Butterfish with Cucumber, Avocado and Ginger Salad

I had never tried butterfish until I met Matt (Spear Fishing Hardcore) Kinsey. It's not a fish which is often served in restaurants because its fine flake makes it difficult to fry. But its gentle, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth-soft flesh is just stunning.

Because of its tendency to fall apart, I've started asking Matt to leave the fillet skin on. Yes, he gets to do the messy stuff.

Despite finding the scales all over the kitchen for days (I found one on our bed yesterday, and I made this dish about two weeks ago!), it's worth it, because while you still need to be careful, it holds together so much better in the pan. You don't need to eat the skin if it doesn't tickle your fancy, but it seriously helps with the frying (and particularly the flipping) process.

This was a simple salad with Asian notes, but I kept it gentle - something as soft in flavour as butterfish doesn't want to be overpowered.

If you can't find butterfish, or just want something tried and true and easy to cook, you could use any firm fleshed white fish.

Butterfish with Cucumber, Avocado and Ginger Salad (serves two)

1t mirin
1t rice wine vinegar
1/2t sesame oil
1t ginger, crushed or grated finely using a microplane grater
1/2t lemon zest, grated finely
1/2 a large cucumber, deseeded and sliced finely
1 avocado, chopped into small chunks
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1 spring onion, sliced
1T chopped coriander
1T toasted sesame seeds
Salt and pepper
Two nice fillets of butterfish (or other white fish) - I think mine were about 150g each

Heat the oven to 180C. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Cover and leave to bring it up to room temperature before cooking.

Start by making your salad; combine the mirin, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, lemon zest, spring onion, and coriander in a bowl. Add the cucumber and avocado, and toss to combine. Don't add the sesame seeds yet, or they'll go soggy while the fish cooks.

Heat a pan to a medium hot heat with a good splash of oil. Pop the fish in skin side down, and leave it alone until it's nice and golden all over. Don't mess with it too much or it'll start to fall apart.

Meanwhile, plate up the salad, and sprinkle over the sesame seeds, reserving a pinch or two for garnish.

When the skin of the fish is crisped up nicely around the edges (about 3 minutes or so), gently slip a spatula under, and flip in a single fluid (but not too aggressive) motion.

Pop in the oven for about 4 minutes, or until the fish is just turning opaque. The length of time will depend on the size of your fish fillet, so keep an eye on it. Remember, it'll continue to cook when it's off the heat, so bring it out when it's ever so slightly underdone.

When the fish is cooked, bring the pan out of the oven (careful not to burn your hands like I always manage to). Gently lay the fish over salad, and top with sesame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil.