Anticiplate

Quintessentially southern. Yes it was. Yet, the catch was that the recipe was inspired from my new Momofuku cookbook. The liquid used to cook the grits was not your traditional water, but a bacon dashi. Yes. I boiled a half a pound of bacon in water that had previously been steeping with two sheets of seaweed. It was odd, looked disgusting, but the taste…THE TASTE!

There were a couple of bumps on the way. I couldn’t find grits in Seattle. Nope. I looked everywhere. Seattle, can I ask you a question? Why don’t you have grits? But, yet you have rare Italian polentas and every kind of organic, gluten-free product with corn in it. Yet, you have nothing labeled grits. And, I found Konbu. KONBU. But, not grits. Get with the program.

Mark Fuller, chef at Spring Hill, saved me by offering Anson Mills slow-cooking grits which, ironically, are the exact grits that David Chang recommends for his recipe. Thank goodness for Twitter, or I would have been in a pinch. For sure

Mark warned me. He said they would take four to five hours. It took four. Four long hours. But, the best part? Every ten minutes, as I re-set my kitchen timer after adding a small amount of the bacon dashi, I got to lick the spoon. I mean, should I really put it back on the counter with grits all over it? Absolutely not. And, I needed to check for seasoning. Ever ten minutes. For four hours.

Like, right now, I am obsessed with Momofuku. I want to make the english muffins with bay leaf butter, the pork buns, the cereal milk with chocolate hazelnut thing and caramelized corn flakes, and any of the noodle dishes. But, next week, it could be something completely different. I guess we will see…

Serves 4

*Based on David Chang’s recipe from his Momofuku cookbook

Bacon Dashi

8 cups of water

2 sheets (3X6) pieces of Konbu (found at Uwajimaya)

1/2 lb. smokey bacon

Shrimp n’ Grits

2 c. white grits from Anson Mills (not quick-cooking)

2 1/2 c. water

4 c. bacon dashi

2 tbsp. soy sauce

Kosher salt

Cracked black pepper

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/2 lb. bacon, cut into tiny batons

1 lb. brussels sprouts, outer leaves removed and halved

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and devained (16-20 count, and I used Tiger Prawns)

2 tbsp. grapeseed oil

1/2 c. green onions, chopped

In a large pot, bring the konbu and 8 cups of water to a boil. Lower to a simmer, and let steep for ten minutes. Remove konbu with tongs, and dispose. Then, add the bacon to the konbu water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat again, and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming the white, nasty foam, as needed. Strain the mixture through a mesh sieve and put in a pot to keep warm while making the grits.

Place the grits in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and cover them with 2 ½ cups water. Stir once. Allow the grits to settle a full minute, tilt the pan, and skim off and discard the chaff and hulls with a fine tea strainer. Let soak for 1 hour.

Set the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the first starch takes hold, 5 to 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting, add in the soy sauce, salt, and pepper, stir and cover.  Cook the grits, covered, over low heat, stirring every 10 minutes or so, and adding small amounts of the bacon dashi to the grits when they become thick and the spoon can stand upright, about 3 cups or more in 5 to 7 additions. Cook until the grits are creamy and tender, but not mushy, throughout and hold their shape on a spoon, about 90-120 minutes.  To finish, uncover the pot and stir in the butter with vigorous strokes. Add more salt, if desired, and the black pepper.

Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and put it on a paper-towel lined plate. In the leftover grease, cook the brussels sprouts on high, just so that they get caramelized with the bacon grease. Then. put the sprouts in the oven for 10 minutes.

Toss the grapeseed oil over the shrimp and season with two generous pinches of salt. In the same skillet that the bacon and the brussels sprouts have cooked in, heat the pan over medium-high heat. Toss the shrimp into the pan, and cook for 2-3 minutes until JUST pink. Do not overcook the shrimp. They take on the consistency of a pencil eraser and curve back on themselves like an “O”. They are gross. Put them aside on a plate.

Remove the sprouts from the oven, and toss them in the pan that the shrimp has just been in. Add the bacon back to the mixture, and season the sprout in with salt, and a little butter for good measure.

To plate: if the grits are hard, use a little more dashi to loosen them. Spoon the grits into warmed, shallow bowls. Top with the brussels sprouts, bacon, and shrimp. Scatter the green onions all over the top. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil.