' 53 deg . C . PINK LING in ICHIBAN DASHI .'

53 degree C. sous vide cooked Pink Ling fillet in Ichiban Dashi with Aubergine & wakame miso dumplings, Wakame seaweed and lemon zest.

           This was a little Japanese influenced dish, that uses the dashi and miso dumplings to accompany an otherwise delicately flavoured fillet of fish. Ichiban dashi or 'first sea stock' is the stock collected from two ingredients Kombu, which is a type of kelp and Katsuobushi, dried bonito fish flakes. Once the stock is made a second stock can be made using the same ingredients called 'Niban dashi'. Dashi is economical and extremely easy and quick to make in comparison to other stocks where you have to boil carcasses or roast bones or fry prawn heads, dashi takes just about 30 minutes to make and is highly nutritious. The element of umami, considered one of the five basic favours in Japanese cuisine, is present in dashi by the use of Katsuobushi which contains high levels of sodium inosinate which has been identified as a source of umami.                                                                                                          
         To make this dish I started with roasting a whole eggplant in a 220 degree C. oven for about 20-25 minutes until the skin were roasted and separated from the pulp which was soft. I removed the eggplant from the oven and allowed to cool a little before peeling off the skin. I removed the seeds from the pulp and placed into the blender with some wakame miso and a little water and blended to form a runny puree. This was added to a mix of wheat and buckwheat flour to form a dough. Next I made the dashi by placing three strips of dried kombu kelp with 4 cups of water in a saucepan to soak for 15 minutes. I then place the saucepan on the stove and brought the water and kelp up to just before boiling point before removing from the heat and adding half a cup of bonito flakes scattering over the top. After about 3-4 minutes the katsuobushi had sunk to the bottom, I then strained the stock through a cheese cloth lined strainer and set aside for serving. While the eggplant was roasting a set the sous vide machine to 53 deg. C. and placed a fillet of pink ling with a little crushed ginger and some butter into vacuum sealed plastic pouch and cooked the fish at 53 degree C. for 30 minutes. To serve a placed the spent ingredients from the dashi back into the saucepan with 4 cups of water and brought the water to the boil, simmering for around 10 minutes to form a second sea stock called the Niban dashi. While the dashi was simmering I formed little rounded balls with the dough and once the dashi was ready and strained. The dashi was returned to the simmer and the dumplings were cooked in the dashi for about 2-3 minutes.
      To serve I reheated the ichiban dashi , pouring the dashi into a flat bottom bowl. I then placed the Pink Ling fillet in the centre of the bowl, arranging some seaweed and the dumplings around the fish. I then topped the fish with a little lemon zest.

           

' BRAISED LEEK with OYSTER MUSHROOM .'

Oven braised Leeks with Sugar-cane raised Brown oyster mushrooms , Wild rocket , Green apple & chilli jelly and Miso & maple foam.

                      This little taster dish is a perfect way to showcase some of the mushrooms coming to harvest of late. My mycology set up is outdoors and has very little climate control so having said that the mushroom season for me is between now and late october, outside of these dates the temperatures
are just too high and not ideal for growing. I grow mainly oyster mushrooms (of all colours) and I have
some log cultured shitake that are half way too fruiting. The oysters I grow are raised on pasteurised sugar-cane mulch and are grown in bags, ziplock bags and in buckets. My method of using inoculated dowel spawn has been a success but this season over winter I will be trying grain spawn poplar wood boards and recycled paperback books to mix things up a bit. It will be interesting what the different growing mediums will have to the overall taste of the final product. I think the sugar-cane fed mushrooms have a slight grassier taste to store bought oysters which I find are quite bland in taste. Leeks are also in season right now but for this dish I used store bought leeks. The wild rocket has been
a perpetual patch in my garden for 2 years now, going to seed and the seedlings keep popping up giving me an all year round harvest of the mustard flavoured green leafy and not to mention those little
mustard flavoured flowers I often include in my dishes. This plate is packed with flavours from the sweet flavours from the braised leeks to the spice of the chilli to the earthy and grassy flavours of the cane fed oyster mushrooms and the Unami flavours of the miso in the foam. This also makes for a great little vegan option for an entree.
                          I started by chopping the leeks into 1 inch thick pieces and placing them into a roasting pan. I then added some vegetable stock to come to the top of the leeks but not covering them, to this
I drizzled a little sesame seed oil, seasoned and covered the pan with foil before placing into a 160 deg. c. oven and braising for an hour until soft and sweet. In a saucepan I placed chopped green apples and some green chillies with half water, half cider. This was brought to the boil and reduced to  simmer for around half an hour until the apples were pulpy. I then poured the pulp into a cloth bag and allowed to filter for around 2 hours,collecting the juice. I then added the juice to a clean saucepan adding sugar, allowing 500g for every 500ml of juice and a little lemon juice. This was brought to the boil for about 10 minutes before being poured into hot sterilised jars and sealed for later use. I then sauteed the mushrooms in a little unsalted butter and seasoned them with salt and cracked pepper. Just before plating I placed some rice wine vinegar, white miso paste, maple syrup, soy sauce and soy lecithin into a tumbler and using a stick blender I formed bubbles. The excess liquid was poured off leaving just the foam which was kept in the fridge until ready to use.                                                                                    
                            To plate I spooned a little half set apple, chilli jelly in the middle of the plate arranging the braised leeks on top accompanied by the sauteed oyster mushrooms. I then spooned the foam over the dish and garnished the plate with some wild rocket and cracked black pepper.

