ChefAMe

Smoked Mussels with Paprika Mustard Oil.

Most of the time when I tell people I've tried chicken sashimi before the responses are usually "What the...", "Why?", and the popular "Ewww!" Never have I thought "Congrats, you've won free dinner for your weird culinary experience." and that is exactly what happen. Last Monday was the 3rd ChefAMe dinner. They had a contest via Twitter a few days before the event and asked followers to tweet the strangest food they've eaten. I was very excited to have won, because I actually was thinking about buying tickets the same day the contest was announce. So what is ChefAMe? Their website explains it best on what it's is all about.

"ChefAMe is an open mic night for local chefs — an open kitchen night to be exact. Instead of opening a restaurant, we decided that we’d go another route. We found an amazing local restaurant willing to open their kitchen one night a week so that local talent — our friends and friends of friends — could not only try their hand at a commercial kitchen but offer up their delicious food to a restaurant full of people."

Not only does the event showcase local talents, but it's also for a good cause. The 3rd installment of ChefAMe benefited Lutheran Child and Family Services. On to the food!


Roasted Asparagus Salad with Pickled Red Onion, Fresh Orange, and Pine Nut Crusted Goat Cheese

The night started off with an "amuse bouche" of Smoked Mussels with Paprika Mustard Oil as shown in the very first picture. French for "mouth amuser" the "amuse bouche" was a great tease indeed and had me looking forward to the first course, Roasted Asparagus Salad with Pine Nut Crusted Goat Cheese. The goat cheese was definitely the star of the plate.


Seared Jumbo Scallop with Roasted Eggplant Bruschetta and Aged Balsamic Vinegar


Wild Mushroom Crepe with Tarragon Creme Fraiche

The second course was a Seared Jumbo Scallop follow by a Mushroom Crepe. The scallop was plump and juicy. The creme fraiche sauce was a nice tangy companion to the savory crepe. As the food continue to slowly arrive one by one, what I notice was the portions of each dish. The chefs didn't try to stuff your stomach with each course and leaving you exhausted when the next one came. Each dish prep you for the next one and left you satisfy enough until the next one was served.


Spice Crusted Pork Tenderloin


Skirt Steak


Blueberry Crumble Tart with Buttermilk Ice Cream and Lemon Curd Sauce

As the sun slowly set, the flavors of the courses intensify. Although there were a few rich flavor elements (the goat cheese and the creame fraiche) in the first 4 courses, most of the dishes were light. For the last 3 courses, the flavors were more bold and it started with the fourth course of Spice Crusted Pork Tenderloin. A tender Skirt Steak followed and the night ended with a Blueberry Crumble Tart with Buttermilk Ice Cream.

ChefAMe is definitely something I would attend again. Not only was the food amazing, but so were the people there. I sat in a long table by the window and shared some great conversations with other attendees. ChefAMe not only showcased local talents, but it really spotlighted Philadelphia's great food scene. The 4th ChefAMe will be held on July 27th. For more info on ChefAMe and its upcoming event, please visit their site at www.chefame.com and you can follow them on Twitter @ChefAMe

Hooray For Rainy Days

Thin slices of beef sizzling away. The first step of Kansia style sukiyaki.

Last Thursday was one of those days where the rain never seem to end and I didn't mind one bit of it. It was the perfect lazy stay at home weather, order a pizza from Papa John's, watch some past seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD, and call it a night. Instead, I only had one thing on my mind. Sukiyaki. I don't remember the first time I had sukiyaki, but I do remember where. It was at Sagami in New Jersey. Sagami is my go-to, always reliable, and never let me down Japanese restaurant. Its decor is not sleek and modern. You won't find any cutesy fruity martinis, the restaurant is BYO, and there are no "crazy rolls" or "volcano rolls" or rolls that look insanely big and all tend to taste the same after a while. Don't get me wrong, I love a good momo saki and a dragon or rainbow roll every now and then, but sometimes you just want food that you know won't disappoint. For me, Sagami's sukiyaki is one of those dishes.


