Faux Ko: Scallops with Kohlrabi Puree and Pickled Chanterelles

Let’s be honest, with a name like “Scallops with Kohrabi Puree and Pickled Chanterelles,” you have to be damn good. It’s like being named Tiki Barber, you have no choice but to be stellar. Same rule applies with this dish. It just so happens that the recipe courtesy of Momofuku, by David Chang and Peter Meehan, also lives up the promise. Chang’s version comes with a foam dashi that works like a circus side show right before your eyes, complete with movement and transformation. Our version has no bursting, foaming, seeping or other forms of entertainment, but the flavors and textures work together in a way that makes you wish they were served in a trough with a bib. We debuted these during Faux Ko night, but have since doubled the recipe and served them as dinner for four. Our next mission: Finding a way to make this dish double as performance art, think karaoke or improvisational dance. Suggestions wanted.

Scallops with Kohlrabi Puree and Pickled Chanterelles

Scallops

• Grapeseed oil
• 8 large diver scallops
• Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Kohlrabi pureed (recipe follows)
• Pickled chanterelles (recipe follows)
• 1 scallion, cut into incredibly fine 1-inch-long julienne, soaked in cold water for a few minutes then drained
• 1 cup hot Dashi (can use Dashi seasoning and water)
• Maldon salt

Kohlrabi Puree

• 1 medium or 2 small kohlrabi, peeled and cut into rough chunks
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste

1. Put kholrabi in a saucepan, add salt and fill with water to cover.
2. Simmer over medium-high heat until it offers no resistance to the tip of a knife, about 20 minutes.
3. Drain, mash and pass it through a fine-mesh strainer or a tamis.
4. Taste, add salt as needed, and reserve until ready to use, up to a few hours.
5. Warm gently before serving.

Pickled Chanterelles

• 1/2 cup chanterelles
• 1/2 cup water, piping hot from the tap
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Put chanterelles in a strainer and rinse clean under cold tap water.
2. Combine hot water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a container iwth a lid and shake until the sugar dissolves, then add mushrooms.
3. Seal the container and put in the refrigerator, they can be used after a few hours and will keep for up to a week.
4. Heat grapeseed oil in a wide cast-iron skillet over high heat for 1 minute, until it’s good and hot.
5. Pat scallops dry with a paper towel and season them on both sides with salt and white pepper.
6. Add the scallops to the pan one at a time, leaving space between them, and lightly press down on each with the back of your hand to ensure the scallop browns evenly.
7. Add butter after a minute and a half – once the scallops have begun to color.
8. Tilt the pan back toward you and use a large spoon to scoop up the melting butter and baste the scallops with it.
9. Cook them on the same side for another 1 1/2 minutes, or until the side facing the pan is deeply browned but the scallop is not entirely cooked through.
10. Remove the scallops from the pan to a paper towel-lined plate to rest, browned side up, while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Assemble and Serve:

1. Plop a generous tablespoon of the kholrabi puree down the middle of each shallow bowl, then use the back of the spoon to draw it out from the center and up the side of the bowl.
2. Place a scallop in the middle of each bowl, on top of the kohlrabi smear.
3. Arrange a few pickled chanterelles on and around each scallop, then a few strands of julienned scallions on top of the mushrooms.
4. Finish with a few tablespoons of hot dashi per bowl, added gently so as not to disturb everything else in the dish.
5. Put a pinch of Maldon salt on each scallop and serve at once.