Yotam Ottolenghi recipes: grown-up fish fingers with caraway dipping sauce recipe, plus chilled almond and ginger soup

Grown-up fish fingers with caraway dipping sauce The sauce is a bit unusual – I usually think red, spicy and sweet for fried fish – but it does a great job here with the rich crust. There will be some left over, but it keeps in the fridge for a few days – use as a dip. Serves four. 800g skinless and boneless cod loin (or other white fish) 50g plain flour Salt and black pepper 65g panko breadcrumbs 1½ tsp ground turmeric ⅓ tsp cayenne pepper 5½ tbsp white sesame seeds 2½ tbsp black sesame seeds (if you can't get any, use extra white) 25g linseeds 55g sunflower seeds, chopped 2 tbsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed 2 eggs, lightly whisked 100ml sunflower oil For the dipping sauce ⅓ cucumber, peeled, halved lengthways and deseeded (90g net) 1 tbsp caraway seeds, toasted and roughly ground 1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped 1 green chilli, roughly chopped (deseed if you prefer) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp lemon juice 200g Greek yoghurt Start with the sauce. Roughly chop the cucumber and place in a food processor with the caraway, garlic, chilli, oil, lemon juice and a third of a teaspoon of salt. Blitz to a smooth paste, add the yoghurt and pulse to combine. Set aside or refrigerate for up to two days. Cut the fish into 12 fat strips, each around 3cm x 9cm and 60g. In a medium bowl, mix the flour with a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. In a second bowl, mix the panko, turmeric, cayenne, all the seeds and three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt. Dip a fish finger in the flour, gently shake off the excess, dip it in the egg and then in the seed mix, to coat well. Repeat with the remaining fish. Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan on medium heat – it should come 0.5cm up the sides of the pan. Fry the fish in batches, turning regularly, until golden brown, for four to five minutes a batch. Transfer to kitchen paper and serve at once with the sauce. Chilled almond and ginger soup (V) Essentially an ajo blanco, a popular cold soup from southern Spain. The nuts and garlic point to its Moorish origins, echoing the many Arab dishes that combine nuts and raw garlic. Ajo blanco is traditionally topped with fruit such as grapes or melon, but I've used sweet ginger. You can also use the ginger and its syrup to spoon over fruit and desserts. Serves four. 200g whole almonds, freshly blanched and skinned 130g white sourdough, crusts removed, cut into chunks 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 100ml olive oil, plus extra to finish 2 tbsp sherry vinegar Salt and white pepper 30g caster sugar 30g piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned 1 tbsp chopped parsley, to garnish Put the almonds, bread, garlic, oil and vinegar in the bowl of a blender (or in a large bowl if using a hand-blender), add 700ml of water, half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter-teaspoon of white pepper. Blitz for a minute, until very smooth, then chill for at least two hours and preferably overnight. Put two tablespoons of water in a small saucepan and add the sugar. Place on a low heat and stir until the water almost simmers and the sugar has dissolved. Add the ginger and set aside to infuse. This, too, can be done a day in advance. To serve, adjust the seasoning to taste and ladle into bowls. Lift the ginger from the syrup and spoon over the soup, sprinkle with the parsley and drizzle with oil. • Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.