Off the menu

Remember when I said it was good to know people? This past Saturday I had the pleasure of sampling some of CK's dishes at Unnamedrestaurant. While I usually enjoy everything that is on the menu at Unnamedrestaurant, I was there to eat CK's food this time. He's never let me down in the past in any regard, and certainly didn't on that night either.

Short-rib and foie gras manju with short-rib marmalade

I was joined at dinner by another friend that CK and I grew up with, RM. As soon as we sat down to eat we were greeted with 3 manju fresh out of the oven, stuffed with short-rib and foie gras and brushed more with rendered foie. This dish took me from eating midnight bone marrow and oxtail marmalade with CK @ Blue Ribbon in NY (post coming eventually) to home for the holidays at a Christmas party where CK and I tried real homemade manju that blew Home Maid out of the water. I'm glad CK got the dough recipe from that party. Perfectly buttery and flaky, it was made all the more indulgent by the brush of the rendered foie gras right after they came out of the oven. Hey, if you got foie you might as well use it.

Next was our 1 x 1 pork belly course.

"Bacon & Eggs"

"Onsen Tamago"

24 hours sous vide pork belly with perfectly crisped skin. I loved how CK used 90 percent of the same ingredients in both dishes, yet the flavor profiles were so different. The pork belly and soft-boiled egg accented by chives, sel gris, and truffle butter in CK's bacon & eggs dish made for the ultimate in breakfast-for-dinner fare. But the onsen tamago might even trump that dish with its delicate flavor and aroma imparted by the ginger tea that you pour tableside. The richness from the oozing egg yolk mixed with the tea, the perfectly cooked pork belly, and the crunch of the pork skin also mimicked by the bubu arare CK used to finish the dish made for a perfect combination of flavors and textures.

CK made this next dish knowing how much we like to frequent the various izakaya all over town.

Maitake Tempura

Simply prepared, fried crisp, and topped with yukari salt CK let the mushrooms speak for themselves and allowed us to enjoy their rich, earthy flavor.

And then we went back to a 1 x 1 toro course.

Seared bluefin toro, tomato, scallion vinaigrette, balsamic gelee, pickled jalapeno

Toro sashimi, confit orange, ponzu gelee, truffle vinaigrette

The seared toro was finished with a tomato water (not pictured), perfectly seared to enjoy two textures of toro with the acidity of the tomatoes and balsamic gelee to cut through the natural richness of the toro. The toro sashimi was another well thought out dish with a delicate balance of earthiness from the truffle vinaigrette, the buttery toro, and the acid from the ponzu and orange segments.

Finally, and mercifully CK allowed us to stop eating after the next dish. In all honesty, RM and I could have stopped after the 3 manju, but with CK leading the way we didn't want to.

Seared scallops, vadouvan, and lime

The perfectly seared scallops (an impressive feat in its own right knowing that it is absolutely impossible to get dayboat scallops to Hawaii at the peak of freshness) seasoned with vadouvan,  a sort of french curry-like spice that CK has made in San Francisco, and finished with butter under the broiler.

A special thanks to CK for letting us sample his food. Hopefully those of you that read this get a chance to try the things that he's making in that kitchen. I know his passion and I know he puts great thought and care behind every dish he puts out where ever he is. We're all lucky to have him cooking in Hawaii for a while. I have no idea how long it is going to be for, but I'll be there trying everything he sends out to me while I can.