in half, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon, and then chop the flesh.
To make a little stock, heat the olive oil over a low heat, add the vegetables, parsley and bay leaf and cook gently until the vegetables are golden. Add the lobster heads and the tomato purée, cook for 3 minutes, then add enough water to cover and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, then pass the stock through a fine sieve and set aside.
Bring a pan of water to the boil. Put in the lobster tail and blanch for 20 seconds, then remove and cut lengthways through the shell so that you have two halves. Remove the shell and cut each half lobster into slices of about 1.5cm.
In a pan large enough to take the pasta later, heat the garlic oil. Put in the chilli, stir for a minute, then add the lobster meat and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the white wine, bubble up and stir until the alcohol evaporates, then add the chopped tomatoes and finally the reserved lobster stock.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, add salt, then put in the broken spaghetti and cook for about a minute less than the time given on the packet, so that it is al dente. Drain, reserving some of the cooking water, and toss with the lobster sauce for about a minute, adding a little of the cooking water if necessary to loosen. Add the parsley and garlic and the tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, then toss together again and serve.
From Made in Sicily by Giorgio Locatelli (Fourth Estate, £30)
Simon Hopkinson’s fish pie
One of the most important things to remember when making a fine fish pie is to ensure that the wet-sauced-fish-parsley-egg mixture has set firm enough in its dish, so that you can weave the raft of creamed potato over its surface without fear of submersion.
Serves 6
milk 700ml
onion 1 medium, chopped
bay leaf 1
salt and pepper
cod fillet 500g
smoked haddock fillet 500g
eggs 3 hard-boiled,
shelled and coarsely chopped
flat-leaf parsley leaves from a large bunch, chopped
butter 75g
flour 75g
For the mash
floury potatoes 1.8kg
butter 100g
salt and pepper
Place the milk, onion, bay leaf and a pinch of salt in a pan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and leave for 15 minutes.
Lay out the fish, skin side down, in a single layer in a shallow pan or heatproof dish. Strain over the milk and simmer, turning the fish after 5 minutes, and cook until it is lightly but not completely cooked. Lift on to a plate. When cool enough to handle, ease the fish off the skin in chunks, taking care to remove any bones, and place in a large bowl with the eggs and chopped parsley.
Make a sauce for the fish by melting the butter in a small pan. Stir in the flour, adding the fishy milk, whisking as you pour, to make a smooth thick sauce. Simmer very gently for 15 minutes, using a heat diffuser pad if you have one. Season with salt and plenty of white pepper. Pour the sauce over the fish. Carefully mix everything together, transfer the mixture to a pie dish and put to cool in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Cook the potatoes in salted water, drain well and mash with the butter. When the fish mixture is good and firm, spoon over the mash and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the top is puffed and golden.
First published in the Independent. Simon Hopkinson Cooks (Ebury, £25) is available now
Jeremy Lee’s crab soup
There are many who love the brown meat but I sacrifice this delight in favour of a robust soup that has a fine flavour.
Serves 6-8
live co*ck crabs 1 or 2 good-sized (2-2½ kg)
celery ½ head
onions 2
carrot 1
leeks 1
tomatoes 10
garlic 2 heads
thyme a big sprig
rosemary 5 or 6 individual spears
orange zest 2 strips
saffron a generous pinch
white wine 1 bottle
brandy a very large glass
olive oil
For the rouille
eggs 2, hard boiled and peeled
anchovies 6 fillets
garlic 2 cloves, peeled and chopped
harissa 1 tbsp
egg yolks 2 raw
Dijon mustard 1 tbsp
saffron a pinch
salt a pinch
pepper a big pinch
lemon juice 1 tsp
olive oil 250ml
To make the rouille, place all the ingredients in a blender except the olive oil. Add the oil very slowly, on a low speed, as for mayonnaise. Once done, adjust the seasoning, if required, adding lemon juice and olive oil to taste. Transfer to a bowl and cover.
For the soup, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a large heavy-bottomed pan. Chop all the vegetables and tomatoes quite roughly. Tip them into the pot. Halve the heads of garlic and add along with the herbs, orange zest and saffron. Cover and stew over a modest heat for at least half an hour.
There are two ways to kill crabs. The first is to place the crab on a tray, put in the freezer and let sleep until expired, an hour or so. The second is to have a spike or large metal skewer to hand, deftly and swiftly flip the crab onto its back, lift up the flap, insert the tip of the spike or skewer at the centre therein and drive it straight in.
Cook the crabs in boiling water with enough salt to make it taste like the sea – allow 10-12 minutes per kilo.
When done, remove the crabs from the pot and let cool. Pull off the claws and then each leg. Separate the carapace from the body and set to picking all the white meat you can from the crab. Serve with a lemon – fresh crab meat is delicious with a bowl of mayonnaise and bread.
Gather and scrape up all the remaining crab detritus and tip into a roasting tray. Roast at 170C/gas mark 3 for 5-10 minutes, checking regularly to make sure it doesn’t get scorched. Remove the tray from the oven, pour over the brandy and ignite, standing well back while the flame is consumed.
Once done, tip everything into the pot, then add the white wine and enough water to just cover. Stir well. Up the heat and bring the soup to a boil, removing any foam that rises to the surface. Lower to a simmer and leave to cook for an hour and half, longer if you wish.
Place a colander over a large pan and ladle the soup into the colander. Rinse the pan and pour the drained soup back into it through a fine sieve. Return to the heat and bring to a gentle boil, skimming once more. Taste the soup and begin to gently reduce until it acquires a robust flavour. This could take an hour but the result should be very much worth the effort.
Serve in a tureen with a ladle alongside a big bowl of rouille, and lots of baguette slices liberally olive-oiled and baked until crisp and golden.
Jeremy Lee is the chef-proprietor of Quo Vadis in Soho, London; quovadissoho.co.uk
Claudia Roden’s pan-fried red mullet with tahini sauce
The most popular item on the menu in the fish restaurants along the long Lebanese coast are the deep-fried red mullet that come accompanied by a tahini sauce and very thin crisp, deep-fried bread. They are fried whole, coated with flour, but at home I find it easier to pan-fry red mullet fillets.
Serves 4
red mullet fillets 8 (weighing about 80g each), skin on
salt and black pepper
extra virgin olive oil 2-3 tbsp
lemon 1
For the tahini sauce
tahini 75ml
lemon juice of 1
cold water 75ml
salt
garlic ½-1 clove, crushed (optional)
First make the sauce. Stir the tahini in the jar before using. With a fork, beat the tahini with the lemon juice. It will thicken to a stiff paste. Add the water, beating vigorously until you get the consistency of a pale runny cream. Then add a little salt and the garlic (if using) and pour into a serving bowl.
Season the red mullet fillets with salt and pepper and fry in the hot oil, preferably in a non-stick frying pan, for about 2 minutes on the skin side, then turn and cook the other side for half a minute more.
Serve the fish at once and let people pour the tahini sauce on the side.
VARIATION
Season 4 fish fillets (150g-200g), such as cod or haddock, with salt and white pepper and ½ teaspoon ground cumin. Dip the fillets in flour to coat them all over, and shallow-fry in sizzling olive oil, turning over once. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the tahini sauce.
From Arabesque by Claudia Roden (Michael Joseph, £30)
