Crispy walleye with fresh kimchi salad

Here is a recipe idea to discover lacto-fermentation. Chef Samuel Bruyère offers a recipe with Kimchi Vivants.

Portions: 4 people

Ingredients

Fresh fish

• 4 fillets of freshly caught walleye (or other white fish)
• Fish bone
• Salt
• Canola oil

Fish broth

• 50 g of kombu
• 250 ml of water
• 2 tbs of nori

Salad and dressing

• 4 cups of spring mix salad
• 2 pears
• ½ cup of spicy kimchi from Vivants fermentation
• A few chopped dill sprigs
• A small handful of basil microgreens
• Puffed rice (can be replaced by store bought puffed rice)
• 2 cups of canola oil
• 1/3 cup of wild rice
• ½ cup of rice vinegar
• ½ cup of honey

Nori salt

• 1 tsp of fleur de sel
• 5 sheets of nori

Preparation

1. Lift the 4 fillets; generously salt the skin, set aside.
2. In a casserole, bring the canola oil to 365 °F. Grind the fleur de sel and nori sheet in a food processor until you get a smooth texture. Set aside. Gently drop the rice in the hot oil and give them a few seconds to puff. Remove immediately with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Mix with half of the nori salt. Reserve.
3. Mix the rice vinegar and the honey. Mix all the ingredients for the salad except the puff rice and the dill. Toss gently with a little dressing (to taste) and a pinch of the nori salt.
4. Put the fish bone in water with the kombu. Bring to a boil and let it reduce by half. During this time, pan-fry the fish in hot oil (2-3 minutes depending on the size of the fillet). The skin should be crispy. Drizzle the flesh with oil. Add butter to the fish broth until you reach a creamy and smooth texture. Lightly salt.
5. Plate everything. Drizzle the fish with a little stock and sprinkle the puffed rice and dill in the salad.

Photos: ©Mathieu Leblanc, Productions Arborescence