Trout cured in garden herbs with radishes and horseradish

Trout cured in garden herbs with radishes and horseradish

Spring

This is a light, summery way to enjoy trout. You don’t cook it, but lightly cure it by sprinkling over a little sea salt and a shake of sugar. The salt draws out some of the moisture and changes the texture, and it helps the fish draw in flavour, too. That’s why I like to add so many fresh herbs to the mixture and a touch of lemon zest. The trout tastes amazing once it’s ready. You can eat thin slices on toast or you could try presenting it like this, with crunchy radishes and a horseradish dressing made with yogurt, chives, mustard and black pepper.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2–3 big handfuls of a mixture of any of the following: flat-leaf parsley, dill, tarragon, chives, fennel tops, lovage, thyme, sorrel
  • 1½ tablespoons flaky sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
  • finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus the juice of ½
  • 1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper
  • 2 large trout fillets (each about 250–300g/9–10½oz), pin-boned and skinned
  • 12–16 radishes (with their tops, if possible)
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For the horseradish dressing

  • 2 tablespoons horseradish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon full-fat natural (plain) yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • a few chives, finely sliced
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Start by preparing your herbs. Pick the leaves from the coarser stems – you won’t need to do this with dill or fennel tops because the stems are really quite tender. Wash the herbs if you need to, and dry them gently. Chop the herbs finely and combine them in a bowl with the salt, sugar, lemon zest and pepper.

Lay the skinless, boneless trout down on a large plate or tray and scatter over the herby salt. Turn the fillets over so the cure covers the fish evenly. You might need to gather up any herby salt that falls off the fish and sprinkle it back over. Place one fillet on top of the other, cover and place the fish in the fridge for 24 hours. It’s a good idea to swap the fillets over halfway through – place the top one on the bottom and the bottom one on the top.

Take the fish out of the fridge and pour away the salty juices that have been drawn out. Gently pat the fish dry with kitchen paper. Leave it uncovered in the fridge for a few hours to firm up a little.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine the horseradish with the yogurt, mustard, chives, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Rinse and trim the radishes, saving any smaller leaves if they are in good condition. Slice the radishes thinly into rounds. Combine the sliced radishes with the extra-virgin olive oil and the lemon juice and turn them together.

When you’re ready to serve, take the trout out of the fridge and cut it across the fillet into 2–3mm (⅛–¼in) slices at a slight angle. Arrange the slices over a plate, scatter over the dressed radish, plus any reserved leaves, and dab over the horseradish sauce.

Give the plate a spritz of lemon and an extra twist of black pepper before serving.

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