Dendê marinated monkfish skewers with burnt plantain crema
Ingredients Serves 4
400g monkfish, skin and pin bones removed and cut into 3cm chunks
1 tsp runny honey
¾ tsp fine salt
2 limes, cut into cheeks to serve (use the juice from the rest of the lime in the marinade + crema)
Dendê marinade
80g red palm oil, melted but cool
80g ghee (from a jar not a green/gold tin), melted but cool
30g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
6 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped (25g)
1½ tsp Calabrian chilli paste
2 scotch bonnet chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped (optional/start with less and add more to taste, if you prefer milder heat)
2 tbsp lime juice
4 tsp tomato puree
2 tsp runny honey
1 tsp chipotle flakes
2 tsp fine salt
Plantain crema
1 very ripe plantain (must be soft,dark yellow with plenty of black marks)
80g dendê marinade
100g mayonnaise (preferably Kewpie but any will do)
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp lime juice
1½ tbsp boiling water
Method
Add the fish to a bowl and season with the honey and fine salt. Mix well and leave to cure while you make the marinade.
Add all the ingredients for the dendê marinade to a blender and blitz until smooth. Add 100g of the marinade to the fish and mix well. Leave to marinate for 2 hours at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 240C. Poke holes in the plantain. Cook until the skin bursts open and the plantain is completely blackened and very soft.
Meanwhile, skewer the monkfish onto metal skewers and grill, basting with the remaining marinade, for about 6 mins, turning every until all sides are golden-brown. Set aside to rest and to continue cooking in the residual heat while you make the crema.
Remove the skin of the plantain and and whilst still hot, transfer to a blender with the dendê marinade, mayo, honey, lime juice and hot water. Don’t worry if some of the charred bits of skin make it to the blender- you want this to happen as it adds to the flavour. Blitz until completely smooth.
Transfer the skewers to a plate. Warm the remaining dendê marinade, so it's liquid, and spoon over the skewers. Squeeze over penty of lime juice and serve with the plantain crema alongside.
