Ottolenghi in Conversation
Yotam Ottolenghi in conversation with Adam Liaw
Tonight we had the absolute pleasure of enjoying a live conversation with Yotam Ottolenghi with Adam Liaw, at the Sydney Opera House.
To hear Yotam's passion for creating new dishes, his love for food, colour, texture and presentation, is everything we are too, passionate about!
To celebrate his visit, we have included the below Ottolenghi recipe, which was recently published in the Guardian UK.
Tapioca Fritters with Orange Syrup and Star Anise
These are like sweet arancini. They are very impressive served at the end of a dinner party, and aren’t at all heavy. They can be prepared to the chilling stage up to a day in advance, so you’ll just need to fry them and serve. The sauce can also be made a day ahead.
Prep 5 min
Set 90 min-overnight
Cook 1 hr 35 min
Serves 4
90g small pearl tapioca
420ml whole milk
120ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla paste
? tsp ground star anise
3 tbsp caster sugar
? tsp flaked sea salt
1 egg, separated, plus 1 extra yolk
3 oranges, zest of 1 finely grated, to get 1? tsp
75g runny honey
2 whole star anise
15g tapioca flour
500ml sunflower oil, for frying
10g icing sugar, to dust
Put the tapioca in a medium-sized, heavy-based, cast-iron saucepan with 120ml of the milk and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Add the remaining milk, the cream, vanilla and ground star anise, place on a medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Add the sugar and salt, lower the heat to medium and cook for 12 minutes, stirring often, until the tapioca turns translucent and chewy, and the pudding has thickened.
In a small bowl, whisk the two egg yolks with three tablespoons of the tapioca mixture, then tip back into the saucepan. Switch off the heat, and stir continuously for about a minute, until the yolks have blended into the pudding, but not scrambled. Stir in the orange zest, then pour into a bowl and leave to cool for about 15 minutes.
Beat the egg white to medium-firm peaks, stir into the pudding, then cover the surface with clingfilm, to prevent a skin forming. Transfer to the fridge to set – at least 90 minutes, or overnight.
Juice two of the oranges, to give you 80ml. Using a small, sharp knife, trim the top and tail off the remaining orange, then cut down its curves to remove the skin and pith. Release the segments by cutting between the membranes, then cut each segment in half.
Now make the syrup. Put the orange juice, honey, 30ml water and the whole star anise in a small saucepan and bring to a boil on a medium-high heat. Leave to bubble away for about 10 minutes, until reduced by half, then turn off the heat, stir in the orange segments and leave to cool completely. Meanwhile, stir the tapioca flour into the pudding mixture until combined.
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, take about 35g of the tapioca mixture and shape into a rough ball with your hands; it will be very sticky, so you may prefer to wear gloves. Gently drop the ball into the hot oil and, working quickly now, make another four balls, so you cook about five at a time, until deeply golden on the outside and warmed through the centre – about four to five minutes. Transfer the cooked balls to a tray lined with kitchen towel, and repeat with the remaining tapioca mix. You should end up with 15 balls in all.
Divide the syrup between four plates, top each serving with three tapioca balls (save the three extra ones for seconds), dust with icing sugar and serve.