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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Harney Take Two

I promised two things in my post yesterday.  The first of which was to give you the more elaborate description of the two special dishes Chef Anthony Sinsay brought out to us during our lunch at Harney Sushi.  The second was to provide an in depth look at our Game On Fitness Challenge.  I'm making good on my first promise but will have to delay on the second.  But for good reason!  I want to be sure that I can give enough time to the description of the Challenge so that anyone who wishes to start their own team next round has the tools in order to do so.

Now, on to Harney and yesterday's meal.  Here goes!

smoked tofu with kimchee: just like it sounds
This dish is an interpretation of a classic Izakaya style restaurant. Izakaya is a version of a Japanese pub. Sake flows throughout in this type of dining atmosphere. While dining at Yakyudori Yakitori in Hillcrest this simple yet flavorful combination was served simply as tofu with Kimchee. Combining just plain tofu with Kimchee. The simplicity of this combination was inspiring. In this interpretation we smoke the tofu here in house as well as make our own Kimchee. The tofu is smoked over hickory chips for half an hour to impart slight color and an unmistakable smokiness that is unique in tofu preparation. Our Kimchee is made in a four day process by brining the napa cabbage in salt overnight and extracting and purging all excess water and salt after the 24 hour brine and adding cucumbers and scallions before beginning the pickling stage. It is spicy but not overwhelming with a very balanced heat.
"new styled" yellow fin tuna with spot prawn pad thai
This dish was inspired by my days at Nobu and my habit for Thai restaurants. We revisit the classic Pad Thai by making a peanut sauce using cilantro, mint, ginger, garlic, sambal, and white soy sauce and toss it into a mixture of sauteed seasonal vegetables with noodles that are actually made out of spot prawns that we use from British Columbia. We top the dish with a sustainable line caught yellow fin tuna from the Philippines. We top the tuna with ginger, scallion, sesame seeds, garlic and ponzu sauce and seared with hot olive and sesame oil. We then garnish the dish with egg yolks, shunkyo radish from Coleman Farms, and micro Asian mix from Fresh Origins in San Marcos.
 I seriously can't believe that this is what I get to do for a living.

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