Name: Luca’s steamed trout with seaweed butter
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 22 min
Yield: 4

Luca’s steamed trout with seaweed butter

At London restaurant Luca, Isaac McHale's streamed trout is topped with a seaweed butter, reminiscent of his time at The Four In Hand bistro in Sydney's Paddington.

Serves 4

Prep

20M

Cook

Total

22M

“I love rainbow trout. It was a supermarket favourite, so it’s unfashionable in restaurants, but I think it’s a reliable option for dinner and this recipe is all about the cooking technique,” says Luca chef Isaac McHale. “The last time I cooked trout like this was 15 years ago when I worked for Mark Best when he started running The Four In Hand bistro in Sydney’s Paddington. It’s a great technique that’s simple and makes a brilliantly cooked piece of fish every time.”

Ingredients

4 rainbow trout fillets, skin on, pin-boned (130gm each)

Butter, for greasing

1 lemon

Seaweed butter

50 gm butter, softened

10 gm dried wakame, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes, drained, patted dry, finely chopped

¼ cup chervil, finely chopped (about 1 small bunch)

½ tsp finely chopped dill

½ tsp finely chopped tarragon

Method

Main

1.For seaweed butter, whisk butter until pale and creamy. Add wakame, herbs and a pinch of salt and whisk to combine. Refrigerate. It will keep refrigerated for a week. Bring to room temperature before using.

2.Preheat oven to 190C. Place fish fillets skin-side up on a lightly buttered oven tray, and roast for 2 minutes, then check that top of skin is warm to touch and peel off skin in one go. Squeeze lemon over fish and season with a pinch of salt, then lift onto serving plates and put 1 tsp wakame butter on top of each fillet. Serve with steamed broccoli or a salad and enjoy the warm, just-cooked fish with seaweed butter melting over it.