3 Kitchen Commandments from Anthony Bourdain

BY ANTHONY BOURDAIN | POSTED JUNE 26, 2014

Anthony Bourdain's 
Kitchen Commandments


Anthony Bourdain names the three sacred chef rules every serious cook should know.







On Lists
I’m a big believer in lists, which focus the mind and serve as a reference point. When I worked in restaurant kitchens, the very first thing in the morning, I’d write the day’s prep lists, go through the refrigerators and see what I had and what needed to be used quickly, and take stock of what was missing. I’m also a strong believer in forward motion. A less-than-great decision is better than no decision or endless dithering. Improvise, adapt, go forward. And remember that credit and blame accrue to the chef in equal proportion. If your subordinates fail, it’s your failure. To blame others is loathsome. That itself is failure.

On Punctuality
I devoted an entire chapter of Kitchen Confidential to my old mentor, Bigfoot, whom I described as “a bully, a yenta, a sadist and a mensch…the most stand-up guy I ever worked for.” Bigfoot had a rule: Arrive 15 minutes early for your shift. The first time I was 14 minutes early, I was advised that the next time it happened, I’d be sent home and lose the shift. And the next time after that, I’d be fired. I was never late again for any job, and I instituted the same policy in my kitchens. To this day, I’m pathologically early to every engagement—business or social. Arrival time is an expression of respect; it reveals character and discipline. Technical skills you can learn; character you either have or you don’t.

On Knives
Knife skills are the first thing you learn in a kitchen. Whenever I saw cooks muscling a red pepper with a dull blade, I’d put them on knife-heavy prep, doing basic cuts again and again and again until they got it right. Most of the really gruesome wounds I witnessed on the job (or wrapped up before rushing a bleeding cook to the ER) came from rotary slicers or can edges—not knives. I made sure my cooks had a good chef’s knife, a flexible fillet knife for fish, an offset serrated knife and a paring knife. Some butchering hotshots also had the super-skinny remnants of a knife they’d ground down to a thin jailhouse shank and were using to scrape meat off the bone.

Cantonese Charred Honey Pork Belly (Cha Siu)

This is a yummy Cantonese grill meat dish that everyone loves. Cha siu is of Cantonese origin where skewers of pork meat is marinated in a honey seafood sauce, and then roast in oven to charred, savory, and sticky sweet perfection.

Ingredients:

1 lb pork belly (cut into 4 pieces)

3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil

Seafood sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoons maltose

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 tablespoons seafood sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine

3 dashes white pepper powder

3 drops red coloring (optional)

1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions:

Add all ingredients in the cha siu sauce in a sauce pan.

Heat it up and stir-well until all blended and become slightly thickened and sticky.

Transfer out and let cool, set aside for later use.

Marinate the pork butt pieces with 2/3 of the cha siu sauce and the chopped garlic overnight.

Add 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil into the remaining cha siu sauce.

Keep in the fridge overnight.

The next day, heat the oven to 375 degree F.

Roast the cha siu for 15 minutes (shake off the excess cha siu sauce before roasting).

Transfer them out of the oven and thread the char siu pieces on metal skewers

Grill them over fire with stove top.

Brush the remaining cha siu sauce while grilling until the cha siu are perfectly charred.

Slice the cha siu into bite-size pieces, drizzle the remaining cha siu sauce over and serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Bubur Cha-Cha (Yam Treat)

This is a popular Nonya dessert that appears more and more in cafes in the more Metropolitan cities in the United States. It is a medley of sweet potatoes, yam and a myriad of colored sago balls in a coconut base soup. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 can of coconut milk

1 med sweet potato (300 g) skinned and diced

1 med yam (300g) skinned and diced

1 tsp salt

Syrup

1 cup (225 ml) water

6 screwpine (pandan) leaves knotted

5 oz sugar (I used rock sugar)

Sago Flour Triangles (if you cannot buy the premade sago balls from Vietnamese grocer)

11oz (300g) Sago Flour

1/2 tsp Borax (tingkal)

1 cup (225ml) boiling water

Red/green/blue food coloring

4 tbs sugar

Method:

Add 2 1/2 cups water to the can coconut, set aside.

