Chef Nicolas Sintes
From Chef:
“For this recipe, I’ve chosen the bottom loin and smoked it. Delicate and firm with a buttery texture, the bottom-loin yellowtail belly is rich and fatty. To balance the taste and texture of the fish, the acidity of blood oranges and the freshness of fennel create a light appetizer.”
Serves 1 – 2
Ingredients
For the fish:
- 1 bottom loin of Dutch Yellowtail
- 200 g / ¾ cup salt
- 100 g / ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 blood orange zest
For the dashi gelee:
- 1 fish head
- 50 g / 1 ¾ cups fennel
- 50 g / 1 ¾ cups celery stalk
- 50 g / 1 ¾ cups onion
- 1 garlic glove
- 500 g / ¼ cup of water
- 30 g / 4 cups dry bonito flakes
- 2 g / 1 tsp of agar
For the garnish:
-
- 1 blood orange
- 1 fennel
- 40 g / 1 ml of olive oil
- 1 bunch of dill
- some sea fennel
Preparation:
-
For the fish:
Lift the fish and keep the tuna belly for the recipe. Reserve, of course, all the other parts of the fish for other recipes. Prepare the mixture of salt, sugar, and orange zest to coat our yellowtail belly with salt for 20 minutes. Once the fish is marinated with salt, rinse it thoroughly. Next, smoke the fish using a smoking gun for 10 minutes. Slice into thin pieces before serving.
For the dashi:
Slice the head in half, and add in a medium pan with the water, the chopped garnish and the bonito flakes. Cook on low heat for 20 minutes. Pass into a chinois and add the agar, boil the mixture for 2 minutes. Place a base of broth in the plate and let the gelee set in the refrigerator.
For the garnish:
Remove the orange supremes and squeeze the trimmings to extract the juice. Mix it with olive oil to make a vinaigrette. Cut the fennel into small quarters, blanch it first in salted water to set the color, and then place it in the vinegar marinade. Retrieve the dill fronds.
To finish the plate:
Arrange the smoked fish on the delicate dashi jelly and finish with the garnish and the vinaigrette.