As part of the Tivoli Food Festival, Erin Sykes, head chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant Texture, shares her recipe for red mullet with a rich and creamy sabayon – served with asparagus and fennel.
Servings: 4 Prep time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
4 red mullets
16 asparagus spears
2 fennel bulbs
150 g vermouth
50 g butter
90 g egg yolks
300 g white wine
300 g cream
50 g apple cider vinegar
10 sprigs thyme
8 g salt
Salt to taste
Instructions
Fillet the fish. Pat the fillets dry and season them with salt. Reserve the bones.
Break off the bottom of the asparagus. Cut off the bottom of the fennel and remove all the green tops. Slice the fennel stem into thin slices.
Place the fish bones, white wine, cream, asparagus and fennel trimmings, and 5 sprigs thyme in a pot. Bring to a boil and let the liquid reduce to less than half. Strain the liquid and set aside for later. Discard the solids.
Add the egg yolks, apple cider vinegar, salt and 1/3 of the reduced cream mixture to a metal bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Whisk continuously until the mixture becomes light and thick – at approximately 65-70 degrees. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the remaining cream reduction until you reach the desired consistency and taste.
Fry the fennel slices on very high heat. When they start to stick, deglaze the pan with vermouth. Once the vermouth has evaporated, add butter, asparagus tips, leaves from the remaining thyme and salt to taste. Finish cooking the vegetables in the butter.
Clean the pan and add oil. Fry the mullet skin-side down on high heat until the skin is crispy. Finally, flip the fish and remove it from the pan immediately.
Plate the fish and vegetables and pour the sauce over.
