What a catch: Yotam Ottolenghi’s white fish recipes

So long as it’s sustainably caught, I’m fairly indiscriminate about what fish I cook at home: oily, white,fat, flat. I’m as likely to pick up a couple of mackerel fillets or tuna steaks as I am to buy a low-maintenance boneless cod or haddock fillet.

The difference between oily fish and white fish is neatly summed up by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall inThe River Cottage Fish Book, with his inspired analogy of “the athlete and the layabout”. The athletesare the oily fish – mackerel, tuna and the like – constantly on the move, covering huge distances intheir hunt for food. And to fuel all this activity, they need great stores of energy – oil – to power themaround. White fish such as cod, on the other hand, along with their layabout cousins coley, pouting andpollack, are far less industrious. Happy to sit around and wait for whatever food passes their way, thecod family just doesn’t need all that fuel, and as a result their flesh is more flaky.

Lacking any dominant oily notes, white fish will happily take on lots of extra flavour, be that in afishcake, kebab or ceviche. They’re layabouts, maybe, but they are hugely versatile and forgiving ones.

Fried pollack with sunflower seed mayonnaise

Seed “activation” (ie soaking them in water overnight) is having a real moment right now, but thereason I soak the sunflower seeds for this mayo is no nod to food fashion. Rather, it’s to soften themand make them easier to blitz. Serves four.

30g unsalted butter60ml sunflower oil7 spring onions, trimmed and sliced finely on an angle3 small red chillies, julienned1 large pollack fillet, skinless and boneless, cut into 12 3cm x 7cm pieces 60g plain flour, seasoned with ½ tsp salt and plenty of black pepperSalt2 tsp sunflower seeds, toasted and lightly crushed1 lemon, cut into wedges

For the sunflower seed mayonnaise125ml sunflower oil1 clove garlic, peeled50g sunflower seeds, soaked overnight1 egg yolk1 tsp lemon juice2 tsp cider vinegarSalt

First make the mayonnaise. Pour the oil into a small saucepan, add the garlic and cook on a low heatfor about 15 minutes, until soft and caramelised. Remove from the heat and set aside. Once cool, putthe garlic in the small bowl of a food processor. Drain the sunflower seeds and add to the bowl with theegg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar and a third of a teaspoon of salt. Blitz until smooth and then, with themotor running, slowly trickle in the oil from the pan bit by bit. Once all the oil is used and the mayo isnicely emulsified, mix in three tablespoons of water: you should now have a good, thick mayonnaise.Transfer to a bowl, cover and store in the fridge (it will keep for a few days).

Put a large nonstick frying pan on a medium heat with half the butter and half the oil. Once the butterhas melted and is starting to foam, add the spring onion and chilli, and fry for three to four minutes,stirring from time to time, until softened and starting to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon, leavingthe oil behind.

Toss the fish in the seasoned flour so it’s coated all over. Shake off any excess flour, then cook the fishin two batches. Fry for six to eight minutes, depending on thickness, basting regularly and turninghalfway through, so it’s golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate, sprinkle with salt and repeatwith the remaining butter, oil and fish.

When you’re ready to serve, spoon two or three tablespoons of mayonnaise on to each plate, spreadingit out in a circle. Place three pieces of fish on top and spoon over some chilli and onion. If you like,drizzle over any fat from the pan, and serve any excess mayonnaise on the side. Sprinkle over a fewsunflower seeds and serve with a wedge of lemon alongside.

Salt cod and green pepper salad

Yotam Ottolenghi’s salt cod and green pepper salad: ‘Serve straight away.’ Photograph: Louise Hagger for the Guardian. Food styling:Emily Kydd

You may find you need to soak and rinse your cod more than three times to reduce the salt levels – itwill depend on how salty the fish is to start off with. (If you’re not sure, ask your fishmonger.) Thissalad needs to be served straight away, as it will not benefit from being left to sit. Serves four as agenerous starter.

400g Norwegian salt cod, skinned and deboned, cut into three pieces1 large lemon1 green pepper, stalk, seeds and pith removed, flesh cut lengthways into 2mm-wideslices ½ small white onion, peeled and thinly sliced 2 red chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced widthways35g pitted kalamata olives, roughly torn in half15g capers, rinsed and patted dry1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed2 tbsp olive oil15g parsley leaves, roughly chopped5g dill leaves, roughly chopped10g mint leaves, torn2 soft- or hard-boiled eggs (depending on how you like them), peeled and quartered

Put the cod in a bowl, cover with water and put in the fridge to soak for 48 hours, changing the water

about three times in the two days.

Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and put on a high heat. Bring to a boil, add the drained fish,blanch for two to three minutes, then drain. Once cool enough to handle, flake the fish into 2cm pieces,put in a large bowl and set aside to cool.

Use a small, sharp knife to top and tail the lemon, then stand it upright on a board and, following thenatural curves of the fruit, cut down the sides to remove the skin and pith. Holding the lemon over asmall bowl, cut in between the membranes to separate the individual segments, breaking them upslightly as you go, collecting all the juices in the bowl and discarding the skin and pips.

Add the lemon segments and juice to the now cold fish, then stir in all the remaining ingredients apartfrom the eggs. Top with quartered eggs when you serve.

Chard soup with fishcakes and lemon

Chard varieties vary in the proportion of stalk to leaf. For this, you want one with a large leaf and a thinstalk, so the end result is a vibrant green. I add cooked rice to this soup before serving, to make it moresubstantial, but serve just as it is if you prefer something lighter. Serves six.

600g white fish fillet, skinless and boneless, finely chopped by hand into 1-2mm dice20g parsley leaves, finely chopped10g thyme leaves, finely chopped50g fresh breadcrumbs1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed50g pine nuts, toasted and finely chopped2 large eggs, lightly whiskedSalt and black pepper75ml olive oil1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 600g Swiss or rainbow chard, stalks cut 2mm thick, leaves cut into 10cm pieces (keepthe two in separate piles)1½ tsp caraway seeds200ml white wine500ml chicken stockShaved skin from 1 lemon, plus 60ml lemon juice2 bay leaves1 medium preserved lemon, flesh discarded, skin thinly sliced2 tbsp chopped coriander, to finish

Put the fish in a large bowl with the parsley, thyme, breadcrumbs, garlic, pine nuts, eggs, half a

teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Mix to combine, then shape into 18 round patties 5cmwide x 2cm thick.

Put three tablespoons of oil in a 30cm-wide heavy-based sauté pan and turn on the heat to medium-high. Once the oil is hot, slide in half the patties and sear for five minutes, turning them halfway, untilgolden brown on both sides. Remove and keep somewhere warm while you repeat with the remainingpatties.

Wipe clean the pan and add the remaining oil. Add the onion, chard stalks and caraway seeds, andsauté on a low heat, stirring from time to time, for 15 minutes, until the stalks have softened buthaven’t taken on any colour. Turn up the heat to high, add the wine and boil for two minutes untilreduced by half. Add the stock, 500ml water, lemon skin, two tablespoons of the lemon juice, the bayleaves, a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Gently lower the fishcakes into the soup, bring toa boil, then turn the heat to medium and simmer gently for half an hour.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the chard leaves. Blanch for 30 seconds,then drain, refresh under cold water and squeeze dry. Once the broth is ready, add the chard leavesand preserved lemon, simmer for just a minute longer to heat through, then stir in the remaininglemon juice and serve sprinkled with coriander.

• Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.