“Embla has only just opened, but I’m already in love with the trout with purslane. Would you share the recipe?”
Holly Lee, Box Hill, Vic
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You’ll need eight metal skewers for this recipe.
Ingredients
Horseradish dressing
Method
Main
1.Light a charcoal barbecue with charcoal or
seasoned hardwood and burn down to ashed
coals (30-45 minutes for charcoal, 1-1½ hours for
wood). A regular barbecue or a char-grill pan will
also work, but won’t give the same smoky flavour.
2.Meanwhile, for horseradish dressing, blend horseradish with 2 tbsp water in a small blenderor with a hand-held blender. Set aside to infuse for 30 minutes, then, with the blender running, add grapeseed oil, lemon juice and xanthan gum. Season to taste with salt, then strain through a fine sieve.
3.Rinse trout, pat dry, then remove heads, tails
and dorsal fins with a knife or kitchen scissors.
Butterfly trout and remove all bones from the
belly cavity, being careful not to break the skin.
Place trout skin-side down on a tray. Mix sugar,
lemon rind and 1 tbsp fine sea salt in a bowl, then
scatter mixture over trout. Cover and refrigerate
for 10 minutes to cure. Rinse and pat dry, then
gently skewer each trout lengthways with a metal
skewer along the thickest part of each side.
Lightly oil and season trout skin, then cook
skin-side down over hot coals until thickest
parts are almost cooked through (2-3 minutes).
Remove from heat, remove skewers and place
on warm plates skin-side up. Dress purslane with
1-1½ tbsp horseradish dressing, scatter purslane
over trout and serve with remaining dressing.
Ask your fishmonger to clean the fish for you. Purslane is available from select greengrocers; if it’s unavailable, substitute another small green leaf such as mâche. Xanthan gum, a stabilising agent, makes the dressing creamy; it’s available from health-food shops.
Notes