Crispy cockle buñuelo & fennel amuse bouche or bite

We’re going to make a delicious cockles amuse or bite. It’s a furikake buñueleo with fennel, a lime powder, a lime gel and some delicious cooked cockles.

The furikake buñuelo

150 grams	milk
100 grams	beer
1	egg
3 grams	salt
5 grams	furikake flakes or powder
125 grams	flour

Pour the milk into a measuring jar and also add the beer, the egg, the salt, the furikake and the flour. Now blend it till smooth for a minute and then let it rest for 30 minutes in your fridge. Meanwhile heat up some frying oil till it’s 180 degrees Celsius together with the buñuelo stamp. Click here for the stamp. Then gently press the stamp in the batter for 5 seconds. After fry it for around 20 seconds till the batter let’s go of the stamp. Then deep fry it till golden brown. Meanwhile you can just continue deep frying the buñuelos. Just beware that the stamp stays hot. Otherwise the batter will stick. If the buñuelo let’s go of the mold while dipping it in the batter, it means that the oil is to hot. 180 degrees Celsius is the perfect temperature. Once golden take them out of the oil and keep them dry and covered for later.

The lime powder

Peel 6 limes and make sure to peel them as thin as possible so you only get the peel and not the white bitter part. Spread it and then let the peels dry at 60 degrees Celsius or in a microwave at 600 watt for around 7 minutes. Then transfer the peels into a blender and blend it into a fine powder. Keep it covered for later.

The lime gel

The peeled limes
60 grams	sugar
15 grams	ginger syrup
60 grams	water
4 grams	agar powder
3 grams	gellan powder

Cut the limes in half and juice them for 150 grams of juice. Also add the sugar, the ginger syrup, the water, the agar powder and the gellan powder. Now mix this well and then bring it to a boil for 1 minute. Once it has boiled pour it into a bowl and let it cool down in your fridge. After that transfer it into a blender and blend it into a smooth gel. Now transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later.

The cockles

1 kilogram	cockles
1	onion
2	bay leaves
100 grams	white wine

First rinse the cockles under some cold water to remove any sand. The ones that start to float you need to throw, these are bad. Now drain them for at least 5 minutes. Meanwhile cut the onion in half and clean it. Then chop it. After that pour a drizzle of oil into a big pan and glaze the onions on a medium heat with the bay leaves. When they start to color directly add the cockles and pan fry them for 30 seconds. Then deglaze the pan with the white wine and boil them till the cockles open up. This takes around 1 minute. Now drain them and keep the liquid for later. Let them cool down completely in your fridge. Once cold remove the cockles from the shells. Keep the shells for later to present the amuse. If you don’t want to do this just throw them. If you do transfer them into a pan and cover them completely with water. Now boil them for 1 minute. Then drain them and repeat it till the shells are completely clean. After that transfer them onto a tray and let them dry at room temperature. Now back to the cockles. You can already eat them like this, but I like to clean once more. For this cut the orange part of the rest. Then transfer them into a bowl and pass the cooking liquid through a kitchen paper on the cockles. This will prevent them from drying out. Keep them in your fridge for later.

The fennel salad

1	fennel
20 grams	sushi vinegar
250 grams	vegetable broth
100 grams	cream
	Xanthan gum & salt

First the cream. Cut the fennel in half and remove the core. Now chop it fine. Transfer it into a pan and also add the sushi vinegar, the vegetable broth and the cream. Now cover it slightly with a lid or fold some parchment paper into a circle. Just fold it to the corner and then cut it to the desired size. Also cut a little piece out of the middle. Then cover the fennel and let it simmer on a medium heat till cooked. After, transfer it into a blender and blend it till smooth. Once it’s smooth add a knife tip of xanthan gum and blend it for another minute to prevent the cream from splitting. Then season it with salt. Now pour it into a bowl and let it cool down in your fridge.

1	fennel
	The fennel cream
1	lime

Take the fennel and cut it in half. Then separate all the layers. Now cut it in thin slices and cut those slices in cubes. Then season some boiling water with salt and blanch the fennel for around 1 minute till they still have a little bite. Now drain it and cool the fennel down in some ice water. When it has cooled down directly drain it again so it doesn’t lose any flavor. Then add 2 tablespoons of the fennel cream and some lime zest. Mix it well and give it a taste for seasoning.

How to finish the amuse

First dust some lime powder on the bottom of the buñuelo. Turn them around and fill them halfway with the fennel salad. You can also do this with a piping bag if you want to do it faster. Then place the cockles on top. Now pipe a couple small dots of the lime gel in between the cockles. Then transfer the dried cockle shells into a bowl and place the amuse on top. Serve it directly to prevent it from becoming soggy.