Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: Cod with my favourite satay sauce
The warmer weather has me thinking about lighter meals these days. I am looking forward to summer salads and as soon as the weather permits, a barbecue. I know a lot of people happily barbecue their way through all sorts of weather, but I am not one of those people. Shivering over a barbecue in freezing weather or rain is not my idea of fun. But once the weather warms up, I will barbecue more this year. I am harbouring a fantasy where I build an outdoor kitchen in the garden, with a sink and prep area, a pizza oven, a fireplace, and a really good barbecue. If I ever get that sorted, I will likely spend all summer cooking in the garden.
Summer is most definitely on its way, but this time of year means the temperature is madly variable. In normal times that would have meant many of us overestimating how warm a day it would be before we left for work and dressing inappropriately for what would turn out to be a much chiller day that we predicted. There is not much of that happening this year obviously, but I found that my weekly shop was a little like that last week. I bought lots of salad leaves, fish, berries and even ice cream, and less potatoes and red meat. The weekend was glorious here in Wexford, the sun felt warm on our skin and we even turned the heating off. And then, predictably perhaps, it turned again, and we are back to single-digit temperatures. I suspect I am not yet quite done with hearty meals designed to warm and nourish all at the same time.
Today’s recipe is the kind of food I love to cook at this time of year. It is delicious and nutritious and can be served as a main course or a starter. We usually have this as pictured, served in crisp leaves of little gem lettuce. It makes a great lunch or a casual lovely dinner in front of the TV. It is also perfect party food, easy to pick up and eat with your hands. The star of this dish is the satay sauce, and it can be used with chicken or fish, or for a vegetarian option use tofu. You could also serve it with some egg fried rice instead of lettuce if you prefer a more traditional dinner.
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 lemongrass stalk
- 2 cloves garlic cloves
- 1tbsp grated ginger
- ½ red onion
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
- 2 tsp coconut sugar
- 2 tsp tamarind paste
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1tsp fish sauce
- 125g smooth almond butter
- Juice of a lime
- 400g fresh cod fillets
- Lime wedges
- Chopped Spring Onion
- Diced cucumber
- Little gem lettuce leaves
- Chopped fresh coriander
This dish does not take very long to cook, so I always prepare my toppings before getting on with the rest of the dish. Wash and chop a few spring onions. Chop some cucumber into small chunks, I usually use about a quarter of a cucumber for this dish and wash and roughly chop the leaves of some fresh coriander.
Now make the satay sauce. I use almond butter in my recipe, but you can use peanut butter if you prefer or if that is what you have to hand. Use a smooth nut butter as it gives the sauce a better consistency.
Finely chop the onion and lemongrass and grate the garlic. Melt the coconut oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and the chilli flakes. Sauté until soft, about three to four minutes. Add the tamarind paste, almond butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, coconut sugar and lime juice.
Now add 250ml of water and stir that in. Bring the sauce to a soft boil and cook for five to ten minutes over a low heat, stirring regularly until it is well combined and thickens slightly. Taste, and add more lime juice if needed. Set aside while you prepare the fish.
I like to use cod for this recipe. Hake will also work, but I find that cod is a little firmer and so better suited to this dish. Use thicker fillets of fish if possible as they hold their shape well. Remove any bones and the skin from the fish. Cut the cod fillets into strips about two to three centimetres thick. Now put the fish into a bowl along with a few tablespoons of the sauce and coat it well with the satay.
Heat a heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add a little sesame oil. Fry the fish for two to three minutes on each side until it is cooked through. It will not need much more time that that, any longer will overcook the fish.
Wash some leaves of little gem lettuce and arrange on a large serving plate. Put a piece of cooked cod on each leaf. Add a generous amount of satay sauce and top it off with some chopped spring onions, diced cucumber, chopped coriander and a lime wedge and serve it up straight away.
This is such a lovely meal. I developed it as part of my own healthy eating and fitness regimen. It is healthy and full of protein, low in carbs, but full of flavour and really satisfying. In fact, it almost tastes too good to be this healthy.
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