🔍
How a Master Chef Runs one of NYC's Best Vietnamese Restaurants — Mise En Place - YouTube
Channel: Eater
[0]
- Right now we're going
[1]
to our chicken distributor, BO BO Chicken,
[3]
which is in at East Williamsburg.
[5]
These are older chickens, actually,
[7]
and we're gonna get a
much more delicious stock
[8]
by using an older chicken,
[10]
as opposed to a younger chicken.
[12]
They breed their chicken specifically
[14]
for the Asian market.
[16]
Asian markets value the
dark meat leg and thigh.
[20]
So I've gotta break these
chickens down immediately,
[22]
get them into our steam kettles
[23]
so we can keep on schedule
today with our soup production.
[26]
We've gotta make Pho Ga, a
chicken stock today for us.
[28]
That's gonna take about five to six hours.
[31]
So we're doing 15 birds today
[32]
and we're gonna get 15 gallons
[34]
of this beautiful yellow chicken stock.
[36]
Stock is definitely the life
blood in the restaurant.
[38]
Not only does it go into
our soups, but sometimes,
[40]
it finds its way into sauces.
[42]
So this is our steam kettle.
[43]
This is where all of our
stock production happens
[45]
in our kitchen.
[46]
Now, I'm gonna take the
chickens and put them
[47]
in here right now.
[48]
Pho is a dish that I think is the gateway
[50]
for a lot of people in getting introduced
[52]
to Vietnamese food.
[53]
We're not doing a very traditional Pho.
[54]
It's a Pho that's been inspired
by our travels in Hanoi.
[57]
So you look at right now,
[58]
it just looks like kinda cloudy and murky.
[61]
What I need to do throughout
this entire process is,
[64]
never let this machine hit a rolling boil.
[67]
If it hits a rolling boil,
[68]
I'm gonna end up getting
a very cloudy stock.
[70]
For us in this situation,
[72]
I want something that looks
yellow and very clear.
[75]
Close it up.
[78]
To finish out the process,
we add our aromatics, now,
[81]
ginger and onion.
[83]
All of this is gonna get prepped,
[85]
getting ready to finish out our Pho Ga.
[87]
This is actually a very
untraditional way of making Pho.
[90]
The traditional way, the
way that I was brought
[93]
up and a lot of people teach it,
[94]
they actually take the step here
[95]
of roasting the onion and ginger.
[97]
My personal opinion is,
[99]
the roasting aspect doesn't
necessarily yield a product
[102]
that I'm particularly happy with.
[104]
It makes the color
[105]
of the stock a little bit
darker than I would prefer.
[108]
I like something light and blonde
[110]
'cause I know the haters
online will be like,
[111]
"You didn't roast the ginger.
[113]
You didn't roast the onion.
[114]
That's how my mom makes it."
[116]
Well, I'm not trying to make
it the way your mom makes it.
[119]
I'm trying to make it the
way that we enjoy here
[121]
at Di An Di while still honoring the dish.
[123]
We're gonna bring this all up.
[124]
We're gonna put it in
[125]
and we're gonna let it cook
for probably another hour.
[127]
Now we're, you know, three or
four hours into the process.
[130]
You can see the colors change quite a bit.
[131]
That gold layer that we're looking for,
[134]
you're starting to see that up top.
[135]
So we'll add in the onion, ginger.
[139]
We'll add in the fish sauce and we'll add
[141]
in our salt and sugar, and that's it.
[145]
We'll let this run for another hour.
[147]
Richie is just poaching
[148]
off some rice noodles in
anticipation for service.
[151]
We source these beautiful noodles,
[152]
and it's the best noodle.
[154]
You know, I will stand behind that 110%.
[157]
So we kind of parcook it right now
[158]
because once service starts
between delivery and dine in,
[162]
we have to be able to
keep up with the pace.
[164]
Our chicken stock is
ready to get pulled, now.
[166]
First, we have to strain out all the bones
[168]
and then we are going to release it
[169]
from here and then pass
it through a filter
[171]
to further clarify the stock.
[175]
We now need to rapidly cool it.
[176]
From a good food safety practices,
[179]
we need to make sure
that this rapidly cools
[181]
so that there's no bacteria
growth or anything.
[183]
(upbeat music)
[196]
7:00 AM in the morning,
[197]
this is one of the first
tasks that our prep team has
[199]
to handle day in and day out,
[200]
and it's making the mix for our Gio,
[202]
our fried rice paper rolls.
[204]
We have pork here that we grind in house.
[206]
He's just trying to do his
best to wick away as much
[209]
of the moisture as he can.
[210]
We don't get all the moisture out.
[212]
These rolls when they fry,
they're gonna wanna explode
[214]
because all the water
inside's gonna be trapped.
[217]
It's gonna convert to steam
[218]
and it's gonna wanna find its way out.
