Food

Things I’ve made over the years that I’m happy with, good chance it’s my own recipe too.

Nicely-blistered bagel halved and filled with cream cheese, lox, dill, capers, and onion
Bagels & lox. Every few years around Easter for no particular reason, I make this NYC classic from scratch. Everything except the capers.
Small ornate bowl with mixed salad of long strips of various vegetables top right, opposed to large white bowl of cloudy ramen topped with egg halves, greens, lotus slices, and thin crispy brown strips.
An attempt at recreating an amazing bowl of tori paitan I had in Ginza, with some kinpira gobo for healthy blanace.
Double-stacked tostada topped with crab, pink pickled and raw red radish, white sauce, leaves and flowers on a wooden plate with a red painted semi-circle on one side
Crab tostada with magnolia gel, first thing I made after realizing magnolia petals are flavourful was a treat
Grid of four dishes on a black background: three sesame-seed encrusted golden spheres, a row of crimped dumplings with red sauce, sausage and mushroom-flecked rice topped with green onion, and thinly-sliced potato topped with chili and garlic
A Thanksgiving interpretation of pan-Chinese dishes: sweet potato sesame balls, turkey jiaozi with five spice cranberry chili crisp, sticky rice stuffing with chestnut, shiitake, and Chinese sausage, and sichuan stir-fried potato. This was cool.
Grey slate board topped with an arranged assortment of cured meat slices, cheeses, fruit, nuts, and a tin of conservas
Assorted charcuterie, a Christmas morning tradition started during the pandemic
Folded dumplings standing upright in a clear broth dotted with red oil
Mushroom dumplings with koji cashew in a mushroom garum broth. Folding needs work.
Clams, mussels and scallops on black and white pasta with circular green leaves and small purple flowers against a blue background
Frutti di mare on zebra farfalle
Round rice patty topped with a melange of green vegetables like peas and garlice scapes with purple flowers, in front of a three seared lamb chops against a blue background
Weekly produce bag improv on crispy rice with lamb chops. Turned out nicely.
Purple and white striped ravioli garnished with green oil and herbs on a white sauce, high key white background
Maitake & ricotta ravioli with cream sauce
Curled pink watermelon radish, prawn chunks and sprouted greens on pink sliced meat in a shallow white plate, blurred bread slices in the background
Dinner with friends. One of my contibutions to a semi-annual local harvest spot prawn dinner was this gambas al ajillo riff with jamon iberico and sprouts.
Crispy golden pancake topped with red ginger slices, green onion, mayo drizzle and pink shaved bonito against a blue background
After making okonomiyaki once it turned into a weeknight regular every few months.
Three thick slices of duck breast with well-crisped skin on a white puree surrounded by long green beans, crispy chips, mushrooms and herbs
Duck breast on mash with beans, mushrooms, and greens. A much earlier effort I remember fondly.
Black plate topped with a salad of mixed brightly-coloured vegetables and flowers in a crescent on the near left edge and a piece of well-cooked meat behind it against a blue background
Duck breast with seared turnip and mizune on a scape & ginger purée. Unbalanced plate, but honestly good.
Hands balancing a thick slice of complex multi-layered, dough-wrapped food on a knife blade above the rest of the wheel it was cut from that sits on a wooden cutting board
Timpano is an over-the-top layered Italian breaded lasagna-like thing. I made it with Korean ingredients instead here
Trio of dark brown rye bread with unique toppings including pale fish slices, various pickled vegetables, pink tartare, greens, and onion slices
The first step in making smørrebrød is fermenting your rye for the bread, of course.
Oval plate on a blue table filled with mixed fruits, meat slices, and herbs
Summer fig & melon salad with prosciuttio and basil. Simple wins sometimes.
Disc of rice in a plate against a blue background with an ornate topping of green peas and herbs, asparagus tips, radish slices, crispy pink cubes, flowers, and a central egg yolk
Second go with a spring guanciale & pea risotto. Plating was better, but still has room for improvement.
8-layer lasagna sprinkled with chopped parsley on a white rimmed plate against a black background
Multi-layer weekend lasagna. Made in stages, sauces aged in the fridge before assembly and baking. Time is an ingredient.
Rectangular white dish with alternating teal and canary yellow macarons arranged
The one time I took on making macarons. Rough feet and the piping tip was wrong, but better than I expected.
Glistening browned meat with carrots and cheese chunks in a rich brown sauce housed in a yellow bowl against a blue background
Lamb stew, a recipe from a long long time ago refined
Dessert melange of powder blue pate a choux, golden cake crumbles, blueberries, white cream, and chocolate branches on a white plate
Pâte à choux and lemon cake crumble with a lot of extras to make up for me not being very good at dessert.
Pink slices of rare beef and brown well-done beef on noodles, herbs, and onion slices in a rich brown broth. In a white bowl with ornate brown chopsticks against a high-key white background.
Classic pho is a labour of love that’s hard to justify when we have so many excellent local spots that serve amazing bowls. Still, I did it.
Smoking grill with two crescents of skewered steak mid-cook on a rocky tree-lined bluff in front of the ocean
For all the effort I put into presentation, sometimes the right setting and simple cooking wins.
Thick slices of pink meat arranged with glistening browned discs, asparagus spears, and dollops of brown and white sauces on a white plate against a high-key white background
Magret fumé with fondant potatoes, asparagus, black garlic and celeriac puree. Every now and then, I think I nailed it. This was one of those.
Scallop crudo arranged with cucumber, radish, and stone fruit in a ring with a central green sauce and topped with flowers
Scallop, cucumber and apricot ring with dill oil.
White pizza on blistered dough with potato slices, cheese, capers, and dill garnishing on a wooden surface
When you have no plan for what you bring home from the farmer’s market, pizza can be the answer.
Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and caramelized onion on a plate with a glass of pale yellow beer in the background
Stacked cheeseburger from scratch. The slight glaze gap on the bun still haunts me.
Three tacos with dark brown meat and orange tomato salsa and purple flower garnish on a shallow stonewear plate against a blue background
Shortrib tacos with summer sungold pico de gallo on purple masa tortillas
White half-torus filled with pink gel flanked by berries, mint, crumble, high key white background
Lemon gelatina de leche with elderflower gel, summer berries, and almond crumble. Looks complicated, was simpler than you’d expect.

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