Seafood Made Simple: Goldie head chef Aishling Moore's kimchi-fried fish burger

Aishling Moore's kimchi-fried fish burger. Picture: Chani Anderson

I am delighted to be joining some of my favourite food writers at the Irish Examiner. 

Seafood Made Simple is a new series bringing you quick and easy seafood dishes that will fit in to the busiest of lives while delivering delicious results with minimum effort.

Since opening Goldie in Cork City, I have spent the last five years of my life worrying about the weather, cooking, filleting, and scaling fish. 

We’ve had to figure out ways to make working with fish faster and easier while delivering a better yield of this highly perishable food source of which 50% is typically wasted and one in three that are caught are never used.

We’ve converted one or two weary fish eaters over that time, so I’m excited to be sharing some of our tips and tricks here to help you do the same.

My column each week will feature a certain species, but each recipe will provide options of other species that you can substitute for. If we want to enjoy these beautiful wild animals a little flexibility is necessary.

For me, fish is the ultimate fast food. So, with that, this weekend’s recipes are an homage to the places that have been feeding fish to our communities since the 1880s. 

The chipper has offered me much more than sustenance over the past 29 years but also inspiration when trying to write a menu that is accessible. 

Nostalgia can be the most special element a chef can bring to a dish. In lockdown, our restaurants shut but the chippers kept their doors open and the fishers fishing.

This April, to celebrate the Waterford Food Festival, Eunice Power kindly allowed me and the Goldie team of chefs to take over her fabulous chipper And Chips in Dungarvan for a few hours. 

We served a couple of Goldie classics like Taiwanese fried fish nuggets, mushy pea fritters, salt fish potato pies and kimchi tartar sauce.

The sun was splitting the stones and, in an hour and a half, we cleared a queue of 150 people. Suffice to say I think I will be sticking to the day job!

For this weekend’s recipes we have a kimchi fried fish burger with a millennial’s take on tartar sauce; and a sea salt and vinegar crusted fillet of hake with chunky Bramley apple curry sauce and a side dish of the very humble mushy pea with a little bit of extra TLC.

Kimchi Fried Fish Burger

recipe by:Aishling Moore

This versatile recipe works with cod, hake, haddock, pollock, ling and whiting.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 45 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the fish:

• 4 x 100g hake tails, skin removed

• 180g plain flour

• 150ml buttermilk

• 1/2 tb kimchi brine (or hot sauce)

• To serve:

• lettuce leaves

• 4x brioche buns, toasted

• Kimchi tartar sauce (see recipe)

• Hot sauce

• For the kimchi tartar sauce:

• 140g mayonnaise

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1tbsp gochujang

• 100g kimchi, drained and finely chopped

• 1 small gherkin, finely chopped

Method

1. For the fish:

2. Pre-heat a deep fat fryer to 180°C.

3. In a medium mixing bowl add the plain flour and fine sea salt and combine.

4. In another mixing bowl, add the buttermilk and the kimchi brine and mix well.

5. Add 1tbsp of the buttermilk and kimchi brine mix to the flour and mix through forming little clumps throughout the flour mix. This will result in a crispier and crunchier coating on the fish.

6. Working in batches, add the tails to the flour mix and coat. Shake off any excess flour mix and then dip in the buttermilk and kimchi brine mixture. Drain off the excess liquid and return once more to the flour mixture, coat well and shake off excess flour. Transfer the fish to a plate or tray ready for frying. Fry immediately once coated.

7. Depending on the size of your fryer work in batches when frying the fish. Fry for 3 and a half minutes at 180°C or until each piece is golden brown.

8. Drain on kitchen paper, sprinkle with sea salt, and add a little hot sauce.

9. Build your burgers with a little kimchi tartar sauce on the base of each bun, followed by the lettuce, fried hake and another dollop of kimchi tartar sauce on top.

10. For the sauce:

11. Strain the kimchi and reserve the brine.

12. In a small bowl add the chopped kimchi, gherkin, mustard, gochujang, and mayonnaise. Mix well and set aside. This will keep for three days.

Sea Salt & Vinegar Crust Baked Hake with Curry and Mushy Peas

recipe by:Aishling Moore

This recipe will also work with pollock, cod, haddock and ling.

