This must be one of the small plates I am most proud of, once again inspired by a restaurant dish i.e. Chef Prateek Sadhu’s dirty Toast at Naar restaurant, which I had the good fortune of tasting earlier this year … I tried my best to get him to reveal the ingredients, but alas to no avail, and was thus left to interpret it on my own …
… which, as it turns out, was not such a bad idea.
Now, as fancy as the title of this delectable little dish sounds, it is in fact a super simple recipe, other than the filleting and pin-boning of the trout, for which I implore you to ask, or bribe if necessary, your fishmonger to do it for you … I am nonetheless going to demonstrate how it is done.
I am currently sourcing my trout from a supplier called Sweet Stuff Gourmet, (www.sweetstuff.in) which I happened to stumble upon on Instagram; they have an impressive list of ingredients, which I intend to try and if successful, share the recipes with you.
The trout is delivered frozen (STEP 1), so defrost it overnight in the refrigerator and then wash and dry it using a cloth towel (STEPS 2 & 3).
The next step is to remove the head (STEP 4). Then pry open the fish at the natural opening, using both your fingers and a knife (STEPS 5 TO 7), and then cut down the middle using a pair of scissors (STEP 8), which will essentially separate the two fillets, one of which will have the spine attached. Cut off the fins, once again using a pair of scissors (STEP 9).
Then using your fingers, pull out all the pin bones (STEP 10), which are only on one side of each fillet. Rub your hands over the fish to feel for any other stray bones (STEP 11) and simply pull out using your fingers. For the fillet with the spine, simply separate one end of the spine from the fillet and then pull it off gently (STEPS 12 & 13). There will also be a bony edge on this one, so simply slice it off (STEP 14). Then repeat the pin boning process (STEP 15) and don’t worry about any of this looking messy, for this is not the presentation side. After smoking you will be pulling off the skin easily, to reveal a clean and smooth presentation side.
Put your two fillets aside (STEP 16) while you prepare your home smoking unit (STEP 17), for which you will simply need some silver foil, smoking chips (available on Amazon) a large pot into which a steamer insert will fit (these are easily available at any kitchen store and also on Amazon), but of course not touch the bottom of the pot. There should be at least a 2.5 to 3 inch gap. The first step is to line the bottom of the pot with silver foil (STEP 18), then scatter 3 tablespoons of chips over the foil (STEPS 19 & 20), and cover with another piece of silver foil (STEP 21). Then place the pot over medium heat, cover with a lid (STEP 22) and once it begins to smoke, turn down the heat to low, line part of the steamer insert with silver foil for the trout to sit on, place into the pot, cover with a lid and let it smoke for 3 minutes (STEP 23). It will be perfectly cooked and subtly smoked. Transfer immediately to a chopping board, skin side up, and peel off the skin (STEP 24). It will give way very easily.
Then use your fingers to rub off any skin stains (STEP 26), and portion each fillet into 3 pieces (STEPS 27 & 28).
Now it’s time to move on to my pride and joy and that is the kasundi sabayon.
Kasundi Sabayon
YIELD: 12 HORS D’OEUVRE PORTIONS
- 2 egg yolks
- 50ml white wine
- 30g store bought Kasundi (I have used brand ‘HABIT’)
This is ever so easy as long as you are ever so patient and attentive. (The pics below are of half a recipe.)
Gather all your ingredients (STEP 1), measure out and place in a stainless steel mixing bowl (STEP 2) and sit it on top (with a slight dip inside) a pot with gently simmering water, i.e. ‘bain marie’ (STEPS 3 & 4), and whisk continuously. If the sides of the bowl get too hot at any stage, simply remove from the pot and continue to whisk (STEP 5), and once the bowl has cooled down, return it to the pot and continue to whisk to the desired consistency, which is that of a slightly runny mayonnaise (STEP 6). It takes 7 minutes for half a recipe.
Now before you make the brown butter, place the trout portions on your serving plates (STEP 1). Then simply place the unsalted butter (180g cut into cubes, for 12 portions) in a small pot on medium heat (STEP 2), once it has melted, lower the heat and stir until it is just beginning to turn brown (STEPS 3 & 4 – normally brown butter is cooked to a dark brown but for smoked trout I prefer to stop at this point), then season with salt and spoon the butter onto the trout and top with some of the butter foam (STEP 5).
Then put 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of the sabayon on one corner of the fish (STEPS 6 & 7), garnish with some microgreens, and there you have a delicious and devastatingly attractive Smoked Trout Small Plate, with Brown Butter and a kasundi sabayon.
Above: Final Image