Deliciously in balance with Rolf Straubinger

Warm and cold, day and night, or even Yin and Yang: so much of our everyday life is determined by a duality. Yin and Yang from Chinese philosophy makes life exciting and, in our case, utterly delicious. Because this small but incredibly fine appetizer combines the sea with the land, sweetness with acidity and fruit with vegetables. How does it taste? Fantastic, sophisticated, and so incredibly delicious. Especially when our juicy, sun-drenched blood oranges meet the delicate scallops. Or the hearty peanuts meet the gentle cucumbers. “A dish that takes a little time, but will delight everyone at the table,” promises star chef Rolf Straubinger. Well, let’s get to the opposites and get cooking. Have fun!

Yin and Yang – scallop, blood orange and fennel

Appetizer for 4 people

Dipped scallops (nuts), lightly sautéed
1 blood orange
1 cucumber Peanuts
220 ml blood orange juice
220 ml cucumber juice
4.4 g Agar Agar 4
Gelatin leaf

Bring blood orange juice to a boil with 2.2 g Agar Agar and simmer for 2 minutes, then dissolve 2 sheets of gelatin in it. Pour the liquid onto a round tray (1 mm thin) and let cool.

Cucumber Juice (basic recipe) yields mixed and finely strained approx. 1.1 liter.

1 kg cucumber
50 g sugar
15 g salt
30 g white vinegar
50 g dill
0.4 l still mineral water

Mix all ingredients and strain. Continue as above.

When the plates have cooled, cut them out with a stencil to form Yin & Yang or cut them out with a knife and arrange on plates.

Caramelized Peanuts

100 g peanuts
30 g simple syrup (1 : 1)
10 g oil
1 g sea salt
Edible bronze powder

Caramelize the nuts with the simple syrup. When they have gained color, brown again with a dash of oil, season lightly with sea salt and then let cool on baking paper. Color one part with edible bronze powder and finely chop the other part.

Fennel Salad

80 g sliced fennel
8 blood orange fillets
½ lime
½ blood orange
Sea salt
Sugar
Chili
10 g light sesame oil
Fennel greens of the bulb

Peel the outside of the fennel with a peeler, cut in half, remove the stalk and shave on the slicer. Marinate with sea salt, sugar, lime juice and a little light sesame oil and the remaining ingredients.