White Onion, Cod Stock and Green Pepper
Nerua
Cuisinier: Josean M. Alija
Pays: Spain
Localité: 48001 Bilbao (Vizcaya)
Adresse: Abandoibarra Etorbidea, 2
(+34) 944000430rrtt@nerua.com
M. Alija is probably the best cook in the world regarding vegetables. Only René Repzepi might compete with him. Nobody has created such a collection of dishes that have vegetables –cooked, raw, in salad– as central part of the work. Like the amazing and exquisite baby tomatoes stuffed with basil juice, some of them slightly smoked, swimming in capers consommé. Like the famous roasted aubergines with liquorice over olive oil made from millenary olive trees. Like the immeasurable and unbeatable tempered baby peas, served with egg yolk and vanilla onion. Like the red and white endives, offered raw, cooked at low temperature and caramelized, seasoned with walnut and citrus. Like the incredibly ingenious vegetal foie gras (which is in fact avocado). And the list of surprising scenes goes on and on, among which we insist on mentioning these salted onions, stewed and cooked over the embers in order to make them look like cod. It is not the first time the chef deserves a 10/10 using onions (see Caramelized red onion slices over green lentils broth in our section Great Dishes section).
La Recette
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 SERVINGS:
FOR THE ONION COOKING BROTH:
Ingredients:
500 g water
30 g laminaria digitata seaweed in salt
Method:
Desalt the seaweed in a bowl with abundant water for 5 minutes.
Put the seaweed and the vegetal broth into a vacuum bag. Vacuum-pack and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes. Put into the Roner at 60ºC for 45 minutes. Strain the obtained broth.
FOR THE COD AND GREEN PEPPER BROTH:
Cod skins broth.
Ingredients:
400 g cod skins, desalted and strained
120 g water
24 g spring onion
3 g mashed garlic clove
1 pinch of Cayenne pepper
Method:
Introduce all the ingredients into a vacuum bag, seal and cook at 62º C for 4 hours into a Roner. Strain through a fine cloth in order to remove the eventual flakes or particles, set aside and keep cool until use.
Green pepper and basil oil
Ingredients:
100 g extra virgin olive oil
150 g green pepper without stems nor seeds
2 g basil leaf
Method:
Thermomix the oil and the pepper at full speed for 15 seconds, introduce into a vacuum bag together with the basil leaf, and vacuum-pack. Put into the steam oven at 100º C for 60 minutes. Then remove from the bag, strain through a cloth pressing a bit in order to extract all the liquid absorbed by the pepper. Strain through a conical strainer to separate the water expelled by the pepper from the oil. Set the oil aside and keep the resulting liquid for other uses.
FOR THE COD AND GREEN PEPPER BROTH
Ingredients:
200 g cod skins broth
80 g green pepper and basil oil
2 g sliced garlic (without sprout)
fine salt
Method:
Put the green pepper and basil oil together with the garlic in a pan and start heating. When it starts “dancing”, remove from the heat, temper and strain.
Heat the cod broth until lukewarm. Mix to introduce air, whip slightly and pour all the pepper oil progressively into the broth until emulsifying. Salt and set aside until service.
SALTED ONIONS
Ingredients:
4 selected onions
500 g brine (15%)
Method:
Peel the onions and introduce into the brine at room temperature. Put some weight on them to prevent them from floating and let into the brine for 60 minutes. Strain the onions and set aside.
STEWED SALTED ONIONS
Ingredients:
4 salted onions
200 g laminaria digitata seaweed broth
Fine salt
Method:
Introduce the salted onions into a vacuum bag together with the seaweed broth. The weight of the liquid is 30% the onions’. Vacuum-pack and steam-bake on a rack for about 90 minutes, depending on the onions characteristics (entire, sticky texture and slightly smooth). Strain and let on a rack for 10 minutes. Introduce in a stove for 30-40 minutes at 80º C to make them dry a bit so that they don’t expel release any liquid when heated for service.
CARAMELIZED COD SKINS
Ingredients:
2 cod skins
20 g Cayenne pepper oil
Method:
Spread the oil on the skins and put between sulfurized paper sheets. Cover with another sheet and introduce into a vacuum bag. Vacuum-pack and caramelize in a steam oven for 25 minutes, on a rack. Cut the skins according the size you need.
FINISHING:
Remove the external layer of the onions. Cut in order to imitate the aspect of a cod filet. Smoke the onions over the embers until they get the typical charcoal taste. Put a piece of cod skin on each piece of onion so that it looks like a cod filet with its skin. Put on a tray, wrap with paper film and regenerate into a steam oven. Get the hot cod and green pepper broth ready and salted. Fill some pipettes with spicy oil and green pepper oil for the finishing of the dish. Give the onions a blast of heat into the salamander.
ASSEMBLY:
Pour some spoonful of cod and green pepper broth in the plate. Season the onion with some drops of spicy oil and of green pepper oil, and place over the cod and green pepper broth.
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