Roasted Norwegian Fjord Trout, carrot and preserved kumquat salad and squid ink crackers with liquorice
As part of The Staff Canteen Live Skillery, Alyn Williams created this Norwegian Fjord Trout recipe with carrot, preserved kumquat salad with squid ink crackers and liquorice for his demonstration at Hotelympia 2016 - supported by the Craft Guild of Chefs and in association with Westlands and Norwegian Seafood Council.
Cooking timeOver 60 min
Difficulty levelDifficult
Ingredients
Preparation
- Make the squid in crackers and liquorice powder first. This can be done a day in advance.
- Roll the liquorice stick with a rolling pin between two sheets of parchment until very thin, place on a baking tray (with a sheet of parchment under the liquorice) into an oven pre-heated to 160̊c for approx 8 minutes until the surface is quite bubbly. Remove and cool, then when it is very crisp chop finely to a powder.
- Mix all of the ingredients for the squid cracker in a bowl with a spoon, adding the ink last until quite dark. Allow the mix to rest for 2 hours before using.
- Spread the cracker mix onto a silicon mat or greaseproof paper using a palette knife to 2mm thick. Bake in a preheated oven at 160˚c for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from the tray to cool until crisp then break into random shaped pieces
- Remove the boiled egg from the shell and mix with the miso paste using a stick blender. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and then drizzle in the oil mixing constantly until it resembles mayonnaise, check the seasoning
- Make the brine by boiling the water, sugar and salt together until dissolved then cooling
- Cover the fjord trout with the cold brine an steep for 8 minutes, then wash the fish in very cold water and dry on a towel, leave out to come up to room temperature (about 10 minutes)
- Peel and slice the sand carrots to 2mm thick rounds, peel and slice the kohl rabi the same and cut out with a pastry cutter into neat discs
- Finely shred the centre leaves of the hispi cabbage, cut the centre leaves of the romaine into oblique diamonds and cut the sorrel leaves into ½ cm strips, wash and dry the spinach
- Slice the kumquats into 3mm thick rounds
- Mix together the olive oil and fruit juices along with a pinch of salt for the dressing
- In a non stick pan, heat a tablespoon of light olive oil until it starts lightly smoking, put the fish (fatty side down) into the pan and sear until golden brown, this should take 3-4 minutes. Cover the fish with a piece of parchment paper and add a squeeze of lemon juice and a tablespoon of water to the pan, remove from the heat and allow the fish to rest in a warm place for 8 minutes
- Mix all of the salad ingredients in a bowl, dress with the citrus dressing, orange and lemon zest then season with a little salt and pepper
- Dress the dish by putting the fjord trout in the centre and spooning a couple of neat blobs of mayonnaise, then the salad along with the slices of kumquats. Finish by placing a few pieces of the ink crackers on top and finally sprinkle with the liquorice powder
- Make the dashi one day in advance
- Heat the oil in a pan and sweat the shallot and garlic along with the herbs and peppercorns, once softened increase the temperature and then add the button mushrooms, season with salt and sweat for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Add the dried mushrooms and stir, then add the water and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and cover the pot. Cool down.
- Once the stock is cold pass it off through a fine sieve
- Add the wakame, bonito, soy sauce and lime juice, place in the fridge and allow to steep for at least 6 hours (8 – 10 hours overnight is best)
- Strain the stock through a fine sieve and then a doubled muslin cloth, reserve until needed
- Heat a pan, add the white wine and reduce by ¾, add the rest of the ingredients (not the mushrooms) and simmer for 3 minutes. Trim the long stems from the Shimeji mushrooms and place in a bowl. Pour the liquor over the mushrooms cover with cling film and allow to cool
- Pick the leaves from the purslane and scurvy grass, wash in cold water then drain and reserve
- Cut the cucumber lengthways into quarters and then remove the seeds with a knife. Cut the cucumber into 1cm cubes, season liberally with salt and place in a freezer for 20 minutes, then wash under cold water for 2 minutes, drain ready for serving
- Cut the trout into thin slices, mix the lemon juice with the oil and lightly dress, season with a little Malden salt and fresh black pepper
- Arrange the trout in the bottom of a small dish in curls, followed by the mushrooms, cucumber, sea herbs and a few dots of the caviar. Pour in the dashi until it half covers the fish and finish by drizzling a little seaweed oil