ending of november
hotels, jamaican parties, photo parties, football parties! its been a fun month, and i’m getting involved in a fancy dinner party which is exciting since its something i’ve always wanted to do, but just haven’t! its usually failed attempts after meaningless drunken conversations about food that are quickly forgotten and replaced with next day headaches. but its happening and i hope much more comes out of this.
meanwhile, COOKING.
this is mr. mackerel whole roasted on top of a soft potato puree with a roasted orange pepper coulis and a watercress and radish salad. i have a sweet love for whole roasted fish, just like any other protein, cooking on the bone always produces a more tender and juicy dish. the potato was good too, but i would’ve preferred a roasted potato but i needed to get rid of these potato insides!! they were leftover from my Grey Cup get together where i just needed to fill the skins with cheese and green onions and all that good stuff.
the only thing i noticed, was that the fish would’ve looked nicer and more recognizable if i flipped it and its beatiful skin was visible.
my momofuku buns (you know, david changs amazing restaurant in NYC which has now grown to 4)… this was a frustrating project baking wise. everything else was going well! i toasted some cinnamon, clove, cumin, star anise, whirred it up with some sugar and salt, and let the pork belly cure in the fridge for 3 days. the scent was… amazing. then braised it in some water with onions, carrots, thyme and bayleaf, let cool overnight. now comes the buns. i can’t bake, we know this. but this went terrible! so much time put into rising and kneading and more rising, and they came out like tough, off-coloured pancakes. i waited another day before i could eat them and just bought a huge bag of them in chinatown for like $2. not as pretty but they definitely tasted better than what i was doing.
resteamed them to spongey goodness and filled with hoisin sauce, thinly sliced cucumber and scallion, then topped with the pork belly cut into slices and seared. the only thing better would’ve been the traditional way with the skin of a peking duck. YES.