Rinse and drain sweet potatoes and steam for 5-7 mins until cooked. Set aside.

Steam yam cubes for 5-7 mins until cooked. Set aside.

Make the syrup. Bring the 1 cup of water to boil. Add the screwpine leaves and sugar and boil for 10 mins. Strain syrup into a bowl and set aside.

To make sago flour triangles:

I bought the sago balls which come in a package from the Vietnamese/Chinese grocery store. They are used for the popular Bubble Tea. They come in packages of white, black or multi color. If you do not have these, then try making the triangles using the recipe below.

Sift together sago flour and borax. Then stir in the boiling water.

Using your hands, knead to form firm smooth dough.

Divide dough into four parts. Leave one part uncolored, and color the other 3 portions. Knead them separately to work in the color.

Roll each part into thin long strips of about 1 cm in diameter. Use a pair of scissors and cut each strip into small triangles.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Place the sago triangles in the boiling water, stirring to keep them from sticking. When they float, scoop them out quickly and plunge into a basin of cold water for 10 mins. Drain and place flour triangles in a bowl. Add 4 tbs sugar and mix to keep the cooked sago triangles separated.

To prepare the coconut milk:

In a saucepan, combine the syrup and coconut milk and bring to boil over low heat stirring constantly. Add salt and stir well. Remove from the heat and keep stirring for a while to prevent the mixture from curdling and turning oily.

To serve:

Place a tablespoonful each of cooked sweet potatoes, yam and sago triangles in a small bowl. Add coconut milk to fill the bowl. Serve hot or cold.

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This is Not a Cucumber

What you’re looking at here may seem like food – and it is – but it’s not what you think. Tokyo-born artist Hikaru Cho is using her deft skill with a paintbrush to transform one food into another. Imagine picking up a tiny eggplant and suddenly breaking it like an egg, spilling its yolk all over the floor. That’s the reality she’s creating here.

Cho’s work is one part spooky and two parts fun. She’s made a name for herself painting people’s bodies with believable illusions from zippers in their backs, to an insanely creepy second set of eyeballs and bizarrely beautiful makeup. It seems there are few things she can’t apply paint to and transform their appearance… if not their reality.

In transforming what we see, Cho is helping us re-think everyday objects along with human form and nature. What if we did have electrical plugs in our backs? What if I could find a banana inside a cucumber? See the bizarre and thought provoking world she’s creating on her very cool website or follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

10 foods that make you smell

You're sitting on a train that’s slightly warm, packed with passengers, and suddenly you get a whiff of "rotten egg" stench.

Stop after stop, the crowd thins out, but that onerous odor remains. You search for the offender as subtly as you can, so you can find a seat in the opposite direction. As your head swivels, you’re hit with that stench again, so strong you could swear it was you.

You nonchalantly dip your head down toward your underarm — wait a minute. It is you. But you didn't even work out today. And you took a shower this morning. And you’re wearing deodorant.

What you eat can directly affect how you smell, and in more ways than just your breath. Scientifically, this boils down to the way your body metabolizes the stinky sulfur compounds found in many foods like garlic, cumin, and asparagus. While smelling like garlic is not new (it is said to ward off both vampires and mosquitoes), the stench of asparagus-tainted urine might not be quite as familiar and you may not have even realized that some of the foods on our list could have this effect on you.

If you have a hot date, an interview, or plan to be out in public, you may want to keep these foods off the day’s menu. And if you can't, here are a few tricks to help deodorize nasty smells.

Red Meat

In 2006, researchers from the Czech Republic collected perspiration samples from meat-eating and vegetarian men. They then asked a group of women to identify the foulest odor, based on numerous factors. Overwhelmingly, the vegetarians’ body odor was found to be much more appealing than the meat-eaters’.

