asian jewish deli

Continuing with the week of meal requests, tonight’s dinner was fish & chips. I used one of my favorite whitefishes, wild caught halibut. My original breading was based on cornmeal, but I found that it did not crisp up properly when deep fried. I have a feeling that cornmeal crusted fish is traditionally panfried (see my friend Lorna’s version here). After a test piece with the cornmeal, I whisked up a tempura-style batter which resulted in a crisp, light crust. I still prefer fish with my regular beer batter, but this was fine in a pinch (I only had Guinness in the fridge).

I served this fish with my usual truffled fries and a homemade tartar sauce, using dill and preserved lemon rind.

The weather today was amazing! I made burgers tonight to celebrate the upcoming spring/summer season. I always grind my own beef, using shortrib. The beef ends up being around 30-40% fat, resulting in a delicious, moist, and fatty burger. I season before grinding the meat, and always add a secret ingredient—anchovies.  The anchovy helps with seasoning and adds a noticeable hit of umami to the patties.

Tonight’s burgers were 3 oz and on Oroweat potato dinner rolls, small enough that I consider them sliders. From top to bottom: toasted potato roll, my own bacon onion jam (amazing, to toot my own horn), raw paper thin onion, Tillamook cheddar cheese, ground shortrib cooked medium-rare, black pepper, Kewpie mayo, potato roll. Sometimes I add romaine, tomato, or bacon but these burgers were really spectacular as is.

Accompanying was Belgian-style (twice fried) truffle fries cooked golden well-done. I made a tartar sauce for the fries, using mayo, sweet pickle relish, preserved lemon, shallot, and vinegar.