Chef Morake's recommends seafood to elevate your braai game

Bafana Bafana’s emphatic victory on Sunday has left even the belly doing the happy food dance.

Did someone say knockout phase? With all eyes glued to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) as teams forge through what is shaping up to be a blazing group stage, the only thing left for a perfect match day is the right food pairing – preferable on the hot coals of a good braai.  

Self-proclaimed fire aficionado chef Ofentse Morake recommends that the addition of seafood will elevate any braai master’s game to the next round.  

“Seafood on the grill can appear to be a difficult and daunting piece of meat to braai, but it’s simple. The options are many, from a good piece of kingklip, prawns and mussels – all it needs is for you to manage your cooking time and the heat of the grill,” Morake advises.

The 36-year-old is the executive chef of the bustling Maslow Hotel’s Lacuna Bistro & Bar, in Sandton, which is a world away from his former duties as consulting head chef at five-star luxury campsite Singita Grumeti in Tanzania.  

Relying on limited flavour offerings and produce from the local villages such as goat, Morake had to create magical dishes for his wanderlust guests in remote locations around the Serengeti National Park. It has stretched his culinary confidence and ignited the flame for outdoor cooking. 

“The Serengeti remains the biggest highlight of my career. We used what we had access to and what was available from the local village and would prepare meals on the open flame in remote locations, it was an incredible experience,” he says.  

Growing up in a single mother household in Ga-Rankuwa near Pretoria, Morake’s passion for bringing people together was a trait he inherited from the women in his family. He later solidified his culinary calling by pursuing an international professional chefs diploma through Capsicum Culinary Studio in 2010 and scored the biggest opportunity of his life.  

“After I had decided to change and pursue cooking as a career, I worked at the VIP lounges of major stadiums during the 2010 Fifa World Cup, but mainly rooted at Soccer City stadium.  

Morake shares how to always stay in top form when it comes to the perfect braai.  

Making the marinade  

Use a good olive oil that is good enough to use in a salad. Try avoiding the ones that are blended. For a piece of steak, the fire should be scorching. I find that marinades don’t work well as they stick onto the grill. A spice rub would be ideal; chilli flakes, coriander, a bit of sugar, salt and pepper. If you have good enough meat, you don’t need many ingredients to make it tasty. 

Basting in-between cooking 

Avoid pouring your marinade over the piece of meat. Rather tie a couple of sprigs of rosemary and dip into the marinade and rub it gently over the meat. Or use a basting brush and brush in-between the cooking. 

Plan out what you braai first 

A mistake that many people make is try to cook everything all at once. If you plan your braai and what you are going to cook, you will have cooked everything without having missed the game. Get everything that you need ready the day before such as your marinades and salad prep. Whatever else needs to be seasoned can be done that morning. You can start with your steak and wors as on high heat they cook quickly. 

Think of your braai like a stove  

Set a portion of the hot coals to one side of the braai, so you would have high flame and medium flame on the other side. In that way, when the meat flares up, you can move it to one side without getting the meat and your fingers burnt.  

Coal fired tilapia 

Ingredients  

• 1 whole tilapia +- 600g (cleaned and descaled) 
• 2 teaspoons (10g) curry powder 
• 1 teaspoon black pepper 
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary (and a bunch for basting) 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 30g mixed chilli (½ red and ½ green) 
• ½ red onion 
• 4 spring onion 
• 2 tablespoons ginger 
• 50ml vegetable oil 
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme 
• 1 lemon 
• 100g butter 
• 4 tablespoons olive oil 

Method

• Score your fish on both sides and season well before setting aside. 
• In a large blender jug, add the onion, spring onion, chilies, rosemary, ginger, and garlic. 
•  Blend on high speed until smooth 
•  Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and add the blended ingredients. 
• Add more salt and pepper as well as curry powder and dried time. 
• Cook until sauce is slightly darker and oil begins to rise to the top, then remove from heat and allow to cool. 
•  Brush your marinade/sauce on both sides of the fish ensuring it is in the cut marks on the flesh
• Stuff your fish with sliced lemon and more spring onion before grilling on a medium
• Place on high coal fire until cooked (cooking time will vary depending on fish size) 
• Be sure to mix your left-over marinade with butter and olive oil and brush on your fish often while cooking using a rosemary brush.