Cyril Lignac's Exotic Bouillabaisse: A Chef's Fusion of French and Asian Flavors

General Information
Preparation time: 12 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 cod-like white fish steaks
• 200g rockfish pieces
• 200g corn flour pasta (linguine or spaghetti)
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 10g peeled and chopped ginger
• ¼ bunch of lemon balm, flat-leaf parsley, or mint
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• Zest of 1 lemon + zest of 1 orange
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and degermed
• ¼ fennel bulb, washed and cut into pieces
• 1 lemongrass stalk, bruised
• 10cl white wine
• 3 tbsp Ricard
• 1 soft-boiled egg (cooked for 6 minutes)
• 100g neutral oil + 100g sesame oil
• 50g capers
• 100g well-boiled potato pulp
• 1 tbsp wasabi from a tube (or mustard)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 20g butter
• 12 large croutons rubbed with garlic
• Olive oil
• Saffron
• Fine salt and ground pepper

Preparation

– In a hot casserole dish, add a drizzle of olive oil. Sauté the onion, fennel, lemongrass, ginger, and garlic gently without browning. Add the rockfish pieces and evaporate their cooking water. Deglaze with white wine, reduce, then add the Ricard, citrus zests, herb leaves, tomatoes, and mix well. Pour in 25cl water and saffron powder. Simmer for 20 minutes.

– While the broth cooks, in a blender, combine the soft-boiled egg with 50g of hot broth. Blend, then add capers, hot potato pulp, and wasabi. Gradually pour in the oil mixture while blending until smooth. Set aside.

– Cook the pasta in boiling water according to package instructions. Drain, then toss in a bowl with soy sauce and butter.

– Strain the broth into a sauté pan, add the fish steaks, and poach for 5 minutes.

– To serve: Plate the pasta over the fish steaks, top with garlic-rubbed croutons. Offer the rouille sauce in a ramekin and broth in a teapot. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green shiso for extra flair.

Bon appétit!