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thousandthdish
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Name: MC
Interests: Analyzing and deconstructing restaurant and home-kitchen dishes and isolating key ingredients and techniques (and replacing non-key ingredients and techniques with simpler, easier to use, and cheaper ones) for re-synthesis into new, more efficient recipes for every-day use by the average home cook.
Expertise: Full-Contact Fighting, MMA, Muay Thai, Shootfighting, Jiu-jitsu, Judo, Boxing, Wrestling, Cagefighting, Conditioning, Trail Running/ Hill Climbing, Kettlebell Training, Weightlifting, Strength/ Endurance/ Agility Training, Sports Nutrition, Unconventional Warfare, Shooting, Wilderness Survival, Navigation, Hunting, Diving, Surfing, Snowboarding, Auto & Motorcycle Racing...
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
6/30/2006
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I relaxed back in my seat, my glass of cold Rémy Martin XO in hand, watching Chef Yan lifting his steaming hot strands of Braised Szechuan Noodle out of his bowl and into the air from across our table.
Chef Yan. Chef Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook.
International Celebrity Chef, star of thirty years and 2,500 episodes worth of cooking shows broadcast around the world. The Master Chef who pre-dated Food Network, and kicked off Food Network when it was first born. The Master Chef who first taught me, in the early days as a boy in the projects growing up watching a small TV, how to use the flat edge of a cleaver to pop a clove of garlic out of its skin intact -- and how to, with that same cleaver, slice a bell pepper so thin you could see through it. The Master Chef, who has become a friend in recent years, who visits several times a year now, who I was having a drink and a bowl of noodles with now; in a private room in the basement of a Chinese Restaurant, after our formal event was through.
As the youngest man at our table, I poured our drinks.
A few minutes earlier, I removed my suitjacket, removed my tie, and was finally able to fold up the cuffs of my sleeves and relax. It had been a long day. The nine-course meal served during the formal event was excellent, no doubt -- good enough that I will be preparing and instructing on a few of those dishes on CHOW: A Taste of Love -- but I always look forward to the time after the events the most.
It's the time when professional masquerades come off, and men can be just men.
* * * * *
We got to talking about Cultural Tradition with Food, and about the New Style that many of us have come to espouse.
I admitted to Chef Yan that -- although I love the New Style, and although I have come to embrace the New Style as my own, based on my own personal life... that I always felt a kind of guilt or regret at the loss of the Traditional.
Yet, as much as I admired people who steadfastly preserved the Traditional cooking of the dishes of their cultures; I also admired people who could take that which was Traditional and through creativity and ingenuity, create new dishes that fused multiple cultures together and brought our world one step closer together through food.
"Michael," Chef Yan spoke, lowering his noodles back into his bowl.
I sat forward.
"Have you ever been to Szechuan?" He asked me in Mandarin Chinese.
"Yes." I replied.
"Have you eaten their Pepper Chicken? Or their Hou-Guo (Hot Pot)?" He continued. "Can you eat it?"
"Tastes good but too Spicy, too Oily for me," I replied.
"In Szechuan, Pepper Chicken is mostly Pepper with some Chicken and lots of bones. The Hou-Guo has this much chili oil floating on top." Chef Yan held up his hand, making a "C" shape with his fingers. "Your taste is different from Szechuan taste."
I nodded.
The man who brought Chinese cooking into the homes of every day America for thirty years sat across from me at our table. This was the same man who brought Chinese cooking into the homes of every day China at the same time. He knew what he was talking about.
I realized then -- It's like Food and Love.
Food is Love. At least My Food is My Love. When I Love, I don't Love with my preferred method of Love and screw what the recipient of my Love prefers, wants or needs. When I Love, I would rather recognize what my Love prefers, wants and needs and I adapt to fit those preferences, wants and needs.
If someone doesn't like Foot Massages, I'm not going to give them Foot Massages, even if that's something I like to do to show Love. Just the same, I'm not going to stuff someone full of hot peppers if they don't like hot peppers, just because I think that's the way it should be done.
If Food is Love, and our dishes and our cooking reflects that, why not adapt to the tastes of those we are cooking for? Why not adapt so that what we prepare for them is most pleasing to them? Why not use techniques that we know will work better, learned from other cultures that are non-traditional to us?
It would be irresponsible to not take full advantage of our knowledge and resources that we have to produce the best result for those we are sharing our Love with.
We learn the Traditional ways. We master the Traditional ways.
And then we use our knowledge of the Traditional ways, modified with our knowledge of the techniques, ingredients and styles of other cultures, to create something new that is the best of both worlds -- something that satisfies the mind, heart, body and soul in ways that one single method cannot do alone.
There is a balance in all things, though.
A Yin and a Yang, as there is Light and Darkness, as there is Traditional and Forward Thinking. Without this balance, we have an excess of one or another, which is never good. There are Chefs who steadfastly preserve the Traditional way, who deserve as much praise as the Chefs who are on the leading edge of culinary creativity. No one is greater than the other. Without Tradition, we have nothing to base ourselves on. Without Forward Thinking, we become stagnant and lose our culinary dynamic that pushes us ahead.
Here on CHOW: A Taste of Love, we will build ourselves both ways, with a foundation in the Traditional, but with a balance in the Contemporary.
* * * * *
I'm back.
It's been three years, I know. I'm guessing that most of you are gone by now. But I'm posting here to let anyone still subscribed know that I'm starting up again -- this time, with three years more experience and a new-found devotion to do this the right way this time.
Long story short: I thought I had it all together. Not really. I went to pieces in a very bad way. Losing my Wife, my Career, my Friends and my Home in such a short period of time was much more traumatic than I thought it was, and stuffing the trauma into a hole and trying to bury it didn't work. Everything collapsed all at once.
I not only stopped writing Thousandthdish, I completely vanished off the face of the planet. Nobody could find me, not even my family. For a time, I even wandered the streets homeless and insane.
I eventually recovered, but I've become a much different person than I used to be.
No, there wasn't any Ra's Al Ghul and no Ninjas and no mind-control flowers and no Gotham City, but otherwise the experience was very similar.
When I came out, I made a commitment to live my life the right way. That from then on, I was going to do everything right. I was going to eliminate everything from my life that was bad, and live my life healthy. I was going to fight social injustice. I was going to live a life not centered on myself, but centered on others. I was going to leave this world a better place than I found it. And for the most part, that's what I've been doing.
I stripped myself down to my core, and I rebuilt myself.
I rebooted myself.
I erased the last ten years of my life, and I'm re-living it the way I always should have.
In this way, this is how Thousandthdish is being re-booted. I'm leaving Thousandthdish the way it always was, here as an archive. I'm re-booting the series on a Xanga sister site, IReallyLikeFood. The new name for this Cooking Blog is CHOW: A Taste of Love. CHOW, because of the obvious reason -- but also, conveniently, because that's also my name. A Taste of Love, because that's what I always felt what cooking was -- A Taste of Love.
I may be cross-posting here on Thousandthdish from CHOW: A Taste of Love for a few weeks, just so I can catch some stragglers who log on infrequently -- but if you're still here and you want to join me again, please subscribe me/ friend me on my new Xanga at CHOW.IReallyLikeFood.com and join me there.
I'm doing this differently this time -- I'm doing it the right way.
When I was writing Thousandthdish, I was e-prop whoring and showing off instead of focusing on teaching. I liked seeing the 300 eprops per entry.
What I should have been doing instead was actually helping people learn how to cook.
I realized that if a system is not duplicatable, it's not a system. You can show something to someone a hundred times over, but if they can't do it themselves, it's worthless. It's only worthwhile if they can replicate what you did well enough to teach it themselves.
I'm setting up CHOW: A Taste of Love so that anyone coming in can build a solid foundation in Cooking. Not just coming in to look at recipes and pictures -- but to actually learn How to Cook, and to learn about the Ingredients and Techniques and the Science behind why the things they are doing produce the results they have.
There are a few entries up on the new site now; including a Thai Green Curry which we will be using as a base to create more dishes in the future, and a re-visiting of the original Rice post that started my Cooking Blog in the very beginning years ago -- except done right this time, since we're rebooting the series.
Please, come and take a look.
And if you find the new CHOW: A Taste of Love to be to your liking, I invite you to stay and join me again.
It's not about me anymore. It's about you. Now I want to teach you everything I know, so you can learn everything I have learned. And I hope someday, you teach someone else everything you have learned from me.
Thank you for having me back. I invite you now -- let's walk together again:
CHOW: A Taste of Love
(And don't forget to update your Friend and Subscription to reflect the new site).
| | |
| S I X T H C O U R S E
*****
Sake Steamed Moi Li'i and
Dou Ban Jiang Sauce Napoleon
New Style Hot Oil Sear with Young Ginger and Scallions
This series was originally intended to be a nine-course Chef's Tasting
menu, but I've decided to end it here and make it a six-course Seafood
tasting menu instead.
I apologize for being absent for the last two scheduled entries on the 28th and the 2nd.
It was a combination of a lot of things that made me take a break for
the last two weeks. Most of it was because suddenly I found
myself working long hours again with barely a chance to take a
break. Some of it was the emotional tonnage that I found myself
being buried under with the events of the past year and specifically
that past week of my life leading up to my birthday. And some
more of it was that I just felt "cooked-out" after spending a hectic
afternoon on my birthday cooking up an elaborate six course meal for my family who
had come over to spend the evening with me.
I needed to take that break from the world (including the xanga world)
these last two weeks; spending my spare time on the beach with a stiff
drink and clearing my head to take on what I feel is the next phase in
my life. In the end though, I've found myself returning to that
which I love; here and now, cooking and sharing my love of food with
you.
I realized one night, sitting on that low reef breakwall by the ocean
and looking at the lights of this city I've returned to; that while
expressing this side of me in this series of dishes, 95% of you were
just being patient and sitting here waiting for me to finish so that I
could get on with what thousandthdish is all about -- making good food
that's quick, cheap and easy to make without the fuss that I've been
presenting in these six courses.
This is the last of the six courses. After this, thousandthdish
will be returning to our regular schedule with dishes that you guys
would actually want to make. Please give me some time to catch up
with you guys; things are still busy around here, and they look like
they're going to remain busy for a while longer.
* * * * *
Moi Li'i is Young Moi, a fish that is considered a delicacy here in
Hawai'i. In the old days, Moi was a fish that was Kapu
(forbidden) for commoners to eat, and was reserved for the Ali'i (the
chiefs and royalty).
