7th of June and the 7th day of winter, it’s another freezing morning in Melbourne, as I walk up the alleyway between the building that used to be Shell and the Lindrum hotel, I can feel my eyeballs ache as they do when your skiing down the slope with no goggles.
I sigh relief as I enter the heavy gated security door which marks the staff entrance to the twin towers of Melbourne.
The classroom was quiet as it usually is at 9am. We start off with a quick chat about our weeks and the good food and wine show over the weekend. After reading a few chapters of thickening agents and sauces we head to the kitchens to make our fish stock and bisque.
I grabbed a slimy Rockling frame for my fish stock and start to disassemble it with a handy borrowed cleaver. Not long after we started the bisque, this was definitely one of the best smelling classes of the year; I love the smell of crayfish.
I decided to go with my roots and give the bisque a small Asian twist by adding some ginger and lemongrass and coriander, these flavors are very similar to a dish served in many restaurants with crispy egg noodles and stir fried ginger lobster or crab.
Anyway I compiled my recipe for my Bisque with a twist for you guys to try if you're interested.
Ginger and Lemongrass Infused Crayfish Bisque.
2 Lobster heads or shells
2 Blue swimmer crabs
4 Scampi heads
2 Lt Fish stock.
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Carrot
2 Sticks of celery
1 Onion
2 Bay leaves
3 Sprigs of thyme
200g Tomato paste
200 ml Dry white wine
100 ml Brandy
250 ml Cream
50gm Butter
50gm Corn flour dissolved in water
1 Chilli
80 gm Ginger
1 Stick of Lemongrass
Hand full of coriander
1) Finely dice 1 clove of garlic and 30gm of ginger set aside. Then roughly chop remaining vegetables for a mirapoix.
2) Clean crabs by removing the flap on the underside along with the head plate then remove gills and rinse under water. Roughly chop and the lobster, crab and scampi into smaller pieces, heat oil in a pot till smoking point add in the shellfish and clove of garlic and ginger fry till fragrant. Once all shells have turned bright red add the mirapoix, herbs and tomato paste and cook till vegetables are soft.
3) Add the brandy and flambé, once the flames subside, deglaze with white wine and simmer for 7 minutes. Now add the fish stock and reduce for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
4) Using a strong stick blender or food processor, blitz until the shells have all been reduced to a course grain. Return to the heat for further 10 minutes. Strain several times through a fine strainer till the liquid has no shell or grittiness into a new pot and skim off any fat appearing on the bisque.
5) Roughly chop up the remaining, garlic ginger and coriander and chili and add into the liquid and bring to the boil, reduce heat and let the flavors infuse for 15 minutes. Restrain once more. Add cream and butter and whisk to combine. Dissolve corn flour in small amount of water to create a slurry, add slowly into bisque to it reaches desired consistency. Finally season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with deep fried coriander leaves, and serve with crusty bread.
