Pan-cooked snapper with tea-scented sour cherry salad

Cooked Western-style, snapper benefits from minimal cooking and a fresh, light, yet interesting accompaniment.

Pan-cooked snapper fillet with tea-scented sour cherry and tomato salad Credit: Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

In Chinese cuisine, snapper is often steamed with ginger and spring onions to complement its refined, delicate flavour and texture. Cooked Western-style, snapper benefits from minimal cooking and a fresh, light yet interesting accompaniment. The dried cherries are wonderfully chewy, with a slightly salty and sour flavour. Soaking half of them in jasmine tea not only creates a different texture, but also imparts a subtle jasmine scent, and the tomato salad gives the whole dish a refreshing edge.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp jasmine tea leaves
• ¼ cup boiling water
• ¼ cup dried sour cherries
• 1 small red onion, finely sliced
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp raw sugar
• 3 medium-sized vine-ripened tomatoes
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp chardonnay vinegar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• pinch of cracked white pepper
• 4 x 100 g (3½ oz) snapper fillets
• dash of extra virgin olive oil, extra

Serve as a main meal for 4

Standing time: 25 minutes

Instructions

1. Put tea leaves in a bowl, pour over the boiling water, cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Strain, discarding tea leaves and returning liquid to the bowl, along with half the cherries. Leave to stand for 20 minutes, then strain and reserve cherries, discarding liquid.
2. Place onion and garlic in another bowl, sprinkle with salt and sugar and mix well. Cover and leave to stand for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, using a small knife, cut a shallow cross in the base of each tomato. Bring a pan of water to the boil and plunge tomatoes in the water for 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, remove tomatoes quickly and refresh in a bowl of cold water. Drain, then peel away skin and cut tomatoes into quarters, discarding seeds and juices.
4. Add combined vinegars, oil, pepper, soaked cherries, remaining dried cherries and tomato quarters to the onion mixture.
5. Finally, cook the fish in a heated, oiled frying pan until lightly browned on both sides and just cooked through — about 3-4 minutes. Remove fish from the pan, cover with foil and leave to rest in a warm place for 3 minutes.
6. Arrange fish on a platter, top with tomato mixture and drizzle with a little olive oil.

 

Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul premieres on Wednesday 21 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Wednesdays at 8.30pm on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at SBS On Demand. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

In Chinese cuisine, snapper is often steamed with ginger and spring onions to complement its refined, delicate flavour and texture. Cooked Western-style, snapper benefits from minimal cooking and a fresh, light yet interesting accompaniment. The dried cherries are wonderfully chewy, with a slightly salty and sour flavour. Soaking half of them in jasmine tea not only creates a different texture, but also imparts a subtle jasmine scent, and the tomato salad gives the whole dish a refreshing edge.