"I'm having a Ratatouille moment right now."
Joyce said it best.
I started making breakfast around 9:30am and didn't sit down to eat until basically noon. To be fair, a good amount of that in between time was spent trying my hand at plating different shades of brown stuff on beige stuff and then going outside to find decent enough lighting to capture the evidence of a chawanmushi well done. Honestly, it was delicious. A myriad of flavor explosions and textural surprises even I didn't expect at times. Don't worry, I'm going to keep tooting my own horn until you put a bite of this stuff in your mouth because seriously...
I started thinking about it when my new dumpling love posted the prettiest, most refined little bowl of steamed egg I ever did see. Meanwhile I was also thinking about finally making dashi with that kombu and bag of bonito flakes I got a couple years ago... It was just a natural progression into this:
and this:
and this:
Materials:
1 egg
3/4c dashi
1T okonomiyaki sauce, optional, but if you have some leftover and are finding ways to sneak it into almost everything like me, then this is a good place to do that (otherwise, season with soy and sugar as Frankie did)
Methods:
-whisk egg, dashi, and sauce together
-strain into heat proof bowls
-set bowls in steamer and cover for about 15 minutes until it's jiggly and silky
-top with delicious things
topping options of...
bonito furikake (byproduct of dashi from my new reference for all things Japanese), ginger scallion oil (one of the seasonings I try to keep on hand but often forget to use from my reference for all things Chinese when I don't have a recipe), carrot pickles (from Ugly Pickle Co from farmers market volunteer spoils), braised taters* (thickly sliced, lightly fried, and cooked down in the pan bits that were a byproduct of furikake)
But honestly your topping options are endless. Just make sure there's something salty, something umami, something crispy crunchy, something refreshing, something fragrant, something sour, maybe something sweet...and things can be more than one something. Your chawanmushi is a blank canvas and you wield the chopstick paintbrush and palette.
*
The quiet afternoon lull was filled with prep for tomorrow and another attempt at those failed blondies with one of my trusted baking references again.
Joyce said it best.
I started making breakfast around 9:30am and didn't sit down to eat until basically noon. To be fair, a good amount of that in between time was spent trying my hand at plating different shades of brown stuff on beige stuff and then going outside to find decent enough lighting to capture the evidence of a chawanmushi well done. Honestly, it was delicious. A myriad of flavor explosions and textural surprises even I didn't expect at times. Don't worry, I'm going to keep tooting my own horn until you put a bite of this stuff in your mouth because seriously...
I started thinking about it when my new dumpling love posted the prettiest, most refined little bowl of steamed egg I ever did see. Meanwhile I was also thinking about finally making dashi with that kombu and bag of bonito flakes I got a couple years ago... It was just a natural progression into this:
and this:
and this:
Materials:
1 egg
3/4c dashi
1T okonomiyaki sauce, optional, but if you have some leftover and are finding ways to sneak it into almost everything like me, then this is a good place to do that (otherwise, season with soy and sugar as Frankie did)
Methods:
-whisk egg, dashi, and sauce together
-strain into heat proof bowls
-set bowls in steamer and cover for about 15 minutes until it's jiggly and silky
-top with delicious things
topping options of...
bonito furikake (byproduct of dashi from my new reference for all things Japanese), ginger scallion oil (one of the seasonings I try to keep on hand but often forget to use from my reference for all things Chinese when I don't have a recipe), carrot pickles (from Ugly Pickle Co from farmers market volunteer spoils), braised taters* (thickly sliced, lightly fried, and cooked down in the pan bits that were a byproduct of furikake)
But honestly your topping options are endless. Just make sure there's something salty, something umami, something crispy crunchy, something refreshing, something fragrant, something sour, maybe something sweet...and things can be more than one something. Your chawanmushi is a blank canvas and you wield the chopstick paintbrush and palette.
*
The quiet afternoon lull was filled with prep for tomorrow and another attempt at those failed blondies with one of my trusted baking references again.
6oz white chocolate
4T butter
2T sugar
1T sakura paste
1 egg
2/3c flour
1/4t salt
1/2t baking powder
little pinches of coconut umeboshi caramel
little swirls of raspberry jam
Since Joyce and I couldn't go see the Japanese cherry blossoms this year, I will celebrate it in food form from the comfort of my sunny porch. I cannot stress to you how happy I was with this texture. And this is why I rarely do substitutions or omissions... of eggs. I was on that train in high school, back when I thought I had to make "healthy" desserts and subbing mashed fruit in for eggs seemed revelatory. Fuck that dude. It's just not the same, and if i'm about to enjoy a blondie, I want to enjoy a blondie. I want it to be gooey and sticky and dense between my teeth. I'm here for indulgence. I'm here for richness. I'm here for a good time. Not a long time, friends.
Rounding out a full day in the new office (read: kitchen) with the prettiest sea bass at the 99 Ranch ball, which I lovingly stuffed with herb salt, lemons, ginger, and garlic.. and prepped per my recipe development heroine. Had some technical difficulties figuring out the right oven temp but once the fishy reached internal 145F, I refilled my mini torch twice scorching both sides and put it between a bed of simple sauteed oyster mushrooms and chinese broccoli with garlic.
I called upon home for the sauce. My stepmom would occasionally make a simple clean and tender steamed whole fish with lots of ginger and scallions, but my favorite part was the ripping hot oil with soy sauce etc that she'd pour over the finished fish to essentially sear the skin.
This fishy got bathed in hot ~1/4c olive oil, ~3T soy sauce, a touch of black vinegar (~2t), and some drops of sesame and chile oils.
I called upon home for the sauce. My stepmom would occasionally make a simple clean and tender steamed whole fish with lots of ginger and scallions, but my favorite part was the ripping hot oil with soy sauce etc that she'd pour over the finished fish to essentially sear the skin.
This fishy got bathed in hot ~1/4c olive oil, ~3T soy sauce, a touch of black vinegar (~2t), and some drops of sesame and chile oils.
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