8 minute read
HAUTE KITCHEN
Chef de cuisine Floyd Nunn
Clink Clink
Cheers to a new year.
BY SHARON SETO
HAPPY NEW YEAR! GONG XI FA CAI! AS AN AMERICANborn Chinese, I am a blend of both Western and Eastern cultural traditions. New Year festivities in our household is a long, enjoyable, January-through-February celebration. As Western New Year parties ebb toward the end of January, the Chinese ramp up for their Lunar New Year gatherings in February.
In Haute Kitchen, we have George Chen, famed restaurateur for world class dining destination Eight Tables. Chef de cuisine Floyd Nunn (who came from Benu and Quince) joins him and helms Eight Table’s kitchen with his own creative fusion under Chen’s supervision and input. Their collaboration creates signature dishes such as xiao long bao, which is a reimagined Shanghai dumpling with foie gras. My husband and I recently had the pleasure of dining at Eight Tables and found the flavors very traditional and authentic.
Chen and Nunn have modernized and elevated the approach to traditional Chinese food in the Bay Area. It was a delightful experience indeed.
George Chen has been a serial entrepreneur/restaurateur/ chef for more than 35 years. Having worked in several top restaurants in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, Chen was always intrigued by the vision of bridging food and culture between the East and West.
He opened his first restaurant, Betelnut, in 1995, by introducing different Asian cuisines in the form of street food. In 1995, The James Beard Awards nominated Betelnut for the best new restaurant in America. Chen went on to launch the multiunit Long Life Noodle Company, named one of the “Five Hottest Concepts” in the U.S. by Chain Leader and Restaurant Hospitality magazines. In 1997, Chen developed Shanghai 1930 Restaurant, recognized as the best Chinese eateries in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle. Other restaurants he has created and owned include Xanadu, Dragonfly Café & Restaurant, and BeauCoup Grand Bar & Salon on top of Nob Hill in San Francisco.
His current mega-project as executive chef and founder was established in 2017 in San Francisco’s historic Chinatown.
The China Live Complex, including Cold Drinks Bar and Eight Tables by George Chen (www.chinalivesf.com), has educated and changed the perception of Chinese cuisine in the West and beyond. Among hundreds of accolades received are Eater Restaurant of the Year, TIME magazine’s Greatest Places in the World.
Prior to Chen’s career in hospitality, he spent over 10 years as a senior executive on Wall Street. He is the founder/CEO of e-Ha Company, Limited (e-Ha.cn, e Ha.com). e-Ha (ElectronicHospitality Arts) is a cloud-based SaaS mobile and e-commerce company based in Shanghai, China and Cupertino, California.
Chen has received multiple culinary awards, including the U.S. Congressional Award for culinary excellence. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with degrees in neurobiology and psychology. He is married to the co-founder of China Live, Cynthia A. Wong-Chen.
Restaurateur and executive chef George Chen of Eight Tables/China Live
HL: George, you had an amazing career in the 1980s on Wall Street. What happened? How did you switch gears to food and beverage?
GC: Well, friends say I went from the frying pan to the fire, but the reality is what we do now is a creative process that makes you want to go to work instead of trying to beat the market and make more money ... which I certainly probably would have.
HL: It’s so funny to hear about the story of your former boss, a restaurant owner, chasing you with a cleaver because he had a bad day gambling back in the day. Now, as the owner of more than 16 restaurants and with years of experience under your belt, any good and funny stories? Please do tell!
GC: I could write a couple of books better than Kitchen Confidential. I once had a cook who wanted to buy my restaurant because he won a lawsuit against the U.S. government in Reno v Wang for violating his rights. Wang, aka “Goldfish Wang,” was the guy who smuggled heroin into the U.S.in goldfish. There are so many more stories.
HL: As an avid traveler and a restaurateur, what is the weirdest dish you’ve eaten?
GC: There are too many weird dishes to count, but one was sea cucumber “roe” on my birthday. It’s a tiny, sticky, clear clump. My sushi chef friend says it’s an incredible aphrodisiac. My wife, Cindy, she wanted to try it and did, saying, there was a lot of citrus in it. The chef said the citrus was “to kill the taste!”
HL: You are such a busy bee with the myriad of endeavors you spearhead. What is the ultimate “vacation” to you?
GC: Anyplace with my best friend, my wife Cindy.
HL: Anything coming up in the future? What is in the horizon?
