Poached ling with broad beans and baby fennel with licorice-ginseng foam

Ingredients

For the broad beans
2 tsp vegetable oil
100g/3½oz spring onions, sliced
40ml/1½fl oz white wine
30ml/1¼fl oz clear fish stock
½ garlic clove, crushed to a paste with some salt
350g/12¼oz broad beans, out of their pods, blanched
2 tsp cream substitute
small handful fresh tarragon, chopped
20g/¾oz flatleaf parsley
For the licorice-ginseng foam
1 tsp ginger juice
50ml/1¾fl oz clarified Bramley apple juice
30ml/1fl oz milk substitute
liquid licorice concentrate, to taste (available online)
ginseng root extract, to taste
For the baby fennel
100ml/3½fl oz fennel juice
salt, to taste
squeeze lemon juice
4 baby fennel bulbs
For the parsley and chervil purée
60g/2oz flatleaf parsley, leaves only
60g/2oz chervil, leaves only
70g/2½oz reserved (from the herbs) cooking water
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch salt
For the ling
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 x 120g/4oz ling fillets

Method

1. For the broad beans, heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat. Add the spring onions and fry for 1-2 minutes, then add the wine.
2. Add the stock and garlic and boil until the volume of liquid has reduced by half.
3. Add the broad beans, the cream substitute, tarragon and parsley and stir to heat through.
4. For the licorice-ginseng foam, pour the ginger juice, apple juice and milk substitute into a pan over a medium heat and bring to a boil. Add a few drops of the licorice concentrate and ginseng extract, to taste.
5. Blend with a hand blender for one minute until foaming.
6. For the baby fennel, combine all the baby fennel ingredients and place into a commercial vacuum pack bag. Place into a pan of boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until tender.
7. For the parsley and chervil purée, place the parsley into a pan of boiling water and cook for three minutes. Add the chervil and boil for another three minutes, then drain and immediately refresh in iced water. Remove from the ice and shake off any excess water.
8. Squeeze the cooked herbs dry over a bowl, preserving the water released by squeezing.
9. Reserve 70ml/2½fl oz of this herb water.
10. Place the cooked parsley and chervil, reserved cooking water, oil and salt into a food processor and blend on full until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve and chill.
11. For the ling, heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the ling fillets and fry for 2-3 minutes on one side, then turn and fry for 1-2 minutes, or until golden-brown and cooked through.
12. To serve, spread the parsley and chervil purée onto four plates with a palette knife. Pile two spoonfuls of the broad beans onto the purée and lay the fennel on top.
13. Season the fish with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place on the top of the fennel. Serve the licorice-ginseng foam on the side.