Crispy snapper with white mole and confit vegetables

Ingredients

Mole blanco
4 onions, diced
3 daikon, diced
3 leeks, sliced
2 rutabagas, sliced 
2 apples, sliced
10 cloves garlic 
1 kombu leaf (a staple  in Asian supermarkets) 
1 lb. raw peanuts
1 lb. raw cashews
1 cup apricot chunks 
1 cup banana chips 
1 cup chopped white chocolate 
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 tbsp. bonito flakes
1 tbsp. fennel seeds
3 quarts fish stock
Salt, to taste

Snapper
3 (2- to 4-lb.) snapper 
1 quart or more canola oil or other high-temperature oil
Lemon juice and Maldon salt, to finish

Confit farmers market vegetables
1 bunch yellow wax beans, cleaned and cut in half 
1 lb. baby heirloom or cherry tomatoes, kept whole
1 bunch baby fennel, cleaned from fronds and cut in half Canola oil
1 sprig rosemary
1 bulb garlic, halved
1/4 cup sugar
5 sprigs marjoram
Salt, black pepper and lemon juice, to taste

Instructions

For mole: Place all ingredients except fish stock and salt in a large pot. Add 4 cups water and cook over low heat, covered, for 2 hours. Blend mixture in a blender. Pass mixture through a chinois and place in a saucepot with fish stock. Cook over low heat for 3 hours, covered. Season to taste with salt.

For snapper: Let fish dry out, uncovered, overnight in the refrigerator. In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, heat oil to 400 degrees. Place fish in a wire rack with a shallow pan underneath to capture the oil. Slowly ladle hot oil over the top of the skin of the fish. Repeat until the internal temperature of the fish reaches 110 degrees. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and sprinkle of Maldon salt.

For vegetables: Cut all vegetables the same size as the smallest vegetable. For instance, if your tomato is the size of a quarter, that means all your vegetables should be the size of a quarter. In a medium-sized pot, add enough oil to cover vegetables. Add rosemary, garlic, sugar and marjoram.

Over low heat, bring oil to a low temperature (preferably under 100 degrees). Cook for about 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender but still crunchy. If tomatoes start to get too mushy, the oil is too hot. The less movement, the better. Remove vegetables to a resting rack. Sprinkle salt, pepper and lemon juice to finish.

To serve: Place mole on the bottom of a plate. Gently tap the bottom of the plate to evenly flatten the mole. Place fish on the corner of the plate, leaving enough room for the vegetables. Place vegetables on top of mole. To garnish, use a different variety of herbs to bring out some of the different aromas from the season. To bring this whole dish together, sprinkle with fresh fennel pollen, if available.

Serves 6

Photo: © 2023 David Poller