The flavors of the Caribbean come alive in this zesty, tasty dish! Fresh, sweet crab meat is paired with a rich and spicy jerk mayonnaise and balanced by a bracingly tart lime gel. Add some buttery avocado, juicy mango, and cooling mint and you have a dish that’ll have you up and dancing!
Ease of Preparation: Medium
Time of Preparation: 1 hour
Yield: 3-4 servings
Ingredients:
Lime Fluid Gel:
- Juice and zest of 2 limes, about ¼ cup
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 ounce (25 g) sugar
- 1 ¾ cups (470 ml) water, boiling
- 1.5% agar agar by weight
Jerk Mayo:
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground allspice berries
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) honey
- 1 cup scallion, greens, finely minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar
- 1 lime, juice
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Maggi (browning) sauce
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, seeded and minced very fine
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground nutmeg
- 1 cup (240 ml) prepared mayonnaise
- Salt and pepper
Rolls:
- 1 pound (454 g) fresh crab meat, picked through for shells
- Jerk Mayo
- Ripe avocados
- Firm medium-ripe mangoes
- Paprika, to garnish
- Mint leaves, to garnish
Method:
For the Lime Fluid Gel:
Add lime juice and zest, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves to a heatproof dish or saucepan. Add boiling water, cover and allow to steep for 45 minutes. Strain.
Weigh strained infusion on a digital scale to calculate agar agar amount needed.
Add strained infusion to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Weigh and add agar agar powder. Whisk well and boil for 1 minute.
Pour into a dish and chill at least 4 hours until set and firm.
Add set jelly into a blender and blend on low. Slowly increase the speed to high until a fluid gel forms.
Transfer mixture to a squeeze bottle and reserve for plating.
For the Jerk Mayo:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the allspice, honey, scallions, garlic, ginger, vinegar, lime, Maggi, shallot, Scotch bonnet peppers, soy sauce, thyme, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and pulse to a smooth paste.
Add the mayonnaise and pulse again until smooth.
For the Rolls:
Fold a small amount of the Jerk Mayo into the crab meat (enough to help bind and season, reserve the excess for another use) and set aside.
Peel and slice ripe avocado and mango into very thin slices.
Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap.
On the plastic, alternate overlapping slices of mango and avocado to make a rectangle that is about 5 x 7 inches (12.5 x 18 cm).
Lay a horizontal stripe of the jerk crab salad in the middle of the rectangle.
Use the plastic wrap to roll the mango and avocado around the crab, pressing to make a neat roll with the crab inside the colourful mango and avocado slices.
Continue rolling to use all the ingredients.
Cut away the ends of the roll to make neat edges.
Unwrap and present on a dark plate.
Dust one side with paprika and place drops of the Lime Fluid Gel on the other.
Garnish with mint.
Repeat rolling and presenting for remaining rolls and serve immediately.
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