Ingredients

• 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3 black peppercorns
• 3 coriander seeds
• 1 star anise
• 1½ tsp caster sugar
• ½ bay leaf
• 12 raw langoustines
• tails only
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 4 x 150g/5oz halibut fillets
• 50g/2oz unsalted butter
• 1 cucumber
• sliced 4mm/¼in thick
• 50g/2oz table salt
• 1 banana shallot
• finely sliced
• 8 radishes
• thinly sliced
• 20g/¾oz pickled ginger
• 80ml/6 tbsp natural yoghurt
• 14g/½oz fresh coriander
• 14g/½oz fresh mint
• 1 garlic clove
• splash Thai fish sauce
• small handful coriander cress
• small handful amaranth cress

Directions

• For the pickling mix
• place all the ingredients with two tablespoons water in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat then pour into a bowl and chill.
• For the pickle
• place the cucumber in a sieve over a bowl
• and sprinkle with half the salt and leave for two minutes. Then add the shallot and radishes and sprinkle over the remaining salt and leave for a further three minutes.
• Rinse under cold water and pat dry. Add the cucumber
• shallots and radishes to the pickling mix
• along with the ginger.
• For the roast halibut and langoustine
• plunge the langoustine tails in boiling salted water for 40 seconds
• then remove and allow to cool before peeling the shell off
• retaining the meat.
• Meanwhile heat a large frying pan and add the oil
• once hot add the halibut
• skin side down
• and cook for two minutes. Turn the fish over
• add the butter and cook for a further two minutes. Then add the langoustine tails to the pan to warm through.
• For the dressing
• place the yoghurt
• coriander
• mint
• garlic and fish sauce in a jug blender and blend until smooth.
• To serve
• spoon the yoghurt dressing onto the centre of each serving plate and place the halibut in the centre skin side up. Top with the pickle
• a couple of langoustine tails and the two cresses. Arrange the remaining langoustine tails around the plate.