GC: Yes! We’ll have many, many super-exciting announcements soon in 2023. Keep Sonia in touch.
- George Chen of Eight Tables/China Live
KUNG PAO CHICKEN
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS ~ 454 grams boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in large dice ~ 42.6 grams canola oil ~ 1 cup sweet green and red peppers (white pith removed), cut into ½-inch squares ~ 1 cup pasilla chili, cut into ½-inch squares ~ 14.2 grams minced garlic ~ 2 scallions (white tops only), cut into ½-inch pieces ~ 28.4 grams China Live chili bean sauce ~ 14.2 grams China Live soy sauce ~ 14.2 grams China Live chili oil ~ Roasted peanuts, skin on, for garnish (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Heat wok to higher heat, add oil. Lower heat, add chicken, and cook until opaque. Transfer chicken to a bowl and set aside. 2. Raise heat back to high, add a tablespoon of oil, scallions, peppers, and garlic. Cook until onions char and peppers release their flavor. 3. Add the chicken back to the wok. Add soy sauce and chili bean sauce.
Wok toss to create wok hay (“fire into wok”), and the sauce is tightened. 4.Top with roasted peanuts, if desired, and splash with sesame oil. 5. Place on serving dish.
XIAO LONG BAO
INGREDIENTS
XIAO LONG BAO DOUGH ~ 335 grams Hong Kong flour ~ 565 grams all-purpose flour ~ 500 grams room temperature water ~ 4 grams lye water ~ 4 grams salt Knead for 10 minutes on low speed in an electric mixer. Rest for 30 minutes. Roll to 6-gram sheets.
CHICKEN SOUP GELATIN ~ 500 grams chicken stock ~ 15 grams gelatin ~ 50 grams shiro dashi ~ 25 grams light soy sauce
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Roll 6-gram sheets of dough. 2. Wrap 18 grams of xiao long bao farce with a 3-gram foie gras nugget. 3. Steam on full steam for 6 minutes. Serve immediately.
XIAO LONG BAO FARCE ~ 500 grams chicken soup gelatin ~ 500 grams ground pork ~ 300 grams ground shrimp ~ 200 grams ground foie gras ~ 200 grams rendered pork fat ~ 40 grams ginger, minced ~ 30 grams scallion, minced ~ 17 grams salt Mix with paddle in the mixer until fully emulsified.
PORCINI DUN DAN
Makes 4 servings, with leftover custard and soup. At Eight Tables, Porcini mushroom dun dan is a favorite, enriching delicate egg custard with local porcini mushrooms and slices of abalone and chicken. We finish the dish tableside with a clear chicken broth poured over the top.
INGREDIENTS ~ 700 grams porcini stock (recipe follows) ~ 300 grams jidori egg ~ 7 grams salt, divided use ~ 2 grams xanthan gum ~ 2 liters water ~ 20 grams ginseng ~ 1 scallion, chopped ~ 10 grams ginger ~ 1 chicken breast, boneless and skinless ~ 1 abalone, poached (recipe follows) ~ 1 porcini mushroom, thinly sliced ~ Medjool dates, as needed ~ Chicken soup (recipe follows)
INSTRUCTIONS 1. To make the porcini stock: Combine 1,000 grams of water, 300 grams of porcini trim, and 50 grams of dried porcini in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and steep for 20 minutes. Strain and cool the stock. 2. To make the custard base: Blend porcini stock, eggs, 7 grams of salt, and xanthan gum in a blender on low speed for two minutes, then strain. 3. Bring water, remaining salt, and aromatics to a simmer. Add chicken and poach at 158 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Do not simmer. Remove from poaching liquid. 4. To make the abalone: Shuck one abalone and remove liver and foot. Place into a sealable bag with one scallion, 10 grams of sliced ginger, and 10 grams of salt.
Cook at 140 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Shock in water bath, then slice. 5. To make the chicken soup: Place one whole chicken in a pot. Add just enough water to cover the bird. Add 400 grams Jinhua ham or domestic, cured, unsmoked ham, 50 grams of ginger, 40 grams of scallion, 20 grams of ginseng, and 4 Medjool dates. Simmer for 90 minutes. Do not boil. Skim fat and discard the solids. 6. At service, cook 40 grams of custard base in a small bowl for 9 minutes on full steam. Layer garnishes—chicken, abalone, porcini, and dates—onto the custard.
Pour hot soup tableside over the custard to finish.
