TA B LE TAL K
ANATOMY OF A DISH
Cauli power At The Living Room at Summerhill Estate in the KZN Midlands, east Asia meets South Africa in chef Johannes Richter’s spice-battered cauliflower nuggets with home-fermented Durban-style shoyu
PHOTOGRAPH JAN RAS PRODUCTION BIANCA STRYDOM FOOD ASSISTANT NADIA MEYER
The batter: The cauliflower florets are dipped in a batter of dhal flour, potato starch and water, spiced with crushed cumin and fresh, grated garlic, ginger and turmeric, before being deep-fried to crispy, golden perfection.
The cauliflower: Sourced from a small, local farmer, the tender cauliflower’s sweet nuttiness creates a beautiful contrast with the crunchy texture of its deepfried exterior. “I find it also works really well with the savoury umami, nutty sesame and sweet honey of the dressing,” says Johan.
The dressing: The dish was built around the home-made Durbanstyle shoyu, which is the backbone of this dressing. “We make the shoyu by steaming the mother of all African grains, sorghum, and yellow dhal, to incorporate Durban’s Indian heritage, before we inoculate the mixture with a Japanese culture called koji,” says Johannes. “From there, we let it ferment for 48 to 72 hours, before adding it to a saline solution, and then let the enzymes do the rest of the work for at least six months”. (Now that’s forwardplanning.) Johannes then adds roasted ground sesame seeds, honey and apple cider vinegar to their house-made shoyu.
The finishing touch: A sprinkling of fresh coriander and spring onions adds a pop of fresh herbaceousness, and a scattering of toasted white sesame seeds, a base note of nuttiness.
SHOW ME SHOYU Shoyu is a Japanesestyle soya sauce that’s traditionally made with a combination of roast wheat and soya beans, which is then inoculated with koji, a mould grown on steamed white rice.
Find The Living Room at Summerhill Estate, KZN Midlands, summerhillkzn.com
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