MARRON TAIL WITH SMOKED WAKAME & SUNRISE LIME WITH JOSH NORRIS AT CORDELIA

“This expression strips back every dish, every element, every ingredient to a single question, 'would I love to eat this?'
It taught me to follow my palate and passion at any cost, without ego and without prejudice.”

Leading with his heart, Josh pairs Southern Seagreens kelp and wakame with another sustainably farmed product - Western Australian Marron.

The marron tail which has been lightly poached in Southern Seagreens Smoked Kelp butter and finished on the hibachi, accompanied by Southern Seagreens Wakame jam and marron head sauce which is cut with sunrise lime.

MARRON TAIL WITH SMOKED WAKAME & SUNRISE LIME

INGREDIENTS

500g Southern Sea Greens Fresh Wakame
450g Dashi
35g Sweetened Soy
40g Miso
30g Koji
60g White Sugar

500g Marron Heads and Shells
100g White Wine
1000g Fish Stock
200g Tomato
200g Fennel
50g Chilli
3g Bay Leaf
40g Preserved Lemon
1 Bunch Lemon Thyme
1 Bunch Tarragon
100g Sunrise Limes
350g Butter (cubed)

1.25kg Butter (softened)
20g Katsuobushi
80g Southern Seagreens Smoked Kelp Powder
50g Koji
30g Miso

METHOD

For the wakame reduction, roughly chop all the wakame and place in a saucepan, along with the dashi, sweetened soy, miso, koji and white sugar.

Gently cook this down for about 2 hours until thick and jammy. Take off the heat and cool. Add lemon or lime juice to taste.

Although Josh uses marron, prawns, Moreton Bay bugs or lobster can be easily substituted in this recipe.

For the marron head sauce, place the marron heads and shells in a hot pot and fry off until red and fragrant. Deglaze the pan with white wine and keep cooking until you can't smell alcohol. Add the fish stock, along with the tomatoes, fennel, chilli, bay leaf, preserved lemon, lemon thyme and tarragon. Cook for between 2 - 2.5 hours, ensuring that you taste as you go. Let the liquid reduce to about 500g of liquid and strain it off into another pot.

Cool the liquid and then pour into a blender with the sunrise limes. Gently blitz for around 30 seconds. Strain the liquid again and return to the blender. Slowly add in the butter while in the blender so it emulsifies. Return this to the pot and the stove, and let it further reduce until desired consistency.

For the smoked kelp butter, simply blitz the softened butter, katsuobushi, smoked kelp powder, koji and miso together in a blender. Set aside.

To prepare the marron tail, with kitchen scissors cut down the centre of the underside of the tail, between the flesh and shell, or alternatively you can ask your fish monger to de-shell the tails for you.

Once de-shelled, poach the tails in the pan with the prepared smoked kelp butter. Ensure the meat is liberally covered in butter and cooked for long enough to take on the flavour of the kelp butter.

Once poached, finish off the marron tail by quickly firing it over coals to achieve a smokey flavour and slight char on the outside

For assembly, slice the charred marron tail and top with the marron head sauce. Serve with wakame jam on the side and a slice of lime.