Smoked Snoek on the Braai with Plum Jam and Grilled Peaches
A South African delicacy; snoek on the braai!
Having a braai (or, for non-South Africans, barbecue done authentically, ideally with wood and not briquettes) is a quintessentially South African cooking method.
And if you live in the Western Cape, in or around Cape Town, you will be well familiar with putting snoek on the braai.
Snoek is a long, thin species of snake mackerel. It can reach a length of 200 centimetres must most are no longer than 75 centimetres, according to the Masifundise Development Trust.
Because it is quite an oily and salty fish, it is often paired with apricot jam as the salty/sweet combination goes well together. To change it up a bit, I made a plum jam and served my snoek with grilled peaches and it was delicious. Try it for yourself, and let me know what you think.
Ingredients to make Smoked Snoek on the Braai
800g lighting smoked snoek (often called ‘braai snoek’ on South African retailer shelves)
Juice of one whole lemon
500g fresh plums (leave 2 plums aside for garnish)
60ml water
350g white sugar
20g fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp fresh ginger grated
2 tbsp fresh diced garlic
4 tbsp soya sauce
How to Make the Plum Jam
Place the plums and water into a non-stick pan and cook for 10 minutes
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved, add the lemon juice and then cook for another 10 minutes.
When the syrup mixture coats the back of the spoon, take it off the heat and let it rest.
Mix the jam, garlic, ginger and soya sauce.
How to Prepare Smoked Snoek on the Braai
Rub the skin side of the fish with olive oil and generously season. Place the fish into a rooster braai grid (clamp type) and then spread the jam mixture over the flesh side of the fish.
Cook over medium heat leaving the fish on the skin side only. The length of cooking time will depend on the size of the fish. You want the skin to crisp and char to add the beautiful flavours. Don't be tempted to turn it.
Cook until the fish is just cooked through, and take it off immediately when cooked. Snoek can dry out and it loses its texture if overcooked.
Place the fish onto a serving board and then thinly slice the two plums left aside as garnish and layer this with basil leaves for garnish.
Enjoy! Please tag me on Instagram if you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to see it!
This recipe first appeared on Juicy Delicious SA.
More Seafood Recipes
Below the newsletter block, you will find some more seafood recipes.
If you’re looking for another seafood dish, I have made two South African variations of the quintessential Spanish paella: a Boerewors & Seafood Paella, and a South African-inspired paella that included chicken and I made using an airfryer and skottle!
If you’re looking for something lighter, this Grilled Wok Cucumber, Kingklip and Halloumi Salad is a wonderful dish for those hot summer days. When I’d just discovered wok cucumbers when they first stocked at Pick n Pay, I cooked with it quite a bit and also wrote this Yellowfin Tuna Steak recipe.
Another personal favourite of mine is this Cape Malay Prawn Lentil Dahl dish.
Tuna is another delicious fish, and can easily be pan-fried. These tuna steaks
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (6), Olivia (4) and Harvey (2).
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