Smoked trout with oyster mushrooms

For ➋

200 g smoked trout / or trout fillets*

½ bunch chives

piece of ginger / 1-2 ts ginger powder

150 g rice

150 g oyster mushrooms

2.5 tbs sunflower oil

4 tbs soy sauce

½ tbs chili sauce

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Cook the rice according to the package instructions.

Peel the ginger and cut into 3 cm matchsticks. Place the fish on a piece of aluminum foil and distribute the ginger over it. Fold the package closed and place on a baking sheet or rack. Cook the fish for 6 to 8 m in the (preheated) oven.*

Slice the oyster mushrooms.

In the meantime, fry the oyster mushrooms in half of the sunflower oil for approx. 3 m. Mix with half of the soy sauce and the chili sauce and fry for another 1 m.

Finely chop the chives. Place the fish on a plate and scatter the chives over it. Heat the remaining half of the sunflower oil in a small pan until the oil starts to smoke. Pour the hot oil, along with the rest of the soy sauce, over the chives on the fish. Serve the fish with the oyster mushrooms and some rice.

*Or rub the trout fillets with a light seasoning made from ½ tbsp oil and 2 ts ginger powder. Microwave for 1 m in a closed container.

Steamed fish with ginger & scallions

For ➋-➍
600-800 g fish [porgy, black sea bass, Boston mackerel, or trout], scaled & gutted*
5-6 scallions, divided
4 cm knob ginger**
[optional alternatives: coriander or chilli]**
salt & pepper, for seasoning
1 ts Shaoxing wine or sherry
1 lime, juice & zest, divided
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs fine mild red wine vinegar
1 tbs sesame seeds
4 tbs sesame oil
[optional green: sautéed pak choi]
[optional aromatics for steaming water:
star anise
knob of ginger, roughly sliced
Szechuan peppercorn
scallions or green garlic]

Rinse the fish with cold water inside and out and pat dry. Score a couple of gashes in the flesh on either side of the fish.
Slice 4 of the scallions and the knob ginger into a fine julienne and set aside. Save the scraps for stuffing the fish belly. Season the fish belly with salt and pepper and the ts of wine or sherry.
Stuff the fish with the scallion and ginger scraps and the lime zest.
Take a large stock pot and put about 8 cm of water in it and bring to a boil.
Inside the pot, place an inverted cake pan or some other such thing so that you can rest a large plate with the fish on it inside the pot and out of direct contact with the water. (The fish will be on a plate that is resting on another object that is in direct contact with the bottom of the pot.)
Chop the final scallion into 3 pieces and rest it on the plate. Season the fish with salt and pepper on the outside with and place the fish on the plate.
Place the plate on the object in the pot, cover the pot, and steam over high heat for 10 to 12 m (more for a larger fish), until done.
While the fish is steaming, mix the soy sauce with the vinegar and lime juice.
Remove the fish carefully and place on a serving plate. Place the julienned ginger and scallions across the top of the fish and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
Heat the sesame oil in a small pan until just before smoking, then pour over the fish.
Finally, pour the soy sauce mixture onto the plate and serve. This fish is also quite tasty still served at room temperature.
Serve with rice or some sautéed greens like pak choi.

*This can be made with fish filets, but fish in the bone comes out much more moist and flavorful, as well as being a beautiful presentation.
**Add coriander or chilli to the ginger, or make a mix.

Trout & fennel

For ➍
4 trout
2 large fennel bulbs
4 tbs parsley, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
2 lemons, peeled & sliced
juice of 2 oranges
300 g couscous
6 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tbs olive oil
coarse sea salt & black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cut the fennel into thin slices using a mandoline and cover the bottom of a casserole.
Grate a little zest of orange using a mandolin, store it and then press the orange.
Sprinkle the dish with the chopped garlic and pour the lemon and orange juice over .
Fill each trout with chopped parsley, bay leaf and a slice of peeled lemon.
Put the trout on the fennel and add the remaining lemon slices. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with pepper & coarse sea salt.
Put the dish in the oven at 180°C during 35 m.
Meanwhile, prepare the couscous as directed on the package.
Serve the fried trout with fennel along with the couscous.

London smoked eel sandwich

For ➊
1 slice of sourdough bread
butter
30-40 g fillet of smoked eel*
1 heaped ts of horseradish cream
Dijon mustard
¼ small red onion, peeled & thinly sliced
2 tbs white wine vinegar
a good pinch of sugar

Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar. Steep the sliced onion in the pickle and let stand for 1 h.
Warm a grilling pan over a gentle heat. Lay the sour dough on the grill and brown nicely.
Cut the eel fillet into 3 largish pieces.
Butter the toasted side of the sour dough. Cut this in half and spread with Dijon mustard.
Lay on the eel and then the horseradish cream. Lay on the other piece of toast and return to the grill.
Allow the sandwich to brown, then flip and cook similarly on the other side.
Put on a plate and heap the drained pickle alongside.
Serve immediately.

*Replace with smoked trout or mackerel fillet. Or even smoked halibut.

Black cod with scallions & ginger @ microwave

For ➋-➍
2 225 g black cod fillets, with skin or not (or use halibut, rockfish, trout, black sea bass, pomfret or sole)
4¼ ts soy sauce
¼ ts sesame oil
4 0.6 cm thick round slices of ginger plus 1 tbs finely julienned ginger, for garnish
5 or 6 scallions, white & green parts separated & julienned
1½ ts Shaoxing or other white wine
3½ tbs peanut oil

Place each fillet in a separate microwave-safe zip-top bag, then place the bags skin (or skinned) side down next to each other on a microwave-safe plate.
In a small bowl, combine soy sauce and sesame oil. Set aside. Divide ginger coins and white part of scallions between the 2 bags. Pour half the wine (¾ ts) into each bag. Push air out as much as possible.
Microwave until fish becomes opaque and flakes easily, 3½ to 5 m in an 800-watt oven.
Transfer each fillet to a warm serving plate and drizzle each with half of the soy sauce mixture. Garnish with scallion greens and julienned ginger.
In a small pan, heat peanut oil until sizzling. Drizzle the hot oil over each fillet and serve immediately.

