Chawanmushi

We eat a fair bit of oriental food living here in Hongcouver, but I had never thought of incorporating something like this into an otherwise western menu. It is a Japanese dish consisting of a smooth, steamed egg custard, flavored with dashi (a Japanese broth), soy sauce, and sometimes mirin or sake. It can be served with various fillings like shiitake mushrooms, shrimp, chicken, kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) in a small bowl or teacup, garnished with toppings like thinly sliced green onions or yuzu zest. It can be served hot or cold.

Has anyone tried to meld oriental content like this into western cuisine wine dinners? It seems to me that a small cup of chawanmushi or some other oriental nibble with flights of white wines in particular would make an interesting combination.

I have a fairly large collection of demitasse sized cups that would lend themselves to this.

[Jenise]

I cook a lot of Asian food and yes, I do incorporate Asian-ish into multi-course meals. I also sometimes fuse the technique of one cuisine with the concepts and flavors of another. For great examples of multi-ethnic dining being done successfully, read the dishes Dale reports on for wine events when he and friends dine at Noreetuh in New York City. Bottom line: if they can do it, we can too.

I love the fusion way of cooking but have also been criticized for doing so. To quote Jacques Pepin on using a recipe:" A recipe is a teaching tool, a guide, or a point of departure. Follow it exactly the first time you make the dish. As you make it repeatedly, you will change it, and massage it to fit your taste and aesthetic. Eventually, it will become your recipe." Nowadays, I most likely tweak most recipes. I find many have too many steps and can be shortened without issue. I have a cookbook called Fusion by Hugh Carpenter and love it.

I think Michelin star prix-fixe menus often have "the Asian dish" included. There will be exactly one. Not sure whether it's for the kitchen to show-off (some more...) or simply because the flavor palette is so different that it makes a good change of pace.

I cook Asian for wine dinners sometimes (or just incorporate one dish). But for me an egg custard doesn't scream wine match. Though we'd done pumpkin gratin/souffles in little ramekins with white Burg. Similar idea. I'd think the mushroom filling might work best with wine.