Radishes with aïoli & fried fish

Spring

I love this big, friendly way to serve fillets of fish. It’s generous and colourful and full of curious qualities. I like the radishes cold and crisp, the fish hot and crisp and the aïoli lovely and garlicky. It’s not difficult to find radishes with their tops still on, particularly in late spring. They have a delicate flavour, and are really just like a good salad leaf.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 white fish fillets (about 400g/14oz in total), such as bream, bass, pollack or whiting, skin on
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large bunch of radishes (about 12) with their tops, if possible, and halved if large
lemon, for squeezing
fennel tops, torn, to serve (optional)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the aioli
(This makes more than you need, but it’s so delicious you won’t have any problem eating it.)

2 very fresh egg yolks
2 very fresh garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
1 or 2 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
2 small salted anchovy fillets
1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 teaspoons lemon juice
200ml (7fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for trickling
200ml (7fl oz) sunflower oil

Method

First, make the aïoli. Put all the ingredients, except the oils, into a food processor fitted with its blade attachment and whiz for 25–30 seconds. Combine the two oils in a jug. Gradually add the oil mixture through the hole in the top of the processor in a slow and steady trickle. The oil will start to emulsify with the yolks – when it’s beginning to thicken, you can add the oil a little faster. If things have gone to plan, you should have a thick, glossy mayonnaise. If it’s too thick, add a tablespoon of warm water to thin it slightly.

To make the dish, heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium–high heat. Season the fish all over. Add the olive oil to the pan and when it’s nice and hot add the fish, skin-side down. Cook the fillets for 5–6 minutes, until each fillet has cooked at least three-quarters of the way up its edge and its skin is crisp. Flip the fish and cook for a further 1 minute, then remove the pan from the heat.

Divide the radishes equally between two plates. Season them with salt, pepper and a squeeze of the lemon. Cut or break up the fried fish, then arrange over the radishes. Spoon over a healthy serving of aioli, trickle with extra-virgin olive oil and squeeze over some more lemon juice. Fennel tops are particularly good scattered over this dish just before serving, if you like.

Back to Membership