SEAFOOD RECIPES

Fish and mussel kebabs recipe

To create these succulent mini kebabs, marinated cubes of fish and fresh mussels are threaded onto skewers with a selection of colourful vegetables, then lightly grilled. They make an extra special hot nibble to hand round at a celebration party or present on a buffet table. 

 MAKES 16 KEBABS

Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus 1 hour marinating

Cooking time: about 10 minutes

 

Ingredients for fish and mussel kebabs

finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons honey

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or marjoram

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper

200 g firm white fish fillet, cut into 16 small cubes

16 shelled fresh mussels, about 125 g in total

1 small yellow capsicum, seeded and cut into 16 small chunks

1 zucchini, cut into 16 thin slices

16 cherry tomatoes

lime or lemon wedges to garnish

 

Preparation for fish and mussel kebabs

1 Put the lemon zest and juice, lime juice, oil, honey, garlic, chopped oregano or marjoram, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste in a shallow non-metallic dish. Whisk together, then add the fish cubes and mussels. Turn the seafood to coat all over with the marinade. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.

 

2 Meanwhile, put 16 wooden skewers in warm water and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Drain. Preheat the grill to moderately high.

 

3 Onto each skewer, thread 1 cube of fish, 1 mussel, 1 piece of capsicum, 1 slice of zucchini and a cherry tomato. (Reserve the marinade.) Leave the ends of the skewers empty so they will be easy to hold.

 

4 Place the kebabs on a rack in the grill pan and grill for 8–10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked and the vegetables are just tender, turning occasionally and brushing frequently with the marinade. Serve hot, garnished with lime or lemon wedges.

 

Each kebab provides 126 kJ, 30 kcal, 3 g protein, 1 g fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 2 g carbohydrate (2 g sugars), 0.5 g fibre.

Health tip

Mussels provide several minerals, in particular iron, zinc, copper and iodine. They are also an extremely good source of vitamin B12, needed for the maintenance of a healthy nervous system.

 

Indonesian Food

Indonesia's 17,508 islands have attracted traders, pirates, and adventurers from all over the world throughout its history. Located among ancient trading routes and rich with botanical resources, these remote islands quickly became a global interest. Spices were valued not only for their flavor, but also for their ability to disguise spoiled foods, freshen breath, and remedy health problems. Though eastern Indonesia's "Spice Islands" received most of the attention, the country's cuisine, as a whole, developed largely as a result of spice-seeking immigrants.

Rice, the country's staple food, dates back as early as 2300 B.C. Ancient meals consisted of fish, fruits, and vegetables, including bananas, yams, coconut, and sugar cane. Trade with the Chinese, which

first began around 2000 B.C., influenced Indonesian cuisine and is still evident through the use of tea, noodles, cabbage, mustard, soybeans, and the method of stir-frying. The Chinese dish, nasi goreng (fried rice), is one of Indonesia's national dishes.

By 100 A.D., curries (spicy sauces), cucumbers, onions, mangoes, and eggplant were brought over by traders and Hindu missionaries from India. Ginger, cumin, cardamom, coriander, and fennel were also introduced, adding to the wide variety of spices. Around the 1400s, Muslims from the Middle East began incorporating goat and lamb dishes into the Indonesian diet, as well as yogurt-based sauces (though coconut milk is now used in its place).

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to significantly affect Indonesian cuisine. They took control of trade routes to and from the islands, bringing with them cassava (a tropical root crop) and sweet potatoes. Cauliflower, cabbage, and turnips were brought to the islands about a century later by the powerful Dutch East Indies Company, which gained control of the trading routes. Though the Spanish contributed peanuts, tomatoes, corn, and the widely popular chili pepper, they were unable to defeat the Dutch, who ruled until the mid-1900s.