Whitebait & Horopito Soufflé

With scampi bisque and kelp seaweed coated whitebait

Serves 6

Preparation 30 mins

Cooking time 1 hour

Ingredients

Scampi Stock
1 small white onion
1 small carrot
1 lemon
500g scampi
1 ½ litres water
½ tbsp gourmet vegetable stock powder

Whitebait & Horopito Soufflé
Parmesan, grated
Butter for greasing
4 tbsp butter
170g whitebait
4 tbsp white flour
1 ½ cups milk
1 tsp dried horopito
Pepper to taste
4 egg yolks
¼ cup softened cream cheese
6 egg whites

Bisque
Scampi stock
1 ½ tbsp garlic butter
1 ½ tbsp white flour
175ml heavy cream
1 tbsp dry white wine
¼ tsp dried horopito

Kelp Seaweed Coated Whitebait
30g whitebait
2 tsp corn flour
1 tbsp kelp seaweed
1 tsp baking powder

Method

Scampi Stock
Roughly chop onion, carrot and lemon into quarters (you can leave the peel on). Then add all the stock ingredients into a large pot together with whole scampi, water, stock powder and boil for 1 hour. While this is boiling, move onto the soufflé.

Whitebait & Horopito Soufflé
Preheat oven to 180°C and grease the inside of 6 ramekins with a bit of butter and then coat with grated parmesan cheese. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the white flour to make a paste (roux). Gradually add the milk while whisking briskly until the mixture thickens to coat the back of the spoon. Season with dried horopito and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a large bowl.
Whisk the egg yolks with a spoonful of the warm sauce to temper them. Combine them with the softened cream cheese and add into the sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk the 6 egg whites until they form peaks, with only the tips folding over. Gently fold the whitebait into the sauce, followed by the whisked egg whites. Pour the mixture into the prepped soufflé dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until the soufflé is fluffy and golden brown. While the soufflés are cooking in the oven, move onto the scampi bisque.

Bisque
Strain the scampi stock. In a saucepan, melt the garlic butter. Stir in the white flour to make a paste (roux). Gradually add the scampi stock, followed by the white wine and thickened cream. Whisk until the mixture runs smooth. Strain, then pour into 6 separate deep bowls. Get ready to assemble quickly!

Kelp Seaweed Coated Whitebait
Coat the whitebait in the corn flour, baking powder, and kelp seaweed seasoning, dust off the excess and deep-fry until golden. Strain, then drain on a paper towel.

Assemble

Pour the bisque into a deep bowl. Place one of the soufflés in the middle of each bowl. Top the soufflés with the crispy whitebait and caviar.

Recipe kindly supplied by

Haylee-Chanel Simeon
Owner & Executive Chef
Hayz @ The Anchorage
86 Gore Street, Bluff
hayzattheanchorage.com