Koji-cured scallop with smoked mussel and dill sauce

The oil and sauce for this dish can both be made a day in advance, which means the vast majority of the work will be done before you plan to serve

Begin by making the dill oil. Blitz the dill and oil together in a blender for 5 minutes or until bright green and smooth, then strain through muslin cloth (or a sieve lined with a j-cloth) into a bowl. Set aside to strain in the fridge 

To make the sauce, place a large saucepan over a high heat. Once smoking hot, add the mussels with the wine. Cover with a lid and cook for a few minutes, shaking the pan every now and then

Once the mussels are cooked and the shells have all opened (discard any that don’t), strain the mussels through a fine sieve and collect the liquid in a small saucepan. Place the saucepan over a medium heat and leave to simmer and reduce by half

Pick the meat from the mussels and discard the shells. Place the picked mussel meat into a bowl and cold-smoke them for 2 hours, either using a smoking gun or a cold-smoker

Once smoked, place the mussels, mineral water, kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms in a saucepan and gently heat to 80ºC. Simmer for 1 hour 

After an hour, remove the kombu and mushrooms and then simmer for a further hour. Strain the liquid into a clean pan and place it in the fridge to chill

To cure the scallops, cover them with the shio koji and leave in the fridge for 2 hours

When ready to serve, set up a large bamboo steamer. Wash and pat dry the scallops, then steam them for 6-8 minutes, depending on size. As they are steaming, stir the crème fraîche into the strained, chilled sauce and gently warm through in a pan

Stir in some dill oil to split the sauce then use a hand blender to froth it up. Divide the sauce between 8 bowls and add a scallop on top