Invicta
East Kent Coast Sea Fishing Compendium

Sustainable Fish Recipes

"Almost all our common sea fish are good to eat, while some are really excellent; and the difference in flavour between fish cooked and eaten on the same day on which they are caught and those which come from the fishmonger's slab is remarkable. Boiling in seawater improves the flavour of any fish which are cooked in that way … All fish, by the way, should be killed directly they are caught, and "cleaned" as soon as possible afterwards; while if it is a sunny day keep them in the shade by covering them with an oilskin or a piece of old sacking. In hot weather, especially if there is thunder about, some sea fish - pouting and mackerel, for instance - deteriorate pretty quickly." "Sea Fishing Simplified" (1929) Francis Dyke Holcombe & A. Fraser-Brunner

On page 112 of "Sea-fishing as a Sport" (1865) the author, Lambton J. H Young, describes whiting as follows: "This delicious morsel is well known to surpass in delicacy all the other species of its very valuable family; the fine firm flesh, so beautifully white, and its lightness as an article of food, causes it to be much sought after for invalids as well as more general use."

Menu

Pout panackelty

This is a Geordie dish but don't let that put you off. Up north they use left over meat but I prefer fish.

Layer the onions, fish, carrots and potatoes in an ovenproof dish seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Finish with a top layer of potatoes. Pour over the fish stock. Cook in the oven at 190° (gas mark 5) for an hour to an hour and a quarter until the potatoes are cooked. Serve with buttered cabbage or other green vegetable.

Prawn Dealite

Serves 4:

Cut the cucumber into thin slices and arrange around the edge of a large serving plate. Combine the prawns, shallots, mint and chilli. Combine the lime juice, oil, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl and drizzle over the salad.

Fish pie

To make a posh fish pie throw in a few peeled prawns:

Place the fish in a shallow pan and cover with milk. Add the bay leaf and sliced onion. Bring to the boil and remove from the heat leaving the pan covered for 10 minutes. Remove the fish from the milk and flake in the bottom of your pie dish, scattering with peas. Melt the butter over a medium heat and, adding flour, stir into a paste. Add the milk in which the fish was poached little by little to make a thick white sauce. Season well with salt and black pepper. Pour this sauce over the flaked fish and peas and cover with mash. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes or until the mash is crusty golden brown.

Spicy cocktail sauce

This multi-purpose, simple cocktail sauce is excellent with all chilled seafood. Store in the refrigerator in a glass jar.

Combine all the ingredients and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Fish stock

Making my nan's fish stock is easy peasy buttock squeezy and it can be kept in the freezer for up to six months. Use white fish like pout, whiting, flounder, doggies, bass or cod (or any combo) but avoid oily fish like mackerel. Makes 1 gallon of fish stock:

Wash the fish bones and heads well under cold water and remove the gills if still attached. In a large, sturdy saucepan melt the butter over a medium heat. Lower the heat, add the vegetables (celery, onions, leek and carrot) and sweat, with the lid on, for about 5 minutes or until the onions are softened and slightly translucent. Add the fish bones and sweat for another couple of minutes, covered, until the bones are slightly opaque. Add the wine and bring up the heat until it starts to simmer. Then add the water, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt and garlic. Simmer for 30-45 minutes but do not let it boil. Occasionally skim off the scum. Remove the fish bones and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Cool and pour the stock into pint or quart jars leaving enough space at the top of the jars for the stock to expand when it freezes. Refrigerate.

Fishcakes

One of my favourites. Makes 4 fishcakes:

Place the potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to the boil. Add the fish to the pot and simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes until they are both soft. Drain well and transfer the potatoes and fish to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool. Add the butter, onion, parsley, and egg to the bowl and mash the mixture together. Divide and mold the mixture into 4 circles about an inch thick. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the fishcakes on both sides until golden brown. Serve immediately with lemon halves and fresh salad.

