Green-Lip Abalone with King Oyster Mushroom, Bread and Oyster. The king oyster mushrooms we use are as large as a man’s hand and are shaped very similarly to an abalone. Simple similarity in shape was enough to suggest these two ingredients go together and it was pure serendipity that allowed the same cooking method.
Serves 10
1 live green-lip abalone
1 extra-large king oyster mushroom
Oyster Mayonnaise
3 Pacific oysters
1 egg yolk,
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
75 millilitres mild virgin olive oil and 75 millilitres vegetable oil
lemon juice,
Murray River pink salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bread Wafer and chestnuts
Vegetable oil
flour
100 grams egg whites
10 chestnuts
Murray River pink salt
elderflowers
1 Take 1 live green-lip abalone and freeze it for 1 hour to kill it in a humane fashion. Shuck the abalone by carefully slipping a flexible thin palette knife underneath it on the shallow end, separating the ligament from the shell. Remove the guts, then discard. Use a sharp knife to trim off the black lips and the tough part of the foot, then
discard these.
2 Clean 1 extra-large king oyster mushroom with a damp cloth. Put the mushroom and abalone in separate sous-vide bags with a splash of extra virgin olive oil per bag. Seal the bags and compress with moderate pressure, then cook in a water bath: the mushroom for 2 hours at 62.C and the abalone for 4 hours at 85ÅãC.
3 Chill them quickly in a blast chiller or an ice bath. Refrigerate the mushroom; freeze the abalone until it is quite firm, to aid slicing.
4 To make the oyster mayonnaise, shuck 3 Pacific oysters. Blend 1. egg yolks, 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar and the oysters together with a wand blender. While blending continuously, slowly pour in 75 millilitres mild virgin olive oil and 75 millilitres vegetable oil so that the mixture emulsifies. Season to taste with lemon juice, Murray River pink salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5 To make the bread wafers, preheat the oven to 180.C. Take a large cast-iron tray and spray it heavily with vegetable oil spray, then liberally dust with flour; bang the tray to remove the excess flour.
6 Whisk 100 grams egg whites in a bowl until at soft peaks. Pour the whites onto the tray and use a pastry scraper to spread them evenly across the tray, being careful not to disturb the oil/flour coating on the tray. Sprinkle the whole tray lightly and evenly with a little Murray River pink salt. Place the tray in the oven and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the egg whites are golden and puffed away from the tray.
7 Carefully remove the puffed wafer from the tray and break into shards. Allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container until required.
8 Heat 500 millilitres vegetable oil to 190.C in a heavy based saucepan. Score 10 chestnuts with a cross on their base. Deep-fry the chestnuts for 1 minute to release their skins. Remove from the oil and peel while hot. Allow to cool and then finely slice on a mandolin.
9 Pick elderflowers into 20 small sprigs. Once the abalone is firm slice it widthwise on a meat slicer to 2 millimetres thick. Use a sharp knife to cut the mushroom into 2 millimetre thick slices.
10 To serve, scatter the abalone, mushroom and chestnut over each large, flat plate. Garnish with mounds of oyster mayonnaise and elderflowers. Finish with a few drops of orange oil and one or two bread wafers.
