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Make this elegant mackerel and chia seed dish, then check out more starter recipes. Also read our guide on what are chia seeds and where to buy them for advice on sourcing this ingredient.

Ingredients

  • 4 mackerel fillets, pin boned
  • 3 small sheets nori
  • 50g sea salt flakes
  • 25g caster sugar
  • 20g chia seeds
  • 200ml   apple juice
  • ½ tsp spirulina
  • 50ml lemon juice, plus a little for seasoning
  • 10g white or regular soy sauce or wakame seaweed
  • for deep frying oil
  • sprigs to serve dill

PICKLED CUCUMBERS

  • 2 small cucumbers
  • 50ml white vinegar
  • 30g caster sugar
  • 10g salt

Method

  • STEP 1

    Cut the mackerel fillets, lengthways, from the head end to the tail so you’re left with 1 silver belly fillet and 1 striped topside fillet from each. Put the nori in a food processor and blend until you have a fine powder, then add the sea salt and sugar and blend again. Lay the fish flesh-side up on a tray and sprinkle over the nori salt. Leave it for 7 minutes and then rinse the fillets, drain and chill skin-side up on a lightly oiled baking tray.

  • STEP 2

    Mix the chia seeds with 100ml apple juice and stir in the spirulina. Leave until the liquid is absorbed and then stir in more juice, a little at a time, letting each amount be absorbed and making sure there are no lumps. Once the seeds have swollen and are soft, season the mixture with lemon juice and soy.

  • STEP 3

    Peel the cucumbers and cut one into ½ cm thick slices, and the other into long thin batons. Put the remaining ingredients in a pan with 400ml water and bring to the boil. Add the cucumbers and cool.

  • STEP 4

    Heat a pan with some oil in it (no more than 1/3 full) until it is 170C. Fry the wakame until it starts to pop and expand, about 10-20 seconds, then scoop it out and drain it on kitchen paper.

  • STEP 5

    Blowtorch the fillets all over using a fierce flame, till they start to bubble and get black spots on the skin, or use a very hot grill to blister the skins. The fish should be just cooked. Mix the soy and lemon juice and sprinkle it over. Blowtorch the cucumber strips.

  • STEP 6

    To serve, spoon the chia seeds into 4 shallow bowls, add 2 discs and a strip of cucumber to each and add some dill. Add a belly and top fillet to each dish and sprinkle over the fried wakame.

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