Siblings have a way of pushing each other to the nth degree. In chef Jon Matsubara’s case, that’s been a good thing.
The well-respected chef — his resume includes Jean-Georges and Bouley in New York, and Azure, Japengo, Forty Carrots and Merriman’s Honolulu, locally — credits his sister and her small-kid-time buddy for pulling him into the world of vegan cooking.
That small kid grew up to be Jennifer Hee, one of the women creating innovative vegan and vegetarian comfort dishes at Juicy Brew. “Wherever I was cooking, my sister would bring Jenn, and she’s vegan so I had to do special dishes for her,” Matsubara said. “When she came to Forty Carrots, she really liked the food, so she brought the Juicy Brew staff for a party. They enjoyed it.”
That led Hee to invite Matsubara to cook at Juicy Brew, and through his Feast pop-up business, he’s whipping up a lineup of creative vegan fare through Saturday.
Don’t expect a gourmet menu. Matsubara got his inspiration from the other end of the food spectrum. “Vegans like food that reminds them of junk food — it’s the forbidden,” Matsubara said.
So among his dishes is one based on chicken nuggets called Chicken Fried Pump Nuggets, kabocha baked in seasonings that give it a chicken profile. A Salisbury steak-like dish, inspired by the vegan Impossible Burger, is central to the Mix Plate TV Dinner. It comes with a demiglace created from tomato paste and red wine that’s “roasted and roasted” to resemble traditional demiglace. Topping it is an “egg” with whites made of cauliflower puree and a yolk of yellow tomatoes tossed in garlic olive oil and salt.
“It looks like real egg yolk,” said the chef.
The dish, which also includes Pump Nuggests and an ube cookie, is served on a TV dinner tray.
Though vegan fare isn’t normally in Matsubara’s repertoire, he said he and his staff enjoyed the creative process. “It was fun to get out of our comfort zone and figure out what works and what doesn’t. If one of us couldn’t figure out alone how to make something work, we could do it collectively.”
— Joleen Oshiro, Star-Advertiser
FEAST POP-UP
With chef Jon Matsubara
>> Where: Juicy Brew, 3392 Waialae Ave.
>> When: 6 to 8 p.m. through Saturday
>> Note: BYOB, no reservations, takeout encouraged as the space is small
HEROES AMONG US
Chefs and successful restaurateurs may get the glory, but it is often the unsung veterans cooking or serving the food who truly make a restaurant great.
The Honolulu Star- Advertiser’s annual ‘Ilima restaurant guide will recognize one of these behind-the-scenes stalwarts in an Unsung Hero Award.
We’re looking for servers, line cooks, dishwashers … anyone whose work is essential but tends to go unnoticed.
To make a nomination, email a brief statement about your hero to crave@staradvertiser.om or write Unsung Hero, Honolulu Star-Advertiser Crave section, 7 Waterfront Plaza Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813.
BRINGING BACK THE ‘JOY’
With new recipes on everything from Thai-style wings to hot-smoked salmon, the next edition of “Joy of Cooking” is coming out this fall.
Scribner has announced that the first revision of the classic cookbook since 2006 will be published Nov. 12.
The book was overseen by founding editor Irma S. Rombauer’s great-grandson John Becker and his wife, Megan Scott.
“Joy of Cooking” includes hundreds of new recipes, an expanded offering of international food and a special section just for fermenting.
Becker said in a statement that the upcoming publication would incorporate current tastes while holding to the original methods of vetting and research.
The first edition was self-published by Rombauer in 1931. “Joy of Cooking” now has nearly 20 million copies in print.
— Associated Press
