A new way to enjoy snapper
Found this in the Bankok Post
A CULINARY TRIO
A new way to enjoy snapper
When it comes to cooking, Rite Tonksook can really say that it is in his blood _ his mother owns a restaurant and he has worked in hotels on the food and beverage side.
''I haven't really taken cooking lessons,'' said Rite, ''but I honed my culinary skills while I was working in restaurants in New Zealand.''
Rite was in New Zealand for 18 years. While he was there to learn English, he found a job at a restaurant. It was there that he had a fateful meeting with Pasakorn Sae-Eia, who would later become one of his partners in his restaurant.
After going through several incarnations, with a fair numbers of co-owners, and gradually getting tired of speaking English, Rite and Pasakorn decided to come back to Thailand. Not long after they arrived, along with Chatratee Phurisri, Pasakorn's girlfriend, they opened their very own restaurant, Misterpas.
Misterpas contains many traces of Rite's idol, Gordon Ramsay, such as decorative elements using computer screen savers. According to Rite, Ramsay's recipes are some of the best out there. However, instead of running a Hell's Kitchen like his idol's reality TV show, Rite and his friends rely on each other every step of the way.
Being a chef for Rite doesn't end at just the cooking. He thinks that when customers come into his restaurant, they should get more that just average, homogenised Western food. So when it's time for customers to decide what to order, he and his friends are always there to recommend their specialities.
''Recommending dishes to customers can annoy people at times, but for me, there's no scam. I only want them to have good things,'' remarked Rite.
His particular specialty is pistachio-crusted snapper fillet on Nero spaghetti, which is basic for Western food, but fairly unfamiliar to Thais.
''Pistachio goes really well with snapper. At first people didn't dare try it, but when they did, they got hooked,'' said Pasakorn, Rite's life-long friend.
When asked about the idea s behind their menu, they said nothing _ just pointed to the restaurant's window on which is written, ''It's gotta be fun. It's gotta be simple. It's gotta be tasty.''
PISTACHIO-CRUSTED SNAPPER FILLET ON NERO SPAGHETTI
Ingredients:
100g! snapper fillet
!30g! pistachio, finely chopped
Nero (squid ink) spaghetti
!30g! breadcrumbs Olive oil
Garlic cloves, chopped
Parsley, finely chopped
Mustard
Flour
Lime wedges
Basil
Cherry tomatoes
Onion, chopped
Salted butter
Mesclun (mixture of salad greens)
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 250C. Dust the snapper fillet gently with flour.
2. For the crust: Mix breadcrumbs, pistachio and parsley; set aside.
3. In a frying pan, heat a small amount of olive oil. Add the fish and pan-fry for four minutes (two minutes for each side). Sprinkle salt and pepper on the fish. Squeeze some lime juice on top and apply mustard all over. Then spread the crust on top of the fillet, and pat lightly to adhere. Bake for seven minutes.
4. Meanwhile, stir-fry spaghetti, tomatoes, onions and basil together. Add garlic, salt, pepper, butter and lime juice to taste. Place the spaghetti on dish.
5. Place the fish on top of spaghetti. Decorate with mesclun and lime wedges before serving.