Fish soup

Serves 4:

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the shallots and garlic gently for 5 to 6 minutes to soften but not brown. Add the stock, saffron and bay leaf and bring to the boil. Add the potatoes to the pan, reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 10 minutes until tender. Increase the heat to high and add the mixed vegetables. Bring back to the boil, then stir in the tomatoes, fish and seafood cocktail. Reduce heat and simmer gently, without stirring, for about 3 minutes until the fish is white and firm. Season to taste, then serve immediately.

Fish fingers

Can be baked or deep fried:

To bake: Pre-heat the oven to 200° (gas mark 6). Brush a non-stick baking sheet with oil. Pour egg into a shallow dish and place breadcrumbs onto a plate or tray adding the salt and pepper. Cut the fish into strips. Dip each strip into the egg, roll it in the breadcrumbs and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

To deep fry: Put the flour in a strong plastic bag and season with salt and black pepper. Pour the beaten egg into a shallow dish. Put the breadcrumbs in a separate shallow dish. Gently toss each fish piece in the seasoned flour bag until evenly coated. Dip into the beaten egg and then the breadcrumbs until evenly coated. Put the prepared fish pieces on a plate. Heat the oil in a deep heavy-based frying pan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it. Add the fish fingers carefully and fry for 5 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally until golden brown and crisp on all sides. Remove the fish with a spatula and drain on kitchen paper. Serve the fish fingers with slices of freshly buttered bread and ketchup.

Fried flattie fillets

Makes 4:

In a shallow dish, whisk together the egg, mustard, salt and set aside. Place the potato flakes in another shallow dish. Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over a medium-high heat. Dip the fish fillets in the egg mixture. Dredge the fillets in the potato flakes, making sure to completely coat the fish. For extra crispy, dip into egg and potato flakes again. Fry the fish fillets in oil for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Potted shrimps

Serves 4:

Melt the butter in a pan over a gentle heat, and then allow to simmer until you spot the first dark flecks - watch it carefully, or it will burn. Strain through two sheets of kitchen roll into a jug. Wipe out the pan and pour in two-thirds of the butter. Add the lemon juice, mace, pepper, anchovy essence and a pinch of salt and simmer very gently for five minutes before removing from the heat to cool (but not set. Divide the shrimps between 4 ramekins, pressing them in tightly. When just warm, but still liquid, divide the spiced butter between the ramekins and put in the fridge to set. Once solid, pour over the remainder of the clarified butter and return to the fridge to set. Serve with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and a lot of hot toast.

Fish Stew

Serves 4:

To poach the fish, lay the fillets flat in a large frying pan, cover with the entire bottle of wine and bring to the boil. Turn the fillets at least once and, when they begin to break apart easily (about 4 minutes), remove the fish pieces from the wine with a slotted spoon and set aside. In a separate pan cook the onions in olive oil over a medium heat until soft. Add the tomatoes, fresh parsley and cooked onions to the wine and boil vigorously for at least 10 minutes to boil off the alcohol. Add the fish pieces and heat through. Serve with french bread.

Bass pie

This is the only recipe in Practical Sea Fishing by P. L. Haslope published in 1905 (see page 256). It is interesting to note that in 1905 bass was considered "an indifferent fish" as was monkfish until as recently as 1935:

Cooking Fish: There is nothing better for boiling fish than sea-water pure and simple, provided it is obtained some little way from the coast, and not in a harbour where it would be likely to become contaminated. When ordinary sea-water is not procurable, the proper proportion of salt is 5 oz to the gallon of water. As a rule, cooks do not add sufficient salt in boiling fish, the consequence being that the flesh lacks firmness and flavour. Fish are also much improved by being cleaned and washed in the sea.

Bass-pie: This is a dish not generally known, and is an excellent method of cooking a Bass, which is usually considered rather an indifferent fish. At the bottom of an ordinary pie-dish place some bread-crumbs, chopped onions, and herbs, upon which lay pieces of the fish cut up into small fillets. On the top of the fish place another layer of bread-crumbs, and continue this proceeding until the dish has been filled, adding plenty of seasoning according to taste. Cover the dish with flour-paste, and put it in the oven. When about half-baked, cut a flap in the centre of the crust and pour in a cupful of clotted or "Cornish" cream, replacing it in the oven till properly cooked. Any other fish of a soft nature could be utilised instead of Bass, but the latter is specially appetising when thus prepared. "Sea-pie" is composed of layers of paste and meat alternately, which is afterwards boiled, and is a common dish on board ship."

