Super sustainable soused red mullet salad

Try sousing – or lightly pickling – fish at home, starting with this red mullet salad, says Lauren Taylor

This is a particularly lovely way of serving red mullet (Kate Whitaker/PA)

This is a particularly lovely way of serving red mullet, which is a fast-growing and therefore sustainable fish,” says chef and cookbook author, Nathan Outlaw.

“It lends itself to being lightly pickled and served at room temperature, which mellows out its strong but delicious flavour.

“The combination of chickpeas, celery and grapes is really good. If you are not a chickpea fan, try it with lentils or cous cous,” he suggests.

Soused red mullet, grape, chickpea and celery herb salad

Serves: 4

Alternative fish: mackerel, bass, grey mullet,gurnard, goatfish, Atlantic mackerel, searobin

Ingredients:

4 red mullet, about 400–500g each, gutted, descaled, filleted and pin-boned

Celery salt

White pepper

For the pickling marinade:

A generous drizzle of olive oil

1 white onion, finely chopped

2 celery sticks, de-stringed (with a peeler) and finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, halved, germ removed and finely chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

2 sprigs of lemon thyme or thyme leaves, sliced

1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained

2 tsp smoked paprika

150ml sherry vinegar

150ml dry sherry

250ml fish stock

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

2 tbsp sliced celery herb

20 red seedless grapes, halved

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. To prepare the pickling marinade, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the onion for four minutes, stirring occasionally and cooking without any colour until soft.

2. When the onions are soft, add the celery, garlic, chilli and thyme, and cook for two minutes. Add the chickpeas and smoked paprika to the pan and cook for a further two minutes, then add the sherry vinegar and cook for a further two minutes. Pour in the sherry and stock, bring to the boil and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

3. Take the red mullet fillets and cut each fillet into three equal chunks. Lay them in a serving dish large enough to hold the fish flat and level. Bring the marinade back to a simmer, then carefully pour it over the fish. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.

4. Just before serving, scatter the celery herb and grapes over the fish and finish with a drizzle of olive oil over the top and a sprinkle of celery salt and white pepper. Place the dish on the table and allow your lucky diners to help themselves, or plate up individually.

TIP: This process works well for large parties as you can make the recipe well in advance and then all the pressure is taken off. It doesn’t even matter too much about serving temperature, just as long as it’s not too cold; when ingredients are too cold, their flavours are muted.

Recipe from ‘Fish For Dinner’ by Nathan Outlaw (Kyle Books, £28).