[220]
We like to use whole shrimp for this.
[222]
A lot of times, you'll
find, in other restaurants,
[224]
they'll grind up the shrimp
to like a kind of a paste,
[226]
but I really wanna get
whole pieces of shrimp
[228]
in my rice paper roll.
[230]
(funky music)
[234]
So Andres is gonna take
our dry ingredients
[236]
and he's gonna hydrate
them with some hot water,
[240]
and then we're gonna add this all
[241]
and combine it and mix it all up.
[244]
First off, this is the rice
paper that we're gonna use
[246]
for our fried rice paper rolls.
[248]
The triangle shape lends itself
[250]
to just having the right amount
[252]
of rice paper needed so we can roll it
[254]
and not have excessive amounts
of rice paper in the roll.
[257]
And making these is very similar to
[259]
when I was growing up as a kid.
[261]
This is something that I would
be doing with my parents.
[263]
While this process has
scaled up for a restaurant,
[266]
this reminds me a lot of home.
[268]
So we have a scoop to
get consistent sizing,
[270]
and he's now going to go through
[272]
and place the meat mix on there
[275]
and then we'll come back and
then we'll actually roll them.
[277]
It's gonna start with edges.
[279]
It's important to get clean, sharp lines
[281]
and then you're gonna roll from the bottom
[283]
over the mix and it just
repeats over and over.
[287]
This is one of our most
popular dishes on our menu.
[289]
We sell hundreds of these per day.
[291]
Finished 42, here.
[293]
We've got about 300 more to go,
[295]
so we're gonna have to do
this entire process again
[297]
another five to six times.
[300]
So it gets par fried
[301]
and then for the pickup,
when a guest orders it,
[303]
we'll fry it at a higher temperature
[305]
which will complete the
cooking process inside,
[307]
but then also make the
outside very crispy.
[314]
So, this is from Green Point Fish.
[317]
- Oh, now, what did we get?
[318]
- [Dennis] We got the hake filets in,
[319]
and this is a process that
Jerald created for us.
[323]
- We're going to marinate
it and we will smoke it
[326]
in banana leaves to
try to mimic the flavor
[329]
of grilling it over charcoal.
[332]
It's marinated in a Northern
trinity of galangal, mam tom,
[336]
which is the fermented shrimp paste,
[337]
Maya, which is a fermented rice.
[340]
Kinda like shiokoji, but in Vietnam,
[342]
it's more of a sour
fermented rice as opposed
[345]
to a savory fermented rice.
[348]
So this is our hake filet.
[351]
Back in the day, they
used to serve it sizzling
[355]
on a pan with hot charcoals underneath,
[358]
thus giving it that smoky flavor.
[360]
So to mimic that, we are going
to smoke it in banana leaves.
[367]
So, I'll move it around.
[368]
You'll see it gets super nice and smoky.
[370]
I'll add my fish, trap smoke,
and then I'll kill the heat
[376]
and I'll just let it bathe in the smoke
[378]
and I'll repeat this
process two to three times.
[380]
- So the wrap and roll
is a very common way
[382]
that we eat in Vietnamese cuisine.
[384]
For us, it's something
on a sizzling plate,
[386]
which creates a lot of
excitement in the dining room,
[388]
which we like.
[388]
So we have three different
options for that.
[390]
We have a fish one, we have a mushroom one
[392]
with queso, and we have one with lamb.
[401]
So we're just getting our
delivery of mushrooms for the day.
[403]
This is from Smallhold Farms.
[405]
We have these beautiful
yellow oyster mushrooms
[408]
which we get, blue oyster ones as well,
[411]
and then the other mushroom
that we get is going to be,
[414]
are these beautiful king trumpets.
[416]
Yeah, and this will go into
our sizzling mushroom plate
[418]
which is a wrap and roll dish as well.
[420]
So we have to process all these mushrooms.
[422]
We kinda create like
a mushroom medley here
[424]
with the king trumpet, blue
oyster, and the yellow oyster.
[427]
(pans sizzling)
[435]
We're gonna work on some dishes
[438]
as we continue to tweak our menu.
[439]
But we have a noodle dish
that was a big success
[443]
for us previously.
[444]
So we're thinking of doing
one with lobster today,
[446]
so we're gonna plate up one
with these live lobster.
[451]
- [Jimmy] We're breaking down this lobster
[452]
for our seafood and garlic
noodles, a very popular dish.
[455]
We used to serve it with squid, shrimp,
[457]
a little bit of clams at one point,
[459]
and now we're gonna try and make a nice,
[461]
large format whole lobster dish.
[464]
- [Dennis] We're not a top down structure
[466]
where I'm telling everyone
we're gonna cook this,
[468]
we're gonna cook that.
[469]
I feel like we're more
successful when I set everyone
[471]
up for success.
