Steamed Cod with Turnips and Wasabi Crème Fraîche Recipe
by Stuart Collins
4
40 minutes
Ingredients

Cod

  • 4 cod fillets
  • 2 nori sheets, crushed into a powder
  • sea salt

Turnips

  • 200g of baby turnips, peeled
  • 50g of white wine vinegar
  • 50g of honey
  • 1 pinch of Chinese five-spice powder
  • 10g of salt
  • 2g of white peppercorns

Sauce

  • 5g of wasabi paste
  • 75g of crème fraîche
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 pinch of black pepper

Popped rice

  • 50g of wild rice
  • vegetable oil, for deep-frying

To garnish

  • lemon oil, for drizzling
  • micro herbs, Stuart uses borage cress and sea fennel but samphire, fennel tops and borage flowers work well too
Method
1
To prepare the turnips, add the white wine vinegar, honey, five spice, salt and peppercorns to a pan along with 500ml of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the turnips to the pan and continue to simmer until they’re tender (this could take up to 45 minutes, depending on the size of your turnips)
  • 50g of white wine vinegar
  • 50g of honey
  • 1 pinch of Chinese five-spice powder
  • 10g of salt
  • 2g of white peppercorns
  • 200g of baby turnips, peeled
2
Meanwhile, pour enough oil into a small pan to come up at least 4cm high and heat to 200°C. Carefully tip in the rice, then cook for a few minutes until puffed up and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt and set aside
  • vegetable oil, for deep-frying
  • 50g of wild rice
3
Once the turnips are tender, remove the pan from the heat and leave the turnips to cool in the liquid. Meanwhile, season the cod fillets with sea salt and set aside for 10 minutes to firm up
  • 4 cod fillets
  • sea salt
4
To make the crème fraiche and wasabi sauce, combine all the ingredients in a pan, along with 75g of the cooking liquid from the turnips. Place over a gentle heat to warm though, stirring occasionally
  • 5g of wasabi paste
  • 75g of crème fraîche
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 pinch of black pepper
5
Set up a large steamer over a pan of simmering water. Once the cod has been salted for 10 minutes, transfer to the steamer and cook for 5-6 minutes
6
Lift the turnips out of their liquid and slice into small discs, ready for plating
7
Once the cod fillets are cooked, dust the top of them with nori powder and place them in the centre of shallow bowls. Top each piece of fish with a few turnip discs, popped rice and herbs. Pour the sauce around the fish and finish with a few drops of lemon oil
  • 2 nori sheets, crushed into a powder
  • lemon oil, for drizzling
  • micro herbs, Stuart uses borage cress and sea fennel but samphire, fennel tops and borage flowers work well too