Crab and Lovage Soup Recipe
by Josh Eggleton
Makes 20
45 minutes
Ingredients

Lovage soup

  • 50g of fresh lovage, leaves only
  • 50g of parsley, leaves only
  • 1 banana shallot, finely diced
  • 1 celery stick, small, finely diced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 500ml of fish stock, preferably crab stock
  • 1 dash of lemon juice
  • 1 knob of butter
  • salt

Pickled kohlrabi

  • 1 kohlrabi
  • 120ml of red wine vinegar
  • 100g of caster sugar
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 pinch of saffron
  • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds

Brown crab emulsion

  • 150g of brown crab meat
  • 5 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp English mustard
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 dashes of Tabasco

White crab

  • 200g of white crab meat
  • 1 tsp parsley, chopped
  • 15ml of lemon juice
  • 45ml of olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper
Method
1
Start with the pickled kohlrabi. Combine the red wine vinegar, caster sugar, star anise, saffron and coriander seeds in a pan. Bring to the boil and then allow to cool to room temperature
  • 120ml of red wine vinegar
  • 100g of caster sugar
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 pinch of saffron
  • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
2
While the liquor is cooling, peel and slice the kohlrabi on a mandoline into 1–2mm thin discs. When ready, pour the pickling solution over the kohlrabi and leave to marinate for 30 minutes
  • 1 kohlrabi
3
To make the soup, melt the butter on a medium heat and sweat the shallot and celery until soft with no colour. Add the minced garlic and cook for a further 2–3 minutes, again without any colour. Heat the fish stock in a pan over a low heat
  • 1 knob of butter
  • 1 banana shallot, finely diced
  • 1 celery stick, small, finely diced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 500ml of fish stock, preferably crab stock
4
In the meantime, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add salt – the water should be as salty as seawater. Add the lovage and parsley and cook for 1–2 minutes. Strain and refresh in ice cold water
  • salt
  • 50g of fresh lovage, leaves only
  • 50g of parsley, leaves only
5
Strain again and squeeze out as much excess water as possible. Roughly chop the herbs and add to a blender with the warm shallots and stock. Blend for 2–3 minutes until smooth and bright green. Season to taste with salt and lemon juice and chill immediately in the fridge
  • 1 dash of lemon juice
6
To make the brown crab emulsion, simply blend all of the ingredients until smooth, add salt to taste and store in the fridge until required
  • 2 dashes of Tabasco
  • 150g of brown crab meat
  • 5 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp English mustard
  • 1 egg yolk
7
To dress the white crab meat, whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil to combine and mix with the crab, along with the parsley, salt and pepper. Quenelle the dressed white meat in the base of a bowl, garnish with the pickled kohlrabi and dots of brown crab emulsion. Finally, serve the chilled lovage soup at the table
  • 200g of white crab meat
  • 1 tsp parsley, chopped
  • 15ml of lemon juice
  • 45ml of olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper