Paolo Casagrande’s virrey fish with iodized sauce, king crab, raw tomatoes and saffron

Ingredients
For the virrey fish:

• 2kg virrey fish (unfilleted whole fish)
• 1tbs salt
• 1tbs olive oil

For the fish condiment:

• 350g garlic (skin off)
• 750ml apple cider vinegar
• 100g salt
• 2 dried cayenne chillies
• 2L sunflower oil

For the rice foam:

• 55g bomb rice
• 1L cream
• 1g saffron
• Salt

For the zucchini cream:

• 5kg zucchini
• Garlic oil
• 1tbs pepper baya de pasión
• 1tbs salt

For the Alaska crab:

• 100g clean Alaska crab legs
• 20g 0.40° olive oil
• 1tbs salt

For the swimming crab broth:

• 4kg swimming crab
• Langoustine heads
• 5 unripe tomatoes
• 850g onions julienne
• 1 head of garlic with skin on
• 500g carrot
• 200g olive oil
• 150g tomato concentrate
• 6L water
• 3L fish stock
• 1 bottle white wine
• 1tbs ice
• 1tbs basil
• 1tbs oregano

For the crab mayo:

• 35g reduced crab stock
• 60g egg yolk
• 60g extra virgin olive oil
• 120g olive oil
• 0.5g Piment d’Espelette
• 1 anchovy

For the tomato base:

• 1kg white onion (spring onion)
• 500g crab broth
• 1 jar Mata tomatoes tomato sauce

For the basil powder:

• 250g basil
• 500g oil
• 1tbs maltodextrin

For the rehydrated plankton:

• 10g plankton
• 30g water
• Pinch of salt

For the filled baby zucchini:

• Mini zucchini
• Tomato base (see above)
• Pickled crab meat

For the pickled zucchini:

• 200g apple cider vinegar
• 200g sugar
• 400g water
• 1 green zucchini

For the tomato concassé:

• Tomato
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Chives

Method

For the virrey fish:

1. Portion the whole fish into 100g fillets, season with salt and vacuum pack with the olive oil.
2. Cook the fillets in a water bath for 2-3 minutes at 55ºC.
3. Finish cooking the fish on a plancha with the skin side down, then cut into half and finish it off with the fish condiment.

For the fish condiment:

1. Blend the garlic, chillies, salt and vinegar in a Thermomix for few minutes
2. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and then add the oil mixing with the whisk.
3. Store this in a fridge.

For the rice foam:

1. Cook the rice with the cream and saffron for 22 minutes on a low heat.
2. Once the rice is cooked, triturate in the Thermomix for 6-8 minutes and season to taste.
3. If the rice becomes too reduced, add some fish stock.
4. Once completed, place in a siphon with 2 charges and keep it warm.

For the zucchini cream:

1. Wash the zucchini and then use a mandolin to remove the skins.
2. Boil the skins in salted water for 5 minutes.
3. Remove the skins from the boiling water and cool them down in the ice water
4. Triturate the skins using the Thermomix and season with salt, oil and pepper.
5. Cool down the mixture and keep it aside.

For the Alaska crab:

1. Peel and remove the shell of the crab using scissors, being careful not to break it.
2. Once the crab is peeled, season it with a pinch of salt and place in a vacuum bag with some olive oil and cook for 10 minutes at 57ºC.
3. Once finished place it into ice water.
4. Take the biggest parts of the legs to cut into pieces, while reserving all the other parts of the legs for another preparation.

For the crab broth:

1. Peel and wash the vegetables and then chop them finely.
2. Heat the olive oil in a flat-based saucepan and then sautée the crab over high heat.
3. Remove the crab, and then add some more oil to the pan. Place the chopped carrots, garlic and onion into the pan and cook until soft.
4. Add the tomatoes and langoustine heads to the saucepan, followed by the basil and parsley.
5. Add the water, fish stock and ice and bring up to boiling and simmer over low heat, skimming frequently.
6. After 1 hour of cooking, remove from the heat and let infuse for few hours.
7. Pass it thought the sieve and reduce it.

For the crab mayo:

1. Blend the anchovy fillet with the yolk and the reduced broth.
2. Emulsify with the oils.
3. Add the piment d’Espelette and the salt.
4. Reserve for later.

For the tomato base:

1. Cut the onion into a small brunoise.
2. Cook slowly in a pot with olive oil for 30 minutes.
3. Add the crab stock and cook until reduced.
4. Add the Mata tomato and cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Cool down and reserve for later.

For the basil powder:

1. Vacuum pack the basil with the oil and infuse over 48hrs.
2. Once this is done, place 4 tablespoons of infused oil  from the vacuum pack in a bowl and add the maltodextrin.
3. Wait until the oil becomes a powder, and then store for later use.

For the rehydrated plankton:

1. Mix all the ingredients.
2. Allow the plankton to rehydrate, and assist by mixing with a spoon.
3. Transfer into a small squeeze bottle.

For the filled baby zucchini:

1. Cut the zucchini into 3cm long pieces.
2. Using a small knife, remove the white inside part of the zucchini until half way down the depth of the zucchini.
3. Blanch the hollowed baby zucchini in boiling water for 3 minutes.
4. Cool down in ice water and then dry and keep in a fridge.
5. During the service warm up some tomato base mixed with crab meat and use it to fill up the baby zucchini, then warm them up for a few minutes in the steamer before serving them.

For the pickled zucchini:

1. Place the vinegar, sugar and water into a pan and bring to a boil, then cool the pickling liquid down.
2. Using a parisiense spoon, make some small balls out of the green part of the zucchini and place them in the cooled pickling liquid. Allow time to pickle.

For the tomato concassé:

1. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, then cool them down in ice water and peel them.
2. Cut them into small concassé and season with salt, oil and chives.

Plating 

For 1 portion, place the following onto a dish:

1. Two spoons of zucchini cream, followed by the filled zucchini and the crab leg previously heated in the salamander next to it.
2. Put two portions of crab mayo and then 2 pickled zucchini bolls.
3. Sprinkle a bit of a basil powder, and then on top of the crab place a teaspoon of concassé tomato.
4. Using a brush spread some plankton in the middle of the dish, and then place the fish ontop.
5. Finish off with a bit of crab and tomato on the fish and a bit of saffron foam.

Recipe courtesy of Paolo Casagrande at Lasarte in Barcelona.