Salt Crust Grill
created by Iron Chef Chinese I, Chen Kenichi
Battle Veal
reverse-engineered by David J Rust

Ingredients:

Steps

1. Pound the veal cutlets flat and spread each one with the pesto and bean paste soy sauce.

2. Create a layer from half of the veal cutlets over a third of the fat netting with the remaining two-thirds of netting laid out to wrap around the veal when it's done being stuffed.

3. Mix the fruits and herbs in a bowl and then layer them on top of the bottom layer of veal. Place the remaining veal cutlets over the fruit, sandwiching it between the veal. Pack it tightly and roll it up in the fat netting.

4. Coat the fat netting-wrapped veal and fruit in corn starch.

5. In a hot wok, heat the oil and deep-fry the fat-netted veal until the corn starch coating browns lightly.

6. In a large bowl, mix the rock salt and egg whites to make a paste. Spread about a quarter of this paste on the bottom of a cookie sheet.

7. Spread half of the grape leaves on the salt base and lay the browned veal package on top of it. Layer the remaining grape leaves over the top, completely covering it. Take the remaining salt paste and cover the grape-leaf-wrapped-veal forming a dome.

8. Roast the salt-crust dome in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove and place the dome on a serving platter.

9. Serve the dish by cracking the dome and discarding the salt and leaves. Slice veal pieces and serve with the fruit filling to each diner.

Serves 6 as a medium entree.

Iron Chef Notes:

The tasting panel all noted how salty the dish tasted, but remarked that the fruit filling counter-balanced that perfectly. I suppose this is a side-effect of the salt-crust-dome that was used, so seasoning the meat, pesto or fruits probably is not needed.

Cooking Notes:

I find cooking with veal to be problematical. The conditions that the animals are raised in are usually quite cruel and inhumane. However, if you can find -as I did- a rancher or farmer who raises free-range veal, this will alleviate most of these problems. Sleepy Cat Farms in Minnesota is one of these places. Now, the meat will not be as tender if it is raised free-range. The best way to infuse the tenderness into the meat, is to soak it, in the refrigerator, for 4-6 hours in heavy cream. Make sure that the veal is completely covered in the cream. When it is done, simply pat it dry and discard the liquid.