This Fried Whiting with smoked Eggplant is a treat in anyone’s country
I started off the day standing in the line at the fish market talking to the lady beside me. She was from the Croatian Coast near Dubrovnik and she just happened to be buying Whiting to fry. This took me back to boat trips on sunny days in Zadar where we ate fried fish just like this, and before I knew it I had a kilo wrapped and paid for. I cooked it with some other things in my kitchen.
These caperberries were given to me as a gift by Charlie from www.hotlyspiced.com & were the perfect thing to have with my fried Whiting. Caperberries are the fruit of the caper bush. I love them and they went so well with my smoky puree of eggplant and chickpea that I seasoned up with this amazingly potent smoked salt. A couple of weeks ago I went to an open day at “Salt Meat and Cheese” in Alexandria, Sydney and met Rowena from www.thesaltbox.com.au. After I tasted her salts, I was very keen to cook with some, most especially the Smoked Applewood, and this is also in my dish. You can still make this dish without the smoked salt but I am telling you….you need some.
The last and most delicious thing that is in my kitchen are some lovingly grown greens and vegetables that Celia and Pete (www.figjamandlimecordial.com) gave me when I visited them this week.
Fried Whiting Smoked Eggplant and Caperberries
Ingredients
- 500 gm Whiting cleaned (2 pieces of fish per person)
- 100 gm gluten free flour or plain
- 4 Tablespoons of cumin
- 1 tablespoon Smoked salt
- 4 Tablespoons sesame seeds
- 250 ml oil for frying, 1 cup
- 250 gm eggplant 1 medium
- 400 gm chickpeas drained
- 60 ml lemon Juice 1/4 cup
- 125 ml tahini ( sesame paste- from supermarkets 1/2 cup )
- 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Smoked salt
- 200 gm Cherry Tomatoes 1 punnet
- 20 ml olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- pepper
- 1/2 bunch parsley or coriander roughly chopped
- 6 whole Caperberries
Instructions
- Put the eggplant over an open gas flame turning occasionally until the skin is charred. (Approx 10 minutes). Pop the eggplant into the oven for another 10 minutes until very soft . This can be done under the grill too.
- Peel off the dark skin, keeping any juice. Tip the eggplant into a food processor or a blender and add the chickpeas, lemon juice, 1 tablespoons cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt and tahini and blend until smooth. Add more lemon juice ans smoked salt after tasting if necessary
- Cut the tomatoes into 1/2's or 1/4's. Toss in the olive oil and lemon zest and put onto a tray and roast till just softening. Put aside
- Dry the fish. Mix all of the dry ingredients (flour, 4 ta cumin and 1 T smoked salt) in a container and toss the fish till coated. Preheat the oil and fry the fish on high till brown and crispy. Drain on absorbent paper.
- Serve the fish with some of the eggplant puree, roast tomatoes tossed with the chopped parsley or coriander and Caperberries
For other great fish recipes try these:
Kim | a little lunch
Tania, your fish dinner is exquisite and the memories it evoked were special, too. I’ve never seen caperberries so large! The ones available here aren’t much bigger than a peppercorn… will have to do some sourcing. (Love capers!) You put together a beautiful dish and a lovely post!
giulia
caperberries! that is the first time i have heard them called that! i love them but my partner doesn’t so it is always a battle whether to cook with them or not!
Martine @ Chompchomp
My mum lives in Adelaide and her partner is Greek meaning most of their fresh produce comes via a process of bartering and exchanging amongst friends in the wider Greek community. At any time of the year you can guarantee one thing that they have stocked up is fresh whiting. Every two weeks they get a batch from a friend with a boat, spend the Sunday gutting and filleting it; and then the rest of the week devouring it. I swear they have nearly turned into a whiting!
Rowena
Glad you enjoyed the Yakima Applewood salt….I am now going to try your recipe! We have a few smoked salts all with unique flavours – Applewood, Fumee de Sel (Chardonnay Oak Smoked), Alderwood Smoked, Hickory Smoked and the big daddy of them all, Extra Smoked with 7 different woods. I love hearing how other people use them!. thx.
Jas@AbsolutelyJas
I love whiting, and I love caperberries – such great texture! Your fish looks like it is cooked to absolute perfection, gorgeous!
yummychunklet
That first photo looks pretty enticing!
Diane
Love the idea of the “hombaba”-Nice combination of flavours & textures. Whitings are the most delicate fish I’ve tasted along with the red mullets. Mouthwatering recipe!
Mel @ The cook's notebook
my father-in-law used to go on an annual fishing trip with some friends – on the last one they caught about 400 whiting (of the legal size) that were all gutted and filleted by them – sooo good! I’ve not eaten them in ages – must do so.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
This is the meal I would thoroughly enjoy! I love that eggplant puree too.
Andrea Mynard
Your meal looks wonderful! I love the fishmarket chat along the way too.
Joanne T Ferguson
G’day Tania!! Thank you for this month’s kitchen view!
Thank you for also allowing me to learn something new re your Yakima…your dish looks lovely too!
Cheers! Joanne
Viewed as part of IMK
Lizzy (Good Things)
Yummy! Love whiting… had not thought of combining it with eggplant, but definitely want to try this. Thanks Tania for sharing.
Claire @ Claire K Creations
I’m so jealous of your Celia-grown produce!
Eha
Love the combination and especially the smoky eggplant puree which I’ll copy soonest! Am more a fish griller than a frier . . . but the dish would still taste great. Hardly use any salt bar what one finds in some of the Asian sauces, but that apple wood one surely seems most interesting!!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
I grew up eating fried whiting-but haven’t eaten it in years!
heidiannie
Love the recipe for the eggplant hummus- I use eggplant in baba ganouj- but not in hummus- this sounds delish!
Thanks for sharing!
Hotly Spiced
I just knew you would find something special to do with the caperberries. They look very good paired with this whiting. This is a meal full of flavour to be sure. It was so nice of Celia to send you home with an armful of fresh produce – make sure you go back when her new hens are all laying! She’s a very generous soul. xx
Karen (Back Road Journal)
This sounds like a terrific meal. I brought back some smoked salt from Maine…perfect timing.
Celia
You are most welcome to come over and pick from our garden whenever you feel like it – there’s plenty to share! The whiting sounds delicious with the eggplant hommus – might need to make a trip to Faros brothers! 🙂 xx
Lisa the Gourmet Wog
Your whiting dish looks amazing Tania, and what a stunning photo! I love whiting, such an underrated fish but delicious when cooked right! Thanks for the tour, got to love these IMK posts 😉 xx