Miso Trout with Broccoli and Pak Choi

Please, please, excuse the terrible photographs. It just shows that I need to get one of those clever lighting devices that Dinner Diary uses to make their photographs so awesome.

We had a sushi party last week which was awesome. But just in case it wasn't that awesome, I had prepared some miso trout as a backup. Luckily the sushi went down well so the trout went back in the fridge for some extra marinating. Apparently 2-3 days is optimal.

Here's what you do. Go to Waitrose or the Japan Centre and buy a packed of miso paste. Place a pan of water on the hob and bring to a simmer. Put a glass mixing bowl on top and empty the gooey miso paste into the bowl and add some water to thin it. Also add sugar, mirin, some vinegar and stir continuously until it has changed consistency to being more like a sauce. It should smell toasty and deep.

ALLOW TO COOL.

The reason this is in caps, is to remind myself. This time I forgot. In my haste I just chucked the trout fillets into the hot paste. Basically they cooked in the heat of the marinate. Schoolboy error from me. But I've done it right before now, All you have to do is have some patience and wait till it has cooled before adding your fish to the marinate and leaving it for between 1 and 3 days.



Remove the fish from the marinate and grill until the skin is slightly crisped but the fish is flaky and tender. If you can try to undercook it. You will be astonished at how delicious and gorgeous the fish tastes. It falls apart and makes you feel like a pro. Or at least it does if you haven't made a big blunder like I did! Luckily it still tasted great, even though the pictures look TERRIBLE.



Serve with sesame oiled noodles, a passion fruit for acidity, exoticism and fruitiness and some stir fried broccoli and pak choi. For the veggies, fry some onions, add some chili, then some garlic and ginger, then some florets of broccoli, then some soy, then some water and then lob in your pak choi. Add a lid of some sort to semi steam the greens and garnish with sesame seeds. In my panic I forgot to photograph this but you can see the work in progress below.



Or better still you could just follow the original recipe from Gastronomy Domine.

We finished up with what turned out to be the star of the show. A lime mousse, cooked to perfection by Cowie, from Ramsay's new book, Cooking for Friends. It's just a shame he could be arsed to write the book himself yet still adorns every other page with a cheesy lifestyle shot of himself.



It was a great way to end a really exciting meal. The photos ma be a let down, but the flavours weren't. Whatever mistakes have been made have been learnt from. My next purchase is definitely going to be one of those clever lights.