Muge pickles
Chef Yoan Boucrelle shares his recipe for making pickled fish easily at home.
This recipe from Yoan Boucrelle, chef at Yoz restaurant in Banyuls-sur-Mer, is taken from the special issue of Gault&Millau magazine, in which you can discover 109 chefs' recipes. These chefs have opened their own establishments over the past 18 months, and have shared their favorite recipes with us. Discover the ingredients and preparation steps to make it easy.
- Serves 6
- Preparation time: 15 min
- Marinade: 1 h 20
Ingredients for Yoan Boucrelle's muge pickles
- 1.5 kg muge or mullet (2 pieces, 600-800 g each)
- 600 g sourdough bread
- 60 g semi-salted butter
- 10 cl olive oil
- 3 tbsp. muscatel vinegar
- 10 cl mirin
- 10 cl nuoc-mâm sauce
- 50 cl red wine vinegar
- 100 g coarse salt
Steps for Yoan Boucrelle's muge pickles
- fish: Lift the fillets, remove the bones and skin (or have the fishmonger do it for you), then place the fillets in coarse salt for 20 min.
- Rinse fillets in cold water, then immerse in a bath of red wine vinegar for 1 h, turning every 20 min.
- drain as much as possible to stop the cooking process, and store in a cool container with paper towels; the idea is to keep the fillets half-cooked, or even pearly, not fully cooked.
- Sauce: Mix olive oil, muscatel vinegar, mirin and nuoc-mâm sauce and pour generously over the fish just before serving. If preparing in advance, remove the sauce 30 min beforehand to prevent the oil from congealing.
- Presentation: Trim the fish, arrange it in a star shape on the plate, and pour the sauce over it (enough to create a nice swim at the bottom of the plate). Serve with a slice of bread and a little butter. To serve, dip the bread in the sauce, add a little butter, then the fish.
Chef's words: "The idea is to take the traditional "boquerones" [anchovies in vinegar, Editor's note] on a journey through a multitude of possibilities for the choice of fish, such as whitefish, bonito, barracuda, dolphinfish and many others, adapting the sauce to your own taste.ne and many others, adapting the salting and cooking times with vinegar, but staying with fresh, local fish to suit all budgets. "
Has this recipe inspired you to discover Yoan Boucrelle's cuisine? Read the Gault&Millau review of Yoz.
This article is taken from 109, Le Sang Neuf de la gastronomie française. Find this special issue on newsstands or in our online store.