Snow crab, daikon radish, wild garlic and grapefruit jelly

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This snow crab salad recipe from Montréal's Le H4C is a fantastic celebration of Canada's native seafood. Paired with a crab hollandaise sauce, wild garlic purée and grapefruit jelly, this starter makes an impressive start to a meal.

First published in 2016

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Snow crabs

Grapefruit jelly

  • 5 gelatine leaves
  • 945ml of iced water
  • 475ml of grapefruit juice, fresh
  • 50g of caster sugar

Snow crab butter

Snow crab hollandaise

Mayonnaise

Snow crab salad

Wild garlic purée

Daikon garnish

Method

1
To begin, make the grapefruit jelly. Have ready a shallow 8-inch square glass dish. Place the gelatine in a small bowl, cover with the ice water and allow to bloom for about 10 minutes. While the gelatine is blooming, combine the grapefruit juice and sugar in a medium saucepan
2
Drain the gelatine and add it to the grapefruit juice. Bring to a boil over a high heat, then remove from the heat, pour into the dish and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3
To prepare the snow crabs, rinse them under running water. Using a nut cracker, crack the shells and pick out the meat with a fork. Transfer the meat to a bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate until you make the salad. Using a chef’s knife, chop the crab carcasses into 1-inch pieces
4
To make the snow crab butter, heat the grapeseed oil in a large pan over high heat until it reaches smoking point. Add the crab carcasses and roast for about 3 minutes
5
Stir in the tomato paste and the butter, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes without browning. Turn off the heat, cover and allow to infuse for 30 more minutes. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a clean bowl, pour the mixture through it and discard the solids. Weigh out 510g of the butter – this will later be used to make the hollandaise
6
To make the mayonnaise, place the egg yolks, Dijon mustard, Tabasco sauce and champagne vinegar in a small bowl. Whisk gently until well-mixed and season with salt. Pour in the grapeseed oil, whisking continuously, until you have a mayonnaise with a semi-firm consistency. Set aside
7
Place the crabmeat in a large bowl and season with salt. Stir in 1 tbsp of the mayonnaise, the shishito, basil and a dash of olive oil. Mix well. Finish with a hint of lime juice – you can keep the rest of the mayonnaise for about 7 days in the refrigerator
8
To make the wild garlic purée, fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring a large pan of salted water to boil over high heat, add the spinach and wild garlic leaves and blanch for 30 seconds. Using tongs, transfer the spinach to the ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain well, then transfer the spinach and wild garlic to a blender. Season with salt and olive oil and process until smooth
9
For the daikon garnish, cut 8 slices of daikon using a mandoline and place in a small bowl. Season with salt and olive oil
10
For the hollandaise sauce, place a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Using a whisk, beat the egg yolks and the water until the mixture is thick and has doubled in volume, for about 3 minutes
11
Remove the bowl from the heat, then slowly whisk in the melted crab butter, a little at a time, until well-incorporated. Stir in the lemon juice, Tabasco and salt
12
To serve, divide the wild garlic purée between 4 plates. Mound 2 'hills' of crab onto each plate and cover them with a slice of daikon. Garnish with 5 cubes of grapefruit jelly and 3 spoonfuls of hollandaise. Enjoy!
First published in 2016

Restaurant Le H4C in Montréal reflects the unusual union of an innovative architectural firm – Dimension 3 – and that of a talented chef, Dany Bolduc.

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