Classic Combo Never Fails

A wet and chilly Spring last year saw to it that I, along with two close friends, happened across a friendly little place in Crows Nest one night called The Burlington. My first job as an apprentice four years ago took place at this very site, back in the day when it was known as Sabatini's - a horrendously run French-inspired Italian restaurant. It was the sort of eatery where the owner Mr. Walker had grand visions of an oyster bar and fried chicken was the biggest seller. I remember the head chef calling me over in hushed tones, so proudly, to show me the "secret ingredients" in his duck confit which turned out to be nothing more than a small handful of star anise and black peppercorns, oh and that time when he tried to demonstrate how to core a pear and failed miserably.

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Since then it's been transformed and improved somewhat. A chef's jacket hangs clean and starched by the door, as if waiting for Liam Tomlin to miraculously appear and direct his way into the open kitchen. I spot an ex-Claude's chef working behind the bar and there's not an oyster in sight, much to my relief. We each order a glass of wine as we peruse the menu - I have a preference for the sweeter things in life, and so I select the 2006 Escarpment Hinemoa Riesling which is lively with fruit, honey and spice. Eventually and with a little coaxing, we settle on the scallop veloute, chicken liver parfait, ham hock terrine, veg tart, baked mackerel salad and a small portion of sirloin, all to share between the three of us.
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I quite prefer to nibble on little amounts of everything as I find that consuming large quantities of one or two things seem to dull my senses contrary to a rather more enriched dining experience. As we debate over what to order afterwards, the scallop veloute and chicken liver parfait arrive, forcing us to put our thoughts of dessert aside. The veloute made with baby garden peas is seasoned to perfection and an invigorating green, the scallops cooked just so, balanced delicately with a splash of lemon. A slice of liver parfait encased with truffled butter is presented beside a quaint pile of dressed green beans and a small plate of various toasted brioche. Fi who is not a big fan of liver conveniently changes her mind as we dig in and as the brioche disappears, we end up spooning it into our mouths solo, savouring the rich presence of butter and red wine.
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Ham hock terrine and veg tart follow next. Unfortunately the terrine seems a little dry, perhaps lacking in jelly and doesn't live up to our expectations after reading numerous gushing reviews. It's nice to see pig ears being utilised. Simply breaded and fried, it holds no flavour of its own but coupled with the teaspoon of celeriac remoulade underneath, provides a nice textural juxtuposition to the terrine. The tart is simply a square of puff pastry with a few fire-roasted peppers, olives, chevre and basil thrown on top. The Mediterranean flavours would work well together if the peppers were not so bitter. Jane is somewhat unimpressed and describes the dish as being wholly underwhelming. I eat a little more just to be certain. Ex-Claude's chef comes by from the bar on the other side of the restaurant to check on us in-between courses, perhaps because we're the only patrons under 45 and it seems, the only table not to have ordered the poached chicken pot pie. How wildly inappropriate of us.
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Our skinny waiter friend forgets to reset the table again before setting down our mackerel salad and sirloin and when we point it out to the maitre d' crockery is promptly fetched with a smile. The mackerel sits atop a simple salad of sliced tomatoes and anchovies, stuffed with Sicilian olive tapenade, the flavours are intensely satisfying. My companions nonetheless shy away from this one and prefer the grain-fed sirloin served with a side of hand-cut chips, rich bearnaise and jus - a dish I'm certain I could convince them to return for. The sirloin is medium-rare and cuts like butter. Dredged in jus, it's profoundly beefy. The chips are pre-blanched with an interior so creamy and yet so crisp and the bearnaise has such an incredibly satiny mouth-feel. Or at least what I imagine eating satin would feel like were it edible.
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We need a little help deciding on dessert as the eton mess we'd heard so much about is no longer available. The waitress isn't able to aptly describe the trifle or creme catalan however and when queried on which she prefers, she replies with: "Oh! I don't really like any of them!" and scuttles off to attend to customers at the door. Very encouraging, thank you very much. When she returns we select a different platter, the treacle tart. Another disappointment unfortunately. It is rich and moist (plus, plus) but we find it overly sweet and overly salted. The balance is there but the overall flavour is much too intense for enjoyment.
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Perhaps I'm being a little pragmatic in saying this, but in the chance of experiencing so many ups and downs in one sitting that make me feel like an unmedicated manic bipolar, I most likely will not be returning. Although ex-Claude's chef and Maitre d' are both wonderfully welcoming and professional in all aspects and deserve more Friday nights off.
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http://www.burlingtonbardining.com.au/
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Back to my Christmas menu, this dish looks awfully posh and required a bit more time to put together than my usual "Wham! Bam! Thank you Ma'am!". I must say though, lobster and hollandaise is a classic combination which works so well that when stuck for recipe ideas as I was, it should never be far overlooked.

