Shepherd's purse tempura with curry salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 100-150 ml ice water
- 2 cloves black garlic, puréed
- 100 g wheat flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 l frying oil (such as corn)
- A handful of shepherd's purse (or watercress, hairy bittercress, or scurvy)
- Dash saffron
- Lemon zest
- Nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons curry
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- Thermometer
- Let saffron infuse with three tablespoons of hot water for a few minutes.
- Pour both saffron and hot water into the ice water.
- Pour oil in a pot and put it over high heat.
- Mix egg yolk, black garlic purée, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
- Add the cold water mixture gradually while whisking. The mixture should foam and get light.
- Sift in the flour and whisk it together slowly. Be careful not to stir too much, as the dough will get tough.
- Add a bit of grated nutmeg and lemon zest, to taste.
- Make sure the oil is hot, around 175 degrees C.
- Carefully dip the shepherd's purse in tempura dough, then transfer into the hot oil. Let fry for two to three minutes until golden.
- Place fried tempura on paper towels to absorb some of the oil. Sprinkle with curry salt, and serve immediately.
Tips
These fried herbs work both as a snack before dinner, or as a side to a bigger dish. You can substitute the shepherd's purse with other vegetables or herbs.
Thorsten Schmidt
Restaurant Barr
Thorsten Schmidt is a Danish chef known for his sense of culinary adventure and love for experimentation. Raised in Jutland and trained in both Germany and France, Schmidt believes food to be a potential vehicle of cultural identity, pride and nostalgia. His former restaurant, Malling & Schmidt, served some of the most influential and inventive Danish food in the country. Schmidt is now a co-founder and partner of restaurant Barr. A collaboration between Schmidt and René Redzepi in the former noma restaurant space, Barr offers a convivial setting in which to enjoy high-quality comfort food and drink traditions of the North Sea.