烏魚子義大利麵、午餐桌和平衡 Spaghetti alla Bottarga, lunch table and balance（English version follows）
前兩天看到冰箱中的烏魚子，順手切了幾片用紹興酒稍微浸泡後上鍋乾煎，外層香脆內心綿滑濃郁有點溏心的調調，邊吃邊喝啤酒時忽然想到多年前吃過的烏魚子義大利麵 Spaghetti alla Bottarga。
原來義大利也有烏魚子 Bottarga，味道跟我們的一模一樣，上網找了食譜作法打算這週跟姊姊吃飯時來試做這款烏魚子義大利麵，加上鷹嘴豆洋蔥沙拉和番茄炒蛤蠣當作前菜，適合偶爾涼爽的秋老虎季節。
材料相當簡單，義大利麵煮好備用，烏魚子用刨絲器刨成碎屑放在一旁，這時另起一鍋，大手筆地加入橄欖油，油熱後放入蒜片和辣椒用中小火炒出香味，然後拌入烏魚子末快速地攪拌均勻，一樣用中小火誘出香氣，千萬不能有焦味，也不能煮久免得魚子開始出現苦味；接著把煮好的麵拌入這一鍋又油又香的魚子醬，就可以直接裝盤，上桌前撒上大量的檸檬皮絲（也可以加上一點檸檬汁）和巴西利，透過新鮮檸檬的柑橘香氣和清爽酸度，來平衡魚子的厚實油脂和濃郁海味。
是呀，平衡。
原來就是檸檬讓這道簡單的魚子義大利麵有了一個又濃郁又清爽的平衡，兩件事情好像在天平的兩端走不到一起，但在這盤麵裡似乎又毫不衝突；就像台式作法用爽脆香甜微微辛辣的白蘿蔔片搭配烏魚子，義大利人就用廚房百搭檸檬上場。
每件事情好像總有種微妙的平衡，有些時候往左邊一點、有些時候又右邊一點，有些時候有些手足無措，但也許總有機會靠著一個像是檸檬這樣又老套又驚喜的什麼，而找到平衡吧。我這麼希望著。
天秤座，生日快樂。
烏魚子麵食譜來源：http://goo.gl/nsqhuq
Couple days ago I saw the dried mullet roe (WuYuZi) in the fridge, cut several pieces and soak them in Shaoxing rice wine for couple minutes, and then pan seared without oil. Crispy outside and densely soft and moist inside, perfect with a cold beer. And I thought of the Spaghetti alla Bottarga I tasted quite a long time ago.
Bottarga, the dried mullet roe (or also with tuna) in Italy, tastes same as ours. This idea makes me think of trying to make this pasta for lunch this week with my sister. Together with chickpea onion salad and tomato clam as appetizers. A good combination of seafood and salad, for this I-can’t-believe-it’s-still-hot autumn season.
Very simple dish. Cook pasta til al dente.
Shave Bottarga to small flakes. Heat garlic and red chili with a generous
amount of olive oil, over low heat until fragrant. Pour in Bottarga and stir,
still low heat to avoid burning, and cook a couple of minutes, not too long,
because Bottarga turns with a bitter tone quickly. Fold in the pasta into this
creamy texture strong flavour fish roe paste, and then it can go to the plates!
Remember to sprinkle loads lemon zest (a bit of fresh lemon juice if you
prefer) and parsley before serving. The delightful citrus aroma and acidity
cleverly balance the grease and heaviness from Bottarga.
Balance, indeed.
Lemon together with Bottarga create a rich
and also refreshing balance to this simple pasta. It seems these two are on the
exactly different sides of a scale, yet they seem to enjoy each other’s company
very well in this dish. In Taiwanese cuisine, we use fresh juicy slightly spicy
white turnip slice to serve with dried mullet roe, whilst Italian prefers
lemon, which can go with pretty much every dish they cook in the kitchen.
Everything seems to somehow have a subtle
balance. Sometimes a bit left, sometimes a bit right, sometimes we just don’t
which side to head to. But maybe eventually we can have a chance, with
something so ordinary yet also very surprising, like lemon, then we find the
balance. I hope.
Comments