Crayfish with Spicy Moromiso Mayonnaise Sauce

Charlie Smith/Lauren Freeman

Chef Makoto Tokuyama, co-owner of Cocoro restaurant, has a talent for artfully blending the best of Japanese gastronomy with the finest locally sourced and unmistakably New Zealand ingredients. The results are sublime. As regulars of chef Tokuyama’s elegant, multi-award-winning dining room, Simply You Living has asked him to create, exclusively for us, a feast we could prepare for family and friends.

Ingredients

200 g	Mayonnaise, Moro-miso (see below)
2	Crayfish, 500g each (Main)
1 sprinkle	Breadcrumbs
1 sprinkle	Seaweed, aonori

Spicy Moro-miso Mayonnaise Sauce

1	Egg, yolk only
142 ml	Canola oil
8 ml	Rice vinegar, (Uchibori brand)
5 g	Chilli paste, gochujang
3 g	Chilli sauce, with garlic (Lai Kam Kee brand)
1 tsp	Sesame oil, (Kadoya brand)
100 g	Moro-miso, a type of Japanese miso
1 g	Shichimi, (Japanese spice mixture)
10 g	Colby cheese, shredded or grated
10 g	Mozzarella cheese, shredded or grated

Directions

1. Place the live crayfish in a large pot of two-percent-salted boiling water. The temperature of the water should not drop when the crayfish is put into the pot. Heat until 80% cooked. This should take 6-7 minutes for a 500g crayfish.
2. Remove crayfish from the pot. Cool with iced water and rest crayfish until the meat juice settles.
3. Cut crayfish in half and remove meat from shell. Cut into bite-sized pieces then place back in the shell.
4. Spread the spicy moro-miso mayonnaise (see below) on top, about 50-60g per half crayfish. Put breadcrumbs on top of the sauce and grill for 7-9 minutes in a hot oven (200-250degC), until the surface is golden. Sprinkle aonori seaweed on top to serve.

Spicy Moro-miso Mayonnaise Sauce

To make the mayonnaise base, beat yolk until thick and white. Add canola oil and rice vinegar slowly, whisking vigorously. To make the sauce, add remaining ingredients and mix well.