Volga Catfish with Romesco Sauce
Main Dishes | European cuisine
⏳ Time
1 hour 2 days
🥕 Ingredients
22
🍽️ Servings
4
Description
In this recipe from a popular restaurant in Saratov, there are many ingredients, but don’t be intimidated; a good half is needed to make homemade mustard. Another quarter is for the spicy Spanish tomato sauce, romesco. The cooking method for the catfish is simple. The fish is first salted in a brine solution, which is a foolproof technique—the catfish will absorb exactly what it needs without any extra help. In the restaurant, the fish is cooked in a charcoal oven, but you can use your regular oven at home.
Ingredients
- Scorpion fish fillet - 14.1 oz
- Water - 17 fl oz
- Milk - 4 fl oz
- Salt - 2.4 oz
- Sugar - 1.3 oz
- Sweet Pepper - 2 pieces
- Tomatoes - 7.1 oz
- Garlic - 1.4 oz
- Apple Cider Vinegar - 5 fl oz
- Olive Oil - 1 fl oz
- Mild Chili Spice - 0.4 oz
- Ground Black Pepper - 0.1 oz
- Mustard Greens - 4.2 oz
- Apple juice with pulp - 7 fl oz
- Honey - 1.4 oz
- Marinated cherries - 2.8 oz
- Sour Cream - 1.4 oz
- Almond - 1.4 oz
- Olive Oil - 0 fl oz
- Lemon - 1 piece
- Fresh basil leaves - to taste
- Sorrel - to taste
Step by Step guide
Step 1
First, prepare the whole grain mustard. Rinse the seeds under cold water and place them in a deep container. Pour in apple juice and 100 grams of apple cider vinegar. Leave it in a cool place for 2 days.
Step 2
After 2 days, add sugar, honey, salt, and the remaining 52 grams of vinegar. Mix well, transfer to a heavy-bottomed saucepan, and bring to a boil. Boil for 2–3 minutes.
Step 3
Next, grind 1/3 of the mustard in a mortar until smooth, then combine it with the remaining mixture and mix well.
Step 4
Store homemade mustard in sterilized jars for up to 3 months at a temperature of 2–39°F.
Step 5
Prepare the brine. Combine the milk with water, add 64 grams of salt and 32 grams of sugar. Add the catfish to this mixture and let it brine for 20 minutes.
Step 6
Dry the fish to remove excess moisture, season with vegetable oil and black pepper. Cook the fish in a charcoal oven until it reaches 131°F.
Step 7
Prepare the romesco sauce. Wash the tomatoes, bell peppers, and red chili pepper. Dry them off. Remove the seeds from the peppers and chop the tomatoes coarsely.
Step 8
Peel the garlic, and blanch the almonds in boiling water. Toast the nuts in a dry skillet until golden brown.
Step 9
Combine the tomatoes, bell pepper, chili, roasted almonds, peeled garlic, 12 grams of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Step 10
Rinse the bell pepper and pat it dry. Char it over an open flame. Leave the warm pepper covered on a plate for 10–15 minutes.
Step 11
Remove the skin from the cooled pepper, and discard the seeds and stem. Cut into even strips.
Step 12
Prepare a salad with cherry tomatoes and almonds. Wash the cherry tomatoes, dry them, and cut them in half. In a bowl, combine the cherry tomatoes, almonds, sour cream, and mustard oil, and mix well.
Step 13
Assemble the dish. Place the warm romesco sauce in the center of the plate, topped with the Volga catfish, and arrange a salad of homegrown cherry tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, grainy mustard, and a wedge of lemon alongside.
Step 14
Garnish the dish with young sorrel and basil shoots.
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