Fusion Confusion? 🤔

I am always very intrigued by fusion cuisines. Being an Asian that grew up in Britain, I often found myself being inspired by the cooking on both sides. Even when I was baking, I often found an urge of being drawn to using Asian ingredients.

A couple of weeks ago, I made some deliciously classic chocolate profiteroles for a BBQ. (The link to that is here 👉 https://tangosbaking.home.blog/2019/07/06/barbecue-and-strawberries-🍓/) But do you know that choux pastry is also often used for savoury recipes, especially in canapés? A while ago, I created these bite-size treats of Japanese nori choux buns with tuna tartare and avocado. I can tell you that savoury is just as good as sweet! So why don’t you give it a try too? 😉

Japanese Nori Choux Buns with Tuna Tartare and Avocado

Quantity: 15-20 choux buns

Ingredients:

For the choux pastry:

50g unsalted butter

150ml water

65g strong white flour

2 large eggs, beaten

1 large sheet of sushi nori

For the filling:

200g fresh sashimi tuna, diced

2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise

1 large avocado, slightly mashed

1 lemon, juice only

Chives, diced finely

A pinch of salt

Method:

1. Place the butter in the water in a saucepan. Heat until the butter has completely melted and the water is boiling.

2. Keep the saucepan over heat and tip in the flour in one go. Beat vigorously until a smooth dough is formed. Remove it from heat.

3. Add the beaten eggs a bit at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition, until you have a smooth, soft batter. Take care as you may not need all the eggs. The batter should not be too stiff or too runny. You can check if you have the right consistency by lifting a bit of the batter up with a spoon, and it should just hang off it, holding a V-shape.

4. Chop up the nori finely. (Make sure you save some for decorations.) Add the nori to the choux batter and mix until well-combined.

5. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6.

6. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Sprinkle droplets of water over it. Pipe the choux batter onto it in small circles, leaving enough room between them for the choux to rise. Cut the remaining nori to thin stripes, and place them in a cross pattern on top of the choux.

7. Bake the choux for about 25-30 minutes, or until they are golden and fully cooked inside. As soon as they are taken out to cool, use a sharp knife to slice them across in halves. Cool the choux on a wire rack.

8. While the choux are baking, prepare the filling. Add the chives and half the lemon juice to the mashed avocado. Season with salt and mix. For the tuna tartare, add the remaining lemon juice and mayonnaise to the raw tuna. Mix and season with salt.

9. Once the choux is cooled, fill the choux buns with the tuna tartare and avocado before serving.