I was home in Vancouver all last week (I'm working in London for the next few months) I took this opportunity to invite a few friends and serve a Japanese inspired multi course dinner.
It was 8 courses for 9 dinners. It took some prep work and also some sourcing challenges. I cooked everything across three days.
1- Tsukemono (漬物)
Chinese cabbage/ Konbu/ Cucumber/ Bell pepper.
This is a salt pickle. I cut the veggies and a put them in a sous vide bag, added the salt and vacuum sealed it. The next day it was nice and soft. I added a dressing of yuzu juice, rice vinegar and a bit of maple syrup.
2- Hotate (ホタテ刺身)
Scallops/ Compressed apple/ Compressed cucumber/ Cucumber ketchup
Raw scallops, marinated last minute in yuzu and olive oil. Brunoise of granny smith apple compressed with rice vinegar. Brunoise of cucumber compressed with cucumber juice and yuzu. Cucumber ketchup is made with cucumber juice seasoned with rice vinegar, maple syrup, fresh mint, fresh dill, left in the fridge overnight and thickened with Ultra tex.
3- Bread course (パン)
Hokkaido milk bread/ Katsuobushi butter.
Home made milk bread (whole milk and milk powder). To do the butter, I made a dashi (Konbu and katsuobushi), reduced it by half to concentrate. whipped the butter adding progressively the dashi, then blitzed some katsuobushi to a powder and added it to the butter. the bread was toasted before service, the butter was served in caviar tins.
4- Spring vegetables (春の野菜)
Asparagus/ broad beans/ peas/ edamame/ tamago yaki.
I made a ham dashi (Konbu, katsuobusshi and prosciutto). The veggies were cooked in that dashi. There were served on a bed of asparagus puree and cubes of tamago yaki. Making the tamago yaki was the challenge, I pounded fresh side stripes shrimps in a shirabachi (Japanese mortar) until it gets pasty, I then added grated mountain yam and pounded some more until combined. I then incorporated 3 yolks and 4 whole eggs little by little until perfectly emulsified, I then cooked it on low heat and finished in the oven.
5- Gyoza (餃子)
Lobster gyoza/ Chinese cabbage sauce/ Gyoza dipping sauce fluid gel/ Lobster oil.
The gyoza filling contained Lobster meat (tail and claw), napa cabbahe, yellow chive, ginger, garlic, mirin and soy. The cabbage sauce was really good. Chinese cabbage cooked right down in katsuobushi butter, then blended to a super smooth consitency, when reheating, I seasoned with mitin, white soy and sesame oil. The lobster oil was made with the shells of the lobster used in the gyoza. I made a dipping sauce for the gyoza and turned it into a fluid gel.
6- Kara age (唐揚げ)
Fried chicken/ Renkon kinpira/ Octo vinaigrette.
The chicken was cooked sous vide for 3 hours at 85ºC, then dusted in Katakuriko and trisol and deep fried until golden brown. it was served with a lotus root stir fry and the "Octo vinaigrette" recipe by David Chang.
7- Pork belly (豚の腹)
Pork belly/ Daikon/ Courgette/ Carrots/ Chicken jus.
The pork was cooked for 24 hours at 68ºC, then pan fried. Served with vegetables cooked in roasted chicken jus. Apple /Yuzu sauce and bok choi.
8- Dessert (ダザート)
Matcha ice cream/ sesame.
Matcha ice crean (eggless)served with a microwave tea sponge and crystallized sesame seeds. I used a touch too much stabilizer in my ice cream, but over wise great flavour.
That's it. It was an undertaking and I wished I had another pair of hand, but it was great fun. #joule played its role, cooking the chicken and the pork. I'm off thinking about my next menu.
this next image is the door of my fridge with the recipes and ingredients list and crazy person handwriting. I was crossing off element every time I finished one.
