RIVER
Serves 6
Many of our simpler ideas evolve into more complex, more challenging dishes. This dish has its roots in the “Bagel and Lox” course from 2010, and became one of the more visually striking courses that we served at Moto. The bagel puree is whipped into a bagel fluff, then piped out as a mini bagel, and dehydrated into a bagel crisp that tastes more like a bagel than a bagel does. Potato blini macaroons and saltines accompany an expanded variety of smoked fish: salmon, rainbow trout, and arctic char. (If you were thinking of the three fish that would do best in a course like this, it just so happens that they are quintessential bagel pairings.)
We present it on river rocks in a long, undulating vase, with the fish nestled into the rocks among small shoots of wheatgrass. Plastic wrap seals the top of the vase and a smoking gun shoots smoke inside. The smoke ripples and flows across the rocks, resembling the currents of a river.
Note: If you don’t have a smoker, you can put the fish in a large zipper-lock bag and fill it with smoke from a smoking gun, seal, and refrigerate, refreshing the smoke in the bag periodically, every 15 minutes or so. Alternatively, you can put the salmon on a tray set over an ice bath and put it in a cold outdoor grill. Fill your smoking tube with applewood chips, light them, and leave the tube in the closed smoker with the fish, refreshing the ice every hour or so and the chips in the smoking tube as needed.
SALMON:
100 grams salmon fillet
200 grams salt
100 grams sugar
25 grams onion powder
25 grams garlic powder
5 grams nutmeg, grated
2 grams cloves, ground
3 bay leaves, ground
4 black peppercorns, ground
RAINBOW TROUT:
100 grams rainbow trout fillet
100 grams salt
50 grams sugar
10 grams fennel fronds, finely chopped
15 grams bay leaf, ground
ARCTIC CHAR:
100 grams arctic char fillet
200 grams salt
50 grams granulated sugar
50 grams dark brown sugar
10 grams pink peppercorns, ground
5 grams eucalyptus leaf, ground
5 green cardamom pods, ground
POTATO BLINI MACAROONS:
75 grams almond flour
75 grams confectioners’ sugar
30 grams egg whites, divided
24 grams water
75 grams granulated sugar
14 grams potato flour
2 grams chive powder
0.5 gram salt
CRÈME FRAÎCHE FILLING:
25 grams crème fraîche
10 grams fresh lemon juice
A few grains of salt
EVERYTHING BAGEL SEASONING:
20 grams garlic powder
20 grams black sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds
20 grams white sesame seeds
20 grams shallot flakes
BAGEL CRISPS:
100 grams water
20 grams toasted bagel
1.4 grams methylcellulose (see Sources, here)
0.5 gram xanthan gum (see Sources, here)
0.2 gram Versawhip (see Sources, here)
CREAM CHEESE:
20 grams cream cheese
SALTINE CRACKERS:
220 grams all-purpose flour
2 grams baking powder
1.5 grams salt
30 grams cold vegetable shortening
60 grams whole milk
GARNISH:
50 grams fresh wheatgrass
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Smoker
River rocks
Smoking gun or Super Aladin Smoker (see Sources, here)
6 rectangular vases
SALMON:
Check the salmon for any remaining pin bones and remove, if necessary. Put the salt, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, cloves, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Put a layer of cure on the bottom of a baking dish just large enough to hold the salmon. Put the salmon on a bed of the cure and then cover with the remaining cure, being sure the salmon is encased in the seasonings. Cover and refrigerate for 5 hours.
Set a wire rack on a sheet pan. Rinse the fish under cold, running water to remove any excess cure. Pat the fish dry and set it on the rack. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 8 to 12 hours to develop a dry skin—a pellicle—on the surface of the fish.
Cold smoke the salmon for 5 hours. Portion into 6 bite-sized portions—you may have some extra—and reserve in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
RAINBOW TROUT:
Check the rainbow trout for any remaining pin bones and remove, if necessary. Put the salt, sugar, fennel, and bay leaf in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Put a layer of cure on the bottom of a baking dish just large enough to hold the trout. Put the trout on a bed of the cure and then cover with the remaining cure, taking care to fully encase the fish in the seasonings. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Set a wire rack on a sheet pan. Rinse the fish under cold, running water to remove any excess cure. Pat the fish dry and set it on the rack. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 8 to 12 hours to develop a pellicle on the surface of the fish.
