Cuttlefish, harissa, preserved daikon and basil

  • Side
  • 4
  • 1 hour 30 minutes plus 5-7 days for fermenting
5.00

This simple cuttlefish recipe from Ollie Templeton is served with a simple homemade harissa and daikon preserved in shio koji, for an eye-catching and light side dish. It pairs beautifully with a bottle of 2021 Cune Blanco Barrel Fermented Rioja. Although you will only need 100g of pickled daikon for this recipe, we'd recommend making a bigger batch. And if you don't fancy making it you can also buy preserved daikon at most Asian supermarkets.

First published in 2024

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

  • 800g of cuttlefish, cleaned with body, tentacles and wings
  • 3 sprigs of basil, leaves picked
  • olive oil, as needed
  • salt and pepper, as needed

Preserved daikon

Harissa

Equipment

  • Barbecue or chargrill pan

Method

1

Peel the daikon, cut it into 10 cm chunks and then wash

2

Weigh the daikon and then measure out 10% of its weight in shio koji

  • 10g of shio koji, or as needed
3

Cover the daikon evenly in shio koji and let it ferment in a vacuum bag or in a zip lock bag out of the fridge for 5–7 days

4

Once the daikon is fermented, slice it into thin rounds

5

On a barbecue or on your gas hob, burn the skin of the red pepper and red chillies all over

6

Once blackened, put them in a bowl or container with a lid and let them cool down. By trapping the steam you will lift the skin from the flesh making it easy to peel

7

Toast the cumin and black pepper and then grind them in a pestle and mortar

8

Peel the pepper and chilli and then blend them into a smooth paste

9

Season the pepper paste with olive oil, the toasted spices and sherry vinegar and then add salt to taste

  • 30g of olive oil
  • 10g of sherry vinegar
10

Score the cuttlefish on the inside of the body. Open up the tentacles and cut them into individual pieces. Cut the wings in half and season everything with olive oil, salt and pepper

  • 800g of cuttlefish, cleaned with body, tentacles and wings
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper, as needed
11

Over a very hot coal grill the three different cuts of cuttlefish, letting them char so that you have nice crunchy, smoky edges

12

Once cooked, transfer the cuttlefish to a chopping board. Thinly slice the body and add to a bowl. Add the sliced daikon and basil. Dress lightly with harissa and dish up

  • 3 sprigs of basil, leaves picked
First published in 2024

Brought up in Spain, Ollie Templeton moved back to the UK as a teenager to pursue a career as a chef. After cutting his teeth in the kitchen at Moro, he set up Carousel – a restaurant and creative hub in London – along with his brother and cousins, where he both serves his own menu and hosts an ever-changing line-up of guest chefs.

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