Spicy "Caviar"

[ironchef]

So I had an idea, based on the appearance of salmon roe. The idea was to make something that looked like the roe, but tasted like something completely different. And I wanted to make something that was spicy. Sambal Olek immediately came to mind, and so it was. The key was turning the sambal into a liquid which not only had heat, but had flavor. A little bit of sodium alginate, a bath of calcium chloride, and here's the result. I ended up pairing it with a "smoked" sous vide salmon to do a take on smoked salmon and caviar. I'm going to try this next with other dishes that you normally see salmon paired with (i.e. sushi, tartare, etc.). So many possibilities, so little time.

[*amy*]

Originally Posted by ironchef

So I had an idea, based on the appearance of salmon roe. The idea was to make something that looked like the roe, but tasted like something completely different. And I wanted to make something that was spicy. Sambal Olek immediately came to mind, and so it was. The key was turning the sambal into a liquid which not only had heat, but had flavor. A little bit of sodium alginate, a bath of calcium chloride, and here's the result. I ended up pairing it with a "smoked" sous vide salmon to do a take on smoked salmon and caviar. I'm going to try this next with other dishes that you normally see salmon paired with (i.e. sushi, tartare, etc.). So many possibilities, so little time.

Did you say Caviar! You have my attention. Love salmon & caviar. betcha this would be great in a crepe (or a Wolfie pizza).

[BBQ Mikey]

Very cool. Great idea. Love salmon.

[ironchef]

Tried using this in a carpaccio style dish with fresh hamachi. Came out really nice.

[GotGarlic]

Oooohhhh, IronChef, you put *CHEMICALS* in your *FOOD*!?!?!? OMG!!!
(just kidding some people who freak out about chemicals in food )

That looks and sounds very interesting. What do the chemicals do?

[ironchef]

This website can explain it better than I can:

blog.khymos.org » Blog Archive » First experiments with sodium alginate

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by ironchef

This website can explain it better than I can:

blog.khymos.org » Blog Archive » First experiments with sodium alginate

Cool, thanks

[buckytom]

very, very cool, i.c..

essentially, you dripped hot sauce made from chili paste into a chemical bath that caused it to be encapsulated into little balls that look like caviar.

my first thought of salmon is dill/basil butter. can you encapsulate that?

[ironchef]

Originally Posted by buckytom

very, very cool, i.c..

essentially, you dripped hot sauce made from chili paste into a chemical bath that caused it to be encapsulated into little balls that look like caviar.

my first thought of salmon is dill/basil butter. can you encapsulate that?

The dill component would be easy. I've made basil caviar with a basil puree base, so pureeing the dill would be the same concept. The butter would be tricky because I couldn't use the same method; it only works with cold liquid. Another option would be to use Agar Agar as a gelling agent because it will stay gelled up until 135 degrees F. So I could maybe do a butter gel, but I don't think I could encapsulate it.