I did a quick search on lobster dishes for ideas on presentation and well, when things like this come up, it's not altogether inspiring nor appetising. So I thought about fish and chips and fush and chups. Lobster on shoestring frites perhaps? Grilled with a little lime butter? Maybe halved and sitting on top of a pickled potato salad a la Gary Rhodes? Nothing really appealed to me.
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I'd put the idea aside and cut the menu to five courses when I came across a recipe for foaming hollandaise in one of Delia Smith's cookbooks. Foaming hollandaise.. Sounds fancy.. What's a fancy chip? Pommes pont neuf? I settled for fondant potatoes as I prefer the taste of butter over oil. The pulled pepper glass was inspired by ingredients in onion glass from Ideas In Food and the poached lobster is done in a similar method to Chinese poached white chicken which is just fabulous served warm with the foaming hollandaise. Onto another creation for Culinarty: ORR!
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­Poached RocklobsterPlace everything but the lobsters in a large pot and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Throw in enough salt for the water to taste salty.
Bring back to the boil and place the lobsters into the pot.
Bring back to the boil then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer for 5-6 minutes then remove from heat and leave in liquid until blood temperature. If your lobsters are frozen thaw them first or simmer them for a little longer.
When cool, cut off the head and remove the tail flesh in one piece.
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Fondant Potatoes

2 medium rocklobsters
3 L water
3 g coriander seeds
20 g ginger, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 shallots
sea salt

3 medium desiree potatoes
120 g unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, sliced thickly
3 sprigs of thyme

Cut potatoes into 6 neat oblongs about 6 x 2.5 x 2.5cm, placing them into cold water to prevent discolouration.
Drain and pat potatoes dry.
Melt butter in a small pot over medium heat with garlic, thyme and potatoes thrown in.
Let them cook on one side without agitation for about 10 minutes or until they're golden.
Turn over and repeat until cooked.
Remove and drain.
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Pulled Pepper Glass

32 g glucose
15 g water
10 g light agave syrup
2 g sea salt
1/2 g black peppercorns, ground

Place everything into a small pot and bring to 160ºC.
Pour onto a silpat and working quickly with gloves on, carefully stretch the caramel to make ultra-thin wafers about 8.5 x 7.5cm.
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Foaming Hollandaise

1 (55 g) egg, separated
15 g lemon juice
10 g verjuice
55 g soft butter
2 g sea salt

Whisk egg yolk, lemon and verjuice in a medium bowl over a baine marie (about 5 mins).
Add butter a little at a time, whisking continuously.
Combine salt.
Whisk egg whites in a separate bowl to soft peaks.
Whisk into first egg mix until combined.
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To serve, place 3 fondant potatoes in the centre of a plate.
Carefully place a piece of pulled pepper glass on top.
Slice lobster across the grain into 4 or 5 pieces and place on top.
Drizzle over with foaming hollandaise.
If you like, garnish with baby coriander and pickled eschallot brunoise.­

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Single Course 4

This dish made an appearance as course no. 4 at my singles party during Christmas and by singles I mean just me. I cook to share, to love and it's quite a forlorn task to be doing it for oneself and with no one to appreciate all the flamboyant creations. Back in the hay day when I was living alone in the big city (..albeit apartment sharing with 5 other students) cooking for one seemed like such a daunting and tedious task that I felt it was best left to other professionals. My allocated cupboard in the kitchen contained nothing more than a box of coco pops, cheap cooking salt, tea and a crackly bag of dried shitake mushrooms.

Dinner was always easy. I'd just pop down the road past the maze of backpacker hostels and down the squeaky elevator into Coles to grab a 'Healthy Choice' microwave tv dinner. On Tuesday nights after work I'd hike over to Chinatown to pick up an order of Shanghai noodles with XO sauce from my favourite Chinese restaurant which never seemed to close. Days off would mean slow-cooked chicken soup flavoured with rehydrated shitake mushrooms, ginger and garlic and occasionally when I felt like splurging I would head across the road to Ho's Kitchen for a bag stuffed full of frozen handmade pork dumplings.

Of course, things changed a little over the course of the year. The mysterious Korean girl who enjoyed folding my laundry and leaving me cute little notes tacked to my door while I was at work eventually came out of hiding and together we shared a simple dinner of sauteed cauliflower and rice. I began baking a little every now and then, leaving apple oat muffins (or as she called them "muppin") on the countertop. I made her gag with a big spoonful of good ol' aussie vegemite and she had me on the floor in tears with a taste of scary, scary Korean chilli paste. On my nights off, we'd be found glued to the tv watching episode after episode of Full House, a Korean drama series about comic tales of love.

