Pan Fried Gul F r ed Mullet

Chef Elias of Opal at the St. Regis, Doha, gives us his recipe for Pan Fried Gulf Red Mullet, with oven cooked tomato jam with harissa and lemongrass, and eggplant chips.

Ingredients

Three fillet Red Mullet

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

6 to 8 thin slices eggplant

Frying oil

10 pieces cherry tomato

Half red onion finely chopped (Brunoise)

3 cloves roasted garlic

Lemongrass finely chopped (Brunoise)

Two fresh lemon peels finely chopped (Brunoise)

Two star anise

Small handful fresh marjoram

One roasted red capsicum

Directions: Make sure all the scales and pin-bones have been removed from the red mullet.

Put a large non-stick frying pan over a moderate heat and add a little olive oil. Lay the fish in the frying pan skin-side down and press down gently using a fish spatula.

When the fish is done, season it with a little lemon juice and flaky sea salt then remove it to a tray so it doesn’t overcook.

Tomato Jam:

Fill a bowl with ice and water and set it next to the stove. Working in batches, drop several tomatoes into the boiling water. Watch for their skins to start to wrinkle and split, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the ice water bath. Then gently pull away the skins.

Put a pan over medium-low heat and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Add the diced onions and roasted garlic, brunoise lemongrass and the lemon skin brunoise with two star anise together and cook gently with a pinch of salt. After three minutes add the roasted capsicum and peeled cherry tomatoes and stir them occasionally to make sure they cook evenly and aren’t burning. Take out the pan and cover the top with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius and put the pan in for 25 to 30 minutes until the tomatoes are concentrated, and finish with the chopped fresh marjoram

Eggplant chips:

Thin slice the eggplants by using the mandolin or slicer machine. Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 150 degrees C. Fry the thin slices of eggplants . Once they start turning golden, remove and drain on paper towels. Continue until all of the slices are fried. Season with additional salt if desired.

Chef Amalen, of the St. Regis, Doha, gives us his recipe for pan-roasted Gulf Red Mullet, with tomato concasser, provencal vegetables and balsamic pearl

Ingredients

100g Fillet of red mullet very fraiche

25cl Olive oil

6 pcs Roma tomato

1 pcs Shallot olive

75g Balsamic vinegar

100g Japanese pearl

1 pcs aubergine (cubed 2cm)

1 pcs courgette

1 pcs red onion

5 cl Olive oil

15g Basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Red mullet

Make sure all the scales and pin-bones have been removed from the red mullet, fillet and keep tail. Put a small non-stick frying pan over a moderate heat and add a little olive oil. Lay the fish in the frying pan skin-side down and press down gently using a fish spatula, two minutes each side. Remove it to a tray so it doesn’t overcook.

Tomato concasser

Fill a bowl with ice and water and set it next to the stove. Working in batches, drop several tomatoes into the boiling water. Watch for their skins to start to wrinkle and split, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the ice water bath.

Put a pan over medium low heat and add two table spoon olive oil, add the diced onions and after three minutes add the peeled roma tomatoes and stir them occasionally to make sure they cook evenly and aren’t burning, take out the pan and cover the top with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius and put the pan for 25 to 30 minutes until the tomatoes are concentrated, and finished with the chopped fresh basil.

Balsamic pearl

Put oil in in a pot with the sliced garlic cloves to a temperature of 90 degrees.

Add balsamic vinegar and set aside to cool down. Cook the Japanese pearl with water, cool down and add it to the balsamic mixture.

Basil chips:

Put cling film on top of the microwave-safe plate. Place the fresh basil leaves on the plate, make sure they don’t overlap. Spray the basil leaves with a cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt. Remove gently and arrange gently on a small tray.