Fire grilled Langoustine tails

21 Jun Fire grilled Langoustine tails with ramson and ‘head juice’ butter

Posted at 14:00h in Guidebooks by
Lillero is a little slice of Danish seaside glamping paradise, and hosts Michelle and Lau know how to do luxury – and food – right. We were lucky enough to score this mouthwatering camping recipe from Andy Michaelides, the head chef at Lillero’s very own restaurant, Lillefisk, and we have 3 words for you: Fire grilled. Fresh seafood. Butter. Ok, technically that’s 5 words. We’re too hungry to count. Time to throw another langoustine on the barbie.
Fire grilled Langoustine tails
But first – you’re going to want to grab a cold beverage for this. Because you’re in nature, and you’re about to whip up an epic Michelin-level dish, and that is badass. Also, cooking over a hot grill is well…hot.
Now for a little behind the scenes and how-to:
Our main man, Chef Andy, clearly knows his way around good seafood and shares with us his insider secrets for finding the best quality catch available: “For this recipe I used fresh day boat langoustines I picked up from a small boat called `Cecile´ operating out of Havnebyen Harbour, 25km away from us at Lillero.”
Hot local tip straight from the chef’s mouth: “Many small fishing boats around Denmark advertise their catch on Facebook pages and sell directly from the boat when they return from fishing.” Chef Andy “highly recommends supporting these guys. In return you get the freshest seafood you will ever eat and a clean conscience knowing you are supporting a small family business.”
Fire grilled Langoustine tails
Brb, time to do some serious FB fishing boat stalking.
If you feel a little out of your element approaching the seasoned crew of Cecile, don’t worry – the chef’s got your back. He lets us in on his tried and true methods for grabbing a good bunch: “When buying langoustines from day boats they should still be alive, have dark black eyes and smell like the ocean. To prepare them humanely, put them in the freezer for 30 mins before operating.” If you’re camping and don’t have access to a freezer, Chef Andy recommends “a swift scissor through the head to kill them instantly”.
Ready to get into it? Happy (langoustine) tails to you!
Equipment required:
    • Strong, sharp scissors
    • Fish ‘grill basket’ – Buy one. This will change the game for your outdoor grilling
    • Small pliers or fish tweezers
    • Rubber gloves (optional). Preparing langoustines will inevitably cause tiny cuts/ scrapes on your hands
    • Small metal sieve
    • Metal spoon and fork
    • A saucepan that you don’t mind burning a little on the fire
Ingredients:
    • Fresh Langoustines
    • Handful of wild ramsons (wild garlic) leaves
    • Splash of olive oil
    • 1 lemon
    • Salt to taste
After making sure your langoustines are sufficiently dead/frozen/ready to meet their imminent doom, proceed by:
    1. Removing the claws and head by carefully twisting them off.
    2. Then, remove the intestine. This is done by taking the middle part of the tail, twisting it gently until it separates it from the body, then gently pulling to remove the whole intestine all attached as one. If you mess up, no problem – just gently pinch with the fish tweezers to grip the intestine and slowly pull it out.
    3. Take the head and pull on the small legs, separating them from the head. This reveals what Chef Andy calls the ‘head juice’.
    4. Gently scoop out the light brown `head juice´ and any bonus green `coral´ which may or may not be there.
    5. If you are at home, blend until super smooth with an equal amount of room temperature unsalted butter. If you are camping don’t worry about this stage, just keep butter and `head juice` separate for now.
To cook the langoustines:
    1. Arrange side-by-side and place the shell side down on a grill. It is best to cook on white embers, not a flame.
    2. Cook gently until the flesh begins to change from translucent to white. Tip: it is important not to burn the shell during the cooking process as this will taint the meat with a bitter flavour.
    3. Take them off the grill when the shell feels hot to the touch and the meat is just starting to change color, otherwise they may overcook.
While your langoustine tails are grilling, snip the ramson (wild garlic) into rough pieces with scissors and sauté in oil. Add the butter to the ramsons and melt without caramelizing. Drop in the langoustine tails and `head juice`, mix, season with lemon and salt, and enjoy immediately. Don’t forget to refill your drink.
Glamorous finger food ala Lillero. Doesn’t get any better than this.
Fire grilled Langoustine tails
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