Sechuan Tendon
You may remember a story I wrote about a year ago when I created a dish based on very long braised tendons in a sechuan style.
I start by cooking the beef tendon for 18 hours which at this point they are soft like pure gelatin. I then clean them and press them into a terrine so there are no air gaps. When it’s cold it becomes very hard and almost the feel of one of those Super balls you used to bounce when you were a child. When this terrine heated up it is very soft and sticky in your mouth, basically a great heavy dish for winter.
The broth is made by using many ingredients associated with Sechuan cooking like; the most distinct and typical Sechuan pepper corn, Spring onions, garlic, ginger, etc. This is infused into a beef broth using a tea style of infusion (bringing the broth to the boil then adding your aromatics and covering for a period of time without heating, strain and reserve).
Something very typical in Sechuan cooking is the use of fried peanuts, so I have added these to the top of the dish which provides crunch and also the right flavor, but I found when I fried them in their husks it added a a bitter flavor which worked perfectly!
To complete the dish I put some points of Korean chili sauce, Coriander stalks and stems and roasted peanut oil.
This dish was actually just shortlisted to be one of the top 10 dishes in Spain for 2009, so as you can imagine I am very happy about this!
That looks incredible!! Wish I could try it. Lovely photography too.
Wow top ten chef? Awesome work
Nice one mate! Very nice!!
Hi Adam
Hope everything is allright, what’s up with Manhatten? are you leaving Madrid. I hope not, we will be in Madrid for MadridFusion, and I was expecting that you would take us out for a nice glas of vino fino. By the way did you ever find any really good use for those miracle berries? They were fun weren’t they?
Speak to you
Nicolai
Hey Nic,
I will be here in Madrid during Madrid Fusion.
I would be very happy to go for a drink with you while you are in town.
As for the Miracle berries……………. Well they are still a work in Progress! They inhibit and change too much in the meal, plus the effects are long lasting and you can ruin every dish that follows. So I am still trying to figure out a use as they are pretty cool little things.
Ciao
Looking forward too it
Here is what I thought… it may be too far out though. But how about if you served a starter, with elements such as lemon, chilli, malt etc. then went on with the meal… here it comes, then as the final course, you present the guest for a miracle berry, and after the effect has “kicked” in you serve him the exact same dish as he was served as a starter, but this time it would be a dessert, because of the influence of the berry, nothing had changed on the plate, only the guests perspecitive .
Looking forward to that beer.
Nic
Hey Nic,
Great idea, It was actually something I was thinking about a while ago. I did not pursue it for 2 reasons………….
1. People have a set way that they like to finish a meal whether it is with a coffee, Cigar a cognac or one of the other 1000 possibilities. The trouble with the miracle berries is that they change everything you consume and there is no off switch. There has been a difference in sensitivity with some people being affected for for up to 1 and a half hours! If you ruin the end of someones meal they will never forget it as it is there last taste and impression of what you do.
2. I try to steer clear of giving people a demonstration meal, this is when I give them things to make a point or to show off what I can do. I respect the structure of a meal and still believe no matter how new or how traditional you want to cook at the end of the day it has to feel like you are eating a meal and have the same feeling of contentment when you are finished.
These points are taking nothing away from what you said, I agree it would be a great experience but perhaps one only enjoyed by our fellow Chefs who would have a much better understanding and appreciation.
Thanks for your points