Grilled Cod in Green Curry Butter With Herby Tomatoes & Garlic Rice

Start with the tomatoes. Heat the grill to high. Slice half of the cherry tomatoes lengthways and lay them face-up on a baking tray. Sprinkle with even quantities of salt, a pinch of the sugar and black pepper. Stick under the hot grill in the oven and cook for 10 mins, until the tomatoes are blistered and slowly starting to wilt.

Finely slice the chillies and the lemongrass (or zest the lime instead, if using). Smash the garlic using a knife to break it open. Juice the limes into a bowl, then add the fish sauce and the rest of the sugar. Mix well. Add the boiling water to help the sugar melt. Add the chopped chillies, lemongrass or lime zest and garlic to the dressing and give it a good mix. Set aside for 30-45 mins – the sugar needs to melt before use.

Meanwhile, for the garnish, put the herbs in ice-cold water. This is an optional step – it makes the herbs crispy again (I usually leave them in the ice-cold water for about 20 mins).

Slice the remaining raw cherry tomatoes in half and transfer to a large serving bowl. Pick the leaves off the garnish herbs and add them too, along with a good crack of salt and 3 tbsp of the dressing. Add the roasted tomatoes and give everything a good mix.

Around 30 mins before cooking, season the cod with salt. Seasoning the cod early will allow the cod to firm-up and release any unwanted moisture. Once seasoned, leave the cod to rest at room temperature – this will speed up the cooking process.

Meanwhile, place all of the remaining ‘for the cod’ ingredients in a blender, minus the butter and neutral oil. Blend until smooth.

Once the paste is smooth, add the butter and whip it all together until fully combined. Set aside for later (it will keep in the fridge for up to four days).

Now you can start making the rice. Finely dice the garlic until it’s small and quite uniform, then finely dice the spring onions.

Get a large, cold frying pan and add a generous amount of veg oil (enough to coat about half of the circumference of the pan). Put the frying pan over a low-medium heat, add the garlic and allow the oil to slowly come up to temperature. Gently fry the garlic, stirring frequently so it’s less likely to burn.

Just after the garlic has become fragrant and the smell hits you, it will start to caramelise and go brown. Take it to a nice, light caramel colour. Remove half the garlic for later, transferring it to a plate lined with kitchen paper to soak up excess oil.

Turn the heat up to high and add the cold rice. Stir-fry the rice, moving it continuously until it’s hot to the touch again. Add all the sliced spring onions, season generously with salt and black pepper, sprinkle in the sugar and give it one last mix, to make sure the sugar melts.

Now, cook the cod. Set the oven grill to its highest setting. Give the cod a little rub with some neutral oil – this will ensure a nice colour on the fish. Grill the cod for about 4 mins on the nearest rack to the grill.

Once the cod has taken on some colour and has started to firm-up, add 1 heaped tbsp of green curry butter on top and grill for another 2 mins until the butter has fully melted and starts to bubble.

Allow the cod to rest for a further 2 mins out of the oven. The juice the cod releases will help loosen the butter, making it into more of a sauce.

Stick the roasted cod on a plate with all the pan juices. Scatter over the dressed herbs and tomatoes and a little bit more of the salad dressing. Serve with the rice and sprinkle the remaining garlic on top as a garnish.