Cod Liver on Leek Amuse-bouche

(serves as 3 appetizers or 6 amuse-bouche)
This is a delicate combination of smoked cod liver, leeks and sesame seeds that will go perfectly as an amuse-bouche. While the ingredients are inexpensive, this dish will still score high on the novelty factor. I know what you’re thinking, isn’t cod liver fishy? Not in this case. It’ll be like seafood flavoured faux foie gras. This dish is served chilled and you can prepare it ahead of time.

note: please refer to my Smoked Cod Liver post before proceeding.

Ingredients

1. Smoked Cod Liver (1 tin)
2. Leek (3/4 cup julienned)
3. Sake (3/4 cup)
4. Sesame Seeds (3t)
5. Woustershire Sauce
6. Mint Leaves (1t chopped)
7. Coriander Seed Powder

Preparation 

1. Two hours ahead, decant the oil of the smoked cod liver into a bowl for later use, then soak the cod liver pieces in 3/4 cup of sake. 
2. Slice the leek into half lengthwise first and then proceed to julienne it diagonally to get long strips.
3. Its now two hours later. Stir fry the leek in 4T of the cod infused oil under a low flame until the leek softens and just begins to brown. Put aside the cod liver pieces and add the sake to the leek in the pan.
4. As the sake boils down slowly, add 0.5T woustershire sauce, 0.5t corriander seed powder, 0.5t suger, 1t of chopped mint leaves and a pinch of salt. Turn off the heat when the sake is about a fifth of its original volume. Allow to cool.
5. After everything has cooled, prepare a bed of leek on each serving dish. Spoon over all the liquid from the pan as well. Evenly, sprinkle 3t of sesame seeds on the leek beds.
6. Cut the liver pieces to the appropriate size as shown in the photo. You should make the cuts such that a cut surface faces up for each piece where possible. These have a reddish hue which makes for a much better appearance. You’ll notice that we at no point applied heat to the smoked cod liver, that’s the way its meant to be.
7. Finish off with a light sprinkle of black pepper. Refrigerate until the point of serving.

Notes

• What happened to the fishy taste? Smoking the cod liver had removes some of it and soaking it in sake neutralizes the rest. I’ve experimented soaking it from half an hour to overnight and I think 2 hours leaves you with just the right residual taste.The beauty here is we are not masking the fishiness with an overpowering smell like garlic, but removing it using a chemical reaction.
• The accompanying picture is of an appetizer portion. If you are doing amuse-bouche, one of the best ways to serve this is in oriental porcelain spoons. Its just the right size for a mouthful.