Alexina Anatole’s recipes for rhubarb with seafood | Food

Before rhubarb was paraded around like a fruit, crowning pavlovas, cakes and tarts, it was – and, in fact, is – a vegetable. We shouldn’t forget this, because the crispness of raw rhubarb is perfect in salads, sambols and pickles, while in cooked form it sits beautifully alongside rich, fatty proteins such as mackerel, pork and burrata, all of which welcome its tart cut-through.

Charred mackerel with rhubarb sauce and remoulade (pictured top)

This makes for an eyecatching, light dinner or lunch. The celeriac is super-quick to prep if you have a food processor with a julienne attachment but, if you don’t, know that the process of cutting it into thin batons by hand can be gratifyingly meditative.

Prep 15 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4

For the sauce
Juice of ½ lemon
2-3 tbsp caster sugar, to taste
400g rhubarb, diced
A generous pinch of salt
½ tsp wholegrain mustard, or to taste
A small knob of butter

For the celeriac remoulade
500g celeriac (about ½ a large one), peeled and root removed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp flaky sea salt
1 small shallot, peeled and very finely chopped
1½ tbsp moscatel vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
60ml creme fraiche
2 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise
A pinch of caster sugar, or to taste
White pepper, or black pepper
10g dill, or other soft green herb of your choice, finely chopped
1-2 tsp capers (optional)

To serve
2 large mackerel, filleted to yield 4 fillets
Flaky sea salt

Stir the lemon juice and two tablespoons of sugar in a small saucepan until the latter starts to dissolve. Mix in the rhubarb and salt, then set over a medium-low heat, cover and leave the rhubarb to soften for about 10 minutes.

Lift off the lid and turn up the heat to boil off some of the excess liquid for 10 minutes or so. Take off the heat, stir in the mustard and butter, then taste and add more sugar, if need be. Transfer to a clean jar and set aside until ready to use (or store in the fridge for two to three days).

Run the celeriac through the julienne attachment on a food processor. Alternatively, cut it into 1-2mm-thick slices, stack them on top of each other, then cut into batons of a similar thickness. Put the celeriac batons in a medium-large bowl and toss with the lemon juice. Sprinkle over the salt, then scrunch this into the celeriac with your hands to soften.

Turn on the grill to its highest setting and line a grill pan with aluminium foil. Stir the shallot and vinegar in a jug, then mix in the creme fraiche, mayonnaise and sugar. Season to taste with pepper, then pour over the celeriac mix and toss until evenly coated. Stir through the chopped herbs and capers, if using, and set aside.

Season the mackerel fillets with salt, then arrange them skin side up in the grill pan and cook for five minutes, until the skin is heavily blistered and the flesh cooked through. Serve with the remoulade and a spoonful of the rhubarb sauce.

Seared king prawns with rhubarb and ginger sambol

I like to leave the shells on the prawns for flavour (and because I like a tactile eating experience), but you could just as easily peel them. Serve with jasmine rice.

Prep 15 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4

For the rhubarb-ginger sambol
25g desiccated coconut
100g raw rhubarb, cut into 5cm lengths
4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled
½ banana shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
2 bird’s eye chillies, thinly sliced (remove the seeds if you prefer less heat)
Juice of ½ lime
1 tsp fish sauce
A pinch of salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the stir-fry
3 tbsp neutral oil
2 spring onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
2 small pak choi, thickly sliced
500g sustainably-sourced shell-on king prawns, deveined
1 tsp maple syrup, or to taste (optional)
15g coriander, leaves picked and roughly chopped
30g salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Put the coconut in a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for five to 10 minutes. Thinly slice the rhubarb lengthways, then stack up the slices and cut into matchsticks. Repeat with the ginger, then put both in a small bowl. Add the shallot, chillies, lime juice and fish sauce, and toss. Set aside until ready to use (you can do this a day or two in advance and store, covered, in the fridge).

To cook, put a large wok or frying pan on a medium-high heat and add the oil. Once it’s shimmering, add the spring onion, garlic and pak choi, and stir-fry for just a minute or two, until the pak choi turns a bright, fresh green.

Add the prawns and stir-fry, flipping them as necessary, until they’ve mostly turned pink. Add the sambol, turn up the heat and stir-fry for a further minute or so, just until the sambol starts to soften slightly. Taste and add a little maple syrup, if you feel it needs a touch of sweetness, or more fish sauce for punch. Serve immediately, garnished with the coriander and chopped peanuts.

• Alexina Anatole is the author of the Small Wins Substack and Sweet: the Secret to the Best Desserts, published by Square Peg at £27. To order a copy for £24.30, go to guardianbookshop.com.

• The Guardian aims to publish recipes for sustainable fish. Check ratings in your region: UK; Australia; US.