Ingredients

• 25g/1oz crushed garlic
• 25g/1oz fresh root ginger
• grated with juice
• 50g/1¾oz umeboshi paste (made from pickled ume fruits)
• available from specialist Japanese suppliers
• 1 lime
• juice and zest only
• 200ml/7fl oz light olive oil
• 10 green shiso leaves
• chopped
• ¼ bunch flatleaf parsley
• 8 medium-sized monkfish cheeks
• 4 baby gem lettuce
• quartered
• 1 avocado
• firm but ripe
• quartered
• 6 asparagus spears
• sea salt
• light olive oil
• 35g/1¼oz edamame beans
• 12 small mint leaves

Directions

• For the dressing
• mix together the garlic
• ginger and umeboshi in a bowl. Add the lime juice and zest
• then whisk in the oil. Stir in the herbs and set aside.
• For the grilled monkfish
• preheat the grill to high.
• Place the monkfish cheeks in a shallow dish and pour over half of the dressing. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
• Heat a large saucepan of boiling water and blanch the asparagus for one minute
• then remove and put into cold water to cool it
• then drain.
• Cover the lettuce
• avocado and asparagus in a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt to taste. Place the lettuce
• avocado and asparagus under the grill. Remove the vegetables as they cook and are charred on each side. Reserve the grilled vegetables at room temperature.
• Grill the monkfish cheeks for 2-3 minutes on each side. Once removed from the grill
• toss the cheeks in some of the marinade. Leave the cheeks to rest for three minutes to finish cooking.
• To serve
• cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and toss with the edamame beans and mint leaves. Lay the vegetables on a serving platter and dress them.
• Lay the monkfish cheeks on top of the vegetables. Finish with the remaining dressing and serve.