Friday is for fish: monkfish bomba
Scanning for new Ideas
My great uncle used to be the Harbour Master at Padstow, so I have happy memories of holidaying there as a child, eating ice cream and trying to catch crabs on fishing lines at the harbor. It’s also where I remember wanting desperately to sneak into the local cinema, which was showing the horror film ‘Scanners’- and all because of the poster that was stuck outside the side of the cinema: heads exploding. But as a mere 10 year old it was never going to happen…
Padstow is also the town where Rick Stein has his restaurant, cooking school and hotel businesses, so much so it’s sometimes known as Padstein… he is originally famous for being a chef who focused on seafood and ‘marine cuisine’, but these days he seems to have stumbled onto a winning formula of food travelogues, with series on France, The Far East and, most recently, Spain.
Now, I’m not a lover of all things seafood (unlike thebigfatnoodle), but like to pick and choose, and am full of contradictions. I hate anchovies, don’t really like oily fish, but love fish sauce: go figure!
Padstow (Photo from padstow.com)
Add to that, I’ve been lucky enough to film in some of the best restaurants around the world over the past few years, giving me an ability to sniff out great food from just good, and Rick’s recent show on Spain had me salivating, so I thought I’d try his recipe myself. I’ve never been a fan of paella, but his monkfish bomba seemed to be a great alternative. Plus it really works when the sun is out!
Click for recipe here
Monkfish Bomba
thebigfatnoodle 
I have just bought Ricks Book on Spain and am enjoying wading through the recipes. I always love to see what other people create. Thanks for popping over to my blog,for your message and thanks for subscribing.
I really like your blog
Beautiful photos! Thanks to Freshlypressed I found your site! I look forward to exploring your blog more!
monkfish bomba looks really yummmyyyyyyyyyyy…prawns are anyways my absolute favorite…one more enticing post!!!!
That looks abolutely delicious and a great addition to my fish Fridays!!! Love our blog!
I love monkfish, it’s so meaty. I’m afraid I’ve only had it once though as it is so bloody expensive. I saw him cooking this recipe, looked amazing. Nice one for following it through, just wish I could afford to do so… also I have to think about my frugal credentials 😛
It can be an expensive fish, so I used the prepacked fillets that were slightly cheaper than the cut to order ones. They worked out about £5 for the packet, but are smaller than the ones from the fishmonger. As an alternative, try Tilapia fillets: I reckon they would work a treat as they are also a really ‘meaty’ firm fish. They are probably about the same thickness as the monkfish that I used in the recipe, and about half the price at about £1.50-£2.00 per fillet. And for the prawns, there’s probably an Asian supermarket near to you/online. They’re usually family run smaller businesses, but they always work out the best value for boxes of large Tiger prawns. Looking at your blog I think you’re Bristol based, and there’s one in St Werburghs called Wai Yee Hong I think. Good luck!
This looks SO good!
Edwin