Moi is a delicately fleshed fish that melts on the tongue when eaten,
and is most often prepared steamed whole. It resembles Anago (sea
eel) to me, which was what I originally intended to make this course
with -- but decided to use Moi when I spotted some in the possession of
my local fishmonger. This recipe is inspired by a similar recipe
of Chef Matsuhisa Nobu's, in which he uses Chilean Seabass instead of
Moi or Anago and uses a Black Bean paste instead of the Dou Ban Jiang
sauce I use. Similarly, you can use any kind of delicately
fleshed or fatty fish for this dish. Butterfish works well.
So does Red or Tai Snapper.
In preparing this dish, if your filet is thick you may spread a
single layer of the sauce on the fish before steaming it instead of
layering it as a napoleon as you see here. I felt that since this
was a formal-styled dinner, the napoleon presentation was more elegant
and appropriate (and Moi, like Anago, is often thin), so I chose to do
it this way instead.
Also, Chinese cooks may have Dou Ban Jiang
sauce in their refrigerators but it may be difficult to find in a
regular supermarket. If you can find it, it is usually called Hot
Broad Bean Paste. I like the Lian How brand. It is an
essential ingredient in some of the Chinese dishes I will be doing in
the future, including Niu Rou Mian
-- but if you cannot find it, you can use the easier to find Black Bean
sauce (which is what Nobu Matsuhisa uses in his version). I
combine Dou Ban Jiang sauce with the mashed fermented Black Beans used
to make Ja Jjang Myun with sake and chili oil added.
The fish is infused with the sake because it is cooked with the steam produced by the sake.
INGREDIENTS:
FISH:
6 Filets delicately-fleshed fish
1/4 cup Sake for steaming
SAUCE:
3 Tbsp. Dou Ban Jiang (Hot Broad Bean paste)
3 Tbsp. Fermented Black Beans, whole
2 Tbsp. Chili Oil
1 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp. Sake
1 Tbsp. Garlic, finely minced
OR
Jar of Chinese Black Bean sauce
GARNISH:
Green Onion
Young Ginger
Radish Sprouts
Oil to add to sauce for final oil searing
PREPARATION:
Filet your fish. If you don't know how, wait
until I do an entry on how to do this or look
it up yourself. Otherwise, buy your fish as
a cut filet already to save yourself the trouble.
Make your sauce by combining all of the
sauce ingredients and crushing the black
beans into a paste. Cook on medium-low
heat for two minutes, stirring to keep it from
burning.
OR use premade black bean sauce and add
sake to it.
Layer your filets if you want to do it the
way I did it napoleon style. Otherwise
just spread the sauce over your single
filet in a THIN layer. Too much sauce
and you will overpower the fish. Do NOT
use as much as I use in the photo -- this
is for the purpose of the photo.
Place your fish in a heatproof bowl and
place the bowl into a pot with 1/4 cup of
sake in the bottom. Place on medium-
-high heat and steam for 8 minutes.
Pan-fry your green onions or chives and
your ginger just until they have color and
are wilted.
Place green onions and ginger crosswise
and place the fish on top. Add sesame
oil to the remaining sauce, mix it up over
medium heat until sizzling, and spoon
it over the top of the fish, crisping the
skin (if you have skin). Continue dressing
the dish with the hot oil to preference.
Plate and Serve.
* * * * *
This is the last of the six courses in our Seafood Tasting menu.
This dish, like the rest I've presented before this, reflects my
personal interpretation of Hawaiian Regional cuisine. It shows
influences of how I grew up. The presentation is Continental and
formal, with a distinctly Hawaiian fish, Chinese sauce and cooking
technique, steamed with Japanese sake. Here in Hawai'i, we grow
up surrounded by a culture that is an amalgam of the various cultures
that have come together in the history of our islands -- when we go to
parties with friends and family, we're exposed to food from all
different cultures and so we take a little from here and a little from
there and form what we are from that.
If you were wondering what the other three courses would have been,
they would have been a poultry course, a beef course, and a dessert.
The poultry course would have been Chinese Five-spiced Roast
Cornish Game Hen with Hamakua Tomatoes and Molokai Sweet Potato.
The beef course would have been Beef Two ways; Kkori Jjim
and Sirloin of Wagyu beef on a bed of Creamy Polenta. And as a finish, the
dessert would have been a light, icy sorbet of Champagne and Korean Pear.
I may still make these dishes in the future, but for now... it's
back to normal.
I hope you've enjoyed these demos. Stay tuned for the return to our
regular thousandthdish programming next week as we go back to making
food that isn't frou frou or fancy and is cheap and easy to make.
Thanks for sticking around, and thanks for supporting thousandthdish. 
* * * * *
EDIT: Okay it seems to me some
of you would like to see the remaining three courses completed, so I'll
complete the nine-course. We'll just say you can make the six
course seafood, but add on the last three courses to make it the full
nine course. What I'm going to do is go back to the "normal"
food, and alternate between "normal" and the last three courses until
we're done -- so there's going to be a discontinuity in the xanga
itself, but I'm going to list all nine courses in order in the sidebar
as they come out.
 | | |
| F I F T H
C O U R S E
*****
Roasted Artichoke King Crab
Risotto
with Momokawa Pearl Sake and Parmigiano Reggiano
We continue our special occasion nine-course Chef's Tasting menu with
our fifth course, Roasted Baby
Artichoke and King Crab Risotto.
Happy Birthday to Me.