Lentils are a handy ingredient to use when cooking for one or two. They come dried so there's no need to consume them all at once and will keep almost indefinitely. Soaking French green lentils overnight will reduce their cooking time from 1.5 hrs to about 30 minutes. They will absorb their weight in liquid so first rinse them in cold water then cover with chicken or fish stock and leave in the refrigerator overnight to soften for speedier cooking the next day. As they bubble and squeak (and when no one else is at home) I like to lean my head just above the pot and imagine a hundred tiny mosquitoes crying out for help beneath the hot and bubbling mist. For Susan's seventh helping of 'My Legume Love Affair' I'm sharing my recipe for pan-fried ocean trout with apple glazed lentils, balsamic and crispy sage. It's a wonderful dish to cook and to share with a good friend.

Apple Balsamic Reduction

75 g modena balsamic vinegar
30 g apple glaze

Combine in a small pot, simmer and reduce for 5 - 6 minutes.
Check consistency on a cool plate. It should be like paint.

Crispy Sage

8 sage leaves
5 g olive oil
1 g sea salt

Cover a plate with clingfilm stretched tightly.
Place sage leaves flat onto the film and brush with oil.
Sprinkle with salt and wrap the plate twice again with clingfilm.
Microwave on high for 45 - 60 seconds.
Remove top layers of clingfilm carefully.
Microwave for a further 60 seconds or until dry and crisp.

Apple-Glazed Lentils

70 g French green lentils, soaked overnight & drained
7 g olive oil
44 g eschallots, brunoise
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 g sea salt
300 g chicken stock
10 g apple glaze
2 sage leaves, ripped
1 eschallot, sliced

In a small pot heat up the oil and sweat the eschallots, garlic and salt.
Add the lentils, chicken stock, apple glaze and simmer gently for 25 mins.
Add sage leaves and cook for another 5 minutes until only a tablespoon of liquid remains.
Add sliced eschallot rings, stir and set aside.

Pan-fried Ocean Trout

2 x 160 g ocean trout fillets, 1 - 1.5" thick
15 g veg oil
3 g sea salt flakes

Scrape skin with a small sharp knife to remove any scales.
Gently score the skin at 1 cm intervals to prevent shrinking and curling.
Coat fish skin with oil.
Sprinkle the skin side liberally with salt.
Heat a dry pan until smoking and place both fish into the pan skin side down.
Fry until skin becomes crisp and golden, about a minute or two.
Flip and fry for another minute or two.
If cooking fillets thicker than 2" finish in a preheated oven.

Thank You For Smoking

This was my first attempt at hot smoking in my kitchen at home. It sounds mighty fancy but it really isn't too difficult at all! I first learned this method during a short stint working as an apprentice at Cafe Sydney in Circular Quay. I was only there for a few good months before being offered a position at another hatted restaurant nearby. It was a decision which I fretted over for weeks and sometimes look back on with regret. The Cafe was a place I'm sure I could have learned much from and ultimately I chose something different. It's a bit sad really, but at least I've come away with some fond memories and this awesome smoking recipe. You'll need a pot and rack that will fit inside or alternatively you could use a metal steamer insert. For Culinarty ORR I've made a sort of Asian-inspired pickle salad to go with it.

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Smoked Kingfish

2 x 300 g kingfish fillets, skin on
180 g castor sugar
200 g rice
16 g green tea leaves

Pat kingfish dry with paper towl and leave in fridge uncovered for a few hours to dry further.

Combine sugar, rice and tea. Set aside.

Line a medium pot with 3 layers of foil and pour in the rice mix.

Place the rack on top, making sure it sits well above the rice.

Heat over medium until it begins to smoke.

Place fish skin side down onto rack and cover.

Smoke for 15 - 25 minutes, checking for doneness by inserting a sharp knife into the thickest part of the flesh. If cooked it should be white through.

Remove fish and rack with tongs and cool.

Allow rice (now burnt caramel) to cool until solid then discard.

Peel away fish skin and flake as desired.

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Classic Roasted Aioli

1 bulb garlic
30 g olive oil
3 g lemon juice

Remove the top of the garlic so that all the cloves are exposed.

Place in a small pan with 1 cm of water.

Cover with foil, bake at 200ºC for 1 hour.

Remove foil, bake for additional 25 minutes.

When cool, squeeze out the cloves and puree with oil and juice.­

Pickled Fennel Salad

150 g baby fennel
240 g telegraph cucumber
22 g castor sugar
12 g sea salt
21 g brown rice vinegar
a few handfuls of coriander leaves

Slice fennel, deseed cucumber and slice thickly.

Toss with sugar and salt to coat, set aside in fridge for 1 hour.

Drain liquid, toss through vinegar, coriander and some kingfish.

