Michelin-star chef Nick Nairn shows how to turn the fruits of Scotland’s sea – landed at Peterhead – into show-stopping dishes
Today’s recipes feature two seafoods that people are sometimes a little bit wary of cooking – langoustines and squid. Rest assured, these recipes will remove all fear and make you want to eat them, often.
September is a good month for langoustines as the water is a little bit cooler. North Sea langoustines are sweet and packed with flavour, one of the most delicious things on the planet, so it’s rather frustrating when it’s sometimes difficult to get a hold of them in the north-east, when there’s so many landed at Peterhead.
If I’d to pick a dish for my last supper it would be Peterhead-landed langoustines. I’d love to see them more widely available. They’re not cheap, and they’re never going to be cheap but they are a fantastic product.
With a product as good as this, you need to keep the dish simple which is why I’ve chosen to serve them with a cocktail sauce, one that people can’t get enough of. Compared to langoustines, squid is great value for money and again, loads of quality squid are landed at Peterhead. My favourite part are the tentacles – I love them!
The recipe here comes from my good friend, Paul Rankin. This is one of his signature dishes which he has cooked at the Cook School a couple of times.
Look out for a new TV series featuring the culinary chums, Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip USA, which will be broadcast soon.
LANGOUSTINE COCKTAIL
SERVES 2
6 large langoustine
1 small Romaine lettuce
2tsp micro herbs (available in good supermarkets or use cress)
1tsp cayenne pepper
FOR THE COCKTAIL SAUCE
2tbsp Hellman’s mayo
1tbsp tomato ketchup
Dash Worcester sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
Squeeze of lemon juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Boil the large langoustines for 30 seconds then refresh in iced water and peel.
Mix everything together for the cocktail sauce.
Shred the Romaine lettuce, and place on the bottom of a serving glass (think of an old-fashioned prawn cocktail).
Add a spoonful of cocktail sauce then the halved langoustines. Top with a little more cocktail sauce then dust with cayenne pepper.
Top with dressed micro herbs and serve.
SALT CHILLI SQUID WITH ASIAN SLAW
SERVES 4
FOR THE SQUID
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
400g whole squid (cleaned quills, ink sack and beak removed, tentacles and body separated)
Potato starch
Rice flour
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper
1 egg white
FOR THE DRESSING
2tsp fish sauce
2tbsp rice wine vinegar
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch caster sugar
Pinch chilli flakes
Squeeze of lime juice
FOR THE SALAD
1 head Chinese cabbage, finely sliced
1 carrot, finely sliced
3 spring onions, finely sliced diagonally
8 salad radishes, finely sliced
1 red pepper, finely sliced
Few sprigs fresh coriander
FOR THE ASIAN-STYLE AIOLI
2 free-range egg yolks
Dash fish sauce
Dash rice wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste
300ml vegetable oil
100ml light olive oil
For the squid, chop the squid tubes with a sharp knife into rings.
Whisk the egg white with a little cold water to form a light batter (single cream thickness). Mix the potato starch, rice flour, salt, pepper and cayenne well.
Place the squid into this mix to coat. Then dip into the egg white then back into the flours until well coated.
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fat fryer or a deep, heavy-based saucepan or wok to 180C, using a thermometer to check the temperature. Hot oil can be dangerous – do not leave unattended!
Drop the prepared squid into the hot oil for one minute until golden brown, crisp and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Keep the squid warm until ready to serve.
For the dressing, whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a bowl.
For the salad, combine all the raw salad ingredients. Add half of the dressing and mix to combine. Serve the remainder of the dressing at the table.
For the aioli, place the egg yolks, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar and crushed garlic into a food processor.
With the motor running, pour in the vegetable oil in a thin, steady stream. Once the vegetable oil is all added, add the olive oil in the same way, to make a thick sauce.
To serve, place a mound of dressed salad in the centre of each of four plates, top with some of the fried squid and the aioli dotted around the plate.