Clam and kumquat tostada with peanut salsa macha
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These crunchy, colourful tostadas are topped with avocado, raw fennel and clams dressed in a spicy salsa macha. The dish is inspired by Nud's time in the Mexican state of Baja California – read what he had to say about it here.
First published in 2019
The inspiration for this dish comes from La Guerrerense. I could never recreate the incredible tostadas Sabina makes on that dusty, sun-drenched street corner in Ensenada, so instead I’ve reinterpreted her classic and used the flavour of super-sweet clams, bittersweet kumquats and a smoky, nutty salsa to make a tostada that ticks all the boxes.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 1kg palourde clams
- 20ml of ponzu
- 10ml of soy sauce
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 lemon wedge
Peanut salsa macha
- 1 dried habanero chilli
- 1 dried pasilla chilli, or 1 dried guajillo chilli
- 1 dried chipotle chilli
- 1/2 star anise
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
- 200ml of rapeseed oil
- 50g of toasted peanuts
To serve
- 4 tostadas
- 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and mashed
- 5 kumquats, washed and thinly sliced
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- sesame seeds
- coriander leaves
SAVE RECIPE
Equipment
- mandoline
Method
1
Submerge the clams in cold water to clean. Boil a large pan of water and add the clams. Drain as soon as the shells open and set aside to cool
2
Slice the fennel bulb in half and thinly slice using a mandoline. Set aside in a bowl of iced water with a wedge of lemon inside to prevent discolouration
3
For the salsa macha, toast the habanero, pasilla and chipotle chillies in a dry frying pan until they release a small amount of smoke (be careful to not burn them), then transfer to a blender. In the same pan, cook the garlic and toast until blackened and charred. Peel, then add to the blender along with the cumin, garlic and star anise, blitzing until you have a coarse powder. Place this mixture into a large heatproof bowl
4
Heat the oil to 180°C in a large pan. Being very, very careful, pour the oil over the chilli mixture. Stand back as it may spit and splutter. Mix in the peanuts and set aside
5
Remove the clams from their shells. Mix around 2–3 tablespoons of the salsa macha into the clams alongside the lime juice, ponzu and soy. Check the seasoning – the clams should taste bright from the citrus, smoky and spicy from the chilli and salty from the soy
6
Place a tablespoon of crushed avocado atop each tostada. Top with slices of fennel, a couple of tablespoons of clams and a few slices of kumquat and chilli. Garnish with coriander and sesame seeds and serve
First published in 2019
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