Cooking: Langoustines 3-Ways: Céviche, Caviar on Crostini & Aromatic Poached

Langoustines from Fin & Flounder £11.58

I don't normally cook seafood at home, the packaged fish at the supermarket has always been so off-putting. Since the opening of Fin & Flounder around the corner, it's been much accessible to learn and purchase fresh seafood. I remember having dinner at Bocca di Lupo last summer and ordered Cruditá di mare (raw sea bream, red prawn, scallop with rosemary oil – sm £9.50 lg £19.00) they ran out of prawns and replaced with langoustines. The sweetness of the langoustines, rosemary oil lifting earthiness of scallops, it was a heaven! This dish was so fantastic that a second round order was absolutely inevitable! That was my first experience with langoustines at its best – fresh and raw.

This is like mini lobster, could be intimidating to buy but worth it!

Adam gave me a langoustine with roes, and three males. I couldn't make up my mind on how to cook them, since they are fresh, I decided to have them three ways: céviche, the roe I'll put them on toast and light poached in an aromatic bath.

Aromatic Poached Langoustine with Olive Oil & Lemon

Langoustines in aromatic bath

Aromatic Poached Langoustines
Serves 1

3 Langoustines (usually 3-6 per person)
10 Black Peppercorns
2 Bay Leaves
1 Small bunch of parsley
Good Slug of White Wine
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Flaked Sea Salt

1. Pull the leaves off the parsley and save them for later. 
2. In a large pan, fill in water to about 1/4 of the pan, add peppercorn, bay leaves, parsley stalks and a good slug of White Wine, bring to boil.
3. Once the bath is boiled, add salt and in goes the langoustines. Use a laddle to keep pouring hot liquid over the langoustines. Keep doing so about 4 minutes. 
4. Get the langoustines out of the pan. Put the cooked langoustines onto plates then drizzle them with olive oil and scatter with parsley and sea salt, squeezing over lemon juice

Chef's notes: This is inspired by one of Nigel Slater's 50 favourites summer recipe off the Guardian, his recipe calls for a deep pan of water, but I was afraid to over cook them, by keep pouring hot liquid over them is a way to have them evenly cooked without over boiling them. I also added a good slug of white wine to add more depth.

Another close up look at the dish

Langoustine Céviche with Caviar Crostini

Langoustine Céviche
Serves 1

1 Langoustine
Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lemon wedge
1 tsp chopped parsley

1. Turn the langoustine over on its back, and use a very sharp knife, cut through the middle of the abdomen.
2. Use a pairing knife to loosen the meat from the shell. 
3. Drizzle olive oil, squeeze lemon and sprinkle parsley on top.

Chef's notes: I was a bit nervous in preparing the céviche, the cutting part was the worst because the langoustine was still alive. So if you're squeamish, this dish might not be for you. In hind sight, I should have made an infused rosemary oil instead.

Langoustine with Roe – I'm about to become a serial langoustine baby murderer!!

Langoustine Caviar Crostini

Langoustine Caviar Crostini
Serves 1

1 langoustine with roe
1 Italian stick or French baguette
1 tsp of Mayonnaise
Butter or Olive Oil

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF
2. Extract the roe from langoustine with a spoon, put them into a small dish, set aside.
3. Slice bread and either butter or drizzle with olive oil on both side, put on baking tray and into the oven until golden brown and toasted. 
4. After crostini has been toasted, spread a thin layer of mayonnaise and garnish with langoustine roe on top. Serve whilst crostini is still warm.

This dinner was slightly expensive but sometimes one needs a treat and indulge with lovely food. Simply prepared fresh langoustines tastes its best this way.

What do you think? Have you cooked something you haven't tried before? How did the dish turned out?