It's been a difficult year, no doubt. I've stumbled and
fallen. My Faith, tested and nearly broken. Losing
a woman
I loved for six years of my life earlier this year. And now
losing my grandmother a few days ago. It's early here; and I
sit
with the faint light of the rising sun peeking in through the curtains,
listening to the sound of the morning rain tapping against the window
with a slow Keane ballad playing in the still air.
...I don't wanna be adored
Don't wanna be first in
line
Or make myself
heard
I'd like to bring a little
light
To shine a light on your
life
To make you feel
loved
No, don't wanna be the only one
you know
I wanna be the place you call
home...
It's early here; and I sit with a bottle of 151 and a pack of
cigarettes, thinking about the journey life has taken me through the
years... through this last year of pain and rebirth... and what the
future holds for me. I have Faith. It's all I have
left
now. Knowing that all of this... the good and the bad, is in
God's plan; and that though I walk through the shadow of the valley of
death, I shall not fear. I've lost my way, but I'm finding it
again. There is light in the end of this darkness, and I'm on
my
way there. I have Faith.
...I lay myself down
To make it
so
But you don't want to
know
I give much
more
Than I'd ever ask
for...
I swallow another gulp of 151 from my cup, and take another drag off of
my cigarette. The sun is rising now, and the rain is
beginning to
fade into the sounds of the morning.
Happy Birthday to Me.
* * * * *
My parents were never big on giving presents for birthdays.
What we do is go out to dinner together.
This year though, I don't know what to do... where to go.
I was talking to somebody recently, and I was commenting on how I used
to watch a TV show about these top-rated chefs and how when they had a
choice of where to go eat, they would always choose these little hole
in the wall places. I never understood this until
recently.
I thought, if they had a choice to go anywhere, why would they choose
these places? It's because there's something that connects
them
to those places -- when you're at or near the top, you either go to
places to be inspired by somebody better than you... or you go to
places to get the food that you love, with the people you
love.
It's not about fine dining anymore. You return to the core --
to what food is all about. Love.
And so this year, I've decided... instead of going out to dinner and
having love bestowed upon myself on my birthday, I'm going to turn
around and give my love to my family by spending my birthday dinner
cooking for them and serving them. After all, Love is
service. Love is duty. Love is giving.
And I want to
give those who Love me, the best of my own Love.
I'm going to be making this course, Roasted Baby Artichoke and King Crab Risotto,
for them as one part of my birthday dinner.
* * * * *
There are several keys to making a good
risotto.
The first key is the quality of the ingredients. A good
risotto
must be made with an appropriate rice -- meaning that using the Hinode
in your pantry isn't going to work. A good risotto rice holds
about five times its weight in liquid without breaking down.
Risotto rice is graded, and among the top grade of riso superfino is
Arborio -- the large grain you are used to, and Carnaroli -- the best
grain you can use if you can find it.
You can add just about anything to risotto, but you have to be careful
to know when to add the ingredients -- and the ingredients must be
appropriately sized and cooked so that the texture of the risotto is
not compromised. The added ingredients should be chopped to
approximately the size of the finished grain.
The stock is arguably the most important part of the risotto, since it
flavors the rice grains directly. The stock should be
appropriate
for the risotto being made. For example, a seafood based
risotto
should have a seafood stock and a lighter wine, whereas a risotto of
lamb and crimini could be made with a richer stock and Chianti
wine. Making your own stock for your risotto is often the
best
way to make a good risotto, but buying a quality pre-made stock or
making one out of concentrate or demi-glace is also an option for those
in a hurry (be aware that these stocks are often saltier than they
should be).
The second key is technique -- and I realize this is the most
intimidating part of making a risotto. It's simple
though.
Saute your aromatics, then your rice briefly (just to coat them with
oil and heat). Never leave the stove while making
risotto.
Keep stirring slowly and keep adding stock as it is absorbed.
It's very simple once you're there doing it. If it seems too
hard, it's not done yet. Just keep tasting it for texture and
flavor, keep adding stock, and you'll get there. Salt as you
go,
adding more salt little by little as you taste.
Risotto making is
simple. If you keep
stirring slowly and keep adding stock about 1/2 cup at a
time, at some point (between 20 and 30 minutes) you're going to end up
with risotto pretty much without
fail.
Our risotto is made with the unusual pairing of Roasted Baby
Artichokes, King Crab, and Sake instead of wine.
When
making an Artichoke dish, wine is usually avoided because the flavor
compounds often react unpleasantly on the palate. Using Sake,
however, does not have this effect and actually brings a very smooth
and sublime flavor to this risotto. After all, Sake is
already
great with King Crab and Sake is rice wine -- what could be
more appropriate for making risotto?
 R I S O T T O R I C E
Rice used for making risotto are
short
grained rices that are high in
starch,
which gives risotto its
characteristic
creaminess.
Arborio is the most common type
of
rice used for risotto, and can be
found
in most grocery stores now.
Arborio
is a large, plump grain that will
give
you the type of risotto you are used
to
eating -- soft, creamy, and
sticky.
If you have had a risotto where the
grains were looser and there was more
of a bite in the center, you may have
had risotto made with Vialone Nano
or
the best risotto rice, a Milanese
variety
called Carnaroli that is creamy
but
remains pleasantly al dente when
cooked.
