Sage and Mint Oil, Hisbiscus Salt, Salmon Sashimi

I am used to eating sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce pairing. I want to try something different. The method of making the sage oil comes from Thomas Keller's French Laundry cook book. I infused the sage oil with mint and it gives it a rich deep, green colour. The mint replaces the wasabi and gives it a different form of ahi. The oil is prepared at least 24 hours ahead to get the maximum flavour. The hisbicus is an edible flower. Hibiscus salt is often used in middle eastern cooking. Here I use the dried Hisbiscus Roselle (aka Hibiscus sabdariffa) and pound them in a mortar with Himalayan rock salt.

Spinach, Mango and Seafood Salad

Soaking peeled prawns in ice water and bicarbonate of soda makes it firmer and crunchy. Besides, it eliminates the fishy odour, especially important if you are making seafood salad.
I used fresh mussels as well. As soon as it opened in the boiling water, it is plunged into ice cold water. For the dressing, I use cider vinegar, sherry vinegar, honey, olive oil... nicely balanced and you get to taste the freshness of vegetable, fruit and seafood.

Cream of Black Mussel Soup

It is not common to find black mussels in my country. When I came across imported live ones from Australia, I was all to happy to get it. The presentation for this recipe came from one of Alain Ducasse's cookbook. Personally, I do not like too much cream in my soup. I use lima beans (aka butter beans) and soy beans to give it a milky texture, and reduce the usual amount of heavy cream by seventy five percent. The fish stock and juices from the mussles make this soup extra ordinarily flavorful.

Lima Beans and Watercress Soup

For this soup, I do away with cream altogether, making it a lot healthier. In its place, I use lima beans to give it the added density. Chicken or fish stock provides the soup base, and shreds of crispy hickory smoked bacon provide the garnishing. A few drops of truffle oil and a pinch of paprika complete the presentation.

Sous Vide Beef and Mango Salad

You do not need a beef tenderloin or a wagyu to have a juicy, tender and flavorful beef for salad.
I use the Australian 1824 chuck primal cut, sous-vided 75 minutes at 60 deg C. The beef was seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika, then seared on a hot skillet for 30 sec on each side. For the salad, I have mango, apples and spinach with a dressing of honey, red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

Sous Vide Braised Pork Belly

This pork belly has an awesome texture, very tender and tasty.

The pork was marinated for 10 hours in brine water, made of sea salt, brown sugar, and powders of star anise, cinnamon, cardamon, clove, black peppercorn, dried chilli, and coriander seeds. It is then sous-vided for 32 hours at 63 deg C, and pressed down overnight to improve the texture. The skin is removed, fat scored, and pan fried over medium heat till crispy.

The rich juices from the pork, reduced with shaoxing wine, makes excellent dipping sauce. It pairs very well with sauteed Granny Smith apples in brown sugar, cider vinegar and cinnamon.