Serve with roasted aioli and a drizzle of olive oil.

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Sherry Cures All

I've been slightly obsessed with the idea of vodka-cured trout since catching a glimpse of the Pink Salt menu on series 2 of 'My Restaurant Rules' back in 2005. Living in the western suburbs of Sydney makes it fairly challenging to find anything other than cooked prawns, mushy barramundi and frozen kangaroo tail at the local fish market so I never quite got around to even considering it until recently. Of course, ideas seem to slowly morph whilst stewing in my subconscious over time and this was no different. Vodka-cured trout became trout cured in La Goya Manzanilla sherry with vanilla and star anise. When I first tasted it I thought to myself "Oh God! What monstrosity have I created?!" and promptly threw it back into the fridge. Twelve hours or so later the flavours had mellowed nicely and it was surprisingly delectable.

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La Goya-Cured Ocean Trout

150 g ocean trout fillet, skin on
106 g rock salt
40 g cane sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
3 g star anise, crushed
3 g orange zest
25 g La Goya sherry

Remove any pin bones from fillet with tweezers, set fish aside.

Combine all ingredients and spread 1/3 into a bowl.

Place fish on top (skin side down) and cover with remaining salt mix.

Cure for 24 hours in refrigerator, rinse then pat dry.

Skin fillet then slice thinly.

Serve with a wedge of lemon, horseradish cream and good crusty bread.

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Don't Look! It's Dressing!

Everyone loves beauty in its natural state, let's not deny it. Sashimi is one very simple way to showcase wonderfully fresh seafood. Tuna, kingfish, salmon and trout are probably the most common here but other species such as carp, mackerel, bass, monkfish, even squid and abalone can also be used. When slicing fish fillets for sashimi place the fillet so that the tail end is facing away from you and the thicker side is closest (this will prevent stretching and tearing of the flesh). Then with a long sharp knife slice pieces about 3mm in thickness against the grain in one movement. This is the very simple sweet, salty, sour dressing which I served alongside the sashimi of Yellowtail Kingfish and Petuna Ocean Trout as first course for Christmas.

Ginger Dressing

8 g cane sugar
6 g water
21 g tamari
20 g brown rice vinegar
10 g lemon juice
16 g green ginger shoots
8 g eschallots

Combine sugar and water in a small pot and caramelise until dark.
Whisk in tamari, vinegar, lemon juice and remove to a small bowl.
Finely slice ginger shoots, brunoise eschallots and throw everything together.
Set aside for an hour or two to let the flavours infuse.

Celebrations For One

Christmas was a lonesome holiday this year. Usually I find myself working for the masses but the restaurant where I work now closes on public holidays. Not to say that it's a bad thing, but while my friends were off mingling with relatives I spent the day trying to avoid mine. Cooped up at home there was really only one way to entertain myself. Fortunately I pre-empted this little problem and had a special order of kingfish and ocean trout delivered to work on Christmas eve. It took me a good couple of days beforehand to figure out what I wanted to do with the fillets and even then I veered a little.
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Totally Over-The-Top Menu For One

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Yellowtail Kingfish & Petuna Ocean Trout sashimi

ginger dressing

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La Goya-cured Ocean Trout

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Salad of smoked Kingfish

pickled fennel & aioli

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Pan-fried Ocean Trout

apple-glazed lentils & balsamic

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Poached Rocklobster

fondant potato & foaming hollandaise

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Lemony Peach slice

black cherry jelly & homemade yoghurt

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Recipes to follow shortly!

Desserted

I've been flicking through the small number of Asian cookbooks that I have and there don't seem to be many desserts whether traditional or otherwise. Being brought up with Western culture it seems incredibly strange! It's understandable though. When my mother was growing up in China, meat was considered such a delicacy that people who were sick from malnourishment would resort to eating human placentas. Peasants would cook up a stray dog found wandering the streets. Eggs could only be bought once a year if lucky and plain rice was what millions of people depended upon to keep their families alive during the famine that ravaged the country.

I have distant cousins, aunts and uncles living in Northern China, their lives still irreparably damaged by the destruction caused by the cultural revolution. Although we've never met, and despite my complete ineptitude with the language, I feel as though food could be a point by which we could all connect. Or perhaps not. The lack of desserts really irks me. I think that my appreciation of food really lies in the sweets department which is a little wanting in my current situation. I found myself making jar after jar of marmalade on my day off last week which really is quite a bizarre occurrence.

I think that from tomorrow, I'll start and I mean really start trying to teach myself all about cakes, pastries and whatnot. I'm not really too sure exactly how much I'll learn about desserts where I'm at now professionally. Anyway, for the moment, here is a recipe for steamed snapper - an adaptation from 'Kylie Kwong: recipes and stories'

Steamed Snapper

"essence: The naturally sweet. delicate, moist flesh of the snapper combines with the aromatic ingredients to create a beautifully balanced, subtle, clean and salty flavour. This dish is an excellent example of the way steaming preserves purity of flavour and texture."

