The Grove’s Tutukaka John Dory With Smoked Eel, Sweetcorn and Yuzu

Instructions

1. The day before:
   Prep the John Dory into fillets, removing the skin.
   Salt the fish fillets for 6 minutes, then wash off.
   Leave the fillets uncovered in the fridge overnight. This allows you to get a nice crust on the fish. Keep the John Dory bones and trimmings to make a light stock for the sauce.
2. Dice the smoked eel, reserve the bones and trimmings to put into the eel stock.
3. To make the fish and eel stocks:
   Combine fish bones and trimmings with 2L of water in a saucepan and simmer for one hour. Repeat process with eel bones and trimmings.
4. To make the yuzu gel:
   Place all ingredients into a saucepan, blend with a hand blender till all ingredients are mixed.
   Bring ingredients to a boil and then chill down quickly to set the mix.
   Once the mix has set, place into a blender till smooth.
   (Optional) Once smooth, place the gel into a vacuum chamber and open vac to take the air out of the gel making it clear.
5. To make the sweetcorn puree:
   Place the ingredients into a blender and blend until hot.
   Season to taste with salt and lemon juice.
6. To make the pickled enoki mushrooms:
   Prep the enoki mushrooms by taking them off the stalk.
   Place a pan on the stove till it's nearly smoking, add a splash of oil to the pan and flash fry the mushrooms.
   Add a pinch of flaky salt to the mushrooms to bring out the flavour, then deglaze the pan with the vinegar. Continue to cook for one minute.
7. To prepare the baby corn:
   Remove the baby corns from their skin, place in a Vac Pac bag with butter and salt. Cook sous vide at 72 degrees for 1 hour. If this is not possible, boil the baby corn for three minutes instead.
   Half the corn down the middle, then brush with oil and finish on the bbq.
8. To make the sweetcorn sauce:
   Juice the corn (to make approx 200ml corn juice), reserving a small portion of raw sweetcorn kernels. Combine the fish stock, eel stock and corn juice in a pot, bringing them to a boil. Dice the butter and add to the pot, until it is half melted and then hand blend till emulsified. Season to taste.
9. To Assemble the dish:
   Warm the puree. Heat the pickled mushrooms and some raw sweetcorn kernels in a little fish stock. Add the smoked eel and finish with chives. To cook the fish, place a pan on the stove, heating it until hot. Place a portion of the John Dory into the pan, giving it a nice colour and crust on one side. Drop-in knobs of butter and a splash of oil, continuously coating the fish in the foaming butter till it's just cooked. Once cooked, place on top of the sweetcorn puree. Add the baby corn, place some small dots of Yuzu gel onto the fish and garnish with borage cress and the sweetcorn sauce.