Skate, shark and huss are among the group of cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), in that their skeleton is made up of cartilage rather than bone (see article). From a culinary point-of-view, despite being different species, their flesh shares a textural similarity and responds similarly to the cooking process. They also have a sufficiently robust taste that they can handle more assertive flavours. So much so that, in India, you will find Vindaloo made with shark.
Although originally for huss, I have made this dish many times with huss and skate and it is equally good in both cases. Because the fish is baked rather than poached it is ideal for skate bought already skinned.
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Recipe adapted from Alan Coxon (reference below).
Baked Skate Wing with Mint and Spring Onion
Ingredients (Serves 2)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 green chillies (or to taste), deseeded
1” piece of ginger, peeled
A very large bunch of mint leaves
Grated zest of half to one lime and the juice of 1 lime
1 clove of garlic, peeled
6 spring onions
Salt and black pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
2 skate wings, skinned
Method
Preheat oven to 240°C and put a baking sheet in to heat up.
Coarsely chop everything except the fish. Put in a blender and blitz to a paste adding a little olive oil as necessary. Aim for a consistency like pesto.
Grease a square of tin foil for each piece of fish with olive oil. Spoon some of the paste onto the foil. Place the skate wing on top and spoon some more of the paste over the top. Wrap up the foil into a parcel which is loose but with a tight crimp.
Put the foil parcels on the hot baking sheet and leave in the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 3 minutes, then serve.
Links
"Chondrichthyes" (Wikipedia), accessed 12 July 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrichthyes
References
"Baked huss with mint and spring onion" (Good Food Channel), accessed 12 July 2019: https://goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/baked-huss-with-mint-and-spring-onion/
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