750 g whole snapper
2 leaves wong bok (Chinese cabbage)
1/2 recipe fish sauce
2 knobs ginger, peeled & julienne
1/4 C. shao xing wine
pinch castor sugar
pinch ground white pepper
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
3 Tbsp tamari (gluten-free soy)
1/4 C. shallot julienne
1/4 C. peanut oil
1/2 C. coriander leaves

Hold snapper firmly by the tail and with a knife, scrape towards the head to remove any scales.

Make 5 or 6 diagonal cuts parallel to the head approx. 1 1/2 cm apart, through to the bone. Repeat on the other side.

Bring a large steamer pot of water to the boil.

Place snapper on a plate, cover the body with ginger and slosh over the shao xing.

Place inside the steamer and replace the lid.

Steam for approximately 10-12 minutes or until cooked (flesh will be exposed and white through to the bone).

Quickly blanch cabbage leaves, drain and chop into rough squares.

Arrange cabbage squares on a large flat plate or bowl.

Carefully lift up the snapper and place over the cabbage.

Sprinkle over the sugar, pepper, sesame oil and tamari.

Bring fish sauce to the boil and pour over.

Place shallot julienne over the body.

Bring peanut oil to smoking point and pour over the fish to soften shallots.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Something Smells Fishy

It's my third day on the job and I've already been promoted to working the steamer section. What does that mean you ask? For the first time I've been given total control over a 6 top burner to set up as I please, my very own hot section. With more responsibility comes hard work though and boy do I need to work hard! Last night was a bombardment of calls.

"New order! Banquet for two! I need two steamed scallops in!"
"Two snapper and a two minute call for rice to go with!"
"Oysters for four!"
"Scallops away. I need a pork in and 6 prawn wantons!"
"Here, take these bass fillets and pork"
"Oysters on the pass Chef!"
"You've got a calamari salad for 6!"
"Hot oil please!"
"Chicken to table 10!"
"How long for snapper?"
"I need a greens to go with those fish and 4 scallops!"
"Tofu salad!"
"6 scallops wontons and broccoli for 2 please!"
"Can I have the pork out?"
"Quick put this rice in!"
"Service!"

I stumbled home at half past one after my first Saturday night service at BK, kicked off my shoes and crawled straight into bed. I can't remember the last time I felt so exhausted. No wait. I take that back. It was Friday.

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Head chef Hamish Ingham is finally saying his goodbyes to the restaurant. He's been around for so long he's like the B in Billy Kwong and we all know what Billy Kwong without the B is - illy Kwong. Not to mention unrecognisable! Even Google identifies it as an obvious mistake on my part.

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I've never worked anywhere before that has really stressed the importance of using only the best and freshest ingredients to such an extent. Everything and I mean absolutely everything is prepped daily regardless of stock left over from the previous service (well ..with the exception of XO sauce which is made weekly). The refrigeration unit rivals only the space of my closet and without a freezer all the remaining produce goes towards staff meals at the end of the night.

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Dashing waiter Clinton works out and has to have protein from the sea, either in the form of kingfish sashimi or bass groper. Flamboyant floor manager Kin likes a little more diversity and will choose from the bass groper, whole snapper or chicken but prefers everything with a little less soy (judging by his flawless skin it could very well be the reason behind his young complexion). Belle - waitress extraordinaire has had everything by now and will take anything you give her if you make her feel special. Runners - Natasha is a nondescript vegetarian with many secrets and Lucy is a shy youngster just beginning her romantic journey into the whirlwind industry that is hospitality.

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It's fairly strange to work in a kitchen that lacks all measuring equipment aside from 3 large measuring jugs, one of which is used to hold oil for the wok station, the second to top up water levels in the steamers during service and the other just sort of hangs around with its sad-looking melted handle for no particular reason. Apparently the Chinese philosophy is to cook gauging by taste, sight and feel which at first frightened me because with lots of things (and baked desserts especially) inaccuracy doesn't yield very good results. Luckily there are no baked desserts involved but the balance of sweet, salty, sour, xian, heat, etc. is actually not too hard to pick up quickly. I'll leave you with a very roughly guesstimated recipe for 'fish sauce'. We use it very generously ladled over meaty white fish (whole snapper, bass groper & hapuka fillets) which have first been steamed with ginger julienne and shaoxing (fermented rice) wine then sprinkled with sesame oil, a pinch of sugar, crushed white pepper, a tiny dash of tamari (a gluten-free substitute for soy) and shallot julienne doused with sizzling hot peanut oil.

