Anticiplate

Family meal is such an interesting topic in the restaurant world. Some restaurants do it. Some don’t. Some restaurants serve the meal before service to the entire staff, generally using leftovers from the night before and some restaurants don’t mind if you nourish yourself from the pantry, obviously, but you have to fend for yourself. But, at Anchovies & Olives, which in my heart will always be my restaurant family, we create family meal only once a week after service. And we go all out.

Now, this does not mean that each day the Chefs don’t eat before service. We do. Sometimes we use the leftovers from the homemade potato gnocchi to whip up some potato skins, or bring in a roast chicken that they serve with a fennel and arugula salad. We will order pizza from our favorite joint down the street that the hostess will pick up, or we will buy giant spicy burritos wrapped in tin foil or “street meat” from the stand on the corner. Fish and chips is also quite common.

Last night at Tavolata, where the “fend for yourself” category comes in to play, I ate a dish of polenta, pancetta, kale, and parmigiano reggiano. Which I called grits, bacon, collard greens, and cheese. <Inset southern accent> Cause y’all know I love my southern food.

As cooks, we always eat, but not necessarily sitting down at a table all together. There is generally just too much to do.

But, once a week. The chefs at A&O get to play. And, somehow. Miraculously. I have been looped into this event even after I have stopped working at the restaurant. One week it was Mexico. Tacos to be specific. But, not just any tacos. People, listen. The chefs made their own tortilla chips, hot sauces, salsas, and cooked every type of protein you could imagine to stick inside the warm corn tortillas. I about died as I crunched into chip after chip. Last week the theme was France. And, I do not know if we will ever be able to top that meal. Chicken liver mousse, steak frites, gruyere potato gratin, gougeres, french green beans with nicoise olives, pouissons, champagne. It was beyond extravagant. I kept eating well past the fullness marker in my belly. I think everyone did.

Tonight, though, we are going to Japan. And, creating a David Chang inspired meal from his new cookbook Momofuku. My task: Chawan Mushi. Luckily, the only ingredient that I had to “search” out was dashi powder. The little white powder, made of seaweed and bonito flakes, smells of miso soup and is actually the main ingredient in many Japanese broths and stocks. After you find it at a local international grocery store, it is as simple as dissolving one teaspoon in two cups of hot water. The hard part is finding it.

Tonight, I will arrive and be greeted warmly by my “family” as if I was coming home from a long hiatus. I have seen most of them the night before. I will look to the dark intimate corner of the restaurant nestled next to the kitchen, and two tables will be pushed together, with candles lit, and the table set. Chopsticks will be brought in. Sake will be poured into little espresso cups. We will all sit down: me, the closing servers, the bartender, the chefs, a couple of stragglers from our sister restaurants that have heard about the extravagant “dinner parties” we have been throwing, maybe the hostess. Most people will bring something to share the wealth. It will either be sake, bamboo rolling boards, and in my case because I can cook, I will bring Chawan Mushi.

We watch as some of the chefs roll sushi. Some finish their miso soup broths. Others toss noodles in sesame oil. I use a ceramic mandoline to slice my shiitake mushrooms and then, with a borrowed knife, I slice my green onions into thin ribbons. I plump up my lump crab meat, and place it on top of my egg custards. We each bring our dishes to the table. We sit down and talk about how amazing the food is, because, for the most part we are all food snobs, and love eating good food. Gossiping is a must, but then we get in intimate conversations with our neighbors, and relax after what has been a long week for all of us. For most, it is our “Thursday”. This family meal, excessive or reasonable,  gives us a reason to wake up the next day and push through the long hours until we get two days off.

Or in my case, one.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 14 minutes

Chilling time: 3 hours

*Adapted from David Chang’s recipe is the Momofuku cookbook

2 teaspoons instant dashi powder (seaweed and bonito flake stock found at Uwajimaya)

2 cups warm water

3 large eggs

1/4 cup salted roasted cashews, coarsely chopped

4 ounces lump crabmeat, broken up

1 scallion, cut into fine matchsticks (2 inches)

4 small shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and caps very thinly sliced with a mandoline

In a medium bowl, whisk the dashi powder into the warm water until it is dissolved. Let the sediment settle, then pour the clear dashi into a large measuring cup leaving the sediment at the bottom; rinse out the bowl. In the same bowl, using chopsticks, very gently stir the eggs in a “z” shape until blended, without incorporating too much air. Stir in the dashi, then strain the mixture through a small strainer back into the measuring cup to catch any of the unbeaten egg.

Divide the cashews between 4 shallow 1-cup bowls. Top with the egg mixture. Carefully set the bowls in a steamer basket in one layer, set over boiling water and steam, covered, for 14 minutes or until the custards are set. You know they are set when they are not watery, but quite jiggly. Remove custards and carefully cover them in plastic wrap. Either eat warm, or immediately transfer the bowls to the refrigerator to chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Either way, unwrap the custards. Top with the crabmeat, scallion and shiitake and serve.