Blue cod & citrus ceviche

SERVES 4 / PREPARATION 20 MINUTES PLUS COOLING TIME

One of my favourite ingredients during the New Zealand winter months is our citrus. Plentiful, juicy and, since they are in season, affordable; limes, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, tangelos and mandarins all brighten up a winter menu. Feel free to use your favourite citrus in this cheery dish that works well with any fish, although the marinating time may vary. When using a whole fish, especially when superfresh and caught by hand (which does tend to make the flesh more tender), I like to use a little part of the thicker end of the fillet for a ceviche. Takushi Maekawa, my head chef of 14 years (yes 14!), helped develop this dish.

100g blue cod, sliced juice of 1 lime

1 lemon, segmented

1 lime, segmented

1 orange, segmented

15g pickled red onion (see below) 15g pickled fennel (see below) 1 red chilli, sliced shiso micro leaves, for garnish

Place the fish into a bowl, pour over the lime juice and allow to marinate for four minutes. The lime juice ‘cooks’ the fish and it will turn white very quickly. Add the citrus segments, pickled red onion and fennel, toss to combine and season with some Marlborough flaky sea salt. Divide among four plates and garnish with the fresh chilli and shiso leaves.

FOR THE PICKLES

500ml white wine vinegar 250ml water 250g sugar

½ red onion, thinly sliced ½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced

In a small saucepan combine the white wine vinegar, water and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Place the onion in one heatproof bowl and the fennel in another. Pour the hot pickling liquid over the vegetables and let it cool. This is an excellent basic pickling recipe and works well with most vegetables.