Pickled kohlrabi stuffed with prawn, apple and lemon

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In this delicious prawn starter by Simon Hulstone, sliced kohlrabi is pickled in a vacuum bag to give the vegetable a soft, malleable texture. This process enables the kohlrabi slices to be used like tacos, which the chef fills with a delicately balanced combination of apple purée, lemon peel, prawn and Nepalese pepper. If available, Simon Hulstone recommends using Norwegian prawns, although king prawns will work just as well.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Pickled kohlrabi

  • 1 kohlrabi
  • 50ml of cider vinegar
  • 150ml of water
  • 20g of sugar
  • 5g of salt

Stuffed kohlrabi filling

Candied lemon

  • 1 lemon
  • 25ml of white wine vinegar
  • 100g of sugar
  • 50ml of water

To serve

Equipment

  • Mandoline
  • Chamber sealer
  • Water bath
  • Vacuum bags
  • Blender

Method

1
Preheat a water bath to 100°C
2
To begin, finely slice the kohlrabi using a mandoline or meat slicer and place in iced water. Cut the slices into disks using a 5cm circular cutter and return to the iced water until ready to use
3
Place all of the remaining ingredients for the pickled kohlrabi in a small pan and bring to the boil. Once boiling point is reached, take the pan off the heat and allow to cool slightly
  • 50ml of cider vinegar
  • 150ml of water
  • 20g of sugar
  • 5g of salt
4
Drain the sliced kohlrabi and place in a vacuum bag with the warm pickling liquid. Place the vacuum bag in a chamber sealer and vacuum on full until fully compressed. Place the vacuumed kohlrabi in the fridge and allow to marinate for 1 hour
5
Meanwhile, peel, core and quarter one of the apples and place in a vacuum bag. Vacuum on full in a chamber sealer and cook in the water bath for 20 minutes
6
Remove the apple from the vacuum bag, blitz in a blender and pass through a fine sieve. Place the apple purée in a piping bag and set aside
7
Cut the second apple into a 5mm dice. Place the diced apple in iced water with a squeeze of the lemon juice to prevent oxidisation
8
Now prepare the candied lemon. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off the lemon. Remove the white pith from the inside and cut the zest into a fine julienne. In a small pan, boil and blanch the lemon peel 3 times, using fresh water each time in order to remove the lemon peel's bitter taste. Drain and set aside
9
Bring the vinegar, sugar and water to the boil in a small pan and reduce to a thick syrupy consistency. Finely dice the lemon zest, place in the syrup and leave to marinate
  • 100g of sugar
  • 50ml of water
  • 25ml of white wine vinegar
10
Meanwhile, take the third apple and cut into matchstick-sized sticks. Cut half of the prawns into three pieces, leaving the remaining half whole
11
To serve, take a chilled disc of kohlrabi and place a few of the cut prawns in the centre. Add some diced apple and lemon zest and pipe a couple dots of the apple purée
12
Fold over the kohlrabi to make a half parcel, like a taco. Sprinkle with salt and a very small amount of the Nepalese pepper and top with the coriander leaves
13
Finally, place a couple of the whole prawns to one side of the stuffed kohlrabi with a small handful of the apple sticks stacked on top
First published in 2015

Simon Hulstone's aesthetically pleasing and rewarding cuisine can be found in Torquay at The Elephant, which holds a Michelin star.

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