Recipes
Crispy fish skins with horseradish crème fraiche and pickled herbs
25 minutes Preparation time
2 hours 10 minutes Cooking time
4 serves Serves
Ingredients
Pickled herbs
150 ml chardonnay vinegar
25 g caster sugar
10 g salt flakes
1 cup soft herbs leaves i.e. dill, chervil
Fish skins
4 fish Blue Cod skins, scales and flesh removed
Oil, for frying
1 lemon, zested and juiced
150 g crème fraiche
Pinch salt flakes
To serve
10 g fresh horseradish, finely grated
Method
Pickled herbs
- Mix the chardonnay vinegar, sugar and salt together.
- Toss in the herbs and let them pickle for a few minutes prior to serving.
- Drain before serving.
Fish skins
- Place fish skin in a perforated steam container lined with baking paper and Steam at 100°C for 5 minutes.
- Slide the baking paper and skin onto a perforated oven tray and dehydrate on Conventional at 80°C for approximately 2 hours, or until crispy. This can also be done in a combi steam oven at 0% moisture at 80°C for an hour.
- Place the oil into a large saucepan on high heat, induction setting 9 until it reaches 170°C on a cooking thermometer.
- Shallow fry fish skins until puffed and crispy. Remove from oil and drain on paper towel. Season lightly with salt while still hot.
- Lightly fold in the lemon juice and zest into the crème fraiche, season to taste.
To serve
- Lightly spread the creme fraiche on the fish skin. Top with the pickled herbs and grated horseradish.
Applicance Functions
Michael Meredith
Michael Meredith is an acclaimed chef and restaurateur based in New Zealand. Born in Samoa, his earliest food memories are of his mother's pancake stall at a local market in Apia. His latest restaurant, Metita, which opened in late 2023, is a tribute to his late mother and is located in Auckland's SkyCity precinct. The menu at Metita offers a contemporary take on Polynesian and Pacific cuisine, inspired by his childhood.
Throughout his career, Michael has been recognized for his inventive use of local and seasonal ingredients. He was the founding chef of The Grove in 2004, and later opened his own multi-award-winning restaurant, Merediths, which operated for a decade. He is also the owner of the Auckland eatery Mr Morris.
Beyond his restaurants, Meredith has been involved in charitable projects. He was a co-founder of Eat My Lunch, a social enterprise that helps provide lunches to underprivileged children in New Zealand. He also lends his culinary skills to other causes, such as raising money for the Starship Children's Hospital.