• If you thought soufflé couldn’t get any fancier, you have yet to try seafood soufflé. The broth is traditionally Taiwanese, but it has a Western finish with a topping of flaky pastry.

    Seafood soufflé

    Serves: 4
    Cooking Time: 45 mins

    Ingredients

    • Broth

    • 250ml (1 cup) water
    • 4 prawns, cleaned and peeled
    • 50g fish fillets
    • 50g calamari rings
    • 2 crabsticks
    • 80ml (cup) milk
    • 5ml (1 tsp) celery, finely chopped
    • 5ml (1 tsp) carrot, finely chopped
    • pinch salt
    • 1ml (¼ tsp) cornflour, dissolved in
    • 5ml (1 tsp) cold water
    • Pastry

    • 60ml (¼ cup) cake flour
    • 250ml (1 cup) water
    • 20ml (4 tsp) butter
    • 1 large egg yolk

    Instructions

    1

    Preheat the oven to 175°C.

    2

    For the broth, bring the water to the boil in a saucepan and blanch the prawns, fish, calamari and crabsticks for 30 seconds. Remove the fish and seafood from the water with a slotted spoon and pour the milk into the remaining water. Add the celery, carrot and salt. Put the fish and seafood back and simmer over medium heat. Slowly add the cornflour, stirring continuously until the broth thickens. Pour the broth into a soufflé bowl.

    3

    For the pastry, mix the flour, water and butter to form a dough and shape it into a round pancake. Place on top of the broth in the soufflé bowl and brush with the egg yolk.

    4

    Bake on a rack at the bottom of the oven until brown and puffed, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

    Notes

    To drink: A light, unwooded chardonnay, such as Constantia Uitsig 2009, will complement the creamy pastry as well as the lightness of the dish.