Red Snapper with Curry, Passionfruit and Amaranth

Author & Photographer: Alex Wang

Over winter break, I made this fish for my cousins’ family. It seems complicated and fancy, but the secret is that it’s really simple and you can come up with other recipes like it on a whim once you get the pattern. A good thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to use passion fruit and curry; you can swap out the main flavors to create any kind of dish you like. The general elements stay the same: a simply seared lean fish with crispy skin, a crunchy element, a rich sauce, and a little bit of sugar, acid, and spice to bring the whole thing together.

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Ingredients:

• 4 Red Snapper fillets (4-6 ounces each)

• 4 large eggs

• 7-10 medium-sized passionfruit (depending on need)

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar (this is a rough estimate)

• About 1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter

• neutral vegetable oil or grapeseed oil

• curry spices (It’s easy to make from scratch, and really good!)

  • black pepper

  • white pepper

  • turmeric

  • cardamom

  • coriander

  • ginger

  • cumin

  • cayenne

• salt

• garnishes

  • fresh marjoram

  • pansies and/or pea blossoms (These are entirely optional and I just added them to make the thing look fancy for my aunt)

Instructions:

1.  Separate eggs into yolks and whites.

2. To make curry powder, mix spices in proportion that suits your personal preference.

3. Using a strainer, separate the passion fruit into seeds, flesh, and juice. Rinse and dry the seeds. Set aside a tablespoon of passion fruit juice. Eat the flesh.

4. Ensure snapper fillets are very dry. Liberally dust the skin side with curry powder, and sprinkle additional salt on top of fillets.

Toasted amaranth and passion fruit seeds

1. In a pan, toast the amaranth and passionfruit seeds with a pinch of salt on gentle heat until crunchy. You could puff the amaranth on high heat, but it’s not necessary with this recipe in my opinion, and be careful not to burn anything.

Passion fruit foam

1. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add granulated sugar and about a tablespoon of passion fruit juice. 

2. Beat until stable foam forms, and if necessary continue drizzling in passion fruit juice until the foam is balanced and tastes like passionfruit. You may have to add some sugar or salt to taste. 

3.  If you have a bit of soy lecithin, you can add it to the foam to help it maintain its stability.

Curry hollandaise

1. Vigorously whisk the egg yolks and tablespoon of passion fruit juice together in a stainless steel bowl until the mixture is thick and doubled in volume.

2. Place the bowl on a bain-marie, ensuring the steel bowl is not too hot and whisking rapidly to prevent eggs from coagulating while slowly drizzling in butter. Continue whisking until sauce is thickened, while adding curry powder to taste.

3. If needed, add a bit more passion fruit juice to thin out the sauce.

Snapper fillets

1. Add oil to a nonstick or stainless steel skillet on medium heat.

2. Lay snapper filets in pan skin side down, away from you. It is best to cook no more than 2 filets at a time. If necessary, use a spatula to gently press down fish to ensure even cooking of skin.

3. Cook until skin is browned and crispy, then flip and cook for just a few seconds (do not overcook the fish). Transfer to plate, and allow to rest for a minute or so.

To finish

1. Using the back of a spoon, spread some curry hollandaise on each plate. Place the snapper on top, then plate some marjoram leaves, toasted seeds, and flowers around and on top of the snapper. Make a neat scoop of foam with a spoon, then place it on top.