Embedded Files
Choosing the right dish for Menu Wars felt like an opportunity to showcase both my skills and my personal growth throughout the most interesting class I've taken here. I wanted a dish that exemplified the balance between presentation and taste, aligning with my passion for food as an art form. Working in a sushi restaurant has deeply influenced my approach to plating because there, presentation is everything. The chefs make even the smallest plates look like works of art. That’s why I decided to go for hors d’oeuvres, aiming to make something small but still stunning.
Second revisions inspiration
Inital plating
The First Plate:
The first version of my dish didn’t go as planned. Originally, I wanted to top the crispy rice with cured egg yolk, thinking it would add a rich touch to the crispy rice. I followed a recipe that didn’t cook the eggs slowly in mirin or kirin and instead cured them in salt and sugar in the fridge for over 20 hours. Though I ran into an issue, the jammy yolk combined with the fattiness of the avocado felt unbalanced, and the flavor of the yolk itself was overwhelming for such a small dish.
Egg yolk curing proscess.
My revisions:
I needed to incorporate elements of salt, acid, and heat, so after talking to Chef, I decided to ditch the yolk and replace it with a fatty protein, salmon, to play into the seafood and coastal theme and create better balance for the dish. This change to the fish from the yolk made the dish much more approachable/ more palatable to the judges. I focused on getting the crispy rice just right by pressing it into a pan and letting it set in the fridge with some weight on it. This way, the rice held its shape and crisped up perfectly, but I still encountered issues with the greasiness while trying to maintain the crunch. After some trial and error, I found that using a small amount of olive oil gave the best results in the short term.
Second (revised) plating.
Picture of my final plate before serving to judges
The Final Plate:
Things went wrong when I used a light oil to combat the oiliness of the crispy rice from previous attempts where they fell apart from being too greasy. I used vegetable oil, which made the rice more fragile and led to uneven cooking, including some burning and broken pieces. I fixed this problem with the help of Chef by making the hors d'oeuvres bite-sized using small rice pieces. They fit the avocado perfectly, creating a light bite that was not too taxing after a long round of tastings. In the end, the final version of my dish came out just as I imagined with the crispy rice topped with thinly sliced avocado and salmon, which was a light bite, not too heavy on the meals to come. Seeing them all lined up on the platter, I felt proud of how far the dish had come.
Final plating of my dishes.
Teamwork:
We wanted our menu to reflect a coastal, classic vibe. Many of our dishes had a light, fresh feel, so it made sense to stick with that theme. We chose light blue and white for the color scheme to give off that old coastal feel, and we used a slim, vintage-style font to tie it all together. I focused on creating a dish that matched the overall menu. Working with my team was very relaxed. We bounced ideas off each other and used email to communicate outside of school, which made the last few things much easier.
Presentation:
Presenting our dishes was a little nerve-wracking, but seeing people enjoy them made it worth it. I incorporated some ideas from my job and tried to plate the dish as nicely as I could.
Reflection:
Whether it was adjusting my recipe or pitching in to help others, I learned that resourcefulness and adaptability are key to success in the kitchen. Working through challenges quickly made me feel more confident in my abilities as both a teammate and a cook, and these skills in collaboration will definitely help me beyond the kitchen.
Page updated
Report abuse