Sea bream crudo with salsa fresca and brown butter maple curried onions

Ingredients Serves 4

200g sea bream fillets, refrigerated

2 spring onions, green ends very thinly sliced into rounds

1 dried habanero

2 limes, cut into cheeks to serve

Curried onions

50g unsalted butter, cut in chunks

3 tbsp olive oil, plus 2 tbsp

3 onions, very finely chopped (400g)

1 dried habanero

1 1/4 tsp fine salt

1½ tsp medium curry powder

1 tbsp maple syrup

Black pepper

Brown butter

100g unsalted butter

1 dried habanero

Salsa

4 very ripe, red tomatoes (500g)

2 tsp Calabrian chilli paste or a chopped up, deseeded Scotch bonnet

1 garlic clove, finely grated/crushed

4 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp fine salt

Olive oil

Method

First make the curried onions. Add the butter, 3 tbsp olive oil, onions, habanero, fine salt and oil to a large, non-stick saute pan on a medium heat. Cook for about 22-25 minutes, stirring often, until soft and deeply golden-brown. You’re after a slow, deep caramelization for the onions, so don’t be tempted to turn the heat up to speed up that process. The onions should be a deep amber in colour but not at all burned. If the onions are burning or becoming crispy, lower the heat.

Remove from the heat, stir in the curry powder, maple syrup and another 2 tbsp olive oil and set aside.

For the brown butter, add the butter and habanero to a small saucepan on a medium heat and melt until golden-brown and smelling caramelised, about 6 mins. Don’t strain the butter once it’s been browned, the browned milk solids at the bottom of the pan are full of flavour. Combine with the caramelised onions and set aside to steep.

For the salsa, halve the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds. Grate the tomatoes using the large holes of a box grater. Discard the skin and mix the pulp together with the chilli paste, garlic, lemon, salt and olive oil.

With a very sharp knife, slice the fish (you should have about 4 slices per person).

Gently warm the curried onion butter. Remove the habaneros.

Spoon some of the salsa onto a platter and top with slices of fish. Sprinkle the fish with flaked salt, then spoon over the warm onion butter. Arrange the spring onions over the dish. Grate over habanero with a microplane. Squeeze over some lime juice and serve immediately with more lime cheeks on the side.