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Fish Sauce

100 ml Shaoxing wine
1/9 cup organic cane sugar
400 ml water
90 ml organic tamari

In a medium pot bring wine to the boil.

Add sugar and stir to dissolve.

Keep at a rolling boil for 5 minutes.

Pour in water and tamari and bring to the boil.

Taste and add more sugar/water/tamari if needed.

Going Global

It was my 22nd birthday on Friday. Thank you, thank you. Well how was it you ask? I was working all day and night as usual but I did manage to get out for a bit afterwards where a good friend of mine presented me with my very first Global knife! I was completely bowled over by the sentiment. Shhh! Don't tell but I'd somehow managed to misplace my chef's knife at work and so, for the last 6 months have been using a cheap Chinese piece of shit which I nabbed from the cupboard at home.
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This weekend marks the beginning of my education in Chinese cuisine (YES! I GOT THE JOB!) and wanting to test out my shiny new Japanese knife I went to the local markets and picked up a few simple ingredients. As you know, I'm a bit of a flop when it comes to Asian cuisine so I tried something incredibly simple. Actually, it didn't really require much effort at all on my part aside from a little searing and slicing. Unfortunately I don't know anything about Swiss food either but luckily the things I picked up covered the red and white colour requirements of Red, White or Swiss.
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As you can see from the picture I made a simple tuna carpaccio with soy caramel (I told you it was easy!) which took literally 10 minutes from start to finish. I started by first cutting the tuna steak into a rectangular shape for presentation and then setting it in a marinade made with 1/2 cup of soy, 2 tablespoons of castor sugar and a few shards of fresh ginger. I left it in the marinade for about 5 minutes, turning it once halfway. After removing the steak from the marinade, I seared it quickly for 10 seconds per side in a smoking hot pan with a little vegetable oil. I kept the marinade and brought it to 110ºC in a small pot with the ginger shards to make the caramel. I sliced the tuna and lay it on top of a few thin pieces of radish, garnished with some baby coriander and the soy caramel on the side. Voila!
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Hopefully the next Asian-inspired recipe I make will be more challenging once I have gained a little knowledge!
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A Note To Christine Cushing:

Perhaps you've never heard of mojama (mo-hum-a) de atun. I surely enough didn't have the slightest clue what it was until our fish delivery guy lugged a huge loin of tuna over to the restaurant for a Gourmet Traveller charity dinner and we had to make it ourselves. Basically it's trimmed tuna loin that's salt-cured for 2 days then air-dried, a little like rindless fish bacon. It proved such a hit at the said charity dinner that the dish has earned itself a permanent spot on the menu. Organ donors should be glad to know that their loins are being used for a good cause.

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For event number 2 of Tried, Tested and True, I'm providing recipes for the completed dish (assuming that everyone knows how to toast nuts). As pictured above, the mojama is sliced as thinly as possible so that it melts in the mouth. It's served with a creamy avocado puree, fire-roasted pequillo peppers, pickled cauliflower, peeled walnuts and the slightest drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

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Mojama de Atun

1 loin of tuna
500 g rock salt
500 g castor sugar
5 Tbsp smoked paprika

Trim away any sinew and bloodline from the tuna and discard.

Slice the tuna lengthways into fillets 5-6cm in diameter.

Combine salt, sugar and paprika.

Sprinkle a third of the salt mix onto a tray and lay the tuna loin on top.

Pack the remaining salt around the exposed sides of the tuna and refrigerate.

The salt cure will draw moisture out of the fish and create a brine.

After 24 hours, flip the fillets over and leave for another 24 hours.

Lift the fillets out of the brine and place onto a rack on a clean tray and leave refrigerated for 24 hours. Do not cover. The circulating air will help to dry out and effectively preserve the fish.

At this stage they should have a very dark colouring and be quite firm.

Rinse off the fillets under cold running water to remove the salt cure and pat dry.

Wrap tightly in clingfilm and store in the fridge.

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Pickled Cauliflower

400 ml water
150 ml white wine vinegar
150 ml white wine
50 g castor sugar
50 g salt
10 g white peppercorns
10 g coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 bunch thyme
100 g eschallots, sliced
1 head cauliflower

Place all ingredients except cauliflower in a pot and simmer to infuse aromatics for 10 minutes.

Trim the cauliflower, keeping only the florets for pickling.

Add cauliflower to the pickling liquid and bring to the boil.

Remove from heat immediately and when cool, refrigerate immersed in liquid.

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Avocado Puree

3 ripe avocados
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
60 ml extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor.

Store in fridge with the avocado seeds thrown in to slow down discolouration.

