Grouper, Soursop Emulsion, Root vegetables, Clam Powder

It’s spring! And it’s time for new fresh flavours. Over the last few weeks, I have started a new journey and I’m now at a new restaurant call Constantine. It’s the first time I have ever helped open a restaurant from this close to scratch. There’ll be a post on that soon. I don't want to stray from the topic. I tapped into my roots and I’m really trying to do more dishes this way, with ideas that I have. The plan is to use what I have access to from back home and try to do something different. That has always been the end goal for me, and while I have a little free time I will practice that.

During the free time I had over the past three months I came across an awesome person. Her name is Chris Rookwood and she is a Potter. She has got a skill and eye for things that almost revoke emotion or are just downright cool. Though she hasn’t been doing this long, she has a knack for it. I reached out to her about what I do and wanted to have some fun doing a collaboration. That’s something that we are working on right now and I hope to bring you more soon. In the meantime, you need to check out her Etsy and web page to see what she is about.

After spending some time talking I came to her to see what she had in stock already made that I can maybe use for a new dish I wanted to do. We looked, and I chose an awesome plate with great textures. In this post, you will see how gorgeous her work is and hopefully you’ll get as excited about the future as I am.

This dish pays homage to my home country. I have been missing it and think this dish will be my expression of home.

Soursop is a fruit with many benefits, there’s so much you can do with it. Now soursop is funny in which it isn’t sour, what it is though, is tangy. Almost like a citrus but creamy with a subtle sweetness to the flesh. It’s also called guanabana in some countries.
Even though it’s a fruit, I was determined to do something that wasn’t a dessert. I looked, I read, did research and found very little food wise. It’s used so much as a dessert and smoothie that I was beginning to wonder if it hadn’t been used yet because it doesn’t work. There’s always that part of you wonders if you’re a mad person and the first to come up with something or if you’re so late and behind that, you don’t realize it has been done before and it doesn’t work. Don’t let those thoughts get the better of you. I wrote a few thoughts down, but one eventually sang to me. Grouper, with root vegetables, soursop emulsion, clam powder, pea shoots.

For the emulsion, I made a small tester (originally it was going to be a 50/50 ratio of whipped ricotta with soursop) but wanted to keep it dairy free. I figured it a ratio and got the recipe right. By the way, soursop is too expensive up here in Canada, so I will not be using it too often. Let’s not even talk about the grouper price. I figured out what ingredients I won’t be buying again because I might have to use my fingers for currency. Let’s get to cooking and start this recipe, shall we?

1 lb Grouper Fillet
1 Lime
3% Salt Brine
1 Soursop
2 Egg Yolks
5 G Dijon Mustard
½ Lemon Juice
250 ML Grapeseed Oil
5 New Potato
2 small Purple Carrots
3 Small Golden Beets
10 G Apple Cider Vinegar
Clams (out of shell)
Pea Shoots

Cook clams in a pan to remove moisture, feel free to add herbs and wine to add more flavour. Drain and dehydrate for 24 hours. Once dry blend into a powder. Reserve in container
Measure enough water to cover the grouper in a container, take the volume of water multiplied by 3% and that will give you how much salt to add to the water. Bring the solution to a simmer, this will dissolve the salt. Let cool, once cool pour over grouper in a container. Let sit for 1 hour, this will tighten up the grouper fillet. Once fillet has sat in solution, let dry overnight on paper. This will guarantee a crispy skin when cooked.

Take soursop, cut in half, remove seeds with hands. This can be a tedious process, but totally worth the labour. In a blender, take 4 Tbsp of Soursop and put in, add egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, and start to blend. Slowly drizzle oil in until emulsion is not tight like a mayonnaise. You may not need all the oil, adjust seasoning with salt. Save in container until ready.

Get a small pot, place potatoes in, fill with water and boil until firm, but cooked.
In a roasting pan lightly salt and oil beets and carrots and roast until tender but firm.
Once all vegetables have been cooked, peel and cut into reasonable sizes. Save in individual containers until ready.

Cook grouper in a pan over medium heat, cook 70% on skin side down. Finish with butter and lime juice.

Mix vegetables with emulsion, add vinegar, taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. Place at bottom of the plate/bowl. Sprinkle with clam powder, place pea shoots. Place the fish on top and finish with Malden salt.

I really like this dish, and this could be the beginning of something new to come to Pinch of Black Salt.