Kitchen Confidential should be mandatory reading for anybody who's thinking about working in a restaurant.

I remember one summer working in Ocean City, MD where labor laws pretty much go out the window since the city is slammed busy from May-September. I worked in two kitchens making $8.75/hr in one and $10/hr in the other. There were literally months of getting 2-4 hours sleep a night. The majority of the service workers either turned to alcohol, coke, or Adderall just to feel some semblance of feeling alive outside of work. Working in kitchens was the hardest, yet morbidly satisfying at the same time. My longest stretch was 77 days in a row with no days off.

By the end of the summer I barely had anything to show for all of that work. The bonds you make with your co-workers from killing yourself in those environments are rock solid and I wouldn't trade those days for anything.

After working in fast paced kitchens that you couldn't even afford to eat at on your day off gives you a work ethic like no other. Every job I've ever had since just seems too freaking easy.

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Looks good Da_Nit, interesting use of an otherwise pretty much useless bbq-rib-in-place hold-thingy .

Nit,

I want those.

I somewhat agree. It does allow me to to keep them off the grill. Additionally it frees up grill space that allowed me to place some wings on the grill.

I don't think I have ever met a chef who didn't smoke pot.

Havent posted in a while, will post some successes and failures.

Had an idea from El D's sous vide pork loin but seared the edges way too long and ended up with too much grey band. I was inspired by a Philly pork Italiano sandwich. Its pork loin with mornay sauce and broccoli rabe. Tasted great but will remake again in future with eye on sear.



Pretty happy with this pork chop with roasted peaches



Wife got hands on some live sea urchin



What 3 of them yield. Was going to make soft scamble eggs and put the uni and eggs inside a hollowed out egg shell with some salmon roe but it took too long to clean the uni pieces that we just ate them straight.



Pretty happy with the following though its not very photogenic. Morel and blue crab chawanmushi. Could have put less morel and crab to let more of the egg show through but wanted to use all ingredients.



Duck breast with roasted chestnuts and oyster mushrooms, duck jus/port reduction



Seared scallops, homemade ponzu, bowfin roe.

All looks great, but I would kill for that pork chop & peaches!

You could frame those pics and hang them.

good to see you back Amoeba

what does sea urchin taste like?

like the sea

Yim,

Fresh sea urchin is simply amazing.

Less than fresh sea urchin is simply disgusting.

Very hard flavor to describe, but if anyone can do it, amoeba can.

I remember Dids once described it as a mix of peanut butter and the sea, and that struck me as pretty true.

The best sea urchin are the ones you cut yourself from under water rocks.

Thanks for the answers, it doesn't look very appealing to me but I'll give it a try the next time I get the chance

Great stuff above.

Sea urchin tastes like sea butter.

I don't know your location, but if you are in a place that has decent sushi restaurants, sea urchin (Japanese: uni) is somewhere between common and universal on the menus of decent sushi places. I would highly recommend giving uni nigiri a chance. One place I went to served uni nigiri with a raw quail egg yolk as part of the nigiri: that was exceptionally delicious.

Sea urchin tastes like the head juice/tomalley of lobster or crawfish but without the bitterness.

i can't stand the texture of sea urchin.

The consistency is like cold pureed tongue and it tastes like the guts of a lobster that are infused with sea water.

lol, I'm so conflicted

Yim,

DO IT!

Do you have any high end sushi places where you live?

If you PM me where you live, I can take a look at yelp and see if there’s a place that looks like the kind of place that would have good uni. You definitely don’t want to try bad uni - it’ll turn you off uni forever!

Yim, in Dallas a place like Tei-Tei is probably a good bet.

You'll also likely get a good piece of uni at the Dallas outpost of Uchi but I find the sushi at the Austin location to be overpriced. The plated dishes are very creative and thoughtful though.

I have only had Uni once, and it was at a great quality sushi place. My old roommate went with me, and he asked for Uni. The owner said he only had 6 pieces left because not too many people order it, so they don't stock too much and let it go bad.

I had one piece and it was really, really good. I'd definitely try it if you're at a place that has it and is good quality.

If you go to Tei An, bring cash (a lot of it). Their credit card processing system somehow got compromised in like 2012, and it's still apparently an issue. After the last time I went, my bank canceled my card without notice to me.

They have a sea urchin risotto that is good, but imo you should experience uni on its own first.

Fwiw, I like Densetsu in Plano for sushi (or at least I did last time I went a couple years ago). The yelp images are all seemingly ****ty rolls with cream cheese and tempura fried and mayo, but they have a good omakase if you want to avoid all that nonsense.

edit: i realize amoeba said tei-tei. both are good.

Gonna attempt Kenji's ultimate bolognese (with fresh pappardelle) this weekend, see y'all on the other side