Creamy spring onion mayo is spread over hake fillets before grilling to give tasty, moist and beautifully browned fish. A quick, family-friendly dinner!
I am still struggling under a mountain of spring onions (scallions)! Having made spring onion pancakes, and spring vegetable risotto, I was making headway. This grilled hake recipe used up nearly another bunch. The end is in sight…
There were a couple of inspirations for this grilled hake dish. Firstly, my Mum. She usually cooks fish by spreading a thin layer of mayonnaise over it and grilling (broiling). It helps to keep the fish moist, and also browns deliciously, so the fish always looks fabulous when it is served.
Green dip
The second inspiration came to me as I racked my brains for ways to use spring onions! As I student, I would often go to Friday night dinner at the Jewish society in Bristol. Back then a regular feature on the menu was something called “green dip”. As I recall, green dip was simply made by blending spring onions and mayonnaise.
I can’t remember if there were any other ingredients in the authentic Bristol J-soc recipe, but I have added one or two more here – lemon is always good with fish, and a little salt and pepper never hurt anyone.
My intention was to spread some of the spring onion mayonnaise over the hake before grilling, and then serve the remainder as a sauce. However, we must have extremely potent spring onions, because it was really, really oniony! It was delicious cooked, but a bit overpowering raw. Judge it for yourself when you make it – with milder spring onions I still think it would make a delicious condiment.
Grilled hake
My daughter Kipper loved this grilled hake with spring onion mayo, and had second, and then third helpings of it. We ate it with some risotto on the side but it would also be lovely with buttered new potatoes and some steamed veg.
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📖 Recipe
Grilled hake with spring onion mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 6 spring onions (scallions)
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 hake fillets (or similar flaky white fish)
Instructions
- Preheat the grill (broiler) to medium-hot. Line a baking tray with foil.
- 6 spring onions, 1 tbsp mayonnaise, ½ tbsp fresh lemon juice, pinch of salt, ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepperTrim the spring onions and cut into 2-3cm (1-1½ inc) chunks. Blend together with the mayonnaise, lemon juice and seasoning in a mini-chopper or food processor, to give a smooth sauce.
- 4 hake filletsRinse and dry the hake fillets and place on the lined baking tray. Spread some of the spring onion mayonnaise generously over each fillet.
- Grill for 10-15 minutes until the fish is cooked through and the topping is browned. Serve!
Nutrition
More delicious white fish recipes
Other yummy ways to cook white fish fillets include:
- hake with balsamic caramelised onions, thyme and smoked paprika
- easy baked fish with rainbow peppers and hawaij spices
- fish with lemon caper butter sauce
- creamy cod and sweetcorn pie
March’s Four Seasons Food challenge, hosted by Delicieux and Eat Your Veg, is on the theme of Something Fishy. So this is my (fishy) entry!
Eat Your Veg
Oh yummy! What a delicious topping for fish, I’ve never thought of spreading a little mayo on fish before grilling but being that I’m a total mayo obsessive I’m sure to be trying! Love the side of spring risotto too. Thanks so much for linking up to this month’s #FourSeasonsFood #SomethingFishy event.