Makes 24 butties
Ingredients
Preserved lemon mayo
½ cup mayonnaise
1 preserved lemon, zest only, finely diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Tempura batter
2 egg yolks
½ cup canola oil
375ml soda water
1 cup self-raising flour
To cook and serve
12 slices white bread
Water cress, to serve
Cooking oil, for deep-frying
24 scallops
½ lemon, for squeezing
Method
1. To make the preserved lemon mayo, combine the ingredients in a small bowl, then refrigate until required.
2. Make the batter. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and oil together. Stir through the soda water. Using a fork, gently stir in the flour, making sure to not over-mix. Refrigerate until required.
3. Take a small cookie cutter that gives you four rounds of bread from each slice of bread; you should have 48 rounds. Lay the bread rounds out on a clean work surface. Smear a little preserved lemon mayo on each round, then top just half of the rounds with a sprig of watercress.
4. Heat the oil in your deep-fryer or add a decent amount of cooking oil to a heavy-bottomed saucepan. You want to cook the battered scallops at 180C. To get a gauge on the temperature of the oil, drop a cube of bread into it when you think it’s near 180C. It should turn golden in around 60 seconds.
5. Once the oil is hot, dip the scallops into the tempura batter, letting most of the batter drip off. Add six or eight scallops at a time to the pan, and cook for about a minute to a minute and a half, until the batter has just begun to turn golden. Repeat with the remaining scallops.
TO SERVE: Place the cooked battered scallops on the 24 bread rounds with just the lemon mayo on them. Give them a squeeze of lemon juice, then place the watercress-lined lids on top, spear together with a toothpick and place on a plate to serve.
tuatua and kumara fritters with egg, gherkin and caper mayonnaise
Makes 12 large or 24 small fritters
Ingredients
Egg, gherkin and caper mayo
1 cup mayonnaise
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and rough chopped
¼ cup gherkins, finely diced
¼ cup capers, rinsed and finely chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
Fritters
650g tuatua meat
350g kumara, cut into 1cm dice
½ cup finely diced red onion
¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
? cup basil leaves, finely chopped
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
3 eggs
¾ cup plain flour
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cooking oil, for frying
Lemon halves, to serve
Method
1. To make the egg, gherkin and caper mayo, place all the ingredients in a bowl, mix together then refrigerate until required.
2. Take the tuatua and place in a colander to drain. Now roughly chop and place in a medium-sized bowl.
3. For the kumara, place in a small saucepan, cover with salted cold water, then place over high heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, until just soft through. Drain, spread on a tray and let cool.
4. Add the kumara to the bowl with the tuatua, followed by the onion, chilli sauce, basil and lemon juice. Mix through.
5. With a stick blender, mix the eggs and flour together in a bowl to create a thick batter. Add to the tuatua mixture and mix through. Take the stick blender and blend about a cup of the mix, then fold this back (this will help bind the fritter together). Season with salt and pepper, and refrigerate until required.
6. Place a cast-iron pan over medium heat. Once hot, add a splash of oil and cook off one small fritter to check and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
7. Cook the fritters to your desired size, until golden and cooked through. They should take a couple of minutes on each side.
TO SERVE: Serve with the egg, gherkin and caper mayo, and lemon halves on the side.
Eat Up New Zealand by Al Brown, Allen & Unwin, RRP $65.00.
