Alikreukel (giant periwinkles) trio of tasty cakes, creamy cubes and salsa strips recipe by Bartho Eksteen paired with Die Bartha or Hermanuspietersfontein No. 5.
Ingredients
36 large alikreukels (giant periwinkles), shelled, cleaned and steamed for 15 minutes
Alikreukel Cakes (Frikkadelle)
12 alikreukel, steamed and minced
2 eggs, cooked as scrambled eggs
1 raw egg
2 slices of white bread, soaked in milk
good handful of chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
freshly grated nutmeg to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
dried breadcrumbs or seasoned flour for coating
butter and oil for frying
Creamy Alikreukel Cubes
butter for frying
1 medium onion, diced
12 alikreukel, steamed and diced
750 ml white wine ('HPF Sonner Nommer')
500 ml vegetable stock
1 punnet of shimeji mushrooms or wild mushrooms
250 ml fresh cream
Pan-fried Alikreuk Strips
12 alikreukel, well tenderised and cut into thick strips
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
dried breadcrumbs or seasoned flour for coating
butter and oil for frying
Recipe
For the alikreukel cakes, mix all the ingredients together well and form balls with the mixture. Coat with dried breadcrumbs or seasoned flour and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Fry in a mixture of butter and oil until firm and golden brown. Serve with wasabi mayonnaise and lemon wedges.
For the creamy alikreukel cubes, heat some butter in a pan over medium heat and fry the onion until golden brown. Add the alikreukel and fry for another 2 minutes. Add wine and vegetable stock, lower the heat and simmer until the alikreukel are tender ('at least 2 hours!').
Reduce the liquid in the pan if necessary (by turning up the heat and cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated), then add the mushrooms and cream and bubble for a few minutes until the mushrooms are cooked and the sauce is of medium consistency.
Serve on brown rice or wild rice with spinach. ('Just add finely chopped spinach to the rice when you steam it after cooking.')
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
For the pan-fried alikreuk strips, season the tenderised strips with salt and pepper. Dip into the egg and then the breadcrumbs (or seasoned flour) and leave to rest for about 20 minutes in the fridge.
Heat butter and oil in a pan over medium heat and fry the strips for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to an oven pan, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.
Serve with pineapple salsa. ('Cored, chopped pineapple with finely chopped sweet red onion and chilli. ')
'These dishes can be served together as a tapas or individually as a starter or main course.'
Wine Pairing
Die Bartha or Hermanuspietersfontein No. 5
Wine Note
'Die Bartho works particularly well with the frikkadelle and the alikreuk with pineapple salsa; the Hermanuspietersfontein No. 5 is perfect with the creamy alikreuk cubes.'
Cook’s Tip
'The scrambled egg added to the alikreuk cake - an accidental discovery when faced with leftover scrambled egg for breakfast one weekend - makes it moist; you know how dry fish cakes can be!'