Fiddlehead ferns have very little flavor other than a generic, fresh greenness, but they have a really nice, succulent, crunchy texture. So I figured, why not play up their texture with a preparation that is all about texture: deep-frying. The first of the two nights I had my proportions a bit off and the batter turned out kinda greasy (see picture on left). That night I also sprinkled toasted nori over the fried fiddlehead, and I decided that the nori just didn't add anything. The second night, the batter was perfect and the fiddleheads turned out crunchy but light (see picture on right). I garnished with a spicy nasturtium leaf from my backyard, and the ginger aioli and togarashi went well with it.

It had been my intention to stick the fiddleheads on lollipop sticks, fry them, and present them as fiddlehead tempura lollipops. Unfortunately, I couldn't find more than a few fiddleheads large enough to withstand the insertion a lollipop stick. So, I presented them these ways. The second night was definitely much better.

The ginger aioli was made by pureeing fresh, peeled ginger with egg yolks, lemon juice, and garlic, then emulsifying with peanut oil, and pressing the aioli through a tamis to remove any ginger sinews.

Light Tempura Batter
25g corn starch
50g rice flour
25g AP flour
50g Trisol
1 egg, lightly beaten
160g cold soda water

Mix the dry ingredients well. Add salt to taste. Add the egg and water all at once and stir gently but quickly until barely mixed and still lumpy. Dip fiddleheads (or other things to be fried) into the batter with chopsticks or tweezers, then fry at 350F.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/04/06 @ 9:11 | Comments (0) | Food Additives, Lazy Bear, Meat, Menus, Poultry, Sauces, Condiments, Seafood, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese