Barbecued Snoek with garlic butter and apricot sauce – served with Beetroot and orange salad
It’s not the prettiest or most sensual delicacy (to me anyway), but barbecuing any kind of fish has a rather soulful element to it. Once it’s flavoured and heating up on the grid, the aroma permeates the atmosphere, leaving your mouth watering. And THAT is a sensual experience on its own.
Roasting snoek on the braai is a fine South African tradition that's well worth mastering. Now I have never been an expert at cooking anything on the fire (with the exception of vegetables), but what I do know how to make is a good sauce! And besides the freshness of your fish and the heat of your coals, your sauce is the next best thing that makes your snoek a winner at the dinner table.
This weekend past, was the first time I had ever attempted to ‘salt’ a fish and prepare it for the coals. After purchasing the fine specimen, I laid it out on a large sheet of foil on the kitchen counter. You can leave the tail on if you want, but it was too large for the grid, so I cut it off. I also cut the head off, ground a fair amount of course salt onto the snoek (the fleshy inside), and pegged it to a line outside so that the blood could weep out. Salt also has preserving qualities, which is particularly important so that it stays fresh for barbecuing later – when your coals are ready.
In the meantime, I prepared my special garlic butter and apricot sauce (a 10 minute process) and after that, whilst waiting for the salted fish and the wood to burn, I enjoyed some fine wine, music, companionship and conversation. These are essential ingredients.
After about 30 minutes of hanging, I took the fish off, placed it on the hinged grid (flat and open like an open sandwich, with the flesh side facing up), blotted off the excess salt pieces, then first placed the grid over the medium to hot coals, flesh-side down, for about 3 to 4 minutes. The flesh need to be a light golden colour. We then turned the grid over and cooked the fish skin-side down, proceeding to baste it throughout with a layer of my special sauce until it was done.
The fish is ready when it has turned white and if it comes away from the bones easily when you try to loosen it or if it flakes when you insert a fork into it. Ideally, this should take be between 14 and 20 minutes, depending on the size of the fish, the height of grid and the heat of the fire. Don’t worry if the skin side burns slightly – you won’t eat it.
And once the masterpiece was cooked, I removed the grid from the coals, placed it on a large table with a wooden board underneath it, and lifted off delicate flakes of moist succulent fish, serving it with fresh orange and beetroot salad and freshly baked bread. Large boiled jacket potatoes with hot garlic butter or sour cream is another great accompaniment. The salad is a winner though as the colours are spectacular!
Here is the recipe for the garlic butter and apricot sauce:
- ½ cup butter
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
- 1 finely chopped medium onion
- ½ cup fine apricot jam
METHOD
Melt the butter in a pan with the garlic and onions, and once the onion are slightly transparent, and the remaining ingredients, stir and remove from the heat until ready to use later.
You will use this sauce to baste the fish, which you can do with either a basting brush, basting tube or paint brush. If you don’t have either (you may be out in nature for all I know), use a large spoon and smooth it over your fish.
For the most amazing Beetroot and orange salad, follow this link: http://ahouseinthehills.com/2014/2/27/beet-and-blood-orange-salad/
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