Recipe courtesy of Christopher Kostow

Diver Scallop and Spiny Lobster with White Soy, Cauliflower, and Egg

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  • Level: Advanced
  • Total: 1 hr 20 min
  • Prep: 1 hr
  • Cook: 20 min
  • Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Cauliflower puree:

Vegetables and shellfish:

White soy dashi butter:

Finish:

Directions

  1. To make the cauliflower puree: Trim away the stem and core from the cauliflower. Cut it into large pieces and using a food processor, process it into small pieces. In a saucepan, combine the ground cauliflower and milk and bring to a simmer, cooking until very soft. Strain the cauliflower through a sieve set over a bowl, reserving the milk. Puree the cauliflower in a blender, using only as much milk as needed to blend well. Pass through a fine sieve and season with salt and sherry vinegar, to taste. Let cool.
  2. To prepare the vegetables and shellfish: Separate the chard leaves from the stem. Cut the stems into batons and blanch them in boiling salted water until tender. Cut the leaves into a large chiffonade. Clean the wood ear mushrooms in a large bowl of water, swishing them vigorously to remove any grit. Dry on paper towels.
  3. Freeze the spiny tailed lobster just until the shell is frozen (not the meat). Use scissors to cut across the top of the shell to separate it from the meat. Carefully remove the meat, and remove the digestive track by pulling it out through the back of the lobster with a tweezer.
  4. Trim the scallops by removing the "foot" and rinsing the scallops quickly in cold water. Dry on paper towels.
  5. To make the white soy dashi butter: Put the soy sauce with dashi in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and reduce until it's syrupy. Add the cream and continue to reduce by half. Slowly whisk in the butter pieces until the mixture is well emulsified. Season with lime juice, to taste. Hold the butter at 140 degrees F.
  6. To finish: Put the lobster, mushrooms, and chard leaves and stems in the warm soy dashi butter and cook them slowly just to warm through.
  7. Heat the clarified butter in a heavy skillet until almost smoking. Add the scallops, reduce the heat, and cook until golden brown. Turn and sear the other side. The total time in the pan should be about 4 minutes. Transfer the scallops to a plate and let rest.
  8. Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Crack the quail eggs into the pan, being careful not to puncture the yolks. Cook the quail eggs sunny side up, until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny.
  9. Remove the lobster and vegetables from the butter. Slice the lobster tail into four medallions.
  10. Put four dollops of the cold cauliflower puree in the center of a plate. Top with the vegetables, a medallion of lobster, and a scallop. Place the sea urchin tongue atop the scallop and top with the fried quail egg.