Campbell culinary students take a cue from chemistry

Culinary students at Campbell High School joined up with chemistry students last year for some lessons in molecular gastronomy — applying the hard facts of science to the art of cooking.

The result was a sophisticated poke dish that won Campbell seniors Jordan Cook and Karizz Roxas first place over five other schools in a competition Saturday at Kapolei High School.

The students’ creation was a stacked parfait that layered seared ahi over a cucumber and avocado relish, all topped with watermelon cubes.

And therein lies the science. Cook and Roxas learned that sous vide cooking, following by freezing and thawing the watermelon, would produce a texture like that of raw ahi. If we lost you back at “sous vide,” here’s the deal on that: It means to seal food in an airtight container and cook it at low heat in a water or steam bath. The technique is used in restaurants to produce moist, tender, evenly cooked food.

If the extent of your cooking skills in high school peaked at boiling water for cup ramen, you should be mightily impressed by what these teens pulled off. Their watermelon was cooked, iced, pressed dry (several times), then combined with kim chee seasonings. The result was a complex dish that would do any restaurant proud.

I know this because I helped judge the competition. I can also credit the runners-up, Waipahu and Kapolei high schools, which applied teriyaki and smoky seasonings, respectively, to their pokes.

For recipe purposes, I am going to assume you do not have a sous vide cooker in your kitchen, so pulling off Campbell’s full recipe would not be possible.

This recipe instead is from the second-place team of Chad Dela Cruz and Maribeth Ganiron of Waipahu High School, who added a touch of sweetness to their poke with sugar and mirin. They presented their portions in edible spoons made by frying thin sheets of won ton dough into the shape of Chinese soup spoons. It’s probably the cutest presentation of any dish I’ve ever seen. But you can skip that part and just enjoy the poke.

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Teriyaki-Style Poke

Chad Dela Cruz and Maribeth Ganiron, Waipahu High School

>> 2 pounds fresh ahi, diced and kept chilled

>> 1 stalk Tokyo negi onion, grilled and sliced (or substitute 3-4 stalks green onion)

>> 1 sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced

>> 2 teaspoons lightly toasted sesame seeds

>> 2 tablespoons smoked sea salt

>> Shiso leaves or micro greens, for garnish

Sauce:

>> 1/2 cup soy sauce (Aloha brand preferred)

>> 1/4 cup sugar

>> 1/4 cup mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)

>> 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

>> 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

>> 2 teaspoons oyster sauce

>> 1-1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

Combine sauce ingredients and drizzle over an ahi cube. Taste and adjust seasonings, then drizzle over rest of ahi. Add Tokyo onion, sweet onion and sesame seeds. Sprinkle with salt. Garnish with shiso or micro greens. Serves 8.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 200 calories, 2.5 g fat, no saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, greater than 2,000 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, no fiber, 9 g sugar, 33 g protein

Write “By Request,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or email requests to bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com. Saturday’s poke competition was part of a larger event, Calabash & Cooks, a benefit for the Malama Learning Center. For more on the event, go to chewonthis.staradvertiserblogs.com. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.