Salt & pepper haddock

Name: Salt & pepper haddock
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 2 Haddock Fillets from the fish counter, skinned, if liked, and cut into 3cm chunks; 2¼ tsp fine salt; 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 2 salad onion; 1 red chilli; 1 tsp Cooks’ Ingredients Szechuan Pepper (or a mix ½ tsp black peppercorns and ½ tsp coriander seeds); 4 tbsp light soy sauce; 2 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar; 1 tsp caster sugar; 50 g plain flour; 50 g cornflour; ½ tsp baking powder; 100 ml sparkling mineral or soda water, chilled; Sunflower or vegetable oil, for deep frying

A classic crowd-pleaser using haddock in place of other more traditional seafood such as squid. You’ll have some of the salt and pepper mix left over; keep in a small jar for next time. This serves 6 with other dishes.

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Serves6
CourseAccompaniment
Prepare15 mins
Cook10 mins
Total time25 mins

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Ingredients

2 Haddock Fillets from the fish counter, skinned, if liked, and cut into 3cm chunks
2¼ tsp fine salt
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
2 salad onion
1 red chilli
1 tsp Cooks’ Ingredients Szechuan Pepper (or a mix ½ tsp black peppercorns and ½ tsp coriander seeds)
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
50g plain flour
50g cornflour
½ tsp baking powder
100ml sparkling mineral or soda water, chilled
Sunflower or vegetable oil, for deep frying

Method

Place the fish chunks in a large bowl and stir in ¼ tsp salt and the Shaoxing wine. Cover and keep chilled while you heat the oil and prepare the other ingredients.
Shred the white part of the salad onions and the red chilli into thin matchsticks, then soak in iced water to encourage them to curl up. Thinly slice the green tops of the onions into rounds and set aside. Toast the Szechuan pepper (or black peppercorns and coriander seeds) in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until aromatic, then crush them in a pestle and mortar with the remaining 2 tsp salt. Set aside. Mix the soy, rice vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Tip in the green salad onion rounds to make a dipping sauce. Set aside.
Whisk the flours, baking powder and mineral water together in a large bowl to make a batter. Add the fish and its marinade, then heat the oil in a large saucepan to 180ºC, or until a drop of batter sizzles and browns in 20 seconds. Lower ½ the fish into the oil and deep-fry for 4-5 minutes, until lightly golden and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining fish (discard any remaining marinade).
Drain the sliced salad onion and chilli and pat dry with kitchen paper. Sit them on a slotted spoon, gently lower into the oil and fry for a few seconds, until golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper. Transfer the fish to a plate, top with the salad onions and chilli and a scattering of Szechuan pepper salt. Serve with the dipping sauce and any remaining salt on the side.