Food / Wellbeing

Chiswick head chef Taylor Cullen shares a recipe for crispy-skinned ocean trout with wood-fired cabbage and anchovy butter

chiswick trout

Just as the seasons change, so do our tastes. Where we once reached for a summer salad to cut through the humidity, we're instead calling on the powers of glowing coals and slow-cooking to blanket us as the weather takes on a cool edge. Chiswick head chef Taylor Cullen recognises this and is here to lead the way. Below, Cullen shares his recipe for crispy-skinned ocean trout with wood-fired cabbage and anchovy butter. A love letter to autumn.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Anchovy butter

  • 200g unsalted butter 
  • 50g Olasagasti anchovies 
  • 30g lemon zest
  • salt and pepper, to taste 
  • 8 nasturtium flowers

Wood roasted cabbage

  • 1 head of cabbage

Dashi

  • 4cm piece of kombu
  • 20g bonito flakes
  • 2 dried shiitake mushrooms 
  • 200ml water
  • ½ lemon juiced, or to taste 
  • 20ml soy sauce
  • Xanthan gum

Ocean Trout

  • 1 ocean trout 

 

Method

For Anchovy Butter

  • Finely chop the anchovies then shred the flower petals. Mix all the ingredients together and set aside.

For Wood roasted cabbage

  • Preheat the oven to the highest temperature possible. 
  • Roast cabbage in the oven until completely black and almost cooked through. Alternatively, put it on the BBQ until black or under the grill.
  • Peel off the outer black layers and clean the cabbage with a chux or paper towel.
  • Break the cabbage down into 120g portions by removing the core. 
  • Steam for 4 minutes and then toss through the anchovy butter. 

For Dashi

  • Bring the water to 80 degrees celsius then add kombu, shiitake and bonito flakes. Let it cool to room temperature then strain. 
  • Place it back on the heat and add a pinch of xanthan gum until the liquid slightly thickens, the consistency should be in between olive oil and water.
  • Season with the remaining ingredients and chill in the fridge. 

For Ocean Trout

  • Pat the trout dry with a paper towel. Remove the belly then cut the trout into fillets, from tail to head, as seen in the picture. 
  • Place trout fillets skin side up on a plate and leave in the fridge for 2 hours to dry the skin. 
  • Place skin side down in a smoking hot skillet and press until completely flat and you stop feeling the skin bubble.
  • Cook for 3 minutes until black, it can be super dark. Flip and cook for 10 seconds on the underside then remove from the pan.
  • Place trout on a plate with the cabbage tossed butter. Pour a little dashi on top of trout, then add more salt and olive oil, and serve. 

 

Tip: Don’t discard the belly – it can be sliced and eaten as sashimi for an entrée. 

 

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