INGREDIENTS:
6 Baby Artichokes (3 regular
sized)*
3 Tbsp olive oil for
drizzling/ roasting
1 Pound frozen King
Crab (broken quality OK)
8 cups
Water
1/2 cup Sake (I like Momokawa
Pearl)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cups Risotto
rice
Italian parsley, finely minced, to garnish
Parmigiano Reggiano or whole Parmesan cheese to grate to
taste
squeeze of lemon to taste
salt and pepper to taste
*NOTE: We
are using Baby Artichokes for this dish, which can almost be eaten
whole once the outer leaves are removed. If using whole
Artichokes, remove the outer leaves until the Artichoke resembles a
"cone". Cut it in half, and scoop out the choke.
It's color
coded. Yellow is edible. Green, white and purple is
not.
PROCEDURE:
Peel the outer leaves from the
artichoke, drizzle
with olive oil, cut them in half, and
lay on a
roasting pan or grill pan cut side
down.
Roast for ten minutes at 400
degrees.
Remove the leaves that have separated
and
save them for the stock.
Cut off the top of the cone and chop the
whole
artichoke into bits the size of a
finished risotto
grain. If using full sized
artichoke, follow the
instructions above.
Defrost your crab meat and cut open with
shears. Remove the meat from inside of
the
shell. Set aside shells for
use in the stock.
Add the Artichoke leftovers and Crab
shells to
water and boil. Reduce to
simmer and cover.
Add oil to your pan and stir fry your
onions
and Artichoke bits until onions are
transluscent
on medium heat.
Add rice directly to pan and stir fry
until grains
are well coated. Make sure
your stock is HOT
and ready to be added.
Add your first 1/2 cup of
stock. Add your sake
here. Stir and continue to
stir until absorbed.
Turn your heat down to medium-low, and
add
your next 1/2 cup of stock.
Continue to stir, adding your stock by
1/2 cup
increments. Taste your risotto
after about 15
minutes, checking for texture.
If you need
more stock, keep adding water to the pot
and
adding it to the risotto.
Check every few
minutes, adding stock as necessary until
the
texture is smooth and the grains are
just slightly
al dente.
Add the crab meat by pulling it apart
with your
fingers, and stir it into the
risotto. Add more
stock and continue to stir until the
texture is soft
and creamy to the tooth.
Grate Parmigiano Reggiano (or just
Parmesan)
over risotto and add a squeeze of lemon
if you
like. Salt and pepper to
taste.
Plate and Serve with
Sake.
* * * *
*
You've now
learned the fifth course of our nine-course Chef's tasting menu, our
first entree course.
Stay tuned for the next four entries, and after the next four entries
are
complete and after you've practiced once making each of these dishes, I
hope you invite some special people in your lives over for dinner and
make these dishes that have come from my own heart and soul for them --
from me, to you, to those you love.
I will be making some of these dishes, including this one, for my
birthday to serve to my family.
I realize these
aren't dishes you'd make every day, but they're worth
trying out because whether you realize it or not, through these
dishes... I'm teaching you about technique and ingredients that will be
applicable elsewhere. For example, learning to do this
risotto
will teach you how to make risotto in general; and how to combine
ingredients to produce the flavors and textures that are pleasing to
you.
I realize that some of my dishes are unconventional and the flavors may
not suit you -- in which case, play with your food. Play with
the
ingredients and see what works for you. Change amounts or
change
ingredients altogether. THIS is how you learn how to
cook.
Just try it.
Walk with me, and I will
teach you. When this is over, and
you
have successfully completed these nine courses, you will have learned a
tremendous base of knowledge about technique and ingredients, about
flavor and texture -- things you can carry on with you as you continue
and create your own style and your own art.
Don't be intimidated. You CAN make this. And to
those of
you who continue to support thousandthdish, I thank you.
NOTE: That's a traditional wooden sake cup the risotto is served in. Fitting, eh?
NOTE: If you want to try making mushroom risotto instead, simply
replace the artichoke with mushroom and omit the crab. Use a dry
white wine instead of sake, butter instead of olive oil, and chicken or
vegetable stock instead of our homemade stock.
| | |
|
F O U R T
H C O U R S E
*****
Shoga Dashi Bouillabaisse
Snow Crab, Prawns, Monkfish,
Clams, Mussels and Scallops
in Ginger Konbu Bonito
Broth
We continue our special
occasion nine-course Chef's Tasting
menu style dinner with our fourth course, Shoga Dashi
Bouillabaisse.
Our fourth course is an intermezzo of sorts; and like the orchestral or
operatic intermezzo, is designed to fit between two larger works and
tying them together. Prior to this course, we were working
with
our smaller appetizers using mostly raw ingredients with sublime
flavors and textures. Following this course, we will be
working
with more powerful flavors and textures and will be moving into the
first our entrees.
Our Bouillabaisse, unlike the traditional French version, is an Asian
version based on a variation of a Japanese seafood broth. The
flavors here are not big and bold, but are instead light and pure --
designed to cleanse the palate following the powerful Pomegranate-Sake
Beurre Blanc used in the previous course and prepare it for the first
of the entrees, our Roasted Baby Artichoke and Snow Crab
Risotto.
Like a musical intermezzo, this dish can also stand on its own when
made in a larger portion, and is a real treat for those who enjoy the
delicate textures and flavors of seafood in a clean, pure, natural
broth.
This course is also the simplest course in our nine course Chef's
Tasting menu -- but as following traditional zen Japanese culinary
philosophy, simple is often the best. This is one example of
a
dish where adding too many flavors and seasonings actually is
detrimental -- after all, this course is all about the seafood; and in
today's complex world we often forget we sometimes need to return to
the basics and remember that some things are best enjoyed au naturale and without
fancy sauces or ingredients.