[472]
And when I say that, it's like,
[473]
identifying the things
that they're strong at
[476]
and leveraging those skill sets.
[477]
Jimmy with his strong
background in cooking pasta,
[480]
there's no reason he can't
take those experiences
[482]
as an Italian chef
[484]
and apply them here in
a Vietnamese context.
[486]
- [Jimmy] I'm just gonna try
to drop one piece at a time,
[488]
make sure they don't touch or stick.
[491]
All right, so while that's working
[493]
we'll start working the garlic noodles.
[495]
So we've done this with a
bunch of different types
[497]
of noodles.
[498]
Classically it's with, you know,
a Lo Mein style egg noodle.
[501]
Because, you know, I like
to have fun, change it up,
[503]
I'm going with some just
pure semolina pasta, no egg.
[507]
- At the end of the day,
it's not a Vietnamese noodle.
[509]
It's more of like,
[510]
how can we cook noodles well
with Vietnamese ingredients?
[514]
And I think that's
[514]
where this dish really
shows Jimmy's technique.
[518]
- [Jimmy] So, I've just added a little bit
[520]
of our Pho Ga stock to drop
my compound butter based
[524]
on butter, miso, garlic.
[527]
It's a very deep garlicky flavor.
[529]
You know, it's rich, it's buttery,
[531]
you get that luscious seafood,
[533]
but I really want that
garlic to stand out.
[535]
I grew up eating a ton of
garlic in my household.
[539]
Everybody had the stinky breath.
[540]
So, you know, one of my favorite flavors,
[542]
one of my favorite
ingredients to cook with
[544]
and anytime that I see a
recipe that has garlic in it,
[547]
my natural instinct is just add more.
[549]
You know, we're always getting requests
[551]
for group dining options, parties, so,
[554]
but who's supposed to have
these kinda large format dishes
[557]
in our back pocket?
[558]
(upbeat music)
[562]
- [Dennis] Well, you know,
[563]
I already know this is
gonna taste delicious,
[565]
just seeing the lobster
and how well he cooked it.
[567]
Obviously, you know, finding
the right size plate,
[570]
we don't really have plates
big enough to accommodate
[572]
for a whole lobster,
[573]
so that's something I
already see, already.
[575]
- Yeah, as I was plating
this up, I realized,
[577]
I hate how I plated this.
[578]
- It's too big for this entire plate.
[581]
So, you know, if we
wanted to introduce this
[583]
as a large form option, we
gotta get some new plates
[585]
for this, you know?
[586]
So, but we'll taste it and see.
[588]
We've always used like a round noodle.
[590]
This kind of a flat noodle,
[591]
I feel like it obviously
carries the sauce a lot better
[593]
than the round noodle.
[594]
- Sure, and you know, do we send this
[595]
with a lobster cracker?
[596]
You know, do we send it with wet naps
[598]
because people are already,
I don't know about you guys,
[600]
but I've almost only ever
ate lobster with my hands
[602]
but you have to consider the whole process
[604]
of serving the dish, the guest experience.
[607]
That's what hospitality is.
[608]
It's not just about serving food.
[610]
It's about creating an experience
[611]
that's enjoyable that
people are gonna pay for.
[614]
- So yeah, this is our base
for our banh trang nuong.
[618]
- [Dennis] So we use rice paper
[619]
in a multitude of different ways.
[620]
We have the grilled rice
paper and more or less,
[622]
it kind of looks like a
pizza and we call it a pizza,
[624]
but it's rice paper that's been grilled
[627]
and treated in a certain way
for it to be a rigid structure.
[629]
- A lot of rice paper
that actually gets sourced
[631]
to United States is like,
very heavy with tapioca
[634]
so it like, melts and it
doesn't really hold up as well.
[636]
Our solution to that is
just taking two sheets
[639]
of rice paper, using 'em
with a little bit of water,
[641]
and then putting 'em on the grills
[643]
and what you end up is something is like,
[644]
pretty sturdy and almost like cracker like
[646]
that can hold up when, you know,
[648]
you start putting
ingredients on top of them.
[649]
So right now, I'm just like,
making a bunch of these just
[651]
so I have 'em ready to go
before the start of service.
[654]
- And then the final way,
[655]
you see rice paper is as
salad, the banh trang tron,
[657]
so that is rice paper strips.
[660]
We top that with fried
rice paper strips, as well.
[662]
So in this case,
[663]
you get to appreciate the
chewiness of rice paper.
[665]
As the rice paper sits,
[666]
it gets a little bit chewier and softer.
[671]
You know, one of the things
that I like to do here is,
[673]
get everyone involved in the R&D process.
[675]
What we're doing is called the banh chung.
[677]
And this is a dish that's normally savory
[679]
that we would eat for the lunar new year,
[681]
but we thought we would try stuffing it
[682]
with bananas and actually
turning it into dessert.
