Back when I cooked my first coursed meal everything was just a mess of random interesting concepts. That first meal was whatever I could come up with, which always ended up being an arbitrary assortment of “Asian fusion.” Although enjoyable, I felt that after nine preparations of coursed dinners later I should be able to achieve something much greater. Thus came the goal to create a more coherent meal that transcended my brash beginnings. Design, flavor profiles, quality. Everything must be better, yet adhere to the whimsical creativity that my group of friends and I enjoyed. Coined after feelings of endearment from more humble beginnings, the theme was set, it was time to go “back to baesics.”
I originally opened with a seafood shot. It was reminiscent of what you would find in any standard fare Japanese American restaurant, but that’s exactly what I didn’t want this time around. I wanted more precision and more thought. The bottom is sea urchin with a touch of soy, followed by shiso leaf marinated in yuzu, and finished with salmon roe marinated in a dark amber maple syrup. Order matters and so does the experience as each flavor hits your palate. A rush of dull sweetness with a hint of the sea, quickly cleaned up by an herbal minty citrus, and then ending with the ever popular and ever classic sea urchin with just enough salt from sushi grade soy.
A salad was the next item to revisit. The first dinner was a straightforward take on caprese salad on a skewer with the main innovation being a balsamic hoisin as opposed to a standard balsamic. Simple and effective, but not what I was aiming for on this day. Starting from the bottom is microgreens, topped with ricotta seasoned with black pepper and cayenne, followed by a mound of raw almonds with a hint of salt, and finished with dashi marinated pears and a garnish of parsley. Again, order matters. Early sensations of earthy leaves are greeted by a rush of creaminess that are touched with moments of spice. Before the textures get boring the crunch of almonds livens everything up as it ends with a mouthful of sweet and umami only to be broken up by garnishes of parsley.
My favorite dish from that first coursed dinner was one I called “wonton curry creamed corn” served with takoyaki condiments. Super fun and would work wonders in any street fare. I wanted something that kept that level of fun, while applying some level of gourmet feeling utilizing my newfound experiences. This dish is comprised of a very rich, cheesy creamed corn seasoned with garlic, black pepper, and a hint of sugar, sprinkled with parmesan, and topped with a dollop of gochujang, green onion, parsley, and tempura fried green onion stuffed with the same cheesy creamed corn as seen on the bottom (some fun cornception going on here). Imagine the richest cream corn you have ever had, thicken it with cheese, add in notes of salt from parmesan, cut that richness with some green onion and parsley, and spread some spice throughout as you take in some gochujang. Now with all that going on, throw in some more of everything with a little texture as you take a bite of that tempura fried green onion that is stuffed with the same cheesy creamed corn.
Next up was the slider concept. I could come up with a slider a million different ways, but I wanted this one to be out there. To “push the bounds” as some might say. Definitely an amalgamation of “this sounds cool” and “this should work” as I wracked my brain with concepts and ingredients that could be “unique” and “gourmet.” I settled on eel as it is a meaty tasting fish that was the closest thing to a hardy grill flavor that most people would love on a normal slider. Then I combo’d that with bao bread, as it is relatively under represented in the slider realm (I know bao buns are a thing, but this is a slider and most definitely not a bun). The outside is butter charred bao bread filled with heavily dried eel and a lettuce/greens replacement consisting of shiso leaf. On the side is a sauce of gochujang and parsley. Think of soft bao bread with a buttery crunch followed by smokey eel, freshened up with hints of shiso and parlsey, add in a tang of spice, and you’ve nailed what its like to eat this dish.
I’ll admit this has no resemblance to the abomination (in a good way I swear) I made the first meal. I don’t know if you could draw a single similarity between this and the monster tempura fried ball of ice cream that was wrapped in brownie. This is light, simple, and yet deceptively complex as it consists of a butter wafer drizzled in truffle honey, a couple drops of yuzu, a dash of cayenne and salt, and a garnish of mint. Rich wafer meets notes of sweet umami broken up by granules of salt and touches of cayenne, while being kept fresh by mint.
Epicurean Experience 