Hello beautiful people.
How goes it your side? All is good this side. However, I am still recovering from Eid and all our festivities.
But talking about festivities, how special is our Rainbow Nation?
We have such beautiful diverse cultures, the Muslims just completed Ramadaan and Eid celebrations as the Christians start heading into Easter.
When it comes to Easter, there are so many foodie traditions that come to mind.
We see more people enjoying fish, the shops are filled with colourful Easter eggs and chocolate, those lekker hot cross buns make their appearance and you can smell hints of someone in the area making pickled fish.
These Easter treats are enjoyed by everyone young and old.
And if the pickled fish lussie hasn’t hit yet, I am sure every time you open the socials or read the Daily Voice, the lussie is sure to hit.
The Daily Voice’s annual pickled fish competitions first round took place over the weekend en almal se pickled vis lyk te lekker!
This week i’m sharing my recipe and some of my favourite fish recipes for you to work out your Easter menu.
By the end of this week, you should have your pickle fish ingredients list ready and I am sure you have scouted around for the best fish prices too.
The best part about pickled fish is that it must be lekker ingelê, so all those sauces and the vinegar flavours get right into the fish.
When making pickled fish, I always always prefer using snoek or a nice firm fish, but I know hake or stokvis is also a firm favourite of many when making pickled fish.
My tip for hake is not to use it freshly caught. Always freeze it even if you freeze it for a day or two then use it.
Super fresh hake always tends to break when frying, leaving you with little bits and pieces in your pickle, rather than lekker big pieces.
Good luck with all your pickled fish prep and remember the earlier you make your fish, the longer it pickles and the better it tastes!
For more recipes or baking and cooking inspiration, visit my website www.sprinklesandspice.co.za or visit my social media platforms on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok @sprinklesandspicect or Sprinkles and Spice by Farzana Kumandan.
Love, Your Cooksister
Fatima Sydow’s Hake Pickled Fish
Ingredients
10-15 pieces of hake
6 / 8 large onions chopped into rings
1 cup of water
1 cup of vinegar
5 bay leaves
Some peppercorns
Coriander seeds
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tsp of salt
2 tablespoons of masala
2 teaspoons of turmeric
Some cake flour
* You may use pickled fish masala
Method
Season the fish with 1 tsp of salt and fish masala and some turmeric or Packo masala. Dip the seasoned fish in a little cake flour and then fry in shallow oil about two minutes on each side depending on thickness of fish. Place in a big bowl and put aside.
In a medium-sized pot, on high heat add a cup of water and a cup of vinegar, five bay leaves and some peppercorns, 2 teaspoons of turmeric and 2 tbsps of fish masala or Packo masala and 1 and a 1/2 tsp of salt. Bring to the boil and add six to eight onions that have been sliced into ringed onions.
Add a half a cup of sugar. Simmer for 8 minutes until all the flavours have infused into onions. Take off heat and pour over the fish in a bowl. Wait to cool. Cover and place in fridge until ready to eat.
Tip - Do not cook onions for too long or fry them, this is a pickle, meaning the onion should still have a tiny bit of crunch to it.
Farzana Kumandan’s Snoek Pickled Fish
Ingredients
*For the Snoek
1kg snoek
Wash, rinse and drain fish of all excess water.
Sprinkle over a little salt
*Masala for the snoek
1 heaped teaspoon garlic flakes
1 heaped teaspoon jeera / cumin
1 level teaspoon koljana / coriander
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
1 level teaspoon salt
Method
Mix the spices with a little water to make a thick paste and rub on fish.
Dip/coat masala fish in a mixture of ½ cup self-rising flour and 1 tablespoon cornflour.
Fry in medium/hot oil for 4 minutes per side.
Allow to drain roller towel
For the pickled onions
Ingredients
7 large onions peeled and sliced into thick rings
1½ cups of brown vinegar
½ cup water
½ cup brown sugar
5 bay leaves
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1 level teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons turmeric
2 heaped tablespoons raja hot curry
¼ cup apricot jam
¼ cup Mrs Ball's chutney
Method
In a large pot over a medium heat bring all the above ingredients to a slow boil. (Except the onions).
Once boiling, add the onions and mix well to ensure all the onions are well coated.
Bring to boil once again, reduce heat and simmer over a medium heat for 7 minutes.
Mixture should be thick and bubbly.
Place your fish in a glass Pyrex and spoon over the onions and picked sauce.
Once cooled completely, refrigerate.
Braai Snoek
Ingredients
1 whole snoek
Cleaned, rinsed and drained of all excess water
100g melted butter
1 bulb garlic finely grated
Juice of ½ lemon
100g Apricot jam
Salt and black pepper
Onion slices
Pepper slices
Chilli sliced
Tomato slices
Fresh lemon, sliced
Method
Heat all ingredients (except the veg slices) over a low heat till well combined.
Brush over your Snoek and add slices of onion, pepper, tomato, chilli and lemon.
Cover with foil before braaiing.
Air-fried Masala Snoek
Ingredients
1kg snoek pieces
1 heaped tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
Salt to taste
Dash of lemon
2- 3 tablespoons Oil
Method
Mix all the ingredients together to make a thick paste
Marinade the fish with the masala paste and line the Air Fryer basket with foil
Grill for 15 minutes on 200 degrees.
Battered Fish and Chips
Ingredients
500g hake
Cornflour for dusting
2 ½ cups self-rising flour
2 tablespoons fisherman’s spice
1 egg
Soda water
Method
Rinse and drain the fish of all excess water.
Sprinkle salt over the fish and dust the fish in cornflour.
Make a batter with the self-rising flour, fisherman’s spice and egg. Mix well and add the soda water to make a thick batter. Dip the fish into the batter and fry in hot oil. Once fried until golden sprinkle over some salt and serve with thick cut fried potato chips and lemon slices and vinegar on the side.