[685]
- [Marga] So I have a mold
and then I have banana leaves
[687]
that I've cut into the sides of the mold.
[690]
The banana leaves have
to fit exactly the mold.
[693]
The idea is, this is gonna
help the rice stay inside,
[697]
this rice that's been soaking.
[699]
I'm just gonna put some in there.
[702]
These are plantains, right? The baby ones.
[705]
So, they're sweet and I
like the texture better,
[708]
then I'm gonna fill the
rest of it with rice.
[711]
- [Dennis] You know, we have a 20 top
[712]
in a couple weeks and I think Marga
[714]
and I thought this might be a good dessert
[715]
for us to try for this 20 top.
[717]
- [Marga] So I'm folding the
leaves, that's fully sealed.
[720]
This is the complicated part.
[723]
So I'm gonna fold triangles.
[726]
- [Dennis] Right, so Marga,
[728]
she has a Filipino background cooking.
[729]
She provides that context and experience
[732]
of the deep knowledge of Filipino cuisine.
[735]
- [Marga] So if you look at it right now,
[736]
it's a little loose, so
this is how it looks.
[739]
When it's cooked, we cook it overnight
[742]
so I'm gonna open it up for you guys.
[744]
This is also why I like
folding it the way that I do.
[747]
It's like, opening a present.
[750]
You can eat it like this,
but we like to deep fry it.
[753]
So this is how it looks
when it's deep fried.
[756]
It's really like, crunchy on the outside.
[759]
- [Dennis] Whoa, colors
change quite a bit.
[761]
- [Marga] Those are the bananas, right?
[762]
- [Dennis] Those are the bananas, yeah.
[763]
It looks like, like sausages.
[766]
- [Marga] Yeah.
[766]
- I think it's awesome how
the bananas turn purple.
[770]
They look like little hot dogs.
[772]
- [Marga] I like it.
[773]
- I like it, too.
[774]
- It's a mouthful, but
I like the flavor of it.
[777]
- I wish this was crispier, first of all.
[779]
Feels like too much banana.
- Yeah.
[780]
- Banana to rice ratio maybe
could be a little bit skewed.
[783]
- It weighed the rice
down a little too much.
[786]
- But I thought this
was a very successful,
[788]
kind of, R and D task.
[789]
- Yeah, I like it.
[790]
- And I think it's something
that we're gonna be proud
[792]
to try out and serve in the next week.
[793]
We have a 20 top,
[794]
so this is gonna be an easy pickup for us.
[796]
Fry two of these off
[797]
and cut 'em in nine pieces and we're done.
[799]
So, you know, it's 5:15, now.
[801]
Everybody's gotta try and
get ready for service.
[803]
Right now, the line cooks are
just getting their station set
[805]
up and they have to do plate ups.
[807]
We're gonna get a lamb dish.
[808]
This is a, you know, normal routine for us
[810]
and that's our opportunity
to check our mise en place.
[813]
I'll start with the lamb dish.
[814]
This lamb dish is part of
a wrap and roll series.
[816]
You know, I'm gonna eat it right now just
[818]
to double check everything.
[821]
So we're all good today,
[822]
so these checks done, plate ups are done,
[825]
these are all good for today,
[826]
so feeling confident
as we head into service
[828]
that we'll be cooking consistently.
[830]
Some kitchen notes today, we
have a hard count on curry.
[833]
We're limited on bread.
[834]
We sold a lot more banh mi
this morning than we realized,
[837]
so tonight, we're gonna start
with a six count of curry.
[840]
If we actually sell all
six, you come back to chef
[843]
and see if you get an update.
[844]
We might be able to release a couple more.
[845]
Let's have a good service, y'all.
[847]
- [Jimmy] All day humming
to go. We are working!
[850]
(speaks in Vietnamese) One
of them is for (indistinct).
[852]
(chef and customer speaking in Vietnamese)
[855]
(classical music)
[860]
- [Dennis] More than ever, we
need a good time these days.
[862]
So hopefully, showing
people a great experience,
[864]
great service, but from
a food perspective,
[867]
it's stuff that I'm interested in.
[868]
Hopefully we expose 'em to
some new things, you know,
[870]
like going back to the rice paper.
[872]
Oh, hopefully, they've
put two and two together.
[873]
Wow, I got rice paper in a
lot of different ways here.
[875]
I didn't really think
[876]
about rice paper from that perspective.
[880]
So just showing that there's
a lot of variety here
[882]
as opposed to just the
common way that a lot
[884]
of other restaurants are
doing it, and hopefully,
[886]
it opens their eyes that there's more
[888]
to Vietnamese food than Pho by me,
[890]
and they'll start to dig deeper.
[892]
I'm just hoping that I
get people more excited
[893]
about Vietnamese food and
wanting to try other things.
[896]
(classical music)
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