For Pt. Leo Estate culinary director Phil Wood, cooking is all about community.
"I've always loved that, as part of the hospitality industry, we get to play a supporting role in some of the most important moments of people's lives - from engagements and birthdays to first dates and family get-togethers.
"It's so easy to feel alone when you are forced to spend time apart and socially distant from others. In a time of great uncertainty for our industry, sharing our love of cooking with others has been a source of joy for many chefs."
As part of RUSSH Weekend, this Sunday July 19, Wood will be sharing the love, live @russhmagazine.
For his session, Sunday Lunch with Phil Wood, the celebrated chef is sharing a favourite recipe from Pt. Leo Estate's hatted Mornington Peninsula restaurant: XO Snapper.
"XO Snapper is one of the most popular dishes on the Pt. Leo Restaurant menu, and I'm going to show you how easy it is to make this dish at home. As we cook along together, I'll talk about what to look for when cooking fish and suggest a few other uses for your homemade XO sauce."
Before you tune in on Instagram Live @russhmagazine, this Sunday from 1pm, there are a few things you'll need. Below you'll find all the required ingredients - plus everything to prepare before the Sunday Lunch session.
XO Snapper
Ingredients for two people
Fish (Ask a fish monger to cut you 200g pieces of snapper per person (400g in total for two people). Other dense white fish also work for this recipe, including Blue-Eye, Bar Cod and John Dory. If you would prefer, even a salmon steak will work.)
For XO sauce:
250g long red chilli
100g ginger
Three garlic cloves
500ml vegetable oil
100g white sugar
Bottle of fish sauce
500g shiitake mushrooms
100g raw macadamias
50g fermented Chinese black beans
150ml Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine (or a dry sherry)
(Note - Most supermarkets will sell these last two items but if yours doesn’t, your local Chinese grocery store will.)
For herb dressing:
Half bunch coriander
Half bunch dill
Half bunch tarragon
Before the cooking session begins
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
If you have a food processor / blender / Thermomix, make sure you have it handy. If you don’t, an alternative method will be provided during the session.
Cut the tops off the chillies and then slice in half lengthways. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and membranes, which you can then discard.
Use a spoon to peel the skin off the ginger.
Peel three garlic cloves.
RUSSH Weekend - a festival for creative minds - runs on Instagram Live at @russhmagazine from Saturday July 18 to Sunday July 19. Find out more, here.
