Smoked trout and sea bass crudo with pickled radishes and salmon roe

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus pickling time Cook time: 5 minutes

Serves 8

This looks beautiful and is, of course, very light. You can use smoked salmon instead of smoked trout but the trout is a lovely colour and the flavour is more delicate. I get coldsmoked trout from chalkstreamfoods.co.uk.

INGREDIENTS

For the pickled radishes

– 275g radishes

– 25g sea salt flakes – ice cubes

– 60g granulated sugar – 200ml white wine

vinegar

– ¼ tsp black

peppercorns

– ¼ tsp fennel seeds

For the fish

– 5 tbsp lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil (Belazu does one) or regular extra-virgin – 1½ tbsp rice vinegar

– 1 preserved lemon, skin only, very finely chopped, plus 2 tbsp juice from the jar

– 1 tsp honey

– 1 shallot, very finely

chopped

– pinch of sea salt flakes – 650g sea bass

– 300g cold-smoked

trout, sliced – a handful of samphire

(optional)

– lemon, for squeezing – 50g jar salmon or trout roe (also called salmon/trout caviar or keta)

METHOD Prepare the radishes several days before you want to use them. Trim them top and bottom. Wash well – it’s vital that all trace of dirt is removed – then halve lengthways and layer in a sieve with the salt and about a dozen ice cubes, set over a bowl to catch the water. Leave for an hour, then pat the radishes dry with kitchen paper.

Meanwhile, put the sugar, vinegar and spices in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the radishes, bring to the boil again, then transfer to a sterilised jar. Seal with a vinegar-proof lid, leave to cool and keep this in the fridge until you want to serve the dish.

Make the dressing for the sea bass. Whisk together the lemon oil, vinegar, chopped preserved lemon and juice from the jar, honey, shallot and salt with a fork. Leave this to sit until you’re going to use it – the flavour will get better.

Slice the pickled radishes wafer-thin, lengthways, using a very sharp knife or a mandolin. Cut the sea bass into thin slices as you would if you were preparing smoked salmon: hold the tail of the sea bass – you might be using individual small fillets or one larger piece – and slice the fillets thinly across their width. Spoon the dressing over the slices and leave for no longer than an hour.

On a serving plate arrange the sea bass and trout slices, along with the samphire if using. Squeeze a bit of lemon over the trout. Put dots of roe on both fish – I usually use the handle of a teaspoon to scoop up little chunks – then scatter on the sliced radishes.