' BROCCOLINI & MISO BUTTER .'

Broccolini steamed , Wakame shiro miso butter , Mirin honey , Toasted white sesame seeds , Roasted peanuts & wild rocket flowers.

           Here we have another really simple vegetarian dish with Japanese influence, using fermented ingredients again to give complexity and the unami flavour not able to be achieved with vegetables on its own. Fermented products such as soy and miso can also supply a vegetarian diet with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and good bacteria needed for optimal health. The concept of the miso butter comes from world renown Korean American chef David Chang and goes with almost any vegetable. The mirin honey lends a complete balance of sweet and sour, while the roasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds give textural contrast and a unique nutty flavour from the oils in the seeds and nuts which pair perfectly with the richness and salty miso butter. I used wakame shiro miso for this dish which is my favourite of the miso pastes with its subtle seaweed flavour. Wakame is an edible sea vegetable which comes from the cold temperate waters of the Japanese coastline and shiro means white, putting it all together you've got wakame shiro miso or  white miso with seaweed. This type of miso paste is usually used in soups or salads but is also perfect for this application.                                                                  
             In making this simple Japanese entremet I started by whipping some miso paste with unsalted butter until soft and homogenised, this was swiped onto the plate using a silicon spatula. The butter can be kept for quite a long time so you can make a bigger batch and keep the remaining in the fridge for later purposes. In a saucepan I put some water on the boil, lowering to a simmer I placed some broccolini florets in to a steamer basket over the simmering water and steamed the broccolini until cooked but still firm, this was then removed and placed into an ice bath to cool before arranging at both ends of the miso on the plate. The mirin honey was made simply by combining the mirin and honey together, this also can be kept for quite some time stored in the pantry in a sealed bottle. I drizzled the mirin honey on both sides of the miso butter. In a hot skillet a toasted off some sesame seeds placing them on top of the broccolini with some wild rocket flowers. And last of all in the same hot skillet I toasted some chopped peanuts placing next to the broccolini to accompany the dish.

' SWEETCORN & ASPARAGUS SALAD .'

Warm salad of Sweetcorn & Asparagus , Wakame Shiro miso, Sauteed onions , Toasted sesame seeds & Shichimi Togarashi .

                    This is a taste sensation and is simple and quick to make. Essentially a vegan friendly warm salad of sweetcorn and asparagus using the bold flavours of spice and heat with that savoury unami flavour from the fermented miso paste to help add a rich deep element to the otherwise light fare. The dish was seasoned with the japanese chilli spice shichimi togarashi, a spice mix containing seven flavours ( black and white sesame seeds, poppy seeds, roasted orange peel, sancho, ginger and nori). The asparagus in this dish was supplied by friends of ours (Buchanan's produce) and are local to the area, growing the freshest of organic produce and a decent size flock of dorper lambs. Many thanks Warren and co. for the gesture and the ongoing inspiration and knowledge in growing good food.    
                    Together in a bowl I mixed some shiro miso, rice wine vinegar and mirin to a paste before making a swipe on the plate. Standing a cob of corn on its end I cut the kernels of corn from off the cob with a sharp knife. I cut the asparagus into small pieces and sliced a small onion finely. With a little butter I sauteed (sweat) the onions off before removing, turning the heat up and cooking the corn and asparagus. I first laid a bed of sauteed onions across the swipe on the plate before placing the corn kernels on top of the onions followed by the asparagus. I seasoned the plate with some toasted sesame seeds and some Japanese seasoning shichimi togarashi.