Salt Roasted Wild Pacific Halibut Collars with Two Sauces

 
Halibut Collars - Cooked 3.jpeg

Chef’s Note: The Japanese technique of salting fatty fish such as mackerel and sardines and letting them rest before cooking suits halibut collars. The green onion sauce is borrowed from the Chinese sauce used with steamed chicken that’s also delicious with fish and tofu.  The daikon preparation is Japanese and typically served with grilled fish. 

Ask your fish retailer to trim off the fins, split the collars in half, and to separate the gill portion from the neck portion if you don’t want to do this at home. 

Serve with rice and a simple vegetable stirfry.

 

  • 2 ½ -3 lbs - Wild Pacific Halibut collars

  • 1 Tbsp - kosher salt

  • 3 Tbsp - roasted sesame oil

    Green Onion Ginger Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup - finely minced green onion

  • 1 Tbsp - finely minced ginger

  • 1/2 cup - neutral flavoured vegetable oil

  • 1/2 tsp - kosher salt

    Daikon Lemon Soy Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup - grated daikon radish

  • 4 Tbsp - freshly squeezed lemon juice

  • thinly sliced green onion for garnish

DIRECTIONS

  1. Score the meaty, skin side of the Wild Pacific Halibut collars with a sharp knife. Lay the collars out in a single layer in a suitable vessel and sprinkle both sides evenly with the salt, using all the salt. Refrigerate for 30 to 40 minutes. 

  2. Prepare the sauces while waiting. Place the green onion and ginger in a small heatproof bowl. Heat the oil in a small frying pan over high heat until smoking and pour over the green onion mixture. It will crackle and hiss in a satisfying way. Stir in the salt and transfer to a small serving bowl.

  3. The daikon should be grated finely, not shredded. Here’s your opportunity to use that pointy toothed side of the grater. Mound it in a small serving bowl, we’ll be adding the lemon later.

  4. Heat the broiler to 450ºF and place an oven rack approximately 8-inches from the heat source.

  5. Brush the collars with the sesame oil and arrange on a 13 x 18-inch rimmed baking sheet skin side down. Broil until just opaque then turn skin side up and brush with any remaining sesame oil. Broil until the skin is crackly with a few charred spots, rearranging the collars on the pan so they cook evenly.

  6. Transfer to a serving platter. Pour the lemon juice around the grated daikon. Serve the collars with both sauces.

Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a main entrée.

Recipe copyright ©2020. All rights reserved.

Photo by Karen Barnaby

September 2020

Design