Spicy Crusted Pollock with Middle Eastern Bread Salad

This dish combines the flavours of North Africa and the Middle East. Dukkah is a Moroccan spice and seed mix and the salad is based on Fattoush, a classic Middle Eastern salad, which is a great way of using up leftover bread.

You can now find Dukkah ready made in the supermarket, but it’s really easy to make.

We teamed up with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) to create this tasty recipe. ASMI celebrates wild, natural and sustainable seafood such as salmon and pollock.

Ingredients

10g sesame seed
10g pine nuts
1 x 5ml spoon coriander seeds
½ x 5ml spoon cumin seeds
½ x 5 ml spoon black pepper
4 medium tomatoes
1 small cucumber
1 clove garlic
15g fresh coriander
15g fresh parsley
½ x 5ml spoon ground cinnamon
1 lemon
3 x 15ml spoons olive oil
4 pitta breads
4 defrosted medium-sized pollock fillets

Equipment

Weighing scales
Measuring spoons
Pestle and mortar or rolling pin and bowl
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Fork (optional)
Teaspoon
Mixing bowl
Scissors
Plastic cup
Juicer
Garlic crusher
Screw top jar
Large frying pan
Fish slice
Kitchen roll

Instructions

For the Dukkah

1. Mix together the pine nuts, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, sesame seeds and black pepper and crush coarsely in a pestle and mortar or use the end of a rolling pin in a bowl.

For the dressing

1. Chop the fresh parsley and fresh coriander in a plastic cup with scissors.
2. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the screw top jar.
3. Peel and crush the garlic.
4. Combine the herbs, garlic, ground cinnamon and 2 x 15 ml spoons olive oil in the screw top jar, screw on the cap and shake to combine.

For the salad

1. Chop the cucumber in half lengthways.
2. Using a teaspoon, scrape out the seeds and then cut into bite-size chunks.
3. Cut the tomatoes into bite size chunks and place in a mixing bowl with the cucumber.

For the fish

1. Dampen the fish fillets lightly with water. Coat 1 side of each fillet generously with the Dukkah.
2. Heat 1 x 15 ml spoon oil in large non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Add the fish, Dukkak side down, cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side or until golden brown and the fish flakes easily with a fork.
3. Remove fish to serving platter and keep warm. Wipe the pan clean with kitchen roll.
4. Warm the pitta breads in the dry frying pan until toasted. Remove, cool slightly and then slice into 1cm strips.
5. Add the dressing to the tomatoes and cucumber and stir in the pitta strips.
6. Place the fish onto the salad and drizzle with a little more of the dressing.

Skills used include:
Mixing, peeling, crushing, chopping, squeezing, measuring, and frying.

Top Tips

• Keep the chopped tomatoes and cucumber quite small to help the salad combine.
• Taking the seeds out of the cucumber makes the salad less wet.
• Use a large frying pan and don’t overcrowd it or the fish will steam and not crisp.

Something to try next time

• You can use any leftover bread instead of pitta in the salad.
• Replace the pine nuts with almonds or hazelnuts in the Dukkah mix.