Healthy ways to ‘2-a-week’

The Food Standards Agency recommends eating two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oil-rich. Seafood is the best natural source of complex Omega-3 oils, good for heart health, brain development and skin condition. It's better than vegetable sources of Omega-3, which don't contain either the concentrated nutrients or the complex of vitamins, proteins and minerals found in seafood.

And being healthy needn't cost the earth – with more essential oils, vitamins and minerals per hundred grams than any other major form of protein, seafood represents great value for money.

Independent nutritionist, Juliette Kellow, gives five health reasons to fall hook, line and sinker for seafood:

Fight heart disease: Research shows that Omega-3 fats, found naturally in oil-rich fish, can reduce the risk of heart disease. According to the British Heart Foundation, these unique polyunsaturated fats help to prevent blood clots from forming, lower levels of a type of fat found in the blood called triglycerides and regulate heart rhythm.

Manage weight: Whitefish is low in fat and high in protein, making it an excellent choice for controlling your weight. Research also shows that protein helps to keep us feeling fuller for longer after we've eaten so we're less likely to snack between meals.

Brain food for babies: Our grandmothers were right – or at least partly right – when they said fish was good for the brain. Omega-3 fats, found in oily fish, are important for the development of brain cells, particularly before birth and in the first few years of childhood. This means it's particularly important for pregnant and breast-feeding women and young children to get enough Omega-3 fats.

Keep bones strong: The small bones in fish like pilchards and sardines are packed with calcium. In fact, a 140g portion of sardines in tomato sauce contains 644mg calcium – that's around 80 percent of the calcium needed by most women each day.

Improve your love life maybe! In an effort to boost his libido, legendary lover Casanova reportedly ate 50 oysters every morning before getting out of bed – helping to give these shellfish their reputation as an aphrodisiac. Oysters – and other shellfish – contain zinc, a mineral that's needed for reproductive health.

Show off your culinary talents and get one of your 2-a-week' with this delicious recipe from Jim Cowie, head chef of The Captain's Galley Restaurant in Caithness and Seafood Chef of the Year:

Asian steamed pollock with Thai jasmine rice & pak choi

Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 2 hours
Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

4 portions of skin on pollock 180-200g
Knob of finely diced ginger
Finely chopped chives
Strands of zest from 1 lime
Juice of 2 limes

1½ cups Thai jasmine rice
2 cups fresh water
1 x 4inch square sheet of kombu (Japanese dried seaweed)*
Sweet and sour cabbage (see attached recipe)
4 pak choi, if large, half them length ways
Soy ginger chilli dressing (see attached recipe)

Sweet and sour cabbage ingredients:

½ a medium white cabbage
30g salt
150ml sesame oil
50g icing sugar
100ml white wine vinegar
50ml sweet sherry
20g finely diced root ginger
1 red chilli sliced
100g golden sultanas
salt and pepper

Sweet and sour cabbage method:

1. Break the cabbage into individual leaves, remove the thick ribs or stem, and shred very finely (chiffonade) with a sharp knife.

2. Sprinkle the cabbage with the salt, cover in cling film and leave in the fridge for 6 hours (or preferably overnight). Wash thoroughly and squeeze gently, draining well, without damaging the cabbage.

3. Heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan and add the cabbage. Stir well for 30 seconds making sure the cabbage is heated through (this is important for the next stage). Push the cabbage to one side, add the sugar and cook until it starts to caramelize. Stir the cabbage back in and mix well.

4. Add the vinegar, sherry, fresh ginger, chilli and sultanas and cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated. The cabbage should be a light golden colour and slightly crispy. Allow to cool before adjusting the seasoning. Set aside in a warm place.

Method:

1. To clean the rice, place in a mixing bowl. Ideally, the surface of the bowl should not be too smooth - you want some abrasion to clean the rice, but don't be too heavy handed or you can cause bruising. Add small amounts of water at a time and mix vigorously, with your opened, cupped fingers for a few minutes, then add more water and drain out all discoloured water. Repeat the process three more times, getting gentler each time when stirring, when finally drained, allow the rice to rest for 30 minutes covered with a damp cloth.

2. Put the rice in the pan of your rice cooker, add the 2 cups of fresh water and the square of kombu, (you can season with a little salt, if you don't have kombu). When cooked keep the rice cooker on "keep warm" setting. This will hold the rice at the correct heat to allow you time to cook the fish. If you don't have a rice cooker, place the 1½ cups of rice in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, with 2 cups of water, with kombu strip (if available) cook until the water has been completely absorbed and the rice fluffs up when stirred with a fork (not spoon) and still has a slight bite (al dente). *If you can't get kombu, add 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar, ¼ tsp salt, 1 finely chopped red chilli, 1 tbsp finely chopped chives and 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander to the rice when cooked.

3. Add the required amount of sweet and sour cabbage in small saucepan and heat gently and keep warm.

4. In a small saucepan gently heat the soy ginger dressing and set aside in a warm place.

5. Place the pollock in steamer (I use a Thai bamboo steamer on a wok of lightly simmering water) sprinkle the surface with the diced ginger, lime zest, finely chopped spring onion or chives, and lots of lime juice, put the lid on the steamer and place it in the wok above the simmering water, to steam approximately 6 minutes or until cooked through.

6. After 2 minutes, place the pak choi in the steamer and cook. (if your steamer is not big enough for everything, cook the fish first and then cook pak choi for 2 minutes as you are plating up)

7. When you remove pak choi from steamer, you can lightly season with salt or brush with either a little butter or a mix of 1/3 sesame oil 2/3 olive oil

8. When cooked, remove the fish from the steamer into a warmed metal tray, lightly season with rough sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and lots of the freshly squeezed lime juice.

9. To serve, put the fish on the plate followed by the rice in a small cupped bowl and turn out on to the plate. Then add the sweet and sour cabbage, the pak choi and lastly the soy ginger dressing to your preference.