Recipes Grilled Swordfish with Carrot-and-Walnut Salsa Be the first to rate & review! Steeped in a savory kombu marinade, these swordfish steaks are paired with a nutty, slightly piquant gremolata-like salsa with roasted walnuts and Calabrian chiles. By Jason Vincent Jason Vincent Won Best New Chef At Nightwood, Chicago, IL Why He’s Amazing Because when so many chefs are using avant-garde techniques, he’s making simple, delicious food with superb skills, not technology. Born 1975; Cleveland Culinary School The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY) Background Internship at Arzak (San Sebastián, Spain); Lula Cafe (Chicago); Fore Street (Portland, ME) Quintessential Dish One long noodle, filled with carbonara sauce and topped with mussels Former Life Focus Following cult-favorite band Phish; “I just went to a lot of shows. I was never that dirty hippy living in the back of his Volkswagen. My wife would kill me if I said I followed Phish.” On Simplicity “There’s that saying that a well-dressed woman should take off one accessory before leaving the house. I believe that. We don’t need to put truffles on everything and hike up the cost.” On Cooking for Alice Waters “When I was cooking at Lula, Alice Waters came in. The [San Francisco] Chronicle did a story that said she so wasn’t too into the avant-garde Chicago food scene except for a simple lunch at Lula that ‘brought her to tears.’ She wasn’t in tears. But I did make her some things off the menu and it was really cool that she liked it.” Thanksgiving memories “My mom would always make the weird dish. Like crêpes. They weren’t undelicious but it was the thing no one wanted to eat for Thanksgiving. She didn’t care though; she had fun with whatever weird thing she made.”Story of Discovery “In food circles, Jason Vincent is known as the prince of pork, last year’s winner of both the Chicago lap of the pigfest Cochon 555 and the Grand Cochon at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Sure enough, when I was at Nightwood, Vincent served fried pig’s ears—crispy, chewy and sticky with maple glaze, and awesome with the apricot-gin cocktail I was drinking. But what made me cast my vote for Vincent as a Best New Chef was his version of carbonara. This dish has it all—it’s drop-dead delicious, beautiful, unlike anything I’ve ever had and so much fun. Vincent fills a thin, six-foot-long fresh pasta sheet with creamy, cheesy carbonara sauce, forming a tube that he coils and cooks perfectly, then tops with pea shoots, herbs, clams and mussels. There are so many things that could go wrong with this pasta, texture-wise and temperature-wise, but every part of it is perfect. Vincent might be called the prince of pork, but I think he’s the king of carbonara.”—Tina Ujlaki Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on May 26, 2023 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Active Time: 1 hrs 30 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 50 mins Servings: 4 servings Simple, easy, and delicious is the mantra for summertime cooking, and grilled fish fits that bill. For 2013 F&W Best New Chef Jason Vincent, the summer of 2021 meant the post-pandemic reopening of his restaurant, Giant, in Chicago and the debut of this dish. After months of unpredictability, the ease of swordfish marinated in sake, grilled, and served with a zesty salsa delivered comfort and simplicity. The swordfish was such a hit, it’s remained on the menu year-round. “It’s pretty tough to look at the finished plate and not think, ‘That’s summer,’” Vincent says. Mild swordfish is steeped in a kombu marinade and punched up by a citrusy salsa with toasted coriander, makrut lime leaves, and peppery cilantro. To reach the salsa’s moderately crunchy texture, hand-chopping the nuts with a sharp, heavier-handled knife is key to preserving their integrity. Make sure your cutting board is stabilized with a wet kitchen towel or paper towel underneath to anchor it while chopping. Ingredients Marinated Swordfish 1 (5- x 6-inch) kombu sheet 1 cup olive oil, plus more for brushing and drizzling 1/3 cup sake 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 4 (10-ounce) skin-on swordfish steaks (1 to 1 1/2 inches thick) 1 teaspoon kosher salt Carrot-and-Walnut Salsa 4 teaspoons coriander seeds 3 makrut lime leaves 2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 2 cups chopped fresh cilantro, plus whole cilantro leaves, for serving 1 cup unsalted toasted walnuts, finely chopped 2/3 cup finely chopped carrots 1 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1/4 cup olive oil 2 teaspoons jarred chopped Calabrian chiles 1 teaspoon fish sauce Lime wedges, for serving Directions Marinate the swordfish Bring a small saucepan filled with water to a boil over high. Stir in kombu. Remove from heat; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain and chop kombu into 1/2-inch pieces. Whisk together olive oil, sake, lemon zest, and chopped kombu in a medium bowl. Sprinkle swordfish on all sides with salt; place in a shallow dish. Pour marinade over fish. (Fish should be mostly submerged.) Cover tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 18 hours. Make the carrot-and-walnut salsa Toast coriander seeds in a small, dry skillet over medium, stirring often, until fragrant and slightly darkened, about 2 minutes. Remove from skillet, and set aside. In same skillet, toast lime leaves over medium, flipping occasionally, until leaves are fragrant and begin to curl up and darken, 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside, and let cool, about 2 minutes. (Leaves will crisp as they cool.) Tear out center veins of leaves, and discard; set leaves aside. Crush garlic and salt together into a smooth paste using heel of a knife. Add toasted coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon at a time, gradually chopping them into garlic paste until well incorporated before adding more seeds. Add toasted lime leaves, chopping and crushing until mixture is very fine. (Alternatively, process coriander seeds and lime leaves in a spice grinder until very finely ground before combining with garlic paste.) Stir together garlic paste mixture, cilantro, walnuts, carrots, and lime zest and juice in a large bowl until well combined. Add olive oil, Calabrian chiles, and fish sauce, and stir until combined. Set aside. Grill the swordfish Preheat grill to medium-high (400°F to 450°F). Remove swordfish from marinade. Place on oiled grates; grill, uncovered, until cooked through and grill marks appear, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer fish to a plate; let rest 5 minutes. Lightly brush fish with additional olive oil. Serve immediately with carrot-and-walnut salsa, fresh cilantro leaves, lime wedges, and a drizzle of olive oil. To make ahead Swordfish can be marinated up to 18 hours. Suggested pairing Wine Herbal, lightly nutty white: 2021 Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Rate it Print