Cold smoke the trout for 3 hours. Portion into 6 bite-sized portions—you may have some extra—and reserve in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
ARCTIC CHAR:
Check the arctic char for any remaining pin bones and remove, if necessary. Put the salt, sugar, brown sugar, pink pepper-corns, eucalyptus, and green cardamom in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Put a layer of cure on the bottom of a baking dish just large enough to hold the char. Put the char on a bed of the cure and then cover with the remaining cure, being sure the char is encased in the seasonings. Cover and refrigerate for 5 hours.
Set a wire rack on a sheet pan. Rinse the fish under cold, running water to remove any excess cure. Pat the fish dry and set it on the rack. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 8 to 12 hours to develop a pellicle on the surface of the fish.
Cold smoke the char for 4 hours. Portion into 6 bite-sized portions—you may have some extra—and reserve in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
POTATO BLINI MACAROONS:
Preheat the oven to 275°F.
Sift the almond flour and confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl; whisk to aerate and combine. Add 13 grams of the egg whites and mix with a rubber spatula to make a paste. Put the water and sugar in a small saucepot and cook, stirring constantly, until the syrup reaches 240°F. Place the remaining 17 grams of egg whites in a medium bowl and use a hand mixer to whip them to soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, drizzle in the hot sugar and continue to whip the egg whites until medium peaks form but the meringue is still soft. Use a rubber spatula to fold the whipped egg whites into the almond flour mixture in three additions. After the second addition of meringue, fold in the potato flour, chive powder, and salt. Fold in the last addition of meringue and transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip. Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat and pipe out sixteen ¾-inch rounds, approximately ½ inch thick, leaving an inch of space between them on the sheet. Try to drag the tip across the top as you finish to avoid making small peaks in the meringue. Let the tray stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the macaroons are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring the macaroons to a cooling rack. Reserve at room temperature until ready to fill with Crème Fraîche Filling.
CRÈME FRAÎCHE FILLING:
Put the crème fraîche, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl and whisk for 1 minute, until incorporated. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto the flat side of half of your Potato Blini Macaroons. Top each one with another macaroon, flat side down. Reserve the macaroons until ready to serve.
EVERYTHING BAGEL SEASONING:
Put the garlic powder, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, and shallots in a bowl and whisk to blend. Reserve to season the Bagel Crisps.
BAGEL CRISPS:
Preheat the oven to 200°F.
Put the water and toasted bagel in a blender and puree for 1 minute, until the mixture in warm. Turn the blender to low and sprinkle in the methylcellulose, xanthan gum, and Versawhip. Once the powders have been absorbed, puree for 1 minute. Transfer the bagel mixture to a piping bag fitted with a medium plain tip. Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat. Pipe out 12 circles, shaped like bagels, 1½ inches in diameter. Dust the bagels with Everything Bagel Seasoning. Dry in the oven for 2 hours, until the Bagel Crisps are completely dry. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and store until ready to serve.
CREAM CHEESE:
Put the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and whip until soft. Transfer to a piping bag. Just before serving, pipe cream cheese on the flat side of 1 bagel crisp, and then top with another bagel crisp to make a bagel sandwich. Repeat to make 6 sandwiches.
SALTINE CRACKERS:
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Add the shortening and mix with your hands until little beads of flour form. Add the milk and mix until a dough is formed. Lightly flour your countertop and roll out the dough until it is a rough rectangle, about ¼ inch thick. Use a docker or a fork to dock the dough. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the top of the dough and then square off the edges and cut it into 1-inch squares. Lay them out on a sheet pan, leaving at least 1 inch of space between the crackers, and bake for 7 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack until ready to serve.
TO FINISH:
Fill the bottom of a long rectangular vase with river rocks. Top the rocks with 1 piece of Salmon, Rainbow Trout, and Arctic Char. Wedge 2 to 3 bunches of wheatgrass in the rocks to resemble river greenery. Cover the vase with plastic wrap and pull it tight over the top. Use an X-acto blade or a very sharp knife to trim the excess plastic wrap, creating a seamless effect. Poke a hole in 1 corner of the plastic wrap and then use a smoking gun to fill the vase with smoke to resemble the river water and enhance the smokiness of the fish. Put three 5-gram dollops of Cream Cheese filling on each of the separate side plates. Top each dot with a Potato Blini Macaroon, a Saltine Cracker, and a Bagel Crisp. Repeat with the 5 remaining vases, remove the plastic wrap, and serve immediately.
