The Psychedelic Eel | Stefano Cerveni

Ingredients for 4 people

Eel

• 2 skinless eel fillets weighing 300 g each
• 1 cooked beetroot
• 100 g sugar
• 60 g white wine vinegar
• 100 g water
• 10 g fine salt

Sauces

• 2 yellow bell peppers
• 2 red bell peppers
• Balanced salt (50 g sugar, 35 g fine salt)
• 200 ml water
• 5 g xanthan gum

Parsley chlorophyll

• 50 g parsley
• 2 g xanthan gum
• Salt and pepper
• Water

Rice wafers

• 100 g nishiki rice
• 400 ml water
• 1 liter sunflower seed oil
• A little fine salt

Method

For the eels

Blend the chopped beetroot with vinegar, water, salt, and sugar until smooth.

Divide the two eel fillets into 4 pieces, vacuum seal them with the beetroot sauce, cook in a steam oven at 65°C for 1 and a half hours, remove from the oven, and let cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

For the rice wafer

Put the rice, water, and salt in a pot, cook over medium heat for 40 minutes until the rice has disintegrated (add more water if it dries out too much).

Remove from heat, blend well, and strain through a chinois. Spread the mixture on a silpat sheet and use a spatula to distribute it until it reaches a thickness of half a centimeter. Place in a dry oven at 90°C for 2 hours until crispy, remove from the oven, break into 4 wafers.

Heat the sunflower oil to 170°C, dip each rice wafer one by one for a few seconds, when golden and crispy, place them on a paper towel and let them dry in a warm, dry place.

For the chlorophyll

Blanch the parsley for 1 minute, drain, keeping some of the cooking liquid, and cool the parsley under cold running water. Blend the parsley with the cooking water, xanthan gum, and a pinch of salt, then strain.

For the bell pepper sauces

Put the two types of bell peppers cut into pieces in 2 vacuum bags, add the balanced salt (about 30 g per bag), and water. Seal and cook in a steam oven at 100°C for 40 minutes.

Remove from the bags, pour the contents into two containers, and blend while adding xanthan gum, then strain and keep warm.

Finishing

Open the vacuum seal of the eel, remove the fillets and place them on a baking sheet. Reduce the cooking juice on the heat until thick, then brush the sauce onto the eel fillets.

Grill in the oven or under a salamander for 2 minutes.

Plating

In 4 large, warm, flat plates, pour the two bell pepper sauces and the parsley chlorophyll in a disorderly manner. Place the eel fillets in the center, and top each fillet with a rice wafer. Serve immediately.

Photos by Luigi Brozzi