Crab salad, peanut and lemongrass, coriander emulsion
by
- Starter
- Challenging
- 8
- 1 hour 30 minutes
PT1H30M
Dave Watts took inspiration from his time working at Le Manoir to create this superb crab salad with lemongrass recipe. 'Raymond and Gary spent some formative time in Malaysia and Thailand and were inspired by the vast array of ingredients in the form or aromatics and spices,' he explains. 'This influenced some of the dishes we created at Le Manoir and then became an integral part of my approach, creating dishes with delicate underlying flavours that offered a different and unique finish.'
Ingredients
Brown crab salad
- 1 Cornish brown crab , 1.5-2kg in weight to yield 500g of meat
- 150g of natural yoghurt
- 6g of coriander , julienned
- 12g of lime juice
- 3g of lime zest
- 6g of salt
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
Coriander emulsion
- 25g of coriander
- 15g of curly parsley
- 10g of chervil
- 2.5g of lime zest , grated with microplane
- 50ml of water
- 60ml of rapeseed oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
- 3g of ultratex
- 0.75g of xantana
Lemon verbena dressing
- 4g of lemon verbena
- 60ml of rapeseed oil
- 1g of garlic , sliced
- 0.5g of thyme
- 7g of lemon juice
- 1 pinch of salt , small
- black pepper , 1 grind
Lemongrass jelly
- 15g of lemongrass , crushed and finely chopped
- 185ml of white wine
- 3g of fresh lime leaf , finely sliced
- 15g of caster sugar
- 4g of lime juice
- 2g of lime zest
- 1 pinch of salt
- 0.4g of agar agar
Peanut salad
- 50g of peanuts , blanched
- 25g of pine nuts
- 5g of lemongrass
- 4g of ginger
- 2g of curly parsley
- 2g of mint
- 2g of coriander
- 8g of grain vinegar, Mizkan
- 10g of mirin
- 3g of nam pla fish sauce
- 4g of toasted sesame oil
- 10g of black sesame seeds
- 1 pinch of salt
- black pepper , freshly ground
To plate
- frisée lettuce , picked and washed
- micro herbs, coriander and red vein sorrel
Equipment
- Blender
- Cooking thermometer
- Microplane
- Dressing bottle
Method
1
Begin by preparing the crab. Steam the crab for 10 minutes, then remove the claws and legs and place in iced water to cool. Steam the body for a further 8 minutes, then add to the iced water to cool
- 1 Cornish brown crab , 1.5-2kg in weight to yield 500g of meat
2
Once cool, remove the meat from the body, legs, claws and head, keeping the brown and white meat separate. Pick through the meat, checking for any shell and cartilage. Weight out 150g of brown meat and 350g of white meat, and place into a bowl over ice. Add all of the remaining ingredients and mix well. Check for seasoning and keep on ice until required
- 150g of natural yoghurt
- 6g of coriander , julienned
- 12g of lime juice
- 3g of lime zest
- 6g of salt
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
3
For the coriander emulsion, blanch the herbs in a pan of salted boiling water, with 20g of salt per litre - the parsley will need approximately 30 seconds, while the remaining herbs will need 20 seconds
- 25g of coriander
- 15g of curly parsley
- 10g of chervil
4
Remove the herbs and refresh in iced water until cool. Remove the herbs as soon as they are cool, so that their flavour is not diluted by sitting in the water for too long
5
Place all of the ingredients in a high-powered blender and blitz on a high speed until smooth and silky - this should only take 30 seconds or so. Do not blend for too long, or the ingredients will warm up and lose their colour. Check the seasoning and reserve in the fridge until required
- 2.5g of lime zest , grated with microplane
- 50ml of water
- 60ml of rapeseed oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
- 3g of ultratex
- 0.75g of xantana
6
For the lemon verbena dressing, warm the oil to 50°C and add the remaining ingredients, except for the lemon juice. Infuse for 30 minutes, then strain through a sieve and add the lemon juice. Check the seasoning and reserve in a dressing bottle until required
- 4g of lemon verbena
- 60ml of rapeseed oil
- 1g of garlic , sliced
- 0.5g of thyme
- 7g of lemon juice
- 1 pinch of salt , small
- black pepper , 1 grind
7
For the lemongrass jelly, reduce the wine to 125ml, remove from the heat and add the lemongrass, lime leaf and sugar. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes
- 185ml of white wine
- 15g of lemongrass , crushed and finely chopped
- 3g of fresh lime leaf , finely sliced
- 15g of caster sugar
8
Add the lime juice, zest and salt, and leave for a further 2 minutes. Strain the liquid through a sieve, squeezing all of the aromatics to extract as much flavour as possible
- 4g of lime juice
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2g of lime zest
9
Place the liquid in a small pan with the agar agar and bring to the boil, until the agar agar is cooked out and combined. Pour into a suitable container and leave to set, reserving until required
- 0.4g of agar agar
10
To prepare the peanut salad, toast the pine nuts and peanuts in a pan until golden brown and set aside to cool. Crush the lemongrass with the mortar to release the oils, then finely chop and add to a bowl
- 50g of peanuts , blanched
- 25g of pine nuts
- 5g of lemongrass
11
Microplane the ginger, finely chop the herbs and add to the bowl with the lemongrass. Lightly crush the nuts with the mortar and add to the bowl with the remaining ingredients. Mix well, check the seasoning and store in a container in the fridge until required
- 4g of ginger
- 2g of curly parsley
- 2g of mint
- 2g of coriander
- 8g of grain vinegar, Mizkan
- 10g of mirin
- 3g of nam pla fish sauce
- 4g of toasted sesame oil
- 10g of black sesame seeds
- 1 pinch of salt
- black pepper
12
To serve, place the coriander emulsion onto plates, followed by the crab salad. Spoon around the peanut salad and scoop out small pieces of the jelly from the container, adding them to the plate
13
Dress the salad leaves with the dressing and arrange onto the plates. Add 3 of each micro herb and serve immediately
- frisée lettuce , picked and washed
- micro herbs, coriander and red vein sorrel
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Crab salad, peanut and lemongrass, coriander emulsion
