Manu Canales's Wild Alaska Pollock kebab

As part of the Be Different campaign with Wild Alaska Seafood, the Le Bab head chef created this innovative kebab, made with pan-fried Wild Alaska Pollock and Persian rice

Published: Tuesday 19th June 2018

Serves 4

Preparation time 25mins

Cooking time 40 mins

If you're trying to make a name for yourself as a chef, creativity is about the most important attribute you can have. Luckily, that quality is something Manu Canales has in spades. With Le Bab, he's earned a reputation for using the kebab format in forward-thinking ways, borrowing from different cuisines and using distinctive techniques to create dishes that are full of delicious and contrasting flavours and textures.

When we gave him a beautiful piece of Wild Alaska Pollock to play with, he set about making a kebab that matched the fish's meaty texture and subtle flavour with softly spiced Persian flourishes, with fried rice seasoned with coriander, cumin and more, and a refreshing fennel salad to liven it up.

Find out the thinking behind the dish in the video above, and see the recipe in full below.

Ingredients

  • 4 fillets of Wild Alaska Pollock

For the spice rub

  • 1g smoked paprika
  • ​¼ tsp turmeric
  • 1tbsp Muscovado sugar
  • 1tbsp salt

For the Persian rice

  • 500g long grain rice
  • 75g golden raisins
  • 2 pinches of saffron
  • 2tbps fennel seeds
  • 1tsp cayenne
  • 1tsp cumin
  • 1tsp coriander
  • 1.2l chicken stock
  • 15g salt

For the fennel salad

  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
  • One lemon, juiced
  • 1 handful of coriander leaves, to garnish
  • Olive oil, to garnish
  • Salt, to season

Method

  1. Mix all the spices thoroughly, and rub the fillets with approximately half of the mix, shake the excess off. Let the fish come to room temperature.
  2. Add the spices, raisins and salt to the stock, bring it to a boil, set aside and cover to infuse for 15 minutes. Add the rice, stir and bring it to a simmer for about 10 minutes on low-medium heat without stirring, until the rice has absorbed all the stock but it has still got a bite to it. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes.
  3. Whilst the rice is resting. Shave the fennel bulb with a mandoline or alternatively slice it thinly with a knife, add the pomegranate seeds and dress it to your liking, garnish it with some fresh coriander leaves on top.
  4. Cover the surface of a non-sticky pan with olive oil, and set it to a high heat. Once the oil starts to smoke, add the rice and press it down against the pan, it is very important to create a crust, that you do not stir the rice once it is on the pan, after 4 minutes, reduce the heat to medium, and 2 minutes after turn off the heat.
  5. Grill the fillets on a hot griddle pan or the BBQ on high heat, for about 30 seconds on each side. Be careful because they are thin and at room temperature, so will cook quickly.
  6. To serve, slip the rice from the pan on to a serving plate. It should come out in one piece with a golden crust. Serve it with the salad and the pollock fillets slightly to its side.

This recipe was produced as part of our Be Different campaign, in association with Wild Alaska Seafood. For more recipe inspiration, go to foodism.co.uk/be-different

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