The Four Dances: Soused Snook, Octopus with Aïoli, Raw Cuttle Fish with Black Noodles, Spiced Prawn
This recipe sponsored by Black Swan Vineyards
Ingredients
Preparation
SOUSED SNOOK
Step 1
2 medium size fillet of snook OR 10 oz (very fresh or sashimi quality)
Step 2
1 tablespoon sea-salt
Step 3
1 tablespoon sugar
Step 4
3 fluid oz rice vinegar (or cherry vinegar if available)
Step 5
1.5 fluid oz rice wine
Step 6
1.5 fluid oz mirin
Step 7
6 slices of avocado
Step 8
6 tablespoon wasabi mayonnaise
Method
Step 9
Clean and trim snook fillet removing any bones and if possible remove outer skin membrane from the skin.
Step 10
Lay the fillet skin side down and sprinkle salt and sugar mixture evenly on both fillets for 2 hours.
Step 11
Marinate cured snook fillet with Mirin, Rice Vinegar and Rice Wine for a further 1 hour or longer.
Step 12
Slice fillet at an angle diagonally and serve 3 slices per person.
Step 13
Serve on a bed of two quarter sliced avocado with a spoon of Wasabi Mayonnaise.
Wasabi Mayonnaise
Step 14
1 egg yolk
Step 15
1.5 fluid oz sugar syrup
Step 16
1 teaspoon green wasabi
Step 17
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Step 18
3 fluid oz warm peanut oil
Method
Step 19
Whisk egg yolk in Wasabi Powder and Rice Vinegar together.
Step 20
Pour in warm peanut oil and whisk until it thickens.
Step 21
Add sugar syrup.
OCTOPUS WITH AIOLI
Step 22
4.5 lbs octopus Tentacles
Step 23
1.5 oz black olives
Step 24
4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
Step 25
6 fluid oz olive oil
Step 26
1/4 bay leaves
Step 27
1/2 red chillies
Step 28
1/2 lemon
Step 29
6 parsley stock
Method
Step 30
Peel skin off octopus but leave the suckers intact and dry in teatowel.
Step 31
Bring 6 fluid oz of Olive Oil to a boil and add in crushed olives and fry until it’s smoked.
Step 32
Gently gather the small ends of tentacles and gently lower the tentacles into the pot and seal the octopus very quickly and immediately bring the temperature down as low as possible.
Step 33
Add in garlic, bay leaves, lemon and chillies and cover the pot and simmer for 35-40 minutes.
Step 34
It should be as soft as lobster.
Aioli
Step 35
6 cloves of garlic
Step 36
1 large red chilli
Step 37
juice of 1/2 lemon
Step 38
pinch sea-salt
Step 39
3 fluid oz olive oil
Step 40
4 roots of coriander
Step 41
1 egg yolk
Method
Step 42
In a mortar and pestal, pound garlic, chilli, coriander roots into a fine smooth paste. (How good the paste is depends on the patience of pounding!)
Step 43
In a mixing bowl, put in egg yolk and garlic mixture and whisk it with a fork and slowly add olive oil, whisk to a mayonnaise consistency, then add salt and lemon juice to taste.
Composition
Step 44
Slice octopus into sucker intervals and arrange on the plate and spoon a little aioli on the top.
Step 45
6 oz sashimi quality cuttle-fish
Step 46
10.5 oz squid ink taglarinni pasta (cooked and chilled)
Step 47
6 tablespoon asian dressing
Method
Step 48
Clean Cuttle-fish thoroughly and wipe off any ink that has smeared on the Cuttle-fish with a damp cloth and chill for 30 minutes
Step 49
Slice Cuttle-fish on inside of the fish, at a very low angle, and shave the Cuttle-fish very thinly and gather together to form a white rose – keep covered in refrigerator.
Asian Style Dressing
Step 50
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Step 51
1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
Step 52
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Step 53
2 tablespoon sunflower seed oil
Step 54
1 tablespoon soya sauce
Step 55
1 tablespoon minim
Step 56
freshly grown pepper
Composition
Step 57
Toss chilled squid ink pasta with Asian Dressing
Step 58
Divide into small portions
Step 59
Place the Cuttle-fish on the top of the noodles
SPICED PRAWN SUSHI
Step 60
6 large king prawns, shelled and deveined
Step 61
1.5 fluid oz tamarind juice
Step 62
1.5 oz light palm sugar
Step 63
.7 oz coconut cream
Step 64
2 fluid oz peanut oil
Step 65
pinch of salt
Rempah Mixture
Step 66
.7 oz fresh gallingal, finely grated
Step 67
.4 oz fresh turmeric, finely grated
Step 68
6 whole candlenut, finely grated
Step 69
1 whole red chilli, pound to a paste
Step 70
6-10 shallots, finely chopped
Step 71
3 cloves, finely chopped
Step 72
.5 oz fresh ginger, finely grated
Step 73
.5 oz blachan (lightly roasted) in alfoil
Method
Step 74
Cut prawns into halves length-wise, sprinkle with salt and sugar and finely grated lime zest – set aside.
Step 75
Put all the rempah ingredients into a blender and blend to a smooth paste.
Step 76
In a wok, heat up peanut oil, add in the rempah mixture and coconut cream and stir-fry the mixture on lower than medium heat, very slowly stirring constantly until half the oil starts to separate from the solid.
Step 77
Add in prawns, tamarind juice and palm sugar and cook until the prawns are cooked.
Banana Leaf, Gluttinous Rice Sushi
Step 78
7 oz gluttinous rice, presoaked for 1 hour
Step 79
pinch of sea-salt
Step 80
2.7 fluid oz coconut cream
Step 81
1 large piece of fresh coconut leaf
Step 82
.75 fluid oz peanut oil
Method
Step 83
Steam gluttonous rice with .75 fluid oz of oil and salt for 15-20 minutes.
Step 84
Mix in coconut cream with the cooked rice until it’s nicely moist.
Step 85
Toast banana leaf with a hot iron or a frying pan. Trim off the hard stems and hard edges.
Step 86
Put cooked rice on the banana leaf and roll it into a sushi log, approx. 3-4 cm in diameter. Then wrap the whole rice sushi in foil and chargrill the sushi about 3-4 minutes to each side, cook for about 15 minutes.
Step 87
When unwrapped, the edges of the rice sushi should be slightly brown, toasted with astonishing fragrance of smoked banana leaf.
To serve
Step 88
Cut sushi into 4cm log and spoon spices on top of the sushi
THE FOUR DANCES COMPOSITION
Step 89
Arrange a small bite size portion of each item on the plate and serve. Keep in mind, the portion size and space on the plate to achieve a clean, smart presentation.
