Roasted and Fermented Carrots
Chef Jordan Asher
Founder, Vital Kitchen
Houston
Chef Jordan Asher elevates ordinary carrots by first roasting them, then fermenting them. More flavor is layered on with orange syrup and black sesame puree. The recipe is a bit labor-intensive but can conveniently be broken down into steps.
Ingredients
Roasted Carrots
1½ lb. carrots
Grapeseed oil
Kosher salt
Brine
Black Sesame Puree
1 cup black sesame seeds, toasted
57 g shallot confit
57 g garlic confit
62 g fish sauce
62 g soy sauce
60 g grapeseed oil
60 g toasted sesame oil
Calamondin Oranges
4 oranges
Sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise, lightly toasted
Fresh lime juice
Lemon oil
Acorn Sable
78 g black sesame puree (recipe above)
15 g water
50 g all-purpose flour
25 g brown sugar
25 g acorn flour
1 g ground Saigon cinnamon
Herbs for Garnish
Nasturtium leaves and flowers
Fennel fronds
Pea Shoots
Green coriander seeds
Steps
- For roasted carrots, scrub but do not peel carrots. Coat heavily with grapeseed oil and kosher salt. Roast at 325 F for 25 minutes or until just past al dente.
- To ferment, slice smaller carrots thinly. In container, prepare a brine made with 3% sugar and 3% salt to water ratio. Add carrots to brine and place in a dark, warm place, about 70 F. Let stand for seven days and up to 14 days.
- Meanwhile, for black sesame puree, roast sesame seeds in 325 F oven for 20 minutes; remove and cool.
- In blender container combine cooled sesame seeds, shallot and garlic confit, fish sauce and soy sauce; pulse just to combine. Add grapeseed and sesame oils into mixture in three stages to emulsify. Set aside.
- For oranges, prepare a syrup of two parts water to one part sugar. Add cinnamon stick and star anise; mix well, Submerge oranges in syrup and simmer for 30 minutes or until skins have burst.
- Chill, then strain syrup and reserve for plating. Remove inner flesh and seeds from oranges and discard, reserving only the rinds. Slice each rind into four pieces.
- For acorn sable, combine sesame puree and water in large bowl. Add all-purpose flour, brown sugar and acorn flour; mix well.
- Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼-inch thickness. Bake at 325 F for 15 minutes or until set and dry. Cool, then grind in blender to resemble soil.
- To serve, generously schmear sesame puree on plate. Warm roasted carrots in oven and cut into ½-inch pieces; stand in puree. Add a few fermented carrots and candied orange rinds. Scatter acorn sable soil around carrots; garnish with herbs.
- Mix orange syrup with a few drops of fresh lime juice and lemon oil. Spoon onto plate.
Photo courtesy of Kikkoman