Embla's rainbow trout, horseradish and purslane

Name: Embla's rainbow trout, horseradish and purslane
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 4 rainbow trout (about 300 gm each), cleaned (see note); 1 tbsp firmly packed caster sugar; Finely grated rind of 1 lemon; 2 tsp vegetable oil; 100 gm purslane (see note); 1¼ tbsp finely grated horseradish; 2 tbsp grapeseed oil; 1 tbsp lemon juice; Small pinch of xanthan gum (optional; see note)

Embla share their recipe for rainbow trout skewers, marinated in lemon and char-grilled until crisp.

Jul 14, 2016 2:00pm

By Dave Verheul

Serves 4
20 mins preparation
10 mins cooking (plus preparing fire, curing, resting)

Rainbow trout, horseradish and purslane

"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

4 rainbow trout (about 300 gm each), cleaned (see note)
1 tbsp firmly packed caster sugar
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 tsp vegetable oil
100 gm purslane (see note)

Horseradish dressing

1¼ tbsp finely grated horseradish
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Small pinch of xanthan gum (optional; see note)

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.

Notes

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.