Amuse: Crisp squid ink tapioca cracker with citrus cured calamari

Nick Briggs

Nick Briggs

28th February 2019
Nick Briggs

Amuse: Crisp squid ink tapioca cracker with citrus cured calamari

Head chef Nick Briggs and chef proprietor Geoffrey Smeddle will be cooking this recipe at TSCLive at ScotHot 2019!

Ingredients

  • Squid ink tapioca cracker:
  • 60g tapioca
  • 2 tsp squid ink
  • 400ml water
  • Citrus cured calamari:
  • 2 cleaned squid bodies, aprox 1kg (reserve and clean the tentacles for the following risotto dish)
  • 2 pink grapefruit
  • 2 oranges
  • 1lemon
  • 1 lime

Method

1. Combine the tapioca and water with a pinch of salt in a large pan, bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mix thickens and turns translucent
2. Stir in the squid ink and combine thoroughly
3. Spread the mix over silpats on flat baking sheets, spreading very thinly. Dry in a low oven 110c overnight
4. To use and serve, break into desired size and deep fry in very hot oil for a few seconds until the crackers puff up and turn crisp, remove with tweezers at once to absorbent paper to drain, season with salt then transfer to a clean lined tray until required, use as soon as possible
5. Cut all the citrus fruits in half and juice them, combining the juices, pass through a chinois and set aside
6. Cut the squid bodies into four roughly even sized squares or rectangles. Heat a heavy based pan for two minutes, add 2-3 dessertspoons of vegetable oil, season the first piece of squid and sear for 10 seconds on each face and remove to a large tray at once. Then repeat until all are seared. Lay between two sheets of parchment paper and press flat between two trays and freeze until hard
7. Slice ribbons of the frozen squid, like tagliatelle, on a slicer or mandoline and
marinate in the juice for at least two hours, or up to four and remove and chill
To serve: place a spoonful of citrus cured squid on a cracker. Finish with some piped avocado puree, rub some lime zest with a micro plane, season with sea salt flakes and serve immediately

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