Rock Samphire in a Sweet Balsamic Reduction With Sea Arrowgrass Seeds (For Fish)

A weird thing happened to me the other day, I was actually craving the hideous taste of rock samphire. Maybe it's the 30 cigarettes a day that i smoke messing with my taste buds...or maybe the rumours are true and this strong tasting weed is growing on me. 

Either way I'm happy about it because it can be found abundantly in the South West of England. 

A few rules of thumb you should follow when cooking Rock Samphire: 

1. Don't cook it for too long- the flavour gets stronger and stronger and it looses it's crunchy texture.
2. Cook it with something sweet- a little honey or balsamic glaze (I used both for this recipe) as it cancels out some of the bitterness.
3. As it's of the carrot family and the flavours are similar, it really suits coriander flavours.
4. It needs a bit of acidity to break down the strong flavour- lemon juice or vinegar work wonders.

Ingredients

Large handful rock samphire taken off the main stem (the feathery parts) 

1 tablespoon sea arrowgrass seeds 

Knob of butter 

Black pepper 

1 teaspoon lemon juice 

2 teaspoons honey 

1 tablespoon balsamic glaze (or regular balsamic vinegar- if so, double the amount of honey)

Pinch Salt 

1. Melt your butter in a pan.
2. Add sea arrowgrass seeds and cook for 30 seconds (they should pop)
3. Add your balsamic and honey and turn up the heat- this should thicken into a glaze.
4. Meanwhile blanch your rock samphire in boiling, slightly salted water and drain.
5. Add drained rock samphire to your balsamic reduction and toss.
6. Take off the heat and sprinkle with black pepper and lemon juice.
7. Serve immediately.

I served mine with mackerel as I figured strong flavoured veg required strong flavoured fish, also I love smoked mackerel with balsamic glaze, it's my favourite mackerel combination after kiwi, chilli and ginger jam and smoked mackerel pate.