Uchi is everything you’ve heard about and more…both in Austin and Houston. After repeated visits, I’ve yet to be underwhelmed…my expectations are always exceeded. This dish is incredible, but as you’ll see from the recipe it’s quite detailed. Why not be adventurous and give it a shot, or better yet, head to Uchi and order a glass of wine–let their experts do all the work. Enjoy!
Albacore:
Cure albacore in 1 qt sugar, 1 pt salt and zest and juice of 5 lemons for 4 hours. Slice and dress in san bai zu and shiro dashi to order.
Sunchoke soil:
Peal 10 sunchokes and and sear skins. Place in dehydrator over night. Pulse in spice grinder. Pat dry of residual oil and reserve for service.
Olive Soil:
Dehydrate one try of olives over night. Pulse in spice grinder. Reserve for service.
Watermelon:
Peal and cut into 1” by 1” blocks. Compress with .5 cup nuoc mam, .5 c simple syrup. Portion and reserve for service.
Fried Egg/Parsley:
Fry 8 eggs in b utter with 8 sliced thai chilies and 8 sliced cloves of garlic until veggies are golden brown and egg whites are crispy on edges. Place in blender with 25g trimoline, .3 cup water and .5 cup EVOO. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain through chinoix and reserve for service. Hold cold.
Sunchoke Chips:
Slice sunchoke on mandolin length ways and fry at 300F until golden. Dehydrate for one hour and reserve with silica for service.
Ramps:
Mix 1 part sherry vinegar, 1 part nuoc mam, 1 part EVOO. Cryovac ramps in liquid at least 1 day out. Slice roots in half to serve.
Tomato Ice:
Puree tomatoes and pass through cloth over night. Reduce liquid by 2/3 and pass again. Reserve for service. To serve, dress crushed ice in tomato water at very last minute of plating.
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Ingredients
- Lemon cured albacore
- Sunchoke soil
- Olive soil
- Nuoc mam compressed watermelon
- Fried egg/parsley emulsion
- Sunchoke chips
- Petite arugula
- Crispy garlic oil
- Sherry vinager/nuoc mam pickled ramps
- Tomato ice