Mediterranean Tuna, smoked, Asian flavours – By Agnar Sverrisson
Ingredients
(Serves two)
100g tuna, seared
Olive oil
Mixed salad (see below)
2g soy jelly (see below)
For the soy jelly
25m1 soy sauce
50ml water
1g bonito
0.8g söl (Icelandic seaweed)
0.5g lemon grass stalks, crushed
1g ginger, chopped
1 kaffir lime leaf, julienne
Lime juice to taste
Lemon juice to taste
2g mirin
0.5g gelatin leaf
0.3g agar-agar
Xanthum gum
For the salad
30g cucumber
Salt
10g pickled ginger (pickle with lemon juice and sugar - see below for method)
10g söl
45g baby gem lettuce, julienne
5g cashew nuts, chopped
5g spring onion
2g chives
3g soy glaze (made from soy jelly base, see below for method)
1g lime juice
Pinch of salt
NB If söl unavailable, use nori seaweed
Method For the soy jelly, put all ingredients except gelatin, agar-agar and xanthum gum into a pan. Bring to the boil, take off heat and let liquid infuse. Strain. Add the gelatin and agar-agar. (NB: soy glaze is made with some of the soy jelly base liquid, thickened with xantham gum).
For the salad, prepare cucumber by cutting into 5mm dice, salt lightly and compress into a sous-vide bag. Make pickled ginger by slicing ginger as thinly as possible. Blanch five times in water, lemon juice and sugar until the ginger loses its harshness. While it's still hot, place in a simple syrup of 5OOg water, 5OOg sugar and 250g lemon juice.
Soak the seaweed in water until plump. Squeeze out excess water. Toast the cashews lightly until golden, then chop. To complete salad, mix all ingredients, season with some soy glaze, lime and salt.
Lightly coat tuna in olive oil and season with salt. Sear with blowtorch to ensure thin and even cooking, leaving centre pink. Slice thinly and coat with soy glaze.
To plate, place some salad on plate, carefully placing glazed tuna slices on top. Finish with small spoons of jelly. Garnish with pickled ginger and seaweed as desired.
To create "smoking gun" effect, put powdered wood chips in a saucepan. Take a small length of narrow tubing and put one end in the saucepan. Light the chips, sucking the smoke to the other end of the tube - taking care not to swallow it - then once smoke begins to transfer, shoot it over plated food and quickly cover with a cloche to capture smoke. Remove the lid on presenting at table and smoke will be released.
By Agnar Sverrisson, head chef, Texture
