Following on from the success of the Westport Whitebait Festival, here is this years winning recipe, courtesy of Leah Marris, Principal of St Canice’s School. Enjoy.
BROTH:
Ingredients:
1tsp dried shrimp paste (optional)
3tsp miso paste
1 bunch spring onions
4 cups reduced salt chicken stock
1 cup shitake mushrooms
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp fish sauce
¼ cup chopped nori
Juice and zest of large lemon
Cracked pepper
Pepper and Me – Chipotle grind
Instructions:
Sweat off onions, miso and shrimp paste if using in some oil
Add all other ingredients and simmer for 45 mins.
Adjust taste – should be balance of sweet, salt, savoury
Strain
Reheat as needed
WHITEBAIT:
Ingredients: Whitebait Butter 2 eggs
Garlic salt
Dumpling wrappers
1 cabbage
1 coriander bunch
2 tbsp flour
Chilli oil
Instructions:
Dumplings Finely chop coriander and cabbage and place in mixing bowl with 1 cup white bait
Season with salt, pepper and garlic salt
Place small amount onto dumpling wrappers – fold in half and squeeze edges together (I recommend watching a youtube clip on this!)
Heat butter, and chill oil in pan on medium heat
Fry off whitebait until the outside is golden brown – rotating sporadically.
Set aside on paper towel
Whitebait pattie:
Place 1 pound of whitebait,
1 egg and 1 tbsp flour into mixing bowl and whisk Season with salt and pepper Fry in chilli oil and set aside for assembly
Crunchy garnish whitebait: Dry out ¼ cup of white bait on paper towel
Mix together 1 tbsp flour salt, pepper, garlic salt, chipotle seasoning in a bowl and scatter over the whitebait Roll the whitebait in the flour mixture Fry the whitebait in the chilli oil
EGGS:
Ingredients:
4 – 5 large eggs 2 oz in weight (plus more in case any of the eggs crack!)
For the marinade ¾ cup Mirin or Aji mirin ¼ cup regular soy sauce ¼ cup dark soy sauce if you can’t find it, substitute with an equal amount of regular soy sauce + 1 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions:
Boil a pot of water – enough to cover the eggs.
Add some salt or a little vinegar to the water (this is to prevent the egg whites from running out if there’s any cracking of eggs while cooking).
Lower the heat to medium or medium high, so that the water is still bubbling but not at a rolling boil.
Lower each egg gently into the water – try to avoid cracking
As soon as you’ve lowered all the eggs into the water, immediately set the timer as follows to cook the eggs for 6 ½ minutes
When the time is up, remove the eggs and immediately place them in a bowl with cold running water. Carefully peel the eggs.
Once peeled, place the eggs in the (cooled) marinade.
Let the eggs marinate for at least for 2 hours, or 8 – 12 hours for best results, or even up to 24 hours.
Remove the eggs from the marinade and place them in a separate air-tight container. These can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Marinade
Place the marinade ingredients in a tall container with an air-tight lid. Whisk to combine (if you added sugar,
make sure the sugar is completely dissolved).
ASSEMBLY:
1. Cook egg noodles as per packet instructions – I like to cook mine in the broth and place in bowl
2. Spoon out broth to cover the noodles and place whitebait pattie and dumplings in the bowl
3. Add garnish of choice – nori, radish, lemon, capsicum, cherry tomatoes, spring onion, coriander, radish/mung bean sprouts
4. Generously sprinkle the fried crunchy whitebait over the ramen.
