Tomato

This is my newest version of tomato dish.  My wife and I just went up to Lancaster, PA to visit Farmers Market.  The place was filled with a mountain of fresh local produce and which is what has inspired me to create this dish.  This is my interpretation of classic Caprese salad.  

Of course the main focus of this dish is going to be the tomato, even though some may say mozzarella and that's true and I can't argue.  As my wife and I were walking through different venders, I have noticed this heirloom tomato which I had never seen before and instantly caught my attention.  It is called "Indigo Rose".  It was bred by Oregon State University to create a type of tomato which contains  high level of antioxidant, I found out as I researched afterward.  Pretty interesting.  It tastes just like heirloom tomato but it looks like a jewel.

This beautiful indigo rose tomato from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative is served with fresh mozzarella from Blue Ridge Dairy Company in Sterling, VA, various greens and sprouts are from Tulip Hill Farm in Holtwood, PA, black garlic and rye crumb, black pepper, Cyprus black lava sea salt,  basil glass, and I placed a balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil into a tube and placed within the dish so that one can use as much or as little as needed.  Simple preparation, classic flavors, focusing onto each and every ingredients and execution with high precision is sometimes all it takes.  

Squab

Squab

corn, blueberry, lemon balm

Chicken

Flavors of Spring in Maryland, 2012.

White asparagus, radishes, ramps, peas, wood sorrels, friddlehead ferns

Pickled, glazed, blanched seasonal vegetables

Served with white asparagus veloute served table side.

Melon bread

Today, on my day off, I made this bread which is very popular in Japan known as Melon pan. Baking on my day off is so relaxing for me, no need to be in a hurry, no yelling, no worries. This is one of favorite bread at the same time. I remember growing up eating these guys ever since I can remember. Immediately, I took them out of the oven and smell the bread, when I took a first bite, so many memories came right back to my head so vividly. Memory associated with food is so strong anyone can even remember the small details when aroma and/or taste triggers your sense. For example with me and melon pan, I remember going to bakery after school with my mom and sister before going to grocery stores and getting few of melon pans. Memories, maybe that's one of the key ingredients in every delicious meal.

Veal tongue

Beet, sweet potato, malt

Lamb Breast

Cocoa, soy, sesami

Cube of Aerated Dashi

What would you do if you could manipulate something that is so fragile such as a foam? This is a beginning of new idea which just came to my mind as I was staring and playing with foam in a bubble bath. It may seem like whipped gelatin foam but if you look closer, size of bubbles are larger and more uneven in comparison and as you put it in your mouth and press it in-between the roof of your mouth and your tongue, individual bubble pops and you can hear a little popping sound. This is a first trail and I am definitely going to be testing furthermore in order to achieve better result.

Ultra concentrated lobster glace

Gallons of lobster stock has been slowly reduced down to super concentrated glace and it was clarified(agar clarification method). It looks clear, dark, and viscous. It almost looks like soy sauce. It's packed with lobster flavor. Pasta, consommé base, cracker, dipping sauce for lobster spring roll, possibilities are endless.

Mochi

Pumpkin

Pumpkin cheese cake

Pork

Pork tenderloin and belly

Pepper

King oyster mushroom

King oyster mushroom

soy, butter, garlic

This dish is the best vegetarian dish I have made. I didn't mean to make it vegetarian but it is very complex and has depth of flavor which people tend to think is only achievable by using stocks/glace made by animal products. Not to mention the aroma of various types of mushroom are fantastic with other component of this dish.

Growing up in Japan, smell of roasted delicious food with soy and butter floating in the air is so appetizing for me. During summer, people will cook squid, corn, and etc on plancha at firework site. You can literally smell this wonderful aroma from miles away.

Sapote

Sapote

Flavors of Mexico

Vanilla, dulce de leche, molasses, etc

Kabosu

Kabosu cracker served with pink peppercorn and maldon salt.

Octopus

Octopus was cooked sous vide at 85c for 4 hours with olive oil, lemon zest, dill, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, piment d'esplette, black pepper, and salt.

Served with sherry vinaigrette sheet, tapioca pearl which has been compressed with caper jus, caper, anchovies, seaweed crumb, paprika.

Coconut

Nothing else.

Is a great dish always very complicated? Does it always consist of many ingredients? Not necessarily, in my opinion. This dish is made from a single fresh coconut. Of course, I used sugar, salt and such but no other ingredients such as meat, fish, vegetable, spices, herbs. I wanted focus on different parts of an ingredient and maximize flavor and turning it into a great dish. It tastes like a coconut, and of course, smells like a coconut, however, texture is all completely different. It's soft, crunchy, crispy, etc.

Aloe vera

cilantro, yogurt, kumquat

Turbot

Turbot

Asparagus, parsley, broccoli rabe

Chevre

Cubism of Chevre

Rainbow Trout