* * * * *
I've received comments about how these dishes are
too
difficult or too expensive to make. Actually, they
aren't.
Look carefully, and you will see that these four courses I have made so
far are easy to make and can be made fairly
inexpensively.
The most difficult component I have made so far in this nine-course
menu is the Pomegranate-Sake Beurre Blanc, and that basically only
involves mixing the juice, the sake, and the rice vinegar and reducing
it before taking it off the heat and whisking in butter. The
scallop, you just put it on a pan on medium-high heat and leave it
alone for a few minutes before turning it.
The second course involves no cooking at all -- the only thing you need
to do is assemble the mille feuille (stack it -- your six year old
niece could do it); and drizzling hot oil over sashimi (which is not
difficult). The hardest part of the first course is shucking
the
oyster, but that's not difficult at all -- I cut my hand because I was
being a stupid guy and tried using brute force. And this
fourth
course? You put stuff in a pot and boil it. Come
on.
As so far, we've done nothing particularly difficult that you guys
can't do.
Don't be intimidated.
If you realize how easy
these things are to make, you get over that mental roadblock that is
keeping you from becoming a good
cook.
As for being expensive, I've calculated ingredient cost to
date.
The overall total will be LESS because we are using ingredients in
multiple dishes. There is an expensive "No Holds Barred" way
to
do this (with the Osetra and Truffles) that is totally unnecessary, and
a cheap way to do it (which is basically to remove the expensive
stuff).
If you do it the cheap way, the first and second dishes, omitting the
expensive ingredients and replacing them with cheaper substitutes, is
about $18 for six servings on the first dish and about $42 for six
servings on the second dish (it's the hamachi, it's expensive) --
averaging $5 per head per dish so far. The third dish costs
about
$18 to make for six servings also. The fourth dish also costs
about $18 to make in total. After four courses and 24 plates,
our
total cost is $96, an average of $16 per person so far, and $3.92 per
plate. I will do a final cost calculation at the end of the
nine
courses, but we're doing pretty good so far... aren't we?
 BONITO & KONBU
Bonito and Konbu are the two main
ingredients
in the making of a Japanese Dashi
broth.
Bonito is a kind of dried fish that is
shaved and
used in many preparations of Japanese
food.
Bonito is the pink flaky stuff you see
Morimoto
sensei dumping into big pots on Iron
Chef. In
actuality, he is most likely making what
we are
making here -- Dashi.
Bonito is also called
Katsuoboshi.
Konbu is a dried edible kelp seaweed,
and
gives any soup or broth a delectible
"ocean'
flavor. Koreans will recognize
it as Miyuk,
and in fact, this broth will seem very
much like
Miyuk Gook with the Miyuk removed and
Seafood added.
Dashi powder is available in stores for
you to
mix with water for instant Dashi and is
good
for a pinch or for making Donburi sauce
(see
the Katsudon entry) -- but when the
Dashi is
this important, we make it from
scratch.
INGREDIENTS:
4 4-inch sheets
Konbu
2 oz. Bonito (or
Katsuoboshi) flakes
4 1/2-inch cubes Young
Ginger
6 cups water
1 lb. Snow Crab, broken
quality (frozen ok)
1/2 lb Manila Clams
1/2 lb Mussels
1/2 lb Prawns (21-26 per pound count)
1/2 lb Monkfish (or other firm-fleshed fish), cut
into blocks
1/2 lb Scallops (sea or diver scallops
best)
* We are using Young Ginger. The flavor of Young
Ginger is lighter
and sweeter than regular Ginger. If using regular Ginger,
reduce
Ginger to 2 pieces. Try to find Young Ginger
though.
** Add more water as necessary, this recipe is for 1 cup per person
(tasting size).
*** Use whatever seafood you want
**** Add a squeeze of lemon to taste if it suits you. I don't.
***** I have WAY more seafood than you should have, for the purpose of
the photo. There should be more soup to seafood in your finished
dish.
PROCEDURE:
Make criss-cross incisions on the
surface of the
Konbu. This allows more flavor
to release into
the water. Soak the Konbu and ginger for
at
least fifteen minutes, and then place on the
stove to
boil.
When the water boils, remove the Konbu
and
remove the pot from heat. Add
the Bonito
and allow them to settle to the bottom
of the
pot. Wait ten minutes, then
remove the Bonito
by draining through cheesecloth or
pouring
into a colander.
Add the seafood into the water and bring
to a
boil. Cook for five minutes or
until clam and
mussels open. Discard if they
do not open
after ten minutes.
Arrange your seafood into the bowls with
tongs. Note that I have used a
regular entree's
portion of seafood for the
photo. Yours will
be much less, and suited for tasting
rather than
eating.
Pour the soup into the bowls after
arranging.
* * * * *
You've now
learned the fourth course of our nine-course Chef's tasting menu, the
soup course.
Stay tuned for the next five entries, and after the next five entries
are
complete and after you've practiced once making each of these dishes, I
hope you invite some special people in your lives over for dinner and
make these dishes that have come from my own heart and soul for them --
from me, to you, to those you love.
I realize these
aren't dishes you'd make every day, but they're worth
trying out because whether you realize it or not, through these
dishes... I'm teaching you about technique and ingredients that will be applicable elsewhere.
