On
October 23, 2016, Culinary Fight Club San Diego had its 2016 Season Finale for
three chefs to make their best take on ramen. Contestants had 60 minutes to
create the Best Ramen putting their “Best Bowl” forward.
Saiko
Sake and Sushi Bar lent its dining room for the event.
The
pantry was stocked with vegetables, eggs, sauces, and seasonings. The chefs had
45 seconds to shop in the pantry. Each chef was also allowed to bring three
secret ingredients of their choice to the event.
Ready,
set, cook! The 60-minute clock started as the chefs started preparing their
dishes. Chef Hop started slicing up one of his secret ingredients, prosciutto.
Chef
Jake started slicing up one his secret ingredients, pork belly.
The
pork belly went into a quick marinade before hitting the grill.
Chef
Hop had his game face on while shaving off the fibrous skin of an asparagus.
Chef
Bev presented her version of ramen in the form of a traditional Filipino
chicken soup (mami) with egg noodles, chicken, lots of garlic, fish sauce,
crispy chicken skin, mushroom, and egg. She definitely infused the Asian influence
into her dish with garlic and fish sauce. I thought it was a little too salty
and noodles were undercooked. This would be great as a “hangover” soup as the
salty flavor along with the chicken would help settle the stomach. EAT score:
8/9/8
Chef
Hop presented his version of ramen using an Italian flare with spaghetti, melted
mozzarella, soy sauce cured yolk, and summer garden vegetables. This is very
unusual in food judging where I am able to witness the dishes being prepared
and knowing the style of the chef that prepared it. Chef Hop cooks like my dad;
getting inspired by food combinations that you would not normally think of. Hop
really went outside of the box and brought the idea of “ramen” to a new level.
Even though he had problems with his broth, it still was rich, flavorful, and
just fresh. Spaghetti was an interesting play on the “noodles” and held up
well. I love the soy sauce cured yolk!!! I hope Hop adds this to his menu! EAT
score: 8/10/9
Chef
Jake presented a more traditional ramen dish using pork broth, fresh ramen
noodles, pork belly (marinated in dandelion greens, garlic, shallots, green
onions, rice wine vinegar, and miso), charred mix of mushrooms, dandelion
greens, and onions, pickled mix of onions, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and
soft-boiled egg. I thought that Jake’s broth was amazing! You could definitely
taste that it simmered for 24 hours with the richness of the pork fat and
bones. But I thought the noodles were a little undercooked. I like my ramen
over al dente. I think it is my Hawaiian upbringing, but I love Italian pasta
al dente. The pork belly was very flavorful, but a bit overly charred for my
taste, adding an unwanted bitter flavor. The soft-boiled egg was perfectly
prepared. EAT score: 9/9/8
The
judges panel included: Chelsea Madren (aka OC Food Diva) and Chef Anthony
Pascale (owner/chef of Saiko Sake and Sushi Bar).
And
the winner is… Chef Jake McPeck. He won the Culinary Fight Club trophy and a
Golden Ticket to compete at the 2017
World Food Championships in Orange Beach, AL. Chef Hop Phan came in as the
runner-up and won a Culinary Fight Club cleaver.
Great
finale battle for 2016! Can’t wait to see what we have ahead in 2017! Stay
tuned!
Since March 1977, JONS Marketplace
has been a family-owned grocery store chain with 14 locations in Los Angeles
and Orange Counties. In May 2016, JONS introduced its new format, JONS Fresh
Marketplace, in Torrance. It is also their first location in South Bay. This full-service
grocery store chain is special. They carry all the regular household items you
would find at a regular grocery store, plus a huge variety of imported fine
foods from around the world. If there is a hard to find ingredient for a recipe
you are making, you are likely to find it at JONS.
Here is a tour of JONS Fresh
Marketplace in Torrance. Each department has all the imported food products integrated
within each aisle. For example, imported jellies, jams, and preserves will be
found by their domestic counterparts like Welch’s. You won’t have to search
around in the “international” aisle like most other grocery stores.
They have a full-service deli where
you can buy sliced meats, cheese, salads, sides, and more. You can even order a
sandwich made just how you like it with meats that you might not be able find
anywhere else.
The Torrance location also has a
full-service bakery with freshly made layered cakes, strawberry shortcake,
brownies, tiramisu, and even Eastern European desserts.
A mainstay for the area is the BBQ
counter. It has been part of this building since the last two stores that
occupied the space.
It has a huge following in the area so JONS decided, not
only to keep it up and running, but even added more options for locals to try.
They also have Santa Maria-style BBQ available on the weekends (weather
permitting), grilled up fresh in the morning. The aroma of BBQ alone will lead
you here!
Medi-Eastern
European Casserole by OC Food Diva
As I toured Jon Fresh Marketplace, I discovered their huge variety
of foods used in Mediterranean and Eastern European cuisine. This recipe is
inspired by those regions combining comfort food dishes like stuffed cabbage
(one of my dad’s tasty meals that he would prepare for us when we were growing
up and a Polish comfort food dish), goulash (Hungarian stew), kefta (one of my
favorite Mediterranean skewered meats), and tahdig (Persian rice with a crispy
golden browned bottom).
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked Sadaf jasmine or basmati rice
1 cup beef stock
1½ cups water
10 cabbage leaves
6 cloves garlic
1 yellow onion
1 green bell pepper
2 medium tomatoes, one soft for the meat mixture and one firm for
thin slicing
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 lb Superior Farms ground lamb
4 tsp Falk Salt Wild Garlic Salt Flakes or 2 tsp table salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp JONS Hungarian paprika
½ tsp JONS caraway seeds
1 tsp red chili pepper flakes, optional for spicier dish
2 medium size red potatoes
4 tbsp Mletkovita butter
1 cup Shepherds of Cypress Halloumi Cheese, grated
Karoun Labneh cheese for garnish
Preheat oven to 350°F and start double boiler/steamer.
Cook 2 cups of rice with beef stock and water.
Unfold cabbage leaves, about half of the head. Steam until tender
but not mushy (just enough so leaves can be laid flat). Set aside.
Dice onion, garlic, bell pepper, and 1 ripe tomato. Set aside
In a large pot, brown ground beef, pork, and lamb. Add onions,
garlic, bell pepper, tomato, paprika, caraway seeds, salt, and black pepper.
Simmer until liquid starts to thicken.
With a mandolin, thinly slice potatoes and 1 tomato. Set aside.
Grate cheese and set aside.
When rice is cooked, add melted butter to rice and toss to coat.
In a 9 x 12 baking dish, press half of the rice into the bottom of
the pan, making sure it is tightly packed.
Layer 1/3 of meat mixture on top of rice.
Layer thinly sliced potatoes on top of meat mixture.
Layer 1/3 of meat mixture on top of potatoes.
Layer cabbage on top of meat mixture.
Layer remaining meat mixture on top of cabbage.
Mix cheese into remaining rice and layer on top of meat mixture.
Place thinly sliced tomato on top of rice.
Bake for 45 minutes or until cheese and rice on the top and bottom
layers are golden brown.
Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Cut into squares,
garnish with a dollop of labneh, and serve.
I hope you have a chance to explore JONS Fresh Marketplace and try
my recipe!
