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Smoking!

I decided I needed a special breakfast to offset the acute disappointment of not being able to carry out my 14 year tradition of going to Lake Rotorangi at Easter. I had some shark, save me from those marketing wankers that re-named it lemonfish way back, when any one with one iota of seafood knowledge can identify it as shark from the supermarket door. I settled on kedgeree, a few years ago I had what was THE ONE at Field & Green in Wellington, a magnificent dining establishment for sure. It was slightly curry flavoured, I quizzed the chef and she reckoned the key thing was to poach the fish in milk……..received and understood. This is the second crack I have had at creating it and I reckon I am getting closer. So to start with I decided I didn’t need smoked fish so I poached my bit of shark in milk with some ginger, salt and saffron. I was cooking the rice and I thought well you know, yet again I have all the time in the world to smoke my fish. So I put a camp oven over the gas added some manuka chips and dropped a trivet on top. Once the chips were smoking I fired the fish in and banged the lid on… hot diggity!! Then I could assemble the following, this is a slight adaptation of the recipe that will work in a kitchen using the inspired smoking method of Kyle Street of Depot, for me the finest restaurant in the land. Kyle Street and Al Brown can turn something as simple as a tomato into a memorable culinary moment............you could of course buy smoked fish.

Easter Kedgeree
300g shark in two pieces
5 strands saffron
½ a thumb of ginger peeled and finely diced
1 t salt
2 C milk
2/3 C rice
½ a red onion finely diced
2 cloves garlic finely diced
1 small mild chilli
½ t cumin
½ t coriander
1 t curry powder
¼ t turmeric
2 eggs
A lemon
2 D cream cheese
Parsley
Szechuan pepper oil (Recipe from My Underground Kitchen by Jess Daniell)

Add the saffron, ginger and salt to the milk and bring to the simmer, drop the fish in and poach until almost cooked through, remove and hold. Put a roasting tray over a hot flame with a handful of manuka chips in it and a cake rack and heat until the chips are smoking. Cut one piece of fish on half brush with a little oil so it does not stick and place on the cake rack. Cover with a lid or tinfoil and leave over the gas for 5 minutes and then remove and put aside for 20 minutes. Add the rice, curry, coriander, cumin and turmeric to the milk and simmer, you may need to add a bit of water if the milk dries up before it is cooked. When it is nearly cooked add the rest of the fish flakes into pieces the onion, garlic, chilli and cream cheese and mix through. Take a few slices off the lemon for garnish and squeeze the rest into the rice, then poach your eggs. Serve the rice with an egg and piece of fish on top garnish with a slice of lemon, a drizzle of Szechuan oil and a sprinkle of chopped parsley. Pottery by Mirek Smisek again.
 

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