Name: Beetroot & Gin Cured Salmon with Wasabi Cream by ROKU
Cook time: 60 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: Cream; 10- 12 blinis; 200ml double cream or crème fresh; 1 tsp wasabi paste; 90g trout roe; Handful of micro-herb of your choice; Cured Salmon; 400g fresh salmon fillet; 2 whole cooked beetroot; 1 tbsp sea salt; 1 tbsp caster sugar; 2 tbsp gin

1. Make sure the salmon is very fresh and filleted neatly without any bones or tearing of the flesh. It’s best to keep the skin on in order to keep the freshness of the fish. In case if you only have a couple of hours to cure the salmon, take the skin off to make the curing process faster.

2. If you are using ready-cooked beetroot, make sure they are cooked ones but NOT pickled. If you are cooking beetroot yourself, simply cut the beetroot into two and then wrap with tinfoil and bake in the oven (gas mark 4, 200C) for 1 hour or until the beetroots are cooked through (toothpick should easily poke through). Once they are cooked, cool them in the tinfoil and peel. When peeling, try to keep the juice from beetroot as much as possible. Put them in a blender with the juice and blitz until smooth texture into a puree.

3. Sprinkle salt and sugar over the salmon and leave them for 5 minutes. Mix the beetroot puree and gin and then coat the salmon with beetroot & gin puree in a small container. Cover with cling film and keep it in the fridge for 6-8 hours. If you are not using the salmon straight away, remove the puree after 8 hours to prevent over-cured and then wrap cured salmon with cling film and keep it in the fridge. This will keep in the fridge for 2 – 3 days.

4. Before assembling the canapes, whip double cream or crème fresh until the consistency that will stay the shape when it goes on top of the salmon. Mix the wasabi paste into the cream.

5. Using a very sharp carving or sashimi knife (if possible), slice the salmon into about 5mm thick pieces by cutting across the fibre of the fish. When they are sliced you should see deep purple colour on the rim of the salmon slices and bright orange on the inside.

6. Assemble the salmon slices like a rose petal with 2 (or 3) slices by leaving a small gap in the centre. Place about 1 tsp of wasabi cream in the gap in the centre. Then add trout roe and finally top with micro-herb.

*Trout roe and micro-herb need to be added just before serving.