Escabèche marinade
5g garlic, sliced thinly
80g shallot, sliced thinly
8g salt
100g white balsamic vinegar
250g white wine
250g water
45g tarragon, picked and washed
45g chervil, picked and washed
Zest of 1 lemon (10g)
Octopus
1kg octopus
Escabèchemarinade
Chive oil
500g grapeseed oil
300g blanched chives
Chive emulsion
2 hardboiled egg yolks, boiled for 9 minutes (egg whites to be retained for smoked eel broth)
20g Dijon mustard
65ml lemon juice
75g avocado
0.5g xanthan gum
Smoked eel broth
25g kombu, sliced into small strips approximately 10cm in length
1L distilled water
250g smoked eel, trimmings(Diced eel portions to be used in assembling of dish)
2 hardboiled egg white(egg yolks to be used to chive mmulsion)
Endive emulsion
50g honey
0.3g saffron
2 yellow endives
90g lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons
4g salt
0.5g xanthan gum
125g grapeseed oil
Pickled onion
200g red wine vinegar
400g honey
600g water
Zest of 1 orange
40 coriander seeds
2 star anise
2 red onions, peeled and quartered
5g salt
160g chive oil
To serve
100g smoked eel, small dice
Pickled onion
20g mustard cress, fine julienne
Method
Escabèche Marinade
In a large pot combine garlic, shallot, salt and white balsamic vinegar. Reduce over a low heat until dry.Add white wine and bring mixture to a boil. Let the mixture simmer for 1 minute before adding water. Once the liquid comes to a boil, remove the pot from the flame and add tarragon, chervil and lemon zest. Allow mixture to steep and infuse for 24 hours.Strain with a sieve/ tamis.
Octopus
Set an immersion circulator at 54 °C in a large water bath. In a separate pot, bring water to boil and blanch octopus for 30 seconds before transferring into an ice bath.Once cool, pat the octopus dry and transfer into vacuum bags with the escabèche marinade. Transfer bags to water bath and cook for 1 hour.Transfer bags of octopus into an ice bath and allow it to marinate in bags for 24 hours. Strain marinade and pat octopus dry. Remove head. Wrap remaining octopus in clingfilm and freeze for at least 24 hours.To serve, slice crosswise using a meat slicer to a thickness of approximately 2mm.
Chive oil
Blanche chives in boiling salt water for 30 seconds before transferring into an ice bath. Squeeze out excess water.Blend blanched chives and grapeseed oil in a Thermomix at full speed at 80 °C for 7 minutes until well-blended.Strain using a coffee filter.
Chive emulsion
Blend egg yolks, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, avocado, xanthan gum and salt together until smooth. Slowly add the oil, stirring until emulsified.Strain mixture using a sieve or tamis and transfer to a spouted condiment bottle.
Smoked eel broth
Place kombu slices in a large pot and cover with distilled water for at least 6 hours in the fridge. Strain and retain the kombu dashi.Process the egg white and eel into small pieces in a Robocoup.Mix the eel mixture with the cold kombu dashi and bring to a light simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain through a coffee filter.
Endive emulsion
In a small saucepan, heat up honey until warm to touch and steep saffron for 1 minute. Once cool, combine saffron-honey mixture, yellow endives, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, xanthan gum and blitz with a handblender.Slowly pour in the oil and blend until well-combined and emulsified. Transfer to a spouted condiment bottle.
Pickled onion
Combine red wine vinegar, honey, water, orange zest, coriander seeds and star anise in a pot. Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and submerge red onions.Marinate for at least 24 hours before use.
To serve
On a circular plate, place lightly folded octopus slices around the inner perimeter of the plate, similar to a crescent (as pictured). Alternate diced eel and pickled onions on top of the octopus slices. Garnish with mustard cress.Alternate drops of endive emulsion and chive emulsion (as pictured).Pour 25g of smoked eel broth into a carafe and serve tableside.
Find out more about Julien Royer