The perfect... Sunshine hake

Your cut-out-and-keep guide to the fundamentals of cooking

There was always a big fear factor around fish in the past — as children, a lot of us had bad experiences with bones — but that’s not so much of a worry any more. These days, any fishmonger will skin and bone your fish and that’s it; nothing to fear. It’s no longer the case that you shouldn’t buy fish on a Monday. Fishing boats are out seven days a week, and refrigeration is so good now. What you’re looking for when you’re buying fish is clear, shiny flesh. If the flesh is dull, it’s not fresh. And, if you’re buying a whole fish, the eyes should be clear and bulging; not sunken. You need a hot pan to cook a piece of fish. Don’t be scared to let the oil smoke. It doesn’t have to be non-stick, but make sure it’s a heavy pan. A lot of non-stick pans are too light and drop heat massively when you put a piece of fish into them. I use rapeseed oil; you can bring it to a high temperature without burning, and it gives a lovely yellow colour and crust. Hake is a great fish, and a great introduction for people who aren’t sure if they like fish. It’s a bit like whiting, which a lot of us had bad experiences with as kids, due to small bones that are tricky to remove entirely. Hake is bigger and can be fully boned more easily. It’s chunky and meaty and you get a lovely steak-like fillet off it. There’s huge hake fishing in Ireland, so it’s a great, cheap, quick and easy dinner. Serves 2. You will need: 16 green beans 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced 2 x 150g (5oz) hake fillets, skinned and boned Salt and freshly ground black pepper 60ml (2floz) Irish rapeseed oil 12 pitted black olives 8 sun-dried cherry tomatoes, preserved in oil 1 garlic clove Sprig of fresh thyme Squeeze of lemon Method: First, cook the green beans and the diced potatoes. Bring two separate pots of water to the boil. Add the green beans to one and the diced potatoes to the other. Cook the green beans for about 5 minutes, then drain them and refresh them under cold running water. Cook the diced potatoes for about 10 minutes, until they are just tender and cooked through. Drain them and set them aside. Then cook the hake. Season the hake fillets with a pinch of salt. Heat the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Put the hake in the pan, reduce the heat to medium and cook the fish fillets for 4 minutes on each side. Remove the hake and keep it warm. In the same pan, fry the diced potatoes for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cooked green beans, along with the black olives, the sun-dried cherry tomatoes, the garlic and the thyme sprig. Cook for 1 minute, until the garlic is fragrant and the vegetables are warmed through. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with the hake, adding a squeeze of lemon juice over the fish.