Chilled Black Garlic Noodles with Lumpfish Caviar

An invitation to a degustation lunch at Gordon's Grill, Goodwood Park Hotel, gave me the opportunity to taste the much hyped Cold Japanese Noodles with caviar.  I decided to creat my own version with home made black garlic noodles. The noodles takes less than a minute in boiling water to reach the right texture. For the sauce, I used ponzu, tare sauce, mirin, olive oil and truffle oil. The noodle is mixed in the sauce and chilled. For garnish, finely chopped chives, seaweed and half a teaspoon of red Lumpfish caviar. The slighty salty flavour of caviar with a nice crunchy pop combines well with the aroma of truffles to give this chilled black garlic noodle a surprising delicious taste.

You can buy black garlic here.

Mussel Escabeche

This is a rustic Spanish tapas dish that can be prepared in advance. It is served chilled and perfect with a glass of beer or wine and crusty bread. I used the pacific black mussels for its meatiness. In a medium pot, add 60 ml of white wine, bay leaves and mussels. Cover and cook over medium heat.  As soon as mussels open, remove them. When cool, remove mussels from shells.  Strain and reserve the cooking liquid.

To make escabeche, heat olive oil, shallot, garlic, pinch of salt and saute until shallot is soft. Add vinegar, peppercorns, paprika, and remaining wine and simmer for about 5 minutes. When the escabeche is cool, stir in the mussels. Pour into a shallow dish, cover and refrigerate overnight.

NB: For a more spicy escabeche, add 1 dried chilli when making the escabeche.

Serves 4 Tapas Rations
750 g mussels
100 ml white wine
40 ml white wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
20 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
5 black peppercorns
Pinch of salt
Optional: 1 dried red chilli

I created a  mussel escabeche bruschetta with baked bell peppers (marinated in herbs infused olive oil) and black garlic over a slice of home made foccacia.

Mooncake with Black Garlic and Chestnut

It is the mid-autumn festival and I decided to have a go at making snow skin mooncake. Almost all mooncakes available commercially has a high sugar content, usually made with lotus paste, and fairly unhealthy when paired with salted egg yolk. I decided to create my own blend, pure chestnut puree with black garlic paste, some olive oil and butter, without adding any crystalline sugar. Fermented black garlic has none of the garlic sharpness, a natural sweetness with a hint of balsamic. I rely on this for the overall taste. I would say, this mooncake has the highest antioxidant and polyphenol level in the market. As it turns out, bonishimo!

Gambas al Ajillo Negro

Gambas al Ajillo is a classic Spanish cuisine often served as a tapas. It is commonly prepared with prawns sauteed in olive oil, bay leaves, dried chilli and cloves of delectable garlic. Here, I create a variation using black garlic. The soft, mellow molasses-like richness of the black garlic contrasts with the succulent savoury prawns, giving this popular dish a new twist.

For a comparison of both flavours at the same time, I have this black and white garlic version.