serves
4
prep
10 minutes
cook
5 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
4
people
preparation
10
minutes
cooking
5
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
In Chinese cuisine, snapper is often steamed with ginger and spring onions to complement its refined, delicate flavour and texture. Cooked Western-style, snapper benefits from minimal cooking and a fresh, light yet interesting accompaniment. The dried cherries are wonderfully chewy, with a slightly salty and sour flavour. Soaking half of them in jasmine tea not only creates a different texture, but also imparts a subtle jasmine scent, and the tomato salad gives the whole dish a refreshing edge.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp jasmine tea leaves
- ¼ cup boiling water
- ¼ cup dried sour cherries
- 1 small red onion, finely sliced
- 1 garlic clove, finely diced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp raw sugar
- 3 medium-sized vine-ripened tomatoes
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp chardonnay vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- pinch of cracked white pepper
- 4 x 100 g (3½ oz) snapper fillets
- dash of extra virgin olive oil, extra
Serve as a main meal for 4
Standing time: 25 minutes
Instructions
- Put tea leaves in a bowl, pour over the boiling water, cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Strain, discarding tea leaves and returning liquid to the bowl, along with half the cherries. Leave to stand for 20 minutes, then strain and reserve cherries, discarding liquid.
- Place onion and garlic in another bowl, sprinkle with salt and sugar and mix well. Cover and leave to stand for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, using a small knife, cut a shallow cross in the base of each tomato. Bring a pan of water to the boil and plunge tomatoes in the water for 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, remove tomatoes quickly and refresh in a bowl of cold water. Drain, then peel away skin and cut tomatoes into quarters, discarding seeds and juices.
- Add combined vinegars, oil, pepper, soaked cherries, remaining dried cherries and tomato quarters to the onion mixture.
- Finally, cook the fish in a heated, oiled frying pan until lightly browned on both sides and just cooked through — about 3-4 minutes. Remove fish from the pan, cover with foil and leave to rest in a warm place for 3 minutes.
- Arrange fish on a platter, top with tomato mixture and drizzle with a little olive oil.
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Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
In Chinese cuisine, snapper is often steamed with ginger and spring onions to complement its refined, delicate flavour and texture. Cooked Western-style, snapper benefits from minimal cooking and a fresh, light yet interesting accompaniment. The dried cherries are wonderfully chewy, with a slightly salty and sour flavour. Soaking half of them in jasmine tea not only creates a different texture, but also imparts a subtle jasmine scent, and the tomato salad gives the whole dish a refreshing edge.
