![](https://fishfocus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Seafood-from-Iceland-Fish-Focus-Top-Advert-2.jpg")
JOSH NILAND’S DRUNKEN AQUNA MURRAY COD AND GINGER SHALLOTS
Josh Niland’s drunken Aquna Murray Cod and ginger shallots. Just when you thought the feasting was over after Christmas, Lunar New Year will be celebrated from this Sunday, 22 January 2023, with lots of delicious food traditions prepared, served and eaten in symbolic ways. Aquna’s versatility and flavour make it the perfect good-fortune fish this Lunar New Year. Here’s a new Asian-inspired recipe created by Josh Niland.
Recipe courtesy Aquna Murray Cod
Ingredients
4x 200g Aquna Murray Cod fillets
12 fresh shiitake mushrooms
100g oyster mushrooms
100g enoki mushrooms
1 teaspoon sesame oil XO sauce (shop-bought)
To serve
Ginger shallot sauce
50g ginger, finely grated
6 spring onions, finely sliced
350ml canola oil
60–70 ml light soy sauce, to taste
White pepper, sesame and sichuan seasoning
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sichuan peppercorns
Stock
1.25 litres shaoxing wine
90ml light soy sauce
40g dried shiitake mushrooms
110 g peeled fresh ginger, sliced into 2-3 mm thick slices
3 green shallots, cut into 5cm batons
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
2 star anise
1 garlic bulb, halved
4.25 litres water
Method
To make the ginger spring onion sauce, combine the ginger and spring onion in a small heatproof bowl. Heat the oil in a small saucepan until almost smoking, then immediately pour it over the ginger and spring onion mixture. You should see and hear it sizzling. If this isn’t happening the oil isn’t hot enough, so return it to the heat and try again.
Season with the soy and mix together well. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
For the white pepper, sesame and sichuan seasoning, toast the ingredients individually in a dry frying pan until aromatic, then use a mortar and pestle to grind them together into a powder. Spoon into a small bowl and set aside.
Add all the stock ingredients to a large saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Remove from the heat.
Add the Aquna Murray Cod fillets, cover with a lid and set aside for 10–12 minutes, until the flesh is just opaque and the internal temperature of the fish at its thickest part measures 44°C (111°F) on a probe thermometer.
Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the fish pieces to a clean plate and gently peel away the skin. It should peel off easily if the flesh is cooked.
Leave to rest for 3-4 minutes. While the fish is resting, add the mushrooms to the hot stock (still off the heat) and leave for 2 minutes to gently warm through.
Divide the Aquna Murray Cod fillets among serving bowls, top with the tender mushrooms and drizzle over a little sesame oil.
Lightly season the fish, then ladle over a little of the stock to finish.
Serve immediately with the ginger spring onion sauce, sichuan seasoning and a small bowl of XO sauce.