Unlike the Oysters and the Hamachi first and second courses, the
Scallop and Salad third course and this Asian Seafood Bouillabaisse can
be made as a regular meal -- and this particular seafood soup is often
a hit with parents and older folk because of its light, delicate,
sublime taste. Make this for your parents or grandparents and
make
sure you don't overcook the seafood, and they'll be
impressed.
This dish also uses no additional fats, and the seafood itself is
naturally low-fat, so this is an extremely low-fat and low carb
dish.
It's almost pure protein. Combine this soup and the third
course
salad, and maybe a silken tofu with grated ginger, chives and bonito
and soy sauce and sesame oil, and you'd have a very healthy, low-fat
and low-carb meal for shedding pounds.
Walk with me, and I will
teach you. When this is over, and
you
have successfully completed these nine courses, you will have learned a
tremendous base of knowledge about technique and ingredients, about
flavor and texture -- things you can carry on with you as you continue
and create your own style and your own art.
Don't be intimidated. You CAN make this. And to
those of
you who continue to support thousandthdish, I thank you.
| | |
| T H I R
D C O U R S E
*****
Seared Diver Scallop & 'Nalo Greens Salad
with Pomegranate-Sake
Beurre Blanc
We continue our special
occasion nine-course Chef's Tasting
menu style dinner with our third course, Seared Diver Scallop and 'Nalo Greens with Pomegranate-Sake
Beurre Blanc.
There's a right way and a wrong way to
do a Chef's
Tasting or "Omakase" menu.
Many restaurants will feature a prix fixe menu of courses that have no
relation to one another, and are otherwise meaningless to the chef who
prepared them. When you have a Chef's Tasting or "Omakase"
prepared by a chef who puts all
that he is into his menu however, you
can truly taste the Love that goes into making that menu for
you.
For this nine-course menu, I have put all of myself into creating this
for you -- my mind, my heart, my soul -- and in the case of the oyster
first course, my body too (I put a knife almost completely through my
hand, for those of you who missed it).
Doing a Chef's
Tasting or "Omakase" menu the right way also involves
taking the diner on a Culinary journey.
Crafting this kind of menu is like
writing music -- it's art; and you want it to say something.
Music that says nothing -- like art that says nothing... it may be fun,
but
it is meaningless and empty. Yet, when you see Art or listen
to
Music in which you can feel the passion and the soul that the artist
put into the work... it's beautiful. This is why I can love
the
divine genius of Mozart at the same time I can love the
urban street groove of Dr. Dre -- or the simple off-key but heartfelt
acapella of Le Couple... at the same time enjoying the breathtaking
magnificence of
Luciano Pavarotti singing
the Nessun Dorma.
This is my
art. This is my soul. And I give it to
you.
Every element... every flavor, and every texture of these nine courses
is a part of me. This isn't the only menu I make, of course
--
but this one is no less special than any of the others. I've
spent an exhausting amount of creative energy putting together this
menu, nevermind the investment in the ingredients and the time to
prepare them. This is from me to you. Please
enjoy.
And don't be intimidated by these dishes. You CAN make
this.
* * * *
*
The centerpiece of this course is not the Diver Scallop, nor is it the
Salad. It's the Pomegranate-Sake Beurre Blanc that ties them
together.
A traditional French Beurre
Blanc uses White Wine, White Vinegar, Shallots and Butter
and is served hot. This Beurre Blanc
uses Momokawa Pearl sake, Japanese red sushi vinegar, thinly sliced
Maui Onion and the juice of a fresh Pomegranate in a reduction before
having Plugra European butter whisked into it and cooled slightly --
allowing
it to be used as both a sauce for the Scallop and a dressing for the
Salad.
This Beurre Blanc
is a fortuitous fruit of my experimentation, and is
one of the best tasting sauces I have ever made. The first
time I
made this sauce and tasted it in its completion, I got the
goose bumps. It's so easy to make, and yet it is so pleasing
to
the palate and the mouth. Today, I am sharing this recipe
from my
heart and soul with you, using this Pomegranate-Sake Beurre Blanc to tie together
the components of our salad course of Seared
Diver Scallop and 'Nalo Greens.
'NALO
GREENS
I am using 'Nalo Greens because 'Nalo Greens come from a farm that
raises high quality organic vegetables. If you are making
this
course, or any salad that requires high quality ingredients, look for
the mix that comes from your local organic farm for the freshest and
tastiest greens. If you cannot find anything similar, you may
use
a "spring mix" bag from the supermarket but make sure you inspect it
carefully for any signs of rotting vegetables or discolorations -- and
eat it quickly when you get home.
TIP: Lay your leafy greens out on
a single layer of dry paper towels,
then cover with another layer of dry paper towels and roll them up loosely
before storing in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. They
will
stay fresher this way. Change the paper towels as necessary. This works for most leafy greens.
I have added Dill and Cilantro and thinly sliced Maui Onions as well as
thinly sliced Red and Yellow Bell Peppers to the Greens to make this
salad. Don't look for a pre-made salad with all these things
in
it, there is no such thing. You can omit these ingredients if
you
don't want to use them, but I feel they bring together the flavors and
textures better as well as provide a visual punch to your
dish.
POMEGRANATES
Pomegranate juice is available and usable for this dish year-round, but
fresh pomegranates provide the best taste. When selecting a
Pomegranate, choose one that is heavy for its size with taut skin and
without any visible bruises.
