Wattle Seed Beer Battered Cod

STEP 1: BLEND THE PEPPER BASE

Blend the red bell peppers, plum tomatoes, scotch bonnets, half the red onion, the garlic and the ginger to a coarse puree. Do not take it to a smoothie - ata dindin wants a little body.

STEP 2: REDUCE IT HARD

Pour the puree into a wide pan and simmer over medium heat, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, until the raw water has driven off and the volume has dropped by roughly a third. This is the step home cooks cut short, and it is what separates ata dindin from a thin pepper sauce.

STEP 3: FRY IT DOWN

In a second pan, heat the neutral oil and the red palm oil, add the remaining diced onion and cook until soft and just golden. Stir in the tomato paste and fry for two minutes until it darkens. Add the reduced pepper puree, the thyme and the bouillon. Fry, stirring, for a further 12-15 minutes until the sauce thickens, deepens in colour and the oil visibly separates and pools at the edges. That separation is the finish line. Season with salt.

STEP 4: RESERVE AND REDUCE A GLAZE

Set aside 3 tablespoons of the finished sauce in a small pan and cook it a further 2-3 minutes until it is noticeably thicker - a spoonable paste rather than a sauce. This is the plantain glaze, and its thickness is the whole point: it clings instead of soaking.

STEP 5: GRIND THE YAJI

Blitz the roasted peanuts in a spice grinder in short pulses until you have a coarse powder - stop before it turns to butter. Wrap in a clean cloth and squeeze out excess oil if it looks greasy. Mix with the paprika, cayenne, ground ginger, garlic powder, onion powder, bouillon and salt. This makes more suya spice than you need for the tartar sauce; it keeps for months in a sealed jar.

STEP 6: BUILD THE TARTAR SAUCE

Fold 2 teaspoons of the yaji through the mayonnaise, then stir in the cornichons, capers, red onion, parsley and lemon juice. Taste and add yaji a half-teaspoon at a time. Chill for at least 30 minutes: the peanut and chilli need time to come forward, and a freshly mixed batch tastes flat by comparison.

STEP 7: PORTION AND DRY THE FISH

Cut the cod loin into four thick, even portions and check for pin bones. Pat thoroughly dry, season all over with salt and leave uncovered on a rack in the fridge while you make the batter. Surface moisture is the difference between batter that grips and batter that slides off in the oil.

STEP 8: HEAT THE OIL

Bring the frying oil to 350 F / 175 C in a deep, heavy pot or deep fryer with basket, filling no more than halfway. Use a thermometer; guessing the temperature is the most common cause of pale, greasy batter.

STEP 9: MIX THE BATTER AT THE LAST MOMENT

Whisk the flour, cornstarch, ground wattleseed, baking powder and salt together. Pour in the ice-cold beer and whisk only until it just comes together - a few lumps are correct, and overmixing builds gluten and gives a tough, bready crust. The batter should coat the back of a spoon and fall off in a slow, unbroken ribbon. If it runs off like cream, whisk in a tablespoon of flour; if it sits in a heap, add a splash more cold beer. Use it within five minutes, while the bubbles are live.

STEP 10: DREDGE, DIP AND FRY

Dredge each cod portion in the reserved plain flour and shake off every loose speck. Dip into the batter, let the excess run off for a second or two, then lower it away from you into the oil, holding for a beat before releasing so it sets rather than sinking. Fry two pieces at a time for 6-8 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and rigid. The fish should reach 130 F / 55 C at the centre and flake in large, wet-looking sheets; a cod loin taken past 140 F / 60 C will not give that moisture back. Rest on a wire rack, salt immediately, and hold in the low oven.

STEP 11: CUT THE PLANTAIN THICK

Peel the plantains and cut on a steep diagonal into slices a generous 1/2 inch / 12 mm thick. Thin slices cannot survive two fryings and cannot hold a glaze - thickness is what buys the contrast between a crisp exterior and a soft interior.

STEP 12: FIRST FRY, LOW

Drop the oil to 300 F / 150 C. Fry the plantain for 3-4 minutes until pale gold and cooked through but not coloured. Lift onto a rack and leave for at least 10 minutes; they will look disappointingly soft, which is correct. This first fry cooks the starch and drives off internal moisture.

STEP 13: SECOND FRY, HOT

Raise the oil to 375 F / 190 C and return the plantain for 1-2 minutes until deep amber and audibly crisp at the edges. Drain on the rack and season at once with flaky sea salt. The double fry builds a shell rigid enough to stay crisp under sauce, where a single fry gives a surface that softens on contact.

STEP 14: GLAZE, DO NOT DROWN

Off the heat, toss the hot plantain with the reduced ata dindin glaze from Step 4 - just enough to lacquer each piece. The pepper must still be there, but the reduction lets it cling to the surface instead of soaking through the crust. Serve within two or three minutes of glazing.

STEP 15: PLATE

Set a piece of cod slightly off-centre. Spoon a broad, generous stroke of the unreduced ata dindin beside it, not over the fish, which would soften the batter. Pile the glazed plantain against the fish. Add a quenelle or small bowl of the yaji tartar sauce. A wedge of lemon and a few picked parsley leaves finish it; the components are bold enough that restraint in the arrangement is what reads as confidence.