Seafood in Wine Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 Lobster (about 700–800 g)
• 125 g carrots
• 125 g parsley root
• 125 g leeks
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp salt
• 4 sea scallops
• 4 snapper fillets (about 80 g each)
• 4 large cabbage leaves
• Salt
• Pepper
• 4 stalks green asparagus
• 4 baby corn
• 4 water chestnuts
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 shallots
• 100 g celery sticks
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp Noilly Prat
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 500 ml lobster stock (from the glass)
• 3 sea urchins
• 250 g whipping cream
• 0.5 lime (juice and zest)
• Salt
• pepper (ground)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash, clean, peel if necessary the vegetables for the lobsters, add bay leaf and salt to a large pot, bring to boil, then add lobsters, let boil once, then cool in the broth without further heat. Split lobster tails lengthwise from top, separate meat from shells and claws. Reserve lobster water.

2. 2.

   Open sea scallops, remove flesh, wash and dry well. Clean fish fillets, pat dry, remove any remaining bones with tweezers. Rinse bamboo baskets with hot water, drain. Wash cabbage leaves, blanch in boiling salted water 2–3 minutes, cool, cut off stems. Cut each leaf into a circle the size of the baskets, place in baskets. Add lobster meat, scallop flesh and snapper fillets on top, season with salt and pepper.

3. 3.

   Wash asparagus, peel lower third, trim ends, cut into thirds. Wash corn, blanch 3 minutes in salted water, cool. Peel water chestnuts, halve or quarter according to size. Salt and pepper the asparagus and corn, toss in oil, add to baskets. Stack bamboo baskets in a tall pot or spread over two pots. Fill pot 2 cm high with lobster broth. Cover pot and baskets with lids. Steam everything for 3–5 minutes.

4. 4.

   For the sea urchin foam sauce peel and finely dice shallots. Wash, clean, finely dice celery. Melt butter, sauté both until translucent.

5. 5.

   Deglaze with Noilly Prat, reduce liquid. Add wine, let sauce reduce to about two thirds. Wash thyme sprigs, dry, add them. Add lobster stock, reduce by half, taste.

6. 6.

   Wash sea urchins and open with scissors. Strain juice through a fine sieve, remove gonads (tongue‑shaped ovaries) with a teaspoon. Pour sea urchin juice into sauce base. Add cream, simmer for 4–5 minutes. Add gonads to sauce, blend everything smooth.

7. 7.

   Season with lime juice and zest, salt and pepper.

8. 8.

   Arrange seafood and vegetables decoratively on plates with the sauce.