Fish rissoles

This is a Roman recipe and v.tasty - makes 4 rissoles:

Tell your slave to:

  1. pound the prawns in a mortar with the pepper and anchovy essence;
  2. mix in the beaten egg to bind and form into rissoles;
  3. roll in flour and fry gently in oil until lightly browned on both sides;
  4. peel you a grape.

Stuffed bream

This recipe is taken from "Sea-fishing as a Sport" by Lambton J. H Young published in 1865 (see page 92):

"This fish is very good for the table. One way of cooking it is to stuff it with veal stuffing and then bake it, when I am sure any gourmand would be satisfied with so admirable a "bonne bouche". Another mode is to split it open, dry it in the sun, and sprinkle it with pepper and salt; when dry, either grill or fry it; or you may wipe it quite dry after cleaning, but without removing the scales; it should then be broiled, turning it often, and if the skin cracks flour it a little to keep the outer case entire; when on table, the whole skin and scales turn off without any difficulty, and the muscle beneath, saturated with its own natural juices, which the outside covering has retained, will be found of good flavour."

Skate with black bean sauce

Fish for steaming should always be fresh not frozen. This recipe is enough for up to 2 persons. If you are cooking for more people increase the quantity and cooking time. Steaming time for double the quantity will probably take another 3 to 5 minutes more. Ingredients:

For the sauce:

Method:

  1. Clean and put the fish onto a deep dish;
  2. Make the sauce. Rinse the beans then mash it with a fork. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Microwave for 15 to 20 seconds until the sauce has thickened. Stir and spread this sauce on the fish;
  3. Spread the shredded ginger on top;
  4. Get the steamer ready. When the water is boiling heat high and steam for 8 to 10 minutes. To check if the fish is cooked pierce the thickest part with one chopstick and if it goes in easily it has cooked through. If you use an electric steamer this may take a bit longer to cook. If you don't have a steamer, you can cook this in the oven. To cook in oven make the following adjustments: add 3 tablespoons of boiling water to the bottom of the dish to create steam and keep the fish moist, cover the dish with foil and cook/roast at 200 deg for about 20 to 30 minutes. Alternately, this can be cooked in the microwave. You will need some extra water like the oven method - cover the dish with a lid or cling film (pierce with a hole or two) then microwave at medium high heat for about 6 to 8 minutes;
  5. When the fish has cooked, turn the heat off. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a small pan adding the ginger slices and Szechuan peppercorns. Heat until the oil is fragrant. Remove the ginger and Szechuan peppercorns with a slotted spoon. Quickly spread the spring onion onto the fish, do not cover with lid. While you are spreading the spring onion, continue heating the oil at medium low heat until slightly smoky. Stand back and pour the hot oil over the spring onion and sauce. This will sizzle rapidly and wilt the spring onion;
  6. Ready to serve straight away.

Cod with cheese

  1. Lay the fillet of cod on a sheet of tin foil, skin side down and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Cut some thin slices of butter and lay along the fillet.
  3. Cook the fish under a medium grill until you can lift the fish from the skin.
  4. Take it from under the grill and cover the fish with slices of cheddar cheese about an eighth of an inch thick. Put it back under the grill until the cheese has melted and is slightly brown.
  5. Serve it with mashed potatoes and runner beans or peas.

Cod with savoury sauce

  1. Grill a fillet of cod with butter until cooked then put to one side, keeping it warm.
  2. Make a white sauce.
  3. Peel a ¼lb of mushrooms and cut into small pieces and lightly fry. Peel and chop a large onion and lightly fry in butter.
  4. Mix the mushrooms and onion in the sauce and reheat.
  5. Serve the cod with mashed potatoes, then pour the sauce over it.
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