Recipes

Ross Lewis's marinated Clare Island salmon with crab and pickled winter vegetables

Place one barrel of salmon on each plate with the crab alongside, shaped into a rectangle using a palate knife. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

Ross Lewis
Sat Dec 12 2015 - 01:00
Serves: 6
Course: Starter
Cooking Time: 0 hr 24 mins
Ingredients
  • Serves sixCured salmon:1 side of organic salmon
  • Curing solution:1.125 litres water
  • 200g rock salt (or rough sea salt)
  • 400g sugar
  • 15g black peppercorns
  • 10g star anise
  • 5 cloves
  • 4 juniper berries
  • Half a tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 bunch coriander
  • 1 fennel bulb, finely sliced
  • Carrot pickle:2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced on a mandolin
  • 50ml water
  • 50g sugar
  • 100ml apple balsamic vinegar
  • 5 coriander seeds
  • Half a star anise
  • 1tsp caraway seeds
  • Salt
  • Pumpkin pickle:3/4 of a small Crown Prince pumpkin, peeled and finely sliced on a mandolin
  • 6g salt, plus extra for the pumpkin slices
  • 100ml mirin
  • 100ml sake
  • 20ml soy
  • 20g rice vinegar
  • White radish pickle:Half a white radish, scrubbed and finely sliced on a mandolin
  • 200g sugar
  • 200g water
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Zest of half a lemon
  • For the crab:
  • 500g picked crab - bound with 40g of mayonnaise approximately, or to taste (reserve the crab shells)
  • 4 tbsp chives, finely chopped
  • 3 spring onions, finely diced
  • 50ml lemon juice
  • Half a tsp smoked sweet paprika
  • Salt and pepper
  • Dressing – optional:100ml crab stock
  • Bouquet garni - a small bundle of herbs of your choice tied together with string
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 40ml lemon juice
  • To garnish:Dill sprigs or coriander cress</li><li/></ul>

CURING SOLUTION: Boil all ingredients, except the fennel. Add the sliced fennel off the heat and leave to infuse. When the solution is cold, place the salmon in the solution and leave it to marinade, uncovered, in a fridge for 24 hours. (The pickles should all be made 24-36 hours in advance)

PICKLED CARROT: Lay slices of carrot on a tray and sprinkle evenly with salt. Leave for 20 minutes, then rinse and pat dry. Put the water, sugar and vinegar in a pan together with the spices and bring to the boil, making sure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When cold, pour over the carrots.

PUMPKIN PICKLE: Crown Prince pumpkins are available in some supermarkets and greengrocers and have a greyish blue skin. Salt and rinse the pumpkin as per the carrot, then wring out in a clean tea towel to get rid of as much water as possible. To make the pickle liquid, bring the mirin, sake, vinegar and soy to the boil with the 6g of salt. Allow it to cool, then pour over the pumpkin slices.

RADISH PICKLE: Bring the sugar and water to the boil with the lime juice. Stir to dissolve sugar. Put the radish and lemon zest into the pickle and return to the boil for one minute, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. CRAB: Mix the crab and mayonnaise with the chives and spring onions, lemon juice and smoked paprika. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

DRESSING: Simmer the crab shells in 300mls of water with a bouquet garni for one hour, to make a stock. Strain through muslin. Reduce by half. To make the dressing emulsify the olive oil, lemon juice and reduced crab stock by whisking it together vigorously. PLATE UP: Take the skin off the salmon and cut six barrels of 8cm x 3cm from the thick part of the fillet. Place one barrel of salmon on each plate with the crab alongside, shaped into a rectangle using a palate knife. Drape with pickled radish. Garnish with pickled pumpkin and carrot and surround with crab dressing. Garnish with dill sprigs or coriander cress.

(Chef Lewis also used salmon cream and herb oils, but says they are not essential.)

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