The French term en papillote translates as ‘in parchment’, literally describing the cooking method which involves cooking fish in a pouch and baking in the oven. Check out this wild twist with Bull Kelp and the tasty Butterfish.
- 2 Butterfish, just as the sea provides them
- 1 Bull kelp blade
- 1 Red onion
- 1 Spring onion
- 1 Whole head of Garlic
- 1 Red capsicum
- 1 Handful of coriander
- 1 Handful of parsley
- 1 Orange
- 1 Chilli
- 1 Lemon
- Sea salt, olive oil, cracked pepper, rice vinegar, rice oil, honey.
For the Pebre sauce.
Finely dice the red onion, half a head of garlic, the capsicum, half of the spring onion & the coriander (yeah, I know is hard to dice that one…) and place them in a small saucepan, add a pinch of salt, a dash of vinegar, COVER with Oil (3/4 rice, ¼ Olive) and put on very low heat for about 5 minutes, just to bring the aromas together. Let it cool down and go fishing!
For the Orange emulsion.
Peel the orange and place it in a blender together with the other half of the spring onion, the rest of the garlic, a full scoop of honey, the parsley, the chilli (make sure you clean the seeds and stem away!) and 1 full cup of Rice oil, add another dash of the rice vinegar and blend like no one is watching. It will look like a proper sauce when you stop. Now go find the bull kelp!
Time for action.
Once you have it all, cut the kelp blade in half and carefully open it through the middle with the help of a fishing knife. Doing this from one side, but not going all the way through, will make it take a bag form. You’ll have to make 2 bags.
Gut and scale both the fish, make sure all the scales are gone! Then do small shallow cuts on each side of each fish, just to let them absorb more flavour.
Salt & pepper each green bone and place them inside each bag, carefully pour 5 tablespoons of one sauce in one bag and repeat with the other sauce in the other bag. Make sure each fish is well covered in their respective sauce, add a few thin slices of lemon, and close.
Now, place into a hot oven, bbq, grill, or any other heat source until just cooked through. Use a skewer to test the firmness of the flesh – it is cooked when there is no resistance.
Photography by © Andy Jenkins | @andyzhanjinsi
This Bull Kelp Butterfish Papillote recipe was kindly provided by the team at Pure Salt. A word from them…
“Join us on a multi-day voyage (3-5 days) through remote Fiordland, as we discover ever-new aspects of this World Heritage area the choice of how to embrace it is yours. Our guides can help you better understand the unique ecosystems, wildlife and rich local history. We don’t do schedules, we simply inspire and realise what you imagine to be the perfect experience – so every trip with us is as unique as the people on board.
The variety of experiences range from kayaking and paddleboarding, shore excursions, hunting, fishing and seafood collecting to SCUBA and free diving as well as photography and bird watching. You can charter the boat and choose your own dates and friends or make new friends on one of our ‘join-a-group’ adventures.“
Visit the Pure Salt website here: https://www.puresalt.co.nz/
