Cajun Daintree Barramundi with Kipfler Potato Salad, Jelly Coconut Sambal & Cumquat Sauce

Tonight I decided to whip up another creation from the ‘A Slice of Port Douglas’ cookbook. This recipe was not so much difficult as very fiddly, lots of pots & pans used, luckily I didn’t get stuck with the washing up too. The other thing was that I had trouble sourcing some of the ingredients & in fact didn’t end up finding jelly coconut, can you even get this in Victoria, would love to hear from anyone that knows where? The cumquats I could not buy anywhere either & have since come to the conclusion that they only grow in peoples back yards & are not for sale. Luckily the fruit & veg man at DJ’s who I was asking for these from had a tree at home & promised to pick some for me & bring them in. So I went back the next day & sure enough he had them there waiting for me after apparently picking them at 3 in the morning by the light of his mobile phone torch. It’s very refreshing to find someone so helpful & willing to go out of their way for no profit just to help a total stranger, very impressed. After all of that the end result was really good & especially the potato salad, the lime mayo was excellent & the first I have made from scratch. Was always under the impression that they were very time consuming yet this only took me a couple of minutes to whip up, another first for me & will be looking to make more now that I know they are so easy.

Cajun Daintree Barramundi with Kipfler Potato Salad, Jelly Coconut Sambal & Cumquat Sauce

4 x 180g barramundi
2 tbspns Cajun spice
1 bunch fresh asparagus

Potato Salad

4 garlic cloves
Olive oil & 2 egg yolks
1 tspn Dijon mustard
Juice of 2 limes & 2 kaffir lime leaves, julienned
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup grape seed oil
600g Kipfler potatoes
1 red capsicum, finely chopped
1 spanish onion, thinly sliced

Coconut Sambal

200g jelly coconut
1/3 cup coconut cream
1 tspn fish sauce
½ red capsicum & ½ spanish inion, very finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped coriander
1 tbspn sweet chilli sauce
1 tbspn sesame oil

Cumquat Sauce

1kg cumquat
½ cup orange juice
2 cardamon pods
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon quill
½ cup sugar
50g butter

To prepare the salad, place garlic on a baking tray & drizzle with olive oil & bake in a 180c oven for 10 minutes or until soft. Place garlic, egg yolks, mustard, lime juice, lime leaves, salt & pepper in a food processor & process for 10 seconds. With the motor still running, add the oil in a thin stream. When mixture starts to thicken you can add the oil faster. Continue to process until the mayo is thick & creamy. Place potatoes in a pot of salted boiling water & cook until tender. Refresh in cold water. Slice thickly & combine with mayo, capsicum & onion.

To make the sambal, combine all ingredients in a bowl & mix to combine.

To prepare the cumquat sauce, place all ingredients (minus butter) in a saucepan & bring to the boil. Reduce heat & simmer uncovered until liquid is reduced by half. Strain. Add butter just before serving.

Boil or steam asparagus for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Coat the barramundi with Cajun spice & cook in a heated frypan with olive oil, approx 2 minutes each side until cooked.

To serve, place potato salad on a plate with the asparagus then top with barramundi & sambal, Drizzle the sauce over the top.