Pinto Restaurant

Paella de Langosta

Ingredients:

• 100ml olive oil
• 100g Bomba rice
• 1 whole Phuket Lobster (500g pcs) 
• 500ml saffron fish stock (recipe below)
• 100g mixed diced capsicum
• 10g diced onion
• 30g tomato paste
• 100ml white wine
• 50g lemon aioli (recipe below)
• 1pcs lemon wedge
• 10g chopped parsley

Method:

At the same time as you prepare the Paella, cut the Phuket lobster in two and grill one half on the charcoal grill. Cut the meat from the tail of the other half into 1.5cm slices and reserve.

In a flat Paella pan, heat up the olive oil then add the capsicum and onions and cook on medium heat until completely soft. Add the tomato paste then stir with everything else in the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes then add the Bomba rice; continue cooking on a lower heat for 2 minutes. 

Then bring the heat up quickly and add the white wine, salt and pepper; let the wine evaporate then add your already boiling saffron fish stock. Mix all the ingredients in the pan with the stock and let it boil and reduce by half.

Rectify the seasoning with salt and pepper if need be. Add the raw sliced Phuket Lobster in a circle form around the pan, and then bake the rice directly in the pan for 20min at 160’ C. After 20min take out the rice from the oven and let it rest for around 10min in a warm area. For the plating, add the grilled half Phuket lobster, decorate with the lemon aioli, chopped parsley and add the lemon wedge. 

Fish Stock recipe:

• 2kg of white fish bones
• 4l water
• 300ml white wine
• 200g sliced onions
• 200g chopped celery
•  200g sliced and washed leek
• 50g smashed garlic bulbs
• 30g thyme
• 100ml olive oil
• 1g saffron

In a large pot, add the olive oil, sliced onion, chopped celery, sliced leek, garlic and cook on medium heat until soft and colourless. Add the white wine and bring to the boil; reduce by half. Add the fish bone and then the water bring to simmer and reduce by half. Strain all the solids, keeping only the liquid then bring back to the boil. Turn off the fire and infuse with the saffron. 

Lemon aioli:

• 300ml canola oil
• 5 egg yolks 
• 20g Dijon mustard
• Salt to taste
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1 lemon

In a food processor, add the egg yolks, salt, Dijon mustard and 100ml of canola oil. Start the processor on high speed then quickly add the rest of the oil until it emulsifies and has the texture of mayonnaise. Add the lemon juice and the lemon zest, rectify the seasoning if need be. Place in a squeeze bottle for further usage.

ABOUT THE CHEF

Chef Alexandre Frechette is Chef de Cuisine at Pinto restaurant. Chef Alex, from Quebec Canada, hails from a family of butchers and hunters. He developed an interest in food preparation from a very young age and started his culinary career in Montreal in 2007, working for variety of European restaurants until he moved to Thailand in 2017.

From a very young age chef Alex developed butchering skills with his grandfather at his butcher shop which pushed him into the culinary world at the age of 18 years old. Throughout the Pinto menu, from the homemade cold cuts and proteins to the plant based options, everything is prepared with the greatest care.

At Pinto restaurant, Chef Alex’s philosophy is homemade over industrial, local over imported. He recommends the homemade cold cuts served with homemade fresh butter. The cold cuts are the result of very precise technique with a minimum preparation time of two months to get the perfect aging. At the same time, on the plant based menu every vegetable is carefully prepared to make sure that you will not miss meat protein during your meal and will feel satisfied.