Gin-cured trout

Just about every culture has their own version of a dish like this, probably because it's a light, bright, party pleaser.

Gin-cured trout Credit: Born to Cook: Jack Stein Down Under

• serves

  10

• prep

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 side of sea trout
• 100 ml gin
• 50 g sugar
• 50 g table salt, fine
• 25 g dill, finely chopped
• 1 pinch white peppercorns, crushed
• Fresh horseradish root
• 5 borage, or other edible flowers

Pickled cucumber in house pickle

• 750 ml rice wine vinegar
• 2 star anise
• 5 sprigs thyme
• 1 g chilli flakes
• 375 ml water
• 10 g salt
• 100 g sugar
• 5 g dashi granules (sachet) 

Start this recipe the day ahead - the trout needs to cure overnight.

Instructions

Portion the belly of trout off the side, then cover liberally with salt and sugar. Sprinkle with dill and lay the pieces on a large piece of clingfilm, ready to wrap. Douse liberally in gin. If using two pieces of trout, lay them on top of one another and wrap, airtight, in the clingfilm, careful not to let any of the juices escape. Refrigerate overnight.

For the house pickle, add a two-to-one vinegar to water ratio into a large pot. Add a large pinch of salt and 100g of sugar. Add in the aromats, thyme, star anise, and chilli flakes. Pour in the dashi granules. The standard rule of pickling is to add vegetables in while cold. Bring it up to the boil and then remove the vegetable. You can reuse the same pickle juice over and over. Serve the trout topped with the pickle.

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.