Arroz de Marisco with Lobster, Crab and Old Pulteney Port Cask whisky

By Old Pulteney

World-renowned Michelin-star chef Nuno Mendes has created a series of culinary creations that pair perfectly with the limited-edition Old Pulteney Port from The Coastal Series. These recipes celebrate the culinary connection of Wick and Porto.

Fresh and delicious, Nuno’s creation of Arroz de Marisco with Lobster, Crab and Old Pulteney Port Whisky showcases the culinary connection between Scotland and Portugal while showcasing the unique flavour of this single malt.

‘’With this classic Portuguese seafood rice dish, I wanted to showcase the beautiful pairing of the coastal seafood flavours, maritime whisky notes and the creaminess of the rice.  It’s an unusually perfect combination which is helped by the inclusion of Old Pulteney Port which adds a subtle warmth and perfume to the rice at the end – a technique that I like to use when I finish rice dishes to add some aromatic depth. This dish also combines two outstanding ingredients from Coastal Scotland and Portugal to bring an intriguing twist.’’ Nuno Mendes

(Serves 4)

For the lobster and crab:

• 2 Native lobsters with about 600g each
• 100-120g picked Crab claw meat
• Salted water for quick blanching
• Salt Sugar Cure
• 120g caster sugar
• 80g fine sea salt

Method:

• Ask your fishmonger to kill the lobsters by separating the heads from the bodies.
• With some metal skewers, pierce the lobster tails from top to bottom to avoid them curling when blanched.
• Separate the heads from the claws.
• In a large pot bring 3-4 litres of water heavily salted water to a boil, place the lobster tails in and blanch for 2 minutes and place in ice bath right away. In the same water, blanch the claws and knuckles for 1 minute and place in ice back right away.
• Once cold and dried, remove the tail meat from the shells making sure they stay whole and undamaged. Remove the knuckle meat and the claw from the shell. Remove the blood line from the lobster tails.
• Cure both with the sugar and salt mix. Tails for 15 minutes. Claws for 5 minutes. Don’t cure the knuckles. Rinse under cold water to remove all cure, dry and reserve for cooking.

For the Lobster and crab stock:

• 60g of olive oil
• 1 large white onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic peeled, stem removed and halved
• 1 bulb of fennel chopped
• 1 large carrot peeled and chopped
• 20g of chopped coriander stems (save leaves for finishing).
• 2 vine ripened plum tomatoes diced
• Shells of 2 Lobster including heads
• 4g Smoked Paprika
• 2000g Cold Water or 2kg of Ice cubes
• 10g Dashi Powder
• 30g Dried Kombu
• To finish: 30g Old Pulteney Port Whisky

Method:

• Sweat the onions, fennel, carrot, garlic and coriander stems in olive oil with a bit of salt until soft and sweet, add the paprika and toast until fragrant, add the tomatoes, raise the heat and cook down until slightly caramelised.
• Add the lobster shells and heads and toast until fragrant.
• Add dashi powder, dried kombu and add 2 litres of water OR 2kg of ice cubes.
• Bring to a simmer and cook for about 1hour in gentle heat. At the end of the cooking, add 30g of whisky to finish, cover with a tight lid and let it cool down naturally.
• Once cool properly, strain to remove all the shells and save the liqueur to once side and vegetables left to the other.
• Discard the shells.
• Make a paste of the left-over vegetables and use to cook with the rice.

For the Rice:

• 50g olive oil
• 250g chopped onions
• 100g tomato passata
• 500g washed and drained good quality sushi rice
• 1500g lobster stock
• Leftover vegetable paste from the stock
• 50g chopped coriander and parsley (equal parts roughly)
• Salt
• White pepper
• Lemon juice
• Orange peel
• 100g crab claw meat
• 25g whisky to finish

Method:

• In a medium wide bottom pot, add olive oil and sweat all vegetables together slowly with a pinch of salt to extract fragrances.
• Add rice and toast for 3 min
• Add tomato passata and vegetables from the stock and toast for 3 min more.
• Add 1000g of stock, stir very well, cover and bring to a hard simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes.
• Remove the lid, give a quick stir to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom and add more stock so that the rice is quite wet. Put the lid back on and simmer very slowly for another 10 minutes.
• By now the rice should be still al dente but with a nice creamy consistency but still wet.
• Add the seasonings, add chopped herbs, orange zest, lemon juice and the Old Pulteney whisky.
• Add crab meat and stir through.

For service:

• 2 lobster tails cured and skewered to keep straight
• 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• Salt
• White pepper
• Lemon zest
• Orange zest

Method:

• Spoon the melted butter and seasoning and zest all over the lobster bodies and claws and place them on an oven proof tray.
• Turn the griddle on your oven to high.
• Just as the rice is ready, place the lobster tails red side up in the top shelve closest to the griddle and claws on a lower shelve.
• Cook for about 2 min, using the skewers to prevent them from curling.
• Turn them around and cook for about 30 second on the bottom side and let them rest out of the oven in a room temperature tray. Remove the claws from the oven as well and keep for serving.
• Just as the rice is plated, slice each lobster tail lengthwise and place each half on top of a plated portion of rice.
• Cut the claws the same way and place them on the rice as well.
• Spoon the juices from the lobster butter over the rice, lobster bits and serve right away.
• If you have knuckle meat, fold this in the rice before you plate it.
• Eat it immediately and enjoy!

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