The theme of this menu is a representation of my childhood as a Taiwanese-American. I never lived in Taiwan, but being a child of immigrant parents, my summers consisted of visiting my relatives in Kaohsiung while growing up in the US in a Taiwanese household. Although I only covered a small portion of "Taiwanese cuisine" with this menu, I still wanted to give you a glimpse of my perspective as a Taiwanese-American that’s intertwined with the influences and techniques I acquired through living in Paris, Japan, and NYC.
prédessert: “ice cream” burrito (潤餅)
opaline · taro mousse · peanut nougatine/praliné · green onion
I wanted to make highlight Taiwanese street food in one of the courses as it’s known for its night markets. One of these items is the 潤餅 (Taiwanese Ice Cream Burrito). It’s traditionally made with a crepe, taro ice cream, peanuts, fresh coriander, and rolled into a burrito.
first course: soymilk and youtiao (豆漿油條)
fresh soymilk mousse · salted egg yolk custard · opayls nest · fried choux
I decided to highlight the humble Taiwanese breakfast in the form of this soymilk “egg” with youtiao “toast” on the side. Sweet soymilk was a breakfast staple that I had growing up. Typically a calorie dense food, soymilk and youtiao was created out of necessity and poverty from soybean farmers. Now, it’s become something that everyone enjoys. Since egg is also a breakfast staple, I wanted to be intentional with my creation and incorporate it into the soymilk “egg.” I salt-cured yolks for two weeks and used it to create a “salted egg yolk” custard interior—a savory compliment to the sweet soymilk mousse. Finally, youtiao is normally greasy and heavy, but I created a hybrid youtiao dough, a lighter accompaniment to the “egg".”
second course: cold noodles (凉面)
mochi noodles · peanut sorbet, salted egg · cucumber jus · caramelized pineapple · sesame · pea tendrils
This menu was centered around this dish. I’ve only ever had this dish during my summers in Taiwan, or at home when my mom made it for the family. The ones that I would have at home were a hybrid—made with peanut butter or other ingredients that my parents access to as Taiwanese ingredients weren’t readily availhble when I was a kid growing up here in the US. To my surprise, from a recent business trip to NYC, I had a “cold noodle” cocktail at a Taiwanese-inspired speakeasy called Double Chicken Please in the LES. During this trip, it was also when I was contemplating whether I wanted to take on an executive pastry chef position I was offered to in NYC, especially when I started establishing my business here in Seattle. From the first sip, it instantly took me back to the memories mentioned above and I knew if they could make a savoury dish into a cocktail, reinterpreting it into a dessert was possible. I wanted to take on this challenge and knew that if I could transform this humble dish into a dessert for this menu, it would be one of the pivotal moments as a Taiwanese-American chef.
third course: fresh fruit (水果)
condensed milk · fresh mango, mango pudding · mango passion compote · red kampot peppercorn
This final course was a tribute to my parent’s childhood, and how they express their love to me and my brother. Immigrating in the late 80s to the United States, my parents saved every single penny to provide for their family. Even if they didn’t have much, they made sure my brother and I never went hungry, something they have experienced from their childhood in Taiwan. Any first or second generation Asian American child can probably relate to this—cakes and desserts were never eaten at the end of the meal, but your parents would give you sliced fruit in tupperware containers. Saying “I love you” wasn’t easy for them, but making sure we had food was their love language. Since Taiwan are known for some of the cheapest and best mangos in the world, I knew I had to bring that to life. I chose to colour the skin green, because those were the types of mangos my parents grew up eating. Perhaps the most “dessert” dish I’ve made to date, the mango was paired with a housemade condensed milk mousse, mango pudding, peppercorn and an exterior white chocolate shell—the perfect finish to the Taiwanese-inspired menu I created.
