Poached turbot, pumpkin ravioli with sweet cicely, black beans, vanilla emulsion
Ingredients
(serves four)
120g pumpkin purée
15g sweet cicely, chopped
8 sheets of pasta, 7cm x 7cm
1 egg yolk
2 baby pak choi
80g black beans
600ml milk
11/2 Indonesian vanilla pods, scraped and deseeded
Few strands saffron
1 bay leaf
4 x 125g turbot fillets
200ml chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1 large turnip, chopped into 1.5cm dice
Butter
25ml chilli oil
Method
Mix the pumpkin purée and sweet cicely together. Then take four of the pasta sheets and place one-quarter of the purée in the centre of each. Brush yolk round the edges and seal with the remaining four sheets. Refrigerate.
Trim the baby pak choi. Wash the black beans. Bring the milk to the boil with the vanilla pod, half the seeds, saffron and bay leaf. Simmer and poach the turbot fillets for four to five minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Meanwhile, reduce the chicken stock by half with the rest of the vanilla seed.
Cook the pumpkin and sweet cicely ravioli, trim to a round, then season. Blanch the pak choi; blanch the turnip dice. Drain both, then sweat them separately in butter, but add the black beans to the turnip dice and sweat together. Season and drain well.
Place four piles of pak choi in the centre of each plate, followed by the turbot. Top with the ravioli.
Take 375ml of the fish-poaching liquor and add to the chicken reduction. Pass. Add a knob of butter, season, froth up with a Bamix and allow to settle.
Arrange the turnip and black beans along the sides, together with the chilli oil. Spoon the vanilla emulsion over the ravioli.
Wine pairing
1999 Hochheimer Holle Riesling Spätlese Trocken from Weingut Franz Künstler in the Rheingau. This goes well with the turbot and the sweet flavours of the pumpkin ravioli with sweet cicely. It shows real Riesling character, with elegance and balance, not too much acidity and just a touch of sweetness.
