Langoustine with smoked enokis and lardo

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East London's famed chef Nuno Mendes has crafted this intriguing and aesthetically beautiful langoustine recipe. This is a rich, smoky hot canapé using tiny enoki mushrooms and highly prized langoustines, a Scottish speciality exported in large numbers to southern Europe.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Langoustines

Enoki mushrooms

To plate

Method

1
To prepare the langoustines, clean them while alive and stretch them out in a tray. Place the tray in the freezer to immobilize the langoustines, freeze for about 30 minutes and then peel
2
Prepare the spring onion hearts by trimming off the green part so you are left with just the white bits
3
Char the spring onion hearts on a grill until tender and black. Remove the outer layer of the onions and slice the onions lengthways. Reserve the charred parts
4
Heat a dry saucepan over high heat. Make a bed of rosemary in the hot pan, cover with a lid, then allow the rosemary to cook until it starts to smoke. Place the enokis on the rosemary and smoke until soft
5
When the enoki mushrooms are soft, place the langoustines on top and cover the pan with a lid. Smoke the langoustines for about 4 minutes, then remove from the heat
6
Wrap the langoustines individually in a slice of lardo and keep warm before serving on the bed of rosemary with the enoki mushrooms, spring onion hearts and a pinch of togarashi. Drizzle with the olive oil and season. You can either serve on individual plates, or arrange the langoustines together on one plate
  • 1 pinch of togarashi
  • 4 slices of lardo
  • olive oil
  • salt
First published in 2015

For a chef, having mentors like Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Ferran Adrià must be akin to taking music classes with Chopin and Brahms. Nuno Mendes' London restaurant demonstrates the qualities of ambition that most good protégés possess.

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