Perfectly Inspired By Pure Wasabi

Many people don't realise this, but you are often getting an imposter alongside your Japanese meal! The wasabi paste that's alongside your sushi or in a tube from the supermarket shelves is unlikely to be ‘real’ wasabi. Pure wasabi can be quite expensive, so more often that not it's  just horseradish, alongside with synthetic colour and flavour. Did you also knoiw that if you're not using pure wasabi, there are no guarantees against toxic pesticides and other harmful sprays.

At True South Dining Room we've recently started using Coppersfolly Pure Wasabi. Pure wasabi paste is the ground root of the wasabi herb plant. It is sometimes known as ‘Japanese horseradish’, however it is not actually part of the horseradish plant family. It has a similar hotness to horseradish, but what really sets pure wasabi apart is the aromatic flavour!

Once you try the REAL wasabi you won't want to go back! It opens up a whole new world on your palette. So much so that it inspired me to create a fantastic monkfish dish, made using BBQ Monkfish, oyster, Coppersfolly Wasabi, soy beetroot. rice cake and dashi.

First I cooked the monkfish sous vide in a Teriyaki-style glaze. 

Next up for seafood, a Bluff oyster is poached in dashi stock. The stock is then strained and poured over the dish at the table. I used our supplier Stewart Island Oysters, as their Bluff oysters from Stewart Island are MASSIVE, fresh and delicious - basically a superb product!

For the vegetables, I marinated red and golden beets in soy, soy beans and spring onion.

Then I really got creative! I made a of panna blancmange using rice milk, tofu and Coppersfolly Wasabi. Experimenting even further, I made a variation of rice cake using rice mixed with egg white and rice flour before cooking. 

I finished it off with some toasted sesame seeds and voilà! The dish to showcase authentic Wasabi is complete!

What To Do During the Humble Fig Season

Figs are a bit like nature’s equivalent to Marmite; you either love them or hate them!

 

Down here in Southland, the fig season only runs for a few weeks and that short run is coming to a close now but that doesn't deter us because figs are a great ingredient to use, as match well with both savoury and sweet foods. Unique and very distinctive in both flavour and texture, they make for a very interesting piece of ingredient to use.

Our True South Dining Room kitchen’s supply of figs comes from two of our favourite produce suppliers; Goodies from the Gorge and Aspiring Organics. This gives us the luxury of being able to source two varieties; Brown Turkey and Adriatic.

Because the season is so short, it makes sense to use various way to preserve some of the figs, so we can extend the season a little bit longer for many of our guests to enjoy when they come into the especially restaurant.Our answer to this has been to dehydrate them, but if you are looking for a far longer shelf life then poaching and preserving is definitely the way to go.

From the dehydrated figs we've create 'Baked Alaskas', which can then be frozen. This basically involves taking the top off and carefully scooping out the middle pulp and filling it with ice cream them putting the top back on and freezing. We then cover that with Italian Meringue and bake. Truly delicious!

They're on our Tasting Menu over the next fortnight for a limited time, so be in quick all fig lovers!