Servings

4

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the fish:

• 4 x 150g hake fillets skinned

• 90g panko breadcrumbs

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 50g unsalted butter

• 1 tsp sea salt flakes

• ½ tsp seaweed powder

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• For the curry sauce:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 50g butter

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, grated

• 1 thumb-sized piece ginger, grated

• 3 tbp mild curry powder

• 2 tbsp flour

• 600ml stock (veg/fish/chicken)

• 1 diced Bramley apple

• 20g brown sugar

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 3 tbsp natural yoghurt

• For the mushy peas:

• 400g bag marrowfat peas

• 1 tsp caster sugar

• 100g frozen petit pois

• 100g butter

• 3 scallions sliced

• 2 sprigs mint, chopped

• 2 sprigs parsley, chopped

• Juice and zest of half a lemon

Method

1. Sea Salt & Vinegar Crust Baked Hake:

2. Preheat oven to 200°C.

3. Place a small pot over a medium high heat and add the apple cider vinegar. Reduce by two thirds until it has almost evaporated.

4. Add the unsalted butter, warm until it melts and remove pan from the heat.

5. In a small bowl add the breadcrumbs, sea salt and seaweed powder. Add the melted butter and vinegar mixture and mix well so the butter coats all the breadcrumbs.

6. Season the underside of the fillet with some fine sea salt. Lightly grease a tray with some vegetable oil and place the hake fillets on top, skin side up.

7. Place the breadcrumb mixture on top of each fillet and bake in the oven for 8- 10 minutes.

8. Serve with Chunky Chipper Curry Sauce and Mushy Peas.

9. Chunky Chipper Curry Sauce:

10. Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a medium heavy-based pot on a medium-low heat.

11. Allow the butter to melt before adding the onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 8 minutes to soften.

12. Add the curry powder and cook for 1 minute to bloom the spices.

13. Add the flour, stir and cook out for 1 minute.

14. Add the warmed stock in 3 parts to avoid lumps and cook for 4 minutes.

15. Next add the diced apple and cook for a further 4 minutes until softened.

16. Finish the sauce by stirring through the brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and yoghurt.

17. Mushy Peas with Scallions and Herbs:

18. Soak the marrowfat peas overnight with boiling water.

19. Strain the water from the peas the next day and place in a medium heavy based pot with enough cold water to cover by 1 inch.

20. Add the caster sugar and a generous pinch of sea salt and place on a medium high heat.

21. Once the peas come to the boil, reduce the heat immediately and cook for3- 4 minutes until the peas are softened but still holding their shape.

22. Strain and allow to drain in a colander.

23. In a small pot, melt the butter on medium low heat and add the petit pois. Cook for one minute.

24. Transfer the marrowfat peas to a mixing bowl and add the petit pois and butter mixture, the scallions, chopped herbs, lemon juice and zest.

25. Mix well and season with sea salt.

Buying and storing fish

Refrigeration is paramount to keeping fish fresh so always buy it last on your shopping trip.

Remove the fish from any packaging and pat it dry with kitchen paper.

Never store raw fish in or on plastic, as this encourages the fish to sweat.

Store your fish flat on a tray or a plate with space in between the whole fish or fillets. Never stack pieces or portions on top of each other.

Never wash fish with water: moisture applied to fish drastically speeds up the deterioration of the fish.

If you are happy to remove the skin from the fish yourself, make sure you do so with a very sharp knife on a stable dry surface. Alternatively, ask your fishmonger who’ll be more than happy to do this for you.

Your shopping list

Gochujang

An essential and versatile Korean pepper paste made from chilies, sticky rice, fermented soybeans and salt. Spicy, sweet and salty, it’s widely available from Asian food shops, Mr Bells, asiamarket.ie and good Tesco stores.

Kimchi

Widely available in supermarkets and specialist stores, this traditional Korean accompaniment is made from fermented cabbage, garlic, ginger and chilli, adding a sour-salty-spiciness to any dish.

Seaweed Powder

A great Irish ingredient, seaweed powder is a perfect seasoning to seafood. Widely available on line and in health food shops, many supermarkets and fishmongers stock it too.