Culinary
COOKING WITH TEA
Salmon with Charred Leek
A little bit of bitterness balances the palate.
Enjoy These Blends
Luxury tea blender to Michelin chefs, five star hotels & tea lovers alike.
Established 1994
Salmon with Charred Leek
“Making the powdered charred leek took a long time. I first charred the leeks very slowly until it was nearly petrified. 300 degrees develops an umami flavor that complements the sweetness of the Sugar Plum Fairy blend. I added the tea to the mix, charred it for another hour, and got it to a nice, rich, dark black color. Then, I cooled, pulverized, and sieved it to a fine powder. A faster way could have been torching the leeks and setting it over a flame, but I wanted to develop the bitter and umami flavors slowly to yield a better product. If I did it too quickly, you would taste more char and gassiness, whereas there’s more depth if you go slower.” - Marck Banagan, Executive Sous Chef at The Palace Hotel San Francisco
Servings: 1
Keywords:
- Prep Time: 0 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hours 0 mins
- Total Time: 1 hours 0 mins
Ingredients
Smoked Honey
- 500 mL Honey
- ¼ Cup TEALEAVES Organic Sugar Plum Fairy Loose Leaf Tea
- 1 Arbol Chili
- 1 Star Anise
- 1 Tbsp. Coriander Seeds
- 1 Tsp. Mustard Seeds
- ½ Tsp. Black Peppercorns
Tea-Leek Ash
- 250 Grams Leeks
- 250 Grams TEALEAVES Organic Sugar Plum Fairy Loose Leaf Tea
- 8 Grams Salt
Leek Espuma
- 500 Grams Leeks (whites only)
- 80 Grams Butter
- 150 Grams Russet Potato (peeled & diced)
- 250 mL Heavy Cream
- 120 Grams Fontina (grated)
- Salt to Taste
Crimson Lentil Cigars
- 1 Package Feuille de Brick
- 250 Grams Crimson Lentils
- 500 mL Chicken Stock
- Salt to Taste
Salmon
- 1 Salmon (whole, filleted & skinned with the skin reserved)
Salmon Skin Chips
- Salmon Skin
Instructions
Smoked Honey
- In a sauté pan, add all the spices and tea leaves. Cook until toasted and aromatic.
- Add this to the honey and allow to slowly simmer on the lowest heat setting.
- Allow the honey to infuse for 1 hour.
- Strain and cool.
Tea-Leek Ash
- Cut the leeks so that they are the same size and will cook at the same rate.
- Place the leeks and tea leaves onto separate sheet pans. Cook in the oven at 300ºF until charred. Allow for 3-4 hours.
- The tea leaves will finish first. Allow to cool.
- Once cooled, pulverize in a spice grinder with salt.
- Keep dry and sealed in an airtight container at room temperature.
Leek Espuma
- Sauté the leeks in butter very slowly over medium-low heat. Do not allow to brown.
- Once soft, add potatoes and cream.
- Cover the mix with parchment paper and allow to cook gently, until the potatoes are tender.
- When the potatoes are cooked, puree the mixture in a blender. Slowly add the fontina cheese until you achieve a smooth purée.
- Season with salt if needed.
- Place the purée in a whipped cream canister and charge twice.
Crimson Lentil Cigars
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Cut the feuille de brick into 1.5-inch wide strips.
- Brush each strip with clarified butter.
- Wrap the strips, overlapping onto itself, onto a ½-inch-thick cylinder mold.
- Bake in the oven until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool and remove from the mold.
- Reserve for the lentil purée.
- Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a small sauce pot.
- Once boiling, add the lentils and cook until soft, approximately 8-10 minutes.
- Drain the lentils and reserve the stock.
- Place the cooked lentils into a blender and blend until smooth, adding stock to help achieve a smooth mashed potato consistency.
- Season with salt, butter and lemon juice to taste.
- Place the lentil purée into a plastic piping bag and pipe into the feuille de brick cylinders just before serving.
Salmon
- Fillet the salmon and remove the skin.
- Cut the salmon into desired portions.
- Pan roast the salmon before serving.
Salmon Skin Chips
- Scrape all the fat and meat from the skin.
- Rinse the skin under running water and allow to dry between paper towels.
- Brush the top and bottom of the skin with clarified butter and sandwich the skin between parchment paper.
- Sandwich the parchment paper between two inverted sheet trays so that the skin will remain flat while cooking.
- Roast in an oven at 350ºF for about 15 minutes, rotating the pans every 5 minutes to ensure even cooking.
- When the skin is brown, remove immediately and cut into the desired shapes.
- The skin will crisp as it cools.
Notes
In time for the holidays, TEALEAVES, in a collaboration with 15+ ballet companies, 10+ luxury hotel partners, and an antiquarian horologist, launched the worldwide Nutcracker #AfternoonTEALEAVES: Gifts of Time initiative. The project is a twist to the traditional gift guide that offers experiential pairings to afternoon tea, themed after the story of the Nutcracker, and celebrates the arts, true craftsmanship, and spending quality time with others.
Piece together your real-life Nutcracker fairytale and explore various ‘Gifts of Time’. Journey to Nutcracker.AfternoonTEALEAVES.com.