Recipe: Macadamia Nut Crusted Fresh Catch

Macadamia Nut-Crusted Fresh Catch
with Mango Lilikoi Sauce


Mango Lilikoi (Passionfruit) Sauce:

½ cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon lemongrass
1 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Perfect Puree Mango
Perfect Puree Lilikoi
Salt, Freshly ground white pepper

To prepare the mango lilikoi sauce, in a saucepan, combine the wine, lemograss, ginger, and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes, until thick and syrupy. Add the cream, mix well, and remove from the heat. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the saucepan and simmer over low heat for 8 minutes, until the mixture thickens slightly. Add the butter, a piece at a time, and stir until incorporated before adding the next piece. Be careful not to boil the sauce, or it will separate. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.


Coating for fish:
2 cup lightly toasted macadamia nuts, pieces
2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 cup fresh basil
To prepare the coating, place the nuts, panko, and basil in a food processor and process until fine. Spread on a plate.


2 cups Best Foods mayonnaise
1 tablespoons Sambal
In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise and chile paste and mix well. Lightly season the fish with salt and pepper. Evenly spread a light coat of the chile mayonnaise on one side of each fish fillet. Coat the same side evenly with the coating.


Preheat the oven to 450˚.
In an ovenproof sauté pan or skillet, pour in just enough oil to coat the bottom and heat over medium heat. (Be careful not to heat the pan too hot or the macadamia nuts will burn.) Add the fish, crust side down, and sauté for 3 minutes, until golden brown. Turn the fish and place in the oven for 5 minutes, until cooked through and firm to the touch.
Place the fillets on warmed individual plates. Serve with the mango lilikoi butter.

Recipe: Sashimi Napoleon

Aloha!

This is my first blog. To warm things up, I thought I would post the recipe for one of the all time favorite dishes over the years: The Sashimi Napoleon.

Ingredients:
¾ pound sashimi-grade tuna
1 bunch radish sprouts
8 shiso leaves
¼ pound smoked salmon, thinly sliced
½ cup sliced pickled ginger, for garnish
1 tablespoon tobiko (flying fish roe), for garnish

Tartare Base:
2 tablespoons good-quality mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Vietnamese garlic-chile sauce
2 tablespoon chopped green onion, white and green parts
2 teaspoons tobiko (flying fish roe)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro


Crispy Wontons:
18 (3-inch-square) wonton skins
Peanut oil, for frying

Dressing:
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons wasabi paste
2 teaspoons ground toasted sesame seeds

Directions:
Cut ¼ pound of the tuna against the grain into 12 thin slices. Finely chop the other ½ pound for the tartare.
To prepare the tartare base, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Add the chopped fish and stir lightly to combine.
To prepare the crispy wontons, in a saucepan, pour in the oil to a depth of 1 inch and heat to 375 degrees. Add the wonton skins and fry, turning once, for 8 to10 seconds on each side, until light golden brown. Keep the wontons flat by using tongs to uncurl them. Using a wire skimmer, transfer to paper towels to drain. Allow to cool.
To prepare the dressing, in a bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well.
To assemble, first roll the tuna slices up into rose-shaped bundles. Reserving 2 tablespoons of the radish sprouts, stack in the following order: wonton skin, one-sixth of the tartare mixture, shiso leaf, wonton skin, one-sixth of the smoked salmon, radish sprouts, wonton skin, 2 tuna rolls.
Sprinkle the top of the each napoleon with the reserved radish sprouts. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of the dressing around each plate. Garnish with pickled ginger and tobiko.
To serve, cut through the entire stack with a knife, and smash the layers together with a fork to blend the flavors.

Serves 6.