Flanagans’ grilled bonito, balsamic marinade, cress, pinenuts
Inroduction
About this Recipe
By: Sheridan Rogers
Last week I dined at Flanagans Dining Room, a charming beachside restaurant at Thirroul, an hour’s drive south of Sydney. Relaxed yet stylish restaurants by the beach are few and far between and the understated sophistication here is a real pleasure. The seven course degustation menu created by Chef Arman Uz (available Friday and Saturday nights $80 pp or $125 with matched wines) was just stunning. His dishes are fresh and light and elegantly presented and included Clyde River oysters with white balsamic and pink shallots; kingfish with oyster mushrooms, blackcurrants and szechuan peppercorns and venison with beetroot, sheep’s yoghurt and shimeji. Absolutely delicious! This one for bonito ( a tuna-like fish, firm in texture and darkish in colour) is one of his signature dishes and a good example of his refined style.
Ingredients
- bonito fillets 4
- cress mix 1 punnet
- Persian pinenuts
- radishes thinly sliced
- extra virgin olive oil and white balsamic vinegar to dress
- white balsamic vinegar 500ml
- extra virgin olive oil 500ml
- Greek oregano 50g
- smoked paprika 50g
- ground cumin 25g
- garlic cloves 4, preferably Tasmanian
- sea salt flakes
Seves 6 Place bonito fillets skin side down on your chopping board. Using a sharp knife, cut down both sides of the back bone, discard bones, leaving two smaller fillets. Cut each piece into two, so you end up with four pieces of bonito. Repeat this for each fillet. For the marinade: mix together all the ingredients. Pour over the bonito pieces, cover and rest for 24 hours,in the fridge. Using a hot non-stick pan grill bonito pieces, skin side down for about two minutes or until the skin is crispy. Quickly flip over and cook other side for ten seconds, then remove from pan. Mix together cress, pine nuts and radishes, and dress with white balsamic and olive oil. Serve grilled bonito pieces with dressed cress mix and pinenuts.