Steamed Hake with Plankton Recipe

Ingredients

• ½ tsp garlic, peeled & chopped
• 3½ oz (100 g) Parmesan, grated
• 7 oz (200 g) toasted pine nuts
• ¼ oz (5 g) garum (or anchovy extract)
• ½ tsp plankton dissolved in 200 ml (7 fl oz) olive oil
• ½ tsp plankton dissolved in 200 ml (7 fl oz) water
• 4 oyster leaves, to serve

• 3 eggs whites
• ½ tsp grated garlic
• ½ tsp finely chopped parsley
• olive oil, for frying

• 3½ oz (100 g) salt
• 1¾ pt (1 L) water
• 5¼ oz (150 g) skinless hake steaks (or any meaty white sea fish, such as cod/haddock)
• 4 sheets marbled kombu seaweed

1. Make the plankton pesto by putting the pesto ingredients (garlic, Parmesan, toasted pine nuts, garum, and the plankton that’s dissolved in olive oil), into a liquidiser and blend well. Mix in the plankton-water solution into the pesto until it forms an emulsion. Strain the pesto into a bowl and reserve.
2. To make the ‘caviar’, blend the egg whites in a liquidiser. Mix in the grated garlic and leave to infuse for an hour, and then add the finely chopped parsley. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a low heat. Add drops of the caviar mix using a pipette and cook for one minute before removing and placing in a bowl with clean oil. Repeat until all the egg whites have been cooked. Set side.
3. Prepare the hake fillets by dissolving the salt in the water, and placing the hake in the salted water for 5 minutes. Remove, drain and pat dry lightly with kitchen paper. Lay a piece of seaweed over the hake skin.
4. Steam the hake for 2½ minutes, and then place each fillet on top of a spoonful of the caviar.
5. Put a dot of plankton pesto on the plate, and draw a comb through it to make a rippled effect. Place an oyster leaf on top, and serve.