Seabass with sour fruits & dill

This is a lovely dish, a light and healthy meal to help shave off some of those Christmas calories. Its also a perfect dish to be eaten in the sunshine. I have chosen seabass in this recipe, but it works brilliantly with prawns or salmon too, just apply the same process but change the fish. I make a chilli and lime dressing, known as ‘nahm yum’ in Thailand, and use the acid from the lime to cook the fish rather than using any heat. The results are incredible, and the method makes this dish very quick and simple, with hardly any washing up. When eating fish in this way, it is a great time to really let the produce do the talking, so aim to get the best quality, freshest fish you can.

Feeds 2

gluten-free

Ingredients:

3 teaspoons caster sugar

Small pinch of coarse salt

juice of 4 limes

juice of 2 clementine

A dash of fish sauce (I use blue Megachef brand)

2 seabass fillets, skin removed (ask your fishmonger to pin-bone the fillets)

8 physalis, leaves removed and chopped into quarters

2 tablespoons roughly chopped dill

Method:

Start by preparing the nahm yum dressing. Using a pestle and mortar, pound together 2 peeled garlic cloves and 3 long green chillies into a coarse paste, using the caster sugar as an abrasive, remove the seeds from the chillies if you do not want it to be spicy. Stir in the lime juice from 3 limes, the clementine juice and 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, then taste. The dressing should taste sweet, salty, spicy and sour in equal amounts. If the taste is too much in one direction, then adjust accordingly.

Next, using your sharpest knife, slice the seabass. Lay the seabass on a board and, using the sole of your shoe, smash the fish as thinly as possible (I’m joking). Slice the fillets at a 75-degree angle to the board, with each slice being no more than 1cm (1/2in) in thickness. Place these slices into a glass mixing bowl, pour over the remaining lime juice, then toss the fish slices gently through the lime juice, ensuring that all the fish is coated. Leave for 3 minutes to let them get to know each other. You will notice during this time that the seabass will go from a clear white colour to a cloudy, opaque colour – this is a sign that the acid in the lime juice has done its job and the fish is ready for eating. Remove the fish from the lime juice, carefully shaking off any excess.

To serve, place the seabass slices flat on a plate, drizzle each piece with the nahm yum dressing and then sprinkle the plate with the chopped physalis and dill. You can add any other sour fruit of your choice, instead of or as well as, the physalis, if you like. This ceviche is delicious bulked out with some steamed jasmine rice on the side.