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Squid Noodles
Recipe by Peter Gilmore
Looking for a challenging recipe to tackle? Try Peter Gilmore's Shaved Squid with Koji Butter, Shiitake Custard and Pin Stripe Peanuts - it'll be a hit!
- Steps
- Ingredients
Ingredients
Fermented Shiitake
Garlic and Sesame Aioli
Squid
Puffed Amaranth
Toasted Puffed Sorghum
Shiitake Custard
Koji Butter Sauce
To Serve
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Steps
- Preheat a combi oven to 180°C, 0% humidity, no fan.
- Set the blast chiller to -40°C.
- For the Fermented Shiitake, very thinly slice mushrooms.
- Place mushrooms and salt in a thin even layer in a cryovac bag. Use a commercial cryovac machine to remove the air and seal the bag. Place bag on top of the combi oven for at least 2 hours or until required.
- For the Garlic and Sesame Aioli, in a small saucepan, combine garlic and 50g grapeseed oil over low heat and gently cook until garlic is translucent.
- Add remaining grapeseed oil and warm to 70°C. Remove saucepan from the heat and set aside at room temperature to cool completely.
- For the Squid, remove and discard the tentactles, guts, wings, outer skin and cartilage from all squid, avoiding breaking the ink sac or damaging the squid tube.
- Cut along the natural seam to open the squid tube and lay flat on the board so the flesh side is up. Use a clean chux cloth to firmly wipe the inside of the squid to remove any remaining guts and stringy membrane.
- Trim 5mm off the two sides to slightly square the tube up. Score the flesh in a single line, 1cm above the base of the squid, leaving the membrane intact.
- Flip the squid to flesh side down. Flip the 1cm strip back and whilst gripping with a chux cloth in each hand, carefully tease and pull the thin clear membrane from the base of the squid to the tip, removing the membrane in one piece. Discard the membrane.
- Cut the squid in half lengthwise. Stack all the squid flat and trim to a similar width.
- Place the stacked squid in a cryovac bag. Use a commercial cryovac machine to vacuum and seal. Place in the blast chiller for at least 75 minutes or until frozen solid.
- For the Puffed Amaranth, place oil in a medium saucepan and heat to 210°C.
- Place amaranth in a small sieve. Lower sieve into the oil and leave for 10 seconds or until amaranth is puffed and lightly golden.
- Place puffed amaranth on a paper towel lined tray and place in the dehydrator at 41°C until ready to serve.
- For the Toasted Puffed Sorghum, place sorghum in a single layer across an oven tray and toast in 180°C combi oven for 4 minutes or until crispy. Transfer to the dehydrator and store until required.
- Reduce combi oven to 82°C, steam setting.
- For the Shiitake Custard, pass fermented shiitakes and juice from the bag through the small opening of a cold pressed juicer, discarding the pulp.
- Pass the fermented shiitake juice through a superbag into a small bowl. Set 20g juice aside and discard remaining juice.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt and 20g reserved fermented shiitake juice and whisk well to combine. Pass custard through a fine sieve into a measuring jug.
- Add 15g of custard into three 60mm wide small glass bowls (30ml capacity). Cover each bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
- Place bowls on a steamer tray and set aside at room temperature.
- For the Garlic and Sesame Aioli, pass the garlic infused oil through a fine sieve into a large measuring jug, reserving the oil and discarding the garlic solids.
- Place egg yolks, sesame oil, salt and 5g water into the jug of a Thermomix. Process on speed 3.5 to combine. With the motor on, gradually add the garlic oil in a thin, steady stream to emulsify through. About halfway through, when the aioli is too thick, with the motor on, gradually add remaining 15g water to emulsify through. Continue gradually adding remaining oil.
- Transfer aioli to a squeeze bottle and place in the fridge.
- For the Squid, unwrap squid from the bag.
- Use a meat slicer to slice the longest side of squid block into 1-2mm thick slices.
- Place 80g in a small bowl, separating the noodles. Place noodles in the fridge. Place the remaining squid back into the freezer.
- For the Shiitake Custard, place tray of bowls into the combi oven and steam at 82°C for 6 minutes or until softly set. Set aside at room temperature.
- For the Koji Butter Sauce, in a small saucepan, combine eschalot, garlic, white rice vinegar and 20g water over high heat. Bring to the boil and reduce to 30ml.
- Add the remaining 10g water to the reduced vinegar mixture.
- Reduce the saucepan to low heat. Whilst whisking, add one piece of butter at a time, whisking to melt and emulsify through.
- Add the koji powder, lemon zest and salt and whisk through. Set aside on a tea towel next to the stove.
- To serve, combine puffed amaranth and sesame seeds in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Fill and preheat a waterbath to 75°C. Immerse a small gastronorm of clarified butter part way into the water and warm to 75°C. Place a small frying basket into the butter.
- Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil.
- Place peanuts in the small saucepan of boiling water and blanch for 10 seconds.
- Scoop peanuts from the water and transfer to a small bowl. Brush peanuts with clarified butter from the waterbath and season with salt.
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil and fit a steamer basket inside, covered with a lid. When boiling, reduce water to a simmer over medium heat.
- Place Shiitake Custard in the steamer basket for 1 minute or until warmed through and still soft set. Remove custard from the basket and set aside at room temperature.
- Place sliced squid into the small frying basket in the butter. Cook for 1 minute or until squid turns from opaque to white, tossing and moving slices through the butter as it cooks. Lift the basket from the butter and allow butter to drip back into the tray. Transfer squid to a small bowl.
- In another small bowl, combine half of the cooked squid and 3 tablespoons of Koji Butter Sauce and toss to coat. Add lemon zest and a little of the combined amaranth and sesame to the squid and sauce and mix well.
- Season the other squid with salt.
- Unwrap the Shiitake Custard. Use a soup spoon to scoop a single dome of custard into the centre of the serving plate.
- Place the sauced squid over the top of the custard to cover in a dome.
- Place remaining seasoned squid over the top to also cover in a dome.
- Sprinkle a light covering of combined amaranth and sesame seeds over the squid. Sprinkle a little toasted sorghum over.
- Pipe 7 dots of aioli into the gaps of the squid.
- Arrange the peanuts in the gaps of the squid.
- Garnish the dish with 7 kai lan petals.