My overflown pot of beef comfort goodness

As much as I love the one at Sagami's, I realized I never made it myself before. I don't know why I never did and now I wish I had cooked it sooner. There's hardly any prep work involve and the only special equipment you really need is a butane burner. So what is sukiyaki? It's a type of one pot or hot pot Japanese dish. Other types of popular one pot Japanese dishes you might heard of includes oden and shabu shabu. Like many hot pot dishes, it's mostly eaten in the winter. Awwww...nothing like warming up to a pot of steaming goodness as you patiently wait with your chopstick for your food to be cook right in front of you. It's the ultimate food porn tease!

Sukiyaki mostly contains thin slices of beef, melted beef fat, yakitofu (slightly grilled tofu), nappa cabbage, shitaki mushroom, shirataki noodles, and leeks. As for the sauce, it's usually a mixture of water, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. There are two different ways of preparing sukiyaki. One is Kansai (Osaka and its surrounding region) style and the other is the Kanto (Tokyo and its surrounding region) style. Ingredients in the sukiyaki also slightly varies from region to region. With Kansai style, the thin slices of beef is seared first in the pot over the butane burner. Sugar is then added to the beef, follow by the sauce, and lastly the vegetables. With Kanto style, the sauce plus the sugar is added first and then follow by the beef and vegetables.


Sugar is added to seared beef in the second step of Kansai style sukiyaki.

When searching for a sukiyaki recipe, I knew where to looked instantly. Just Hungry! Just like I turn to Sagami for my go-to Japanese food fix, Just Hungry is the equivalent of that when it comes to searching for Japanese recipe. For more info on sukiyaki please direct your hungry eyes towards Just Hungry's Classic Sukiyaki, The Quintessential Japanese Beef Hot Pot, post.

For my version of sukiyaki, I decided to omit beef fat for...ummmmm...healthy diet reasons? Oh who am I kidding. I didn't use it because I didn't have any around. I bet it would have only made the dish better if I did. I also used regular and not grilled tofu, omitted leeks simply because I didn't have any around, and added carrots, scallion, enoki mushrooms, and onions into the mix. I decided to cooked mines Kansai style.



Kansai Style Sukiyaki
(Adapted from Just Hungry)

Ingredients:
1/2lb to 3/4lb of sukiyaki "cut" beef or well marbled thin slices of sirloin
(I was able to find sukiyaki cut beef at a Korean supermarket)
2 scallions
1/2 of a medium carrot
1 small onion
A hand full of enoki mushrooms
6 pieces of fresh shitaki mushrooms
1 small or 1/2 of a medium napa cabbage
1/2 package of firm silken tofu
Flat white noodles or udon noodles
Shirataki noodles
(Do not use the Tofu Shirataki Noodles, but rather use the black or white yam noodle type of shirataki.

Sauce or Broth:
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of sake
1/4 cup of mirin
1/4 cup of sugar

Equipment:
Butane burner
A flat cast iron pot or a frying pan with high sides.

Directions:
Prep your vegetables first.
Cut scallions into 1 inch long pieces.
Slice the carrot thinly with a mandolin slicer into 1 1/2 wide pieces.
Half a small onion and cut into medium slices.
Chop the steams off the shitakis and cut the roots of the enoki mushrooms.
Cut the napa cabbage into 1 inch pieces.
Cut the tofu into chunks.
Cook the udon noodles, rinse it with cold water, and set aside.
Blanch the shirataki noodles for a few seconds and set aside.

Leaving out the sugar, combine the rest of the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl.

Turn on your butane burner to medium high and set your cast iron pan or deep frying pan on top. I used a deep frying pan.

Drizzle a few drops of oil and add in the thin slices of sukiyaki cut beef. Brown the beef on both sides and when that is done, add in the sugar.

Coat the beef with the sugar for a minute and then add in your sauce mix.

Keeping the flame on medium high, add your vegetables and the shirataki noodles, but not the udon noodles, when the sauce begins to simmer.

Turn down the flame and let it slowly simmer. Once the vegetables are cooked through it's time to eat! Just pick out whatever you like.

Sukiyaki is usually serve along a bowl of rice. Remember to equipped your guest with long chopsticks or forks and a small ladle for the tofu.

Add the udon noodles towards the end or mid-way of the meal.




Noodles completes the last step of sukiyaki.

Have you ever had sukiyaki before? What's your favorite one pot dish to cook and eat?