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To assemble smear a dollop of avocado puree onto the plate. Caramelise lightly with a blowtorch or salamander (the oven, not the animal). With a sharp knife, slice the cured tuna as thinly as possible and layer this with slivers of fire-roasted pequillo peppers (if you can't get your hands on this excellent Spanish product, substitute with roasted red peppers), a few florets of pickled cauliflower and a few crushed walnuts. To finish, give the tuna a crack of fresh white pepper, a drizzle of fruity extra virgin olive oil and garnish with a few leaves of baby coriander.

Take Me Home

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I desperately want to get out of here. I feel so trapped in this isolated metropolis filled with dying trees. It is often mistaken as the nation's capital with its bustling central business district, downtown market places, abundance of entertainment centres, harbours and token bridges. I've lived here for my whole life, in this city, and I can feel what little fire and excitement I have left for this place slowly begin to extinguish.

I suppose I was bred to have itchy feet. We lived in 5 different apartment units and houses while I was growing up which led me to change schools 6 times up until the year I the started seventh grade. I was pretty good like that as a kid. I remember having to become really adaptable to all sorts of new places and people but in the end it was easy. I simply gave and parted with less of myself each time.

It hasn't even been a year to date since I returned from a 3 month-long expedition around central Spain. It worries me that I'm already becoming so.. so.. agitated and increasingly restless about everything I'm involved in.

Food is such a wonderful tool for escapism. A single spoonful or whiff even of seemingly incongruous matter can easily take us to a place we all like to think of as Hell. On the other hand, a well balanced combination of flavours, of rich scents and harmonious textures can just as easily reawaken us to an old place once forgotten in our olfactory memory and if we're lucky, to somewhere completely new.

­Personally, I like food that to me tastes like home (wherever that's supposed to be). Food that washes over me with a familiar sense of comfort and being with every mouthful. The taste of which doesn't find me wanting to be in any other place. So without further ado, I pass unto you a recipe for truffled vongole and bean stew, once entrusted to me and one which holds claim to having a customer embarrassingly close to licking the bowl.

­Truffled Vongole and Bean Stew

20 vongole clams
1 medium waxy potato
250 ml chicken stock
50 g unsalted butter
minuscule pinch of truffle salt
a few drops of white truffle oil
1 sprig fresh thyme
3/4 C cooked cannellini beans
1/2 C broad beans
a few slices of freshly shaved black truffle

Place vongole in a large bowl full of cold water with a handful of oats or flour to leech out any sand and grit. Rinse and refrigerate.
Dice the potato into 1cm cubes and simmer in salted water until cooked. Drain.
Blanch broad beans in salted water, refresh in ice water and peel.
In a small pot, bring chicken stock to the boil with butter, truffle salt, oil and thyme leaves.
Throw the clams in and boil.
Remove each clam to a small bowl as they open and keep aside.
Add the cannellini beans, potato and broad beans to the stock and simmer to reduce for a few minutes.
Taste for seasoning, throw the clams back in.
Toss and pour into a wide bowl with shaved truffle on top.
Best served with thick slices of bread.

Herb-Crusted Tuna

1 small fillet tuna belly
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 b. parsley
1 b. chervil
1 recipe salsa verde
100 g broad beans, blanched
20 g salted capers, washed
1 large desiree potato

Heat a frypan until smoking, add a splash of oil and quickly sear tuna on all sides.
Remove from heat and refrigerate immediately until cool.
Finely chop all herbs and combine.
Cover the tuna with dijon mustard and roll in herbs until well covered.
Wrap fillet tightly in climgfilm and refrigerate overnight.
Peel potato and slice as thinly as possible.
Fry at 140ºC until crisp then remove and season.

Assembly

Slice the tuna 5 mm thick and lay 4 or 5 pieces onto a plate.
Brush with a little olive oil and season with maldon salt.
Drizzle over a little salsa verde.
Garnish with broad beans, capers and crisps.

Oysters & Ponzu Dressing

50 ml lemon juice
100 ml soy sauce
200 ml rice wine vinegar
4" piece dried konbu seaweed
1 small daikon
1 large cucumber

Wipe konbu clean with a damp cloth.
Refrigerate with all liquid ingredients for minimum 2 days.
Peel daikon and dice into 3 mm cubes.
Peel, deseed cucumber and dice into 3 mm cubes.
Serve freshly opened oysters with a teaspoon of cold ponzu dressing, daikon and cucumber.

Buerre Blanc

1 L fish stock
100 g eschallots, finely sliced
5 limes, juiced
500 ml white wine
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
500 g butter, diced

Bring all ingredients except butter to the boil in a medium saucepan.
Reduce over medium heat to 200 ml then strain through a fine chinoise.
Gradually add butter over low heat, whisking continuously until completely emulsified.
Season to taste.

