Recipe: Catch of the day

Let's make no bones about it, filleting a fish is a tricky business – but just follow a few simple rules and you can tuck into this mullet with confidence

THERE really are few things as wonderful as a well-cooked piece of spanking fresh fish. It has a lovely pronounced flavour, which unfortunately starts to recede very quickly. So the most important thing is that it's super-fresh. Fish that has been lingering in ice and polystyrene for several days will simply have lost the potential to deliver a memorable eating experience.

When buying whole fish, pick it up and stick your hooter in; it should smell of the sea, fresh and not fishy. The fish should feel slimy but firm, not flabby. The eyes should sparkle and the gills should be bright, pinky red. Dull eyes and browning gills are sure signs of a fish on the way out.

Buying whole fish and filleting them yourself is the best way to ensure quality and freshness, so don't be afraid to give it a go. If you haven't filleted a fish before, it might be an idea to practise on some cheap mackerel rather than on your carefully sourced dinner-party centrepiece.

On the subject of dinner parties, this dish is a dream for entertaining. The potato cakes can be made in advance in ring moulds and simply heated through in the oven for five minutes before serving. Likewise, the pancetta and the dressing will keep for three days in the fridge, meaning that all you have to do is fry the red mullet on the night and assemble the dish.

CRISPY FILLETS OF RED MULLET ON CRAB AND MUSHROOM HASH WITH PANCETTA AND SAGE

Serves four

8 small fillets red mullet, skin on and scaled
4 tbsp fruity olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 large russet (baking) potato
8 slices pancetta, thinly cut
olive oil for frying
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 small shallot, peeled and finely chopped
2 spring onions (green part only), finely sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
120g button mushrooms, washed
150g fresh cooked white crab meat
4 leaves fresh sage
10g unsalted butter

For the dressing

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
60ml fruity olive oil
6 segments red grapefruit
60ml red grapefruit juice
11/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

To make the dressing, place the onion into a fine sieve and wash under running cold water for one minute. In a bowl, mix together the onion, oil, the grapefruit segments, grapefruit and lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Use a sharp knife to make two shallow cuts on the skin side of the fish. Cut no more than three quarters of the way across. This helps to stop the fish curling as the skin contracts while cooking. Place the fillets into a shallow dish and sprinkle with olive oil and a little lemon juice.

Peel the potato and cook in a saucepan of salted boiling water until a thin-bladed knife will just pass through. Drain the potato and allow to cool and dry out for a minute or two. Cut into 2cm dice and set aside.

Cut the pancetta into 8cm lengths. Heat a frying pan until hot and add a splash of olive oil. Add the pancetta strips and cook until nice and crisp. Remove the meat and keep warm, then strain the fat into the dressing.

Heat a large (10in) non-stick pan and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Add the potatoes and sauté them, continually tossing until they are lightly coloured all over. Add the garlic and shallots, and continue cooking for three minutes. Next, add the spring onions, red chilli and mushrooms, stir through and cook for a minute more. Finally, stir in the crab meat, season and squeeze over some lemon juice to taste.

To cook the fish, lightly season the fish fillets and heat a heavy frying pan until hot. To test the pan temperature, touch a corner of the fish into the pan, skin-side down. You are looking for a good, healthy sizzle. If the temperature seems right, place the fish in the pan. There is no need to add extra oil as the marinade oil clinging to the fish will be enough.

Cook for two minutes on the skin side. Turn the fish over and add the sage leaves to the pan with the butter. Cook for one minute more, basting the fish with the melted butter. Sprinkle the fish with a little lemon juice, then remove both the fish and sage from the pan and keep warm.

To serve, take four hot plates and pile an equal amount of potato hash in the centre of each, or use a 7cm cutter to form a neat cake of potato. Place a fillet of fish on top of the potato, then a piece of pancetta, finished with a second fish fillet, another piece of pancetta and a leaf of fried sage. Spoon around some of the grapefruit dressing and serve.

Critical points

This method is the one we teach at the school, and is suited to home cooks. You can use the same technique for any round fish. Start by snipping off all the fins with a pair of kitchen scissors. With some fish, such as sea bass, you need to watch the spines in the top fin, as they're extremely sharp and can cause nasty nicks.

Most fish will be sold already gutted and scaled. But it's worth running the back of your knife gently from tail to head to pick up any scales that the fishmonger has missed.

Chop off the head, making an incision just above the gills. Keep the head for making fish stock or soup. Look at the fish side-on, and you will see the backbone at the top of the body. Insert the knife just above this and start cutting the flesh away from the skeleton right along the body of the fish.

Lift the belly of the fish in order to cut through the rib bones tight against the backbone. Adjust your grip as you work along to keep the fillet taut. Repeat on the other side.

To remove the rib bones, take one of the fillets and place it skin-side down with the head end towards you. Slide your knife under the rib bones, freeing them up and away from the flesh with a slicing movement. Cut them away and trim off any fatty portions of the flesh. Remove the ribs from the second fillet and trim. Then take a pair of tweezers and remove the pin bones. These are located at the head-end of the fish, towards the centre of the flesh. You should be able to feel them by running your finger along the surface of the fillet from head to tail.