Lobster roe

  • medium
  • 4 hours 30 minutes
Not yet rated

This extravagant dish by Quique Dacosta is simply titled 'Lobster Roe', but contains well over a dozen different elements. The lobster is served with sea urchin, deep-fried snow fungus mushrooms, two different types of carrageenan and a creamy tomato and prawn sauce. In the restaurant, the whole dish is served in a combination of lobster shells and beautiful sea shells.

First published in 2023

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Lobster

  • 5l sea water, plus extra for chilling the lobster
  • 1 lobster, about 700g, with large pincers

Sea urchin

  • sea urchin, the restaurant uses Dénia sea urchina

American lobster base

Creamy lobster roe

  • sunflower oil, chilled
  • ice
  • 0.4g of yellow food colouring, powdered type
  • 2.5g of red food colouring, liquid type
  • 2.5g of agar agar

Creamy codium roe

  • sunflower oil, chilled
  • ice
  • 1.5g of codium powder
  • 1.2g of green food colouring, liquid type
  • 2.5g of agar agar

Mayonnaise

  • 125g of aquafaba
  • 300g of grapeseed oil
  • salt

Lobster gazpachuelo

  • 0.8g of xanthan gum
  • salt

Shellfish consommé

Snow fungus

Shellfish gelée

  • 1.6g of agar agar

Tempura codium mushrooms

  • 200g of mineral water
  • 5g of fresh yeast
  • 150g of plain flour
  • 80g of trisol (wheat dextrin)
  • 2g of salt
  • 2g of cane sugar
  • codium seaweed, trimmed so that it resembles coral
  • sunflower oil, for deep frying

Moss

Garnish

Method

1

Bring the seawater to the boil in a wide casserole dish and then turn down the heat

  • 5l sea water
2

Drop in the lobster and keep the mixture gently bubbling for 9 minutes

  • 1 lobster, about 700g, with large pincers
3

Remove, and then cool quickly in ice-cold seawater for at least 20 minutes

4

Carefully remove the whole lobster carcass and cut it lengthwise, and then into thick half medallions. Remove the legs and claws, taking care not to break them and remove all the meat. Make thick half medallions as you did with the body. Set aside the heads for the American lobster base

5

With the help of scissors, open the sea urchins and separate the tongues with a spoon. Put them aside, with a little of their filtered water, in a tupperware. To serve, drain on fish paper. We use 3 yolks per dish

  • sea urchin, the restaurant uses Dénia sea urchina
6

Sauté the carabinero prawns and the lobster heads in the butter, then add the garlic and vegetables

7

Add the water and tomato sauce, bring to the boil and add the cream. Boil gently for 15 minutes and then leave to stand for a while

8

Strain through a fine chinois and strain again without pressing. Season to taste with salt

9

For the creamy lobster roe, add the oil to a bowl and place the bowl over ice

  • sunflower oil, chilled
  • ice
10

Mix 250g of the American base with the food colouring and the agar in a saucepan and bring to the boil whilst gently stirring with a whisk. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for 2 minutes

  • 0.4g of yellow food colouring, powdered type
  • 2.5g of red food colouring, liquid type
  • 2.5g of agar agar
11

With the help of a cooking syringe, drip drops of oil onto the cold oil and leave to set. Strain, and set aside

12

For the creamy codium roe, put the oil in a bowl over ice as above

  • sunflower oil, chilled
  • ice
13

Mix 250g of the American base with the codium powder, food colouring and the agar in a saucepan

  • 1.5g of codium powder
  • 1.2g of green food colouring, liquid type
  • 2.5g of agar agar
14

For them mayonnaise, emulsify the oil into the aquafaba. Season with salt

  • 125g of aquafaba
  • 300g of grapeseed oil
  • salt
15

For the lobster gazpachuelo, bring 250g of the American base to a simmer and then remove it from the heat. Emulsify the xanthan gum into the sauce and then add 100g of the mayonnaise in several batches. Season to taste, cool and set aside

  • 0.8g of xanthan gum
  • salt
16

Mix the mussels and water in a pot with a lid and bring to the boil for a few minutes until the mussels open and release all their water. Strain through a fine sieve

17

Cover again, and bring to the boil together with the seaweed until boiled and then turn the heat off

18

Add the sliced lemon and stir a little. Leave to infuse for 5 minutes then strain through a chinois and pass through a cheesecloth, without any of the sediment. You will get approximately 6 litres. We add 20g of salt for each 6 litres we get

19

Clean and wash the snow fungus thoroughly. Cut each one into 2-3 pieces

20

Blanch the snow fungus from cold, then wash again

21

Cook in the shellfish consommé in a covered pan for about 30 minutes (depending on the fungus). Once the fungus is cooked, chill it and then divide into portions. Set aside, with a little of the shellfish consommé

22

For the shellfish gelée, dissolve the agar in 500g of shellfish consommé, then leave it to set and break into pieces to serve

  • 1.6g of agar agar
23

For the tempura batter, first dilute the yeast in 100g of water and then add the other 100g of water. Mix the flour and the trisol together with the salt and sugar. Add the yeasty water bit by bit while mixing with a whisk so that you avoid any lumps forming. Ferment in a warm place for 1 hour

  • 200g of mineral water
  • 5g of fresh yeast
  • 150g of plain flour
  • 80g of trisol (wheat dextrin)
  • 2g of salt
  • 2g of cane sugar
24

Cut the codium into the shape of a coral and heat the sunflower oil up to 180°C for deep frying

  • codium seaweed, trimmed so that it resembles coral
  • sunflower oil, for deep frying
25

Using tongs, dip the codium in the tempura batter. Fry in the hot oil until crisp, then drain on absorbent paper. Set aside in a food dehydrator at 60°C until ready to serve

26

Cook each of the sea mosses separately in sea water for 10 minutes, then cool each of them quickly in ice-cold sea water

27

To serve, first put some shellfish gelée at the base of the plate. Then add the boiled lobster meat, the cooked snow fungus and the sea urchin. Top this with the cooked mosses and the raw codium. Top this with the two different creamy roes (lobster and seaweed), the boiled lobster roe and the beluga caviar. Finish with the tempura codium. Serve the lobster gazpachuelo in a separate shell

A driving force behind produce-led dining in the autonomous community of Valencia, Quique Dacosta has revolutionised the region’s dining scene, and is now spreading his influence further afield.

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