The first serving on the current menu at Vue de monde: a chilled, aromatic, and fruity broth of radish, raspberry, and koji. Most of these components can be made in advance, besides the clarified radish juice. If refrozen, it loses its aromatic freshness.
Ice-clarified Radish Juice
Juice the radishes, transfer the liquid into containers, and place them in the freezer. Once frozen, remove the juice from its container and hang it in a perforated gastro lined with a clean, moist muslin cloth or chux, over a deeper nonreactive gastro in the fridge. Let it thaw completely. Once thawed, vacuum-seal the juice and store it in the refrigerator. The radish juice cannot be frozen again or used for more than 24 hours, as its flavour significantly changes negatively. The clarified juice must be used fresh.
Lacto Koji Water
Take the koji and blend it in 500 g batches in the Thermomix with 2 parts filtered water to 1 part koji (by weight) on high speed for 1 minute. Mix all the batches of blended koji water together to ensure an even finished product and determine the total weight. Add 2% salt by weight to this mixture (30 g) and whisk briefly to incorporate. Transfer the finished mix to large vacuum bags and seal them on maximum. Transfer the sealed bags of salted koji water to a room held at a constant temperature of 28°C for 4–5 days until the pH drops to 3.7 or lower. The finished mixture should taste sweet, sour, and fruity. If it tastes vinegary or alcoholic, it has fermented too far. Remove the lactic fermented koji water from the bags and mix the contents of each bag together again to even out the batch. Freeze the mixture in containers, leaving some room for expansion in the freezer. Once frozen, remove the solid bricks of lactic koji water from their containers and place them in cheesecloth in a shallow perforated gastro tray over a deep gastro tray to catch the drippings. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 days until completely thawed and void of any further easily extractable liquid (do not wring out the thawed mass as cloudy impurities may strain through). The clear, yellowish-orange liquid in the bottom tray is the finished clarified lactic koji water and should be stored in a vacuum-sealed container in the freezer until needed to prevent further fermentation. ( Credit - noma)
Raspberry Oil
Place the raspberries in a Thermomix with the oil and blend for 1 minute at full speed (10). Then, reduce the speed to medium (6) and set the Thermomix to 80°C. Allow it to blend/cook for 8 minutes. Transfer the blended mixture from the Thermomix to a container and let it infuse overnight in the fridge. The next morning, strain the mixture through a chinois strainer, pushing sediment through with a ladle. If you don’t have sediment, the colour won’t be red enough. Reserve the infused oil and vacuum-seal it before storing it in the freezer to prevent oxidation until needed.
Assembly
Combine the following juices: Ice-clarified radish juice, Lacto koji juice
Horseradish juice and take 20 grams of this juice mixture and place it in a small saucepan. Heat the 20 grams of juice mixture in the saucepan over low heat, just enough to dissolve the salt. Add the dissolved salt mixture back to the remaining radish koji mix. Store the combined mixture in the refrigerator to keep it cold. During service, ensure the broth is as cold as possible by placing it in an ice bath. Serve the broth in small ice bowls with 40 grams per serving. Finnish with raspberry oil and a fresh radish seasoned with salt on the side.
Such an interesting dish, hard to imagine what it would be like!
Looking forward to more recipes like this! What other applications can the koji water be use for?