Photo by Huge Galdones
As far as I know, spanner crab is the only pre-cleaned crab meat that arrives at the door in a raw state. Coming from the waters around New Zealand, they feed off shrimp and scallops take the ocean floor and take on those characteristics in flavor. As the meat comes in raw, we have more versatility with it and have served it both as a ceviche and gently warmed with a pasta. In this case, the crab is seasoned with pink peppercorn and basil, rolled in plastic, and poached in a circulator at 140 degrees for 9 minutes.
Grapefruit, cucumber and smoked Arctic char roe came into play with the pairing. As this was the first course served, a Thai profile made sense to gently wake up the palate to the forthcoming menu. We made a consomme with blue crab and lemongrass, fried up some ginger julienne, and finished the seasoning with thai basil, pink peppercorn, and soy.
Components
Crab Roullade
BLiS Smoked Char Roe
Grapefruit (segments, gel, candied zest)
Cucumber
Cucumber Blossom
Thai Basil
Pink Peppercorn
Frizzled Ginger
Crab-Lemongrass Broth
Soy