Aardappelsalade met gerookte haring (Flemish potato salad with smoked herring)

For ➍
600 g new potatoes
½ lemon, juice & zest
1 tbs good wine vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs capers
1 ts horseradish relish or 1.5 cm fresh* horseradish
15 cl full cream
1 bunch dill
1 bunch radishes
300 g smoked fish fillets, smoked herring or trout or mackerel
some watercress or purslane (optional).

Scrub the potatoes under running water.
Boil them unpeeled in salted water.
When the potatoes are done, drain and cut into 2 (or 4 if big). Mix them, when they are still hot, with the vinegar, olive oil, capers and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Cut the radishes into thin slices, chop the dill and pull the smoked fish into pieces. Mix with the potatoes and season with pepper and some salt.
Whip the cream. When the cream is stiff, add pepper, salt, grated zest of ½ lemon and horseradish (add 1 ts horseradish from a jar, grate about 1.5 cm fresh horseradish).
Serve the salad with some watercress or purslane and a generous scoop of cream.

This is a re-creation of a classic recipe from an inexpensive workers' restaurant in Ghent. The original recipe might have been inspired by the classic French hors d'oeuvre harengs pommes à l'huile.

Tomato & fennel salad with grilled fish

For ➍
400 g fish fillets (tuna, mackerel, trout)
a handful of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked & chopped
8 nice plum tomatoes or 800g mixed tomatoes
2 bulbs of fennel, trimmed, coarse outer leaves removed, herby tops reserved
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 red chilli, deseeded & finely sliced*

2 lemons
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

To make the salad, finely slice the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Arrange on your plates. Finely slice your fennel bulb and dress it in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper then scatter over your tomatoes.

Mix together a good lug of extra virgin olive oil, a nice squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle this all over the fish then pat on the chopped marjoram or oregano. Put your fillets (skin-down) on the hottest part of the clean (BBQ) grill.

If your fillets are 2 cm thick, they’ll only need about 2 m cooking time. If it still has the skin on, cook it skin-side down as it’s less likely to stick. Once cooked, remove to a warm plate. Remove the skin, flake the meat.

Serve salad on 4 large plates. Spoon over the fish. Scatter over the reserved fennel tops, drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and scatter with chilli*.

*optional.

Smoked trout & endives bites

For ➍
150 g smoked trout fillets
2 tbs cream cheese or mascarpone**
2 endives

Mash the fillets. Keep some flakes of fish in the mash.

Add the cream cheese and mix into an almost smooth paste.

(Refrigerate for 30 m.)*

Cut the end of the endives.

Tear leaves of the endives.

Fill each petal with a ts of the mix. Cut in half.

(Decorate with parsley or a small cube of tomato.)*

Serve immediately with drinks.***

*Optional.
**Add more for a smoother taste. Add a pitch of horse radish for a spicier taste.
***The endives will turn brown when put aside. Sprinkle with lemon juice to avoid browning.

Try a salad of the same mix.

Witloofsla (endives' salad)

For ➊
1 endive, sliced*
½ apple, peeled & cubed
1 tbs mayo**
1 ts horseradish cream***
75 g smoked trout fillet****
½ lemon juice

Clean and slice endive(s) and apple(s). Sprinkle with lemon juice.
Mix mayo** and horseradish cream***.
Serve in an individual bowl. Mix dressing and endive and apple.
Crumble trout on top.
Serve with fresh toast bread.*****

*Belgian preferred, avoid hydroculture endives.
**Use ½ buttermilk instead.
***Or fresh chopped horseradish, or Japanese horseradish mustard. Or Belgian mustard.
****Use smoked halibut instead.
****Serve half the quantity on a bum or sandwich instead.

Read more Belgian endives recipes: guinea fowl with endives, cod with endives.

Waterzooi (Flemish fish stew)

For ➍
800 g mixed freshwater fish (pike, trout...)*
2 stalks of celery
2 leeks
4 carrots
1 small shallot
2 twigs of thyme
0,5 l fish broth**
30 cl dry white wine***
20 g butter
2 tbs parsley, chopped
2 tbs green celery, chopped
1 lemon
salt & pepper
(50 g cream, 1 egg yolk)
(4 slices of bread, crust removed. 20 g butter)

Cut the cleaned fish in equal chunks (3x3cm).

Cut the leeks in 1 cm segments. Shred the celery . Slice the carrots and the shallot.

Heat the pan. Melt the butter. Add shallot, carrots, leek and celery and fry for a minute. Add fish broth and bring to a boil. Add wine. Add thyme, salt & pepper.

Add fish and simmer for 8 m.

(Whisk yolk into cream. Take soup off heat. Add cream)

(Melt the butter and bake the bread golden brown. Put a slice in a deep dish). Pour over the stew and sprinkle with green celery and parsley. Serve as a main dish with rye bread or a few boiled potatoes.

*Avoid salmon. Firm white sea fish can be used instead, such as monkfish. A variation can be made with chicken (replace the broth with chicken stock).
**Use less for less soup-like dish.
***Replace with a Belgian white wheat beer for a different taste.

This Flemish recipe of Ghent, called waterzooi, was orginally made with river fish. As the water quality declined, it was replaced with chicken. Several other cities have their own version.