 S C A L L O P S
Scallops are bivalve molluscs, and
are
the sole migratory bivalve (they swim!),
giving them the highly developed
adductor
muscle that we in the US like to eat
(the
white part).
Outside of the US, the scallop is often
sold
whole. If you are able to
purchase whole
scallops, using the shell for
presentation (the
shell is beautiful and highly regular,
recalling the archetypal form of a
seashell
and the roe (red part) in the salad,
this will
improve the dish even more.
When purchasing scallops for this dish,
look for "Sea" or "Diver" scallops that
are
rated U-10 or less. This means
that there
are 10 count per pound in
size. These
scallops can be purchased from the
seafood
counter by the pound or count, or by the
tray frozen.
When making this dish, ONLY use large
U-10 scallops.
INGREDIENTS:
SCALLOPS:
6 U-10 Diver
Scallops
2
Tbsp. Olive Oil for
frying
SALAD:
6 Handfuls of
organic greens
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, thinly
sliced
1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper,
thinly sliced
1/2 Maui Onion (Vidalia is
a substitution), thinly sliced
6
Pinches fresh
Dill
6
Pinches fresh
Cilantro
SAUCE:
3 Cups Sake
(Japanese rice wine)
1/2 Cup Japanese
Red Rice (Sushi) Vinegar (regular Rice Vinegar
ok)
1
Pomegranate,
medium
1/2 tsp Fleur de
Sel
8
Tbsp. European Unsalted
Butter
PROCEDURE:
Open your pomegranate by slicing off
the
protruding "top" and then running
your
knife blade about 1/4 inch into the
skin
all the way around. When you
have gone
all the way around, twist the knife and
the
Pomegranate should split open.
Remove the seeds and place them into
a
ziploc bag. Smash them with
your fingers
like you pop bubble wrap. Make
sure you
get all of them. When you are
ready to
use the juice, cut the corner of the bag
and
make a 2mm hole to allow the juice
to
escape but hold in the seeds and
pulp.
Combine your Sake, your Rice Vinegar,
and
your Pomegranate juice. Add
your thinly
sliced onions. Sprinkle Fleur
de Sel.
Simmer until reduced to 1/2
volume.
When reduced to 1/2 volume, remove
from
heat and quickly whisk in the
butter.
Set aside and work on other
components.
Pat dry your scallops, heat oil in
pan.
Sear your scallops on medium
heat. The key
when making thicker scallops is to
control the
heat. They will form a nice
crust on their own
but using too high of a heat will cause
them to
burn. Sear them until the
center line is barely
transluscent.
Don't crowd them. They're like this for the
picture.
Plate your salad slightly off-center on
the plate.
Remove the thinly sliced onions from the
sauce
and place next to salad. Place
scallop on the
onions.
Sauce the dish by drizzling the beurre
blanc
over the salad and around the
dish.
Use as little or as much as you like.
Plate and Serve
* * * *
*
Every element... every flavor, and every texture of these nine courses
is a part of me. I've
spent an exhausting amount of creative energy putting together this
menu, nevermind the investment in the ingredients and the time to
prepare them. This is from me to you. Please
enjoy.
And please leave comments -- it's extremely disheartening to put all of
my heart and soul and all my investment in time, creative energy and
ingredients into this nine-course menu and see that the last three
entries have rated lower than any entry I've written for a very long
time and almost since the beginning. 
With this menu, I'm taking you through a culinary journey from the
birth of life
in the sea in the amuse bouche -- to its ascention to heaven in the
dessert; in a way that not only is my personal expression but is also
preparable by you.
In the first course, the Duo of Oysters on the Half Shell with two
Caviars and grated Galangal and chives, we are enjoying
the purest,
most raw of what the Sea and the Earth give us. Oysters, fish
eggs, and the grated root grown in the earth completely raw and fresh
and still alive.
In the second course, the Hamachi Sashimi Two Ways, we take one more
step with a man-made construct in the Mille Feuille and a slight
searing in the New Style Sashimi. We are still using
ground-based
elements in the cucumber and truffle and rice. We are using
basic
sea elements in the seaweed, with fresh raw fish -- and only a slight
cooking with the extracted oil of truffles.
In this third course, the Seared Diver Scallop with 'Nalo Greens and
Pomegranate-Sake Beurre Blanc, we are taking our journey
one step
further. The Scallop is seared and cooked
medium-rare.
Instead of ground-based vegetables or roots, we are using leafy greens
and herbs. We are using a fruit as the base flavor of the
sauce,
along with the man-made product of rice (sake) and our first
land-animal product (butter) in our first prepared-sauce
course.
To this point, our tastes have been fresh and sublime. In the
following courses, we will see escalating preparations where more
powerful flavors and textures. We will see preparations of
seafood and meat; a soup, and then a trio of entrees featuring seafood,
then poultry, then a crecendo finale of beef in two ways followed by
our ascention... the denouement in a light, cold, heavenly
preparation using our 1985 Dom Perignon champagne and Korean
Pear.
Walk with me, and I will teach you. When this is over, and
you
have successfully completed these nine courses, you will have learned a
tremendous base of knowledge about technique and ingredients, about
flavor and texture -- things you can carry on with you as you continue
and create your own style and your own art.
Don't be intimidated. You CAN make this. And to
those of
you who continue to support thousandthdish, I thank you.
NOTE: You can make larger portions of salad and use more scallops and make this a healthy salad meal on its own.
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