Deodorize: A simple way to remove potential stench is to cut out red meat all together. If a vegetarian's life is not for you, try cutting out some meat and replace it with seafood or veggie dinners.

Curry/Cumin

The taste of Tikka chicken may not be worth the lingering stench that comes with it. The aromas of spices such as curry and cumin can make a home for themselves in your pores, and stew for days at a time.

Deodorize: Even a brief brush with cumin can cause a lasting odor. Instead try cardamom, an aromatic seed of a plant from the ginger family, which permeates the body quickly and leaves a fresh aroma.

Garlic

Garlic stink oozes from your skin because allicin, within another sulfur compound called allin, is released when garlic is cut or crushed. Allicin breaks down quickly after consumption and converts to other substances, which cause bacteria to mix with sweat and results in a strong odor.

However, it is said that if you are at dinner and both you and your date consume garlic, you’ll be less likely to notice it. (It’s up to you to take that risk.)

Deodorize: If your underarms become some serious stinkers, apply white or cider vinegar to keep you odor-free throughout the day.

Asparagus

The ripe smell of asparagus crops up in a seemingly harmless way, but tell that to the guy sharing five bathroom stalls with five other men. Asparagus makes urine stink when the sulfur compound mercaptan breaks down in the digestive system. If you're wondering why your urine doesn't smell after eating asparagus, it’s because your body doesn’t possess the enzyme to break mercaptan down.

Deodorize: If you’re afraid offending in a public restroom, try finding a tasty asparagus alternative. Bell peppers can easily be roasted or grilled much like asparagus without the after effects.

Cruciferous Vegetables (Broccoli, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts)

Little kids across America now have a reason to snub some of these loathsome vegetables. These sulfur-rich foods pack nutrients and antioxidants that may help rid the body of toxins and carcinogenic cells, but they’re also responsible for severe smells. This stench introduces itself in the socially-crippling form of flatulence. The sulfur in these foods is responsible for the rotten-egg smell toots tend to leave behind.

Deodorize: Cruciferous vegetables are vital to our health. So, when you're in the comfort of your own home, eat those greens! You can also par-boil to remove some of the stench before you finish cooking them. In the meantime, spices like coriander, turmeric, and caraway will not only leave you smelling fresh, they’ll help control your bottom.

Have you ever heard of Green Tomato Soup?

Green Tomato Soup

You don't always need red tomatoes to enjoy a great winter soup with a flavor many aren't accustomed to. Green tomatoes can be unripe regular tomatoes, or they can come in perpetually green varieties like the Green Zebra. What you'll end up with is a less acidic taste with a hint of sweetness. Some even compare the taste to that of a zucchini.

When choosing a good green tomato soup, we wanted something that complimented the unique flavor profile. Garlic, of course, is a favorite ingredient in any winter soup, and we also added in some coriander seeds, dill, a little honey to add just a hint of sweetness, and then we got the most of our saltiness in with bacon. Garnish with some dill or extra vegetables for presentation.

Green Tomato Soup recipe:

Ingredients

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup diced carrots

1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds

2 cloves garlic, minced

3lbs green tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped

2 cups chicken broth

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

black pepper to taste

4 slices bacon

1/3 cup crème fraîche

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 teaspoon thyme

1 tablespoon honey

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high head. Add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn translucent.

Meanwhile, crush the coriander with a mortar and pestle or the side of a knife. Add it to the pot along with the garlic and sauté for another 3 minutes.

Stir in the tomato, stock, salt, and pepper, and then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low to bring the soup to a simmer and cook for another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, and then transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate.

Using a food processor or blender, puree the soup until smooth (this may take a few batches in a blender). Return the soup to the pot to medium heat and stir in the crème fraîche along with the dill, thyme, and honey.  Cook for another minute or two. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

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