Suggestion: Drizzle over saffron-infused crab tarts served with baby asparagus and shizo.

Tuna With Enoki and Daikon Salad

Rolled Yellow Fin Tuna

250 g tuna steak
1 b. flat-leaf parsley
1 b. coriander
1/2 b. dill
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Roll tuna steak tightly in cling wrap and set aside.
Pick the herbs and chop finely.
Wrap tightly in a tea towel and wash under cold water until it runs clear.
Wring out until the herbs feel dry.
Unwrap the tuna, it should hold its round shape.
Season generously with table salt and cracked black pepper.
Heat a pan over high heat until smoking and just sear in a little oil.
Cool in the fridge then spread lightly with dijon mustard.
Unroll a metre of cling wrap and sprinkle the chopped herbs in a rectangular shape.
Place the tuna at the end and roll tightly then cut off.
Pinch the ends of the wrap and roll the tuna on the bench until very firm.

Enoki Mushrooms

1 punnet enoki mushrooms
2 cups water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine
1 knob ginger

Grate ginger and bring to the boil in a medium saucepan with the water, rice wine and soy sauce.
Separate the enoki mushrooms and simmer for 2 minutes.

Daikon & Cucumber Salad

1 daikon radish
1 telegraph cucumber
1 punnet baby coriander

Peel the daikon radish and cucumber and discard the trimmings.
With a vegetable peeler or mandolin slice the daikon lengthways.
Lay a few pieces on top of one another and fold in half then half again.
Julienne as finely as possible and place under cold running water for at least 20 minutes.
Repeat with the cucumber but discard the seeds.

Assembly

Slice the tuna to 1cm thickness and remove the cling wrap carefully.
Drizzle each slice with good olive oil and season with maldon salt.
Arrange slightly overlapped in the centre of a square plate.
Mix together a little daikon and cucumber and place in the corner.
Top with enoki mushrooms and garnish with baby coriander.

Smoked Salmon Blinis with Dill Mascarpone

Blinis

300 g plain flour
400 ml milk
15 g dry yeast
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
seasoning

Combine milk, yolks and yeast and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 mins.
Whisk into flour, season with sea salt and cracked white pepper and prove for 1 hour.
Whisk whites to stiff peaks and gently fold into mix.
Pipe rounds 2.5cm in diameter into a non-stick pan over medium-low heat.
Turn when golden, approx. 30-60 seconds each side.

Dill Mascarpone

100 g mascarpone
5 sprigs dill

Pick dill and finely chop.
Combine with mascarpone adding a little hot water at a time to achieve a smooth consistency.

500 g/1 side smoked salmon
50 g salmon roe
2 sprigs dill for garnish

With a sharp knife slice salmon horizontally to 1mm thickness.
Lay out a slice of salmon and cut into 8cm x 2cm pieces.



To make salmon roses take an 8 x 2 x 0.1 piece and cut off the top right corner and fold down over itself.
Roll with the square end in the middle and tuck the tapered end in over the top.
Repeat until you have the same quantity of salmon roses to blinis.

Assembly

Place blinis onto a large plate in rows.
Pipe a small amount of dill mascarpone in the middle of each one and then follow with salmon roses.
Place 1/4 tsp of salmon roe in the middle of each rose then garnish with dill.

Seared Tuna with Fattoush and Tarama

Seared Tuna

1 kg Yellow Fin Tuna
50 g cracked pepper
10 ml extra virgin olive oil
250 g taramasalata

Fattoush

500 g semi dried cherry tomatoes, halved
500 g Lebanese cucumbers, brunoise
6 red radishes, brunoise
½ bunch shallots, brunoise
2 lemons zested and juiced
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
½ b. flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
½ b. mint, finely chopped
seasoning

To make the fattoush, mix all ingredients together.
Allow to marinate before serving.
Roll tuna in cracked pepper.
Heat olive oil in hot pan and sear tuna.
Take off heat and allow to cool.
Slice tuna with a sharp knife as thinly as possible and divide into 100 g portions.

Assembly

Lay sliced tuna on a flat plate with each piece overlapping so that as much of the flat plate is covered as possible.
Place fattoush in the centre of each plate of tuna and make a well, then place 25 g of quinelled tarama into the centre.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Smoked Kingfish

1 cup castor sugar
1 cup rice
½ cup green tea leaves
1 side of kingfish

Lay 3 large pieces of foil in a deep tray and pour in all ingredients.
Cover and leave over high heat for 6-8 minutes until smoking.
Remove all bones from kingfish and place side on a wire rack directly above the smoking mix, cover.
Smoke for 15-40 mins.

Tips: Fish is cooked through when a skewer can be easily inserted and removed without sticking