Sea Urchin Crudo / Desert Lime Poblano Chilli Koshō

Ingredients

Fresh Sea Urchin or Tongues if available at your fishmonger

Poblano Chilli Koshō:

(Note: recipe will need to be started a week in advance)

500g fresh poblano (skin blistered/peeled and seeds removed) should yield 250g flesh

250g whole long green chilli (deseed flesh) should yield 175g flesh)

80g fresh desert limes (frozen prior)

3 limes zested and juiced

4 percent of total weight in salt

For this recipe you will need to chop the poblano chilli flesh by hand as finely as you can as it will turn to puree if you blend it. However you can chop the deseeded green chilli in a blender being careful to not completely liquidity it. Add this to a bowl with the roasted flesh then in the same blender blitz the desert limes from frozen. (The freezing process helps with the juice and makes it easier than chopping by hand). Add the desert lime, lime zest and lime juice to the chillies.

At this point if you are a little short of any of the ingredients above due to preparation it is perfectly fine as this is why we add 4% salt of the total weight of ingredients for fermentation.

In a new bowl weigh all the prepared ingredients and mix the 4% salt so its evenly distributed. Place in a sterilised jar and loosely place the lid on so nothing can get in but any gases can get out. (The jar needs to be bigger than the volume yielded as it will expand as it starts to ferment).

Store the jar at room temperature for the first two days opening it twice a day to allow the gas from fermentation to escape. After two days place the lid on tightly and put in the fridge to continue slowly ferment. The flavour will continue to get better with time taking care to use clean utensils when using the ferment so it doesn’t spoil.

Dressing

150g gluten free soy

150g sherry vinegar

150g filtered water

150g sesame oil

3 tablespoons above recipe (Ready made Yuzu Koshō can be purchased at Asian Grocers if not making Koshō above)

Mix all together in a bowl and store in an air tight jar. This dressing is handy to have around to dress anything from raw fish to steamed fish.

To serve

Place one or two of the cleaned fresh urchin tongues in a small dish and dress with a teaspoon or two of dressing and garnish with some warrigal greens or your favourite herb from the garden.

If you enjoy oysters the sea urchin and this dressing is a luxurious addition to a quality Australian oyster. My favourite farmer would be Ewan McAsh with leases on the Clyde Rive, Batemans Bay.