This was the last event I'll host in this apartment :')
Bizarre dinners will have to be greatly reduced or heavily modified, but I will persist.
In the mean time, I was happy to expand the headcount (due to technical and logistical errors) for OCEANS.
If I timed everything right, this should be the last grocery trip, the last need for my mainstay kitchen items (into boxes they go!).
The last time I actually made a trip to Tokyo Fish Market was probably back when I was still dating Luke and we got some hamachi and ikura. What a wonderful excuse to go again and attempt to pick up Monterey Bay Aquarium approved fishies.
Like this lingcod from Washington.
And these littleneck clams farmed in the US.
These buddies went on the centerpiece, my piece de resistance, the star I had been dreaming of for months ~sea-cuterie board~
I would take this over a charcuterie board any day...
US farmed prawns, steamed and marinated in garlic shallot olive oilUS farmed littlenecks, steamed
Washington lingcod, seared in olive oil
US tilapia, seared in olive oil
tins from Portugal, sardines, mussels in piri piri
ikura
[not sustainable :( ] Japanese hamachi and hon hamachi
accompaniments:
cherry blossom mignonette, pink peppercorn
lemon caper raisin dip, parsley, olive oil
tomato cocktail jam, horseradish, five spice
Labo Fermento shoyu, blue corn
calabrian chilies
roasted walnuts
sichuan peppercorn goldfishies
My second excitement though not quite a pride and joy because I should've tested the components more:
corn youtiao lobster rolls.
Making the youtiao with freeze dried corn lent a pleasant corniness, but the density was hard to overcome even after three tries. I think I'd need to add more water from the start next time..
Topped with steamed lobster dressed in butter and chives. Garnished with salted egg yolk caviar (which could've been salty eggy yolkier) and parsley.
My third unexpected underdog dessert. Inspired by the amazing ice bergs I witnessed in Argentina.
Ocean-blue lemon and calafate posset encased in a sandy graham cracker crust. With calafate isomalt icebergs.
I went through a couple iceberg variations in my head (meringue? jellies? jelly candy? powdered sugar?) but these butterfly pea flower sugar shards came out pretty well.
My favorite part of bizarredinnerparties is when people start showing up and we start filling the table with goodies.
Like Em's blue jello shots and Katrina's giant platter of garlic noodles and post beach day pastries.
Other things include eggs on eggs (ikura on deviled eggs), smoked salmon bites, flying fish roe handrolls, baked mussels, sea moss smoothie, chili crab, a lesson on 18th century pirate food for some vegetarian ocean offerings (lobscouse, salmagundi, grog), and adjacent ocean things like polenta cakes that looked like sand dollars (aka sand cakes) and Jamaican hummingbird cake.
Giving myself two weeks to wrap up after OCEANS was a good idea.
This haphazard pile of leftovers was lunch. I didn't even bother packing it because the effort was unnecessary. I snacked on the cold appies while microwaving the hot appies and then nibbled away at my desk.
Dinner was also haphazard but haphazardly spread out.
I love a meal of snacks where you can mix and match and choose your own adventure. After finishing the last slices of hamachi with some Oaxacan shoyu, my favorite bites were:
parsley chimi + piri piri mussels
cocktail jam + shromps
lemon caper dip + tilapia
ikura on goldfishes
Eaten while catching up on Cruel Summer, encased in the aromas of a mixed seafood stock simmering away on the stove.
emptied items:
2 tins of fish
a bag of extra shrimp heads in the freezer
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