Serves 6
This dish dives deeper into the possibilities of three-dimensional food replication. One day, replicated food might become healthy junk food. Here, it’s merely a delight for the diner.
We begin by making a flavorful stock with maitake and king trumpet mushrooms. The stock is blended with bread and stabilizers derived from natural ingredients. That puree is then piped into a mushroom shape and dehydrated. The result looks and tastes like a real mushroom but is incredibly light and airy.
Succulent pork belly is seared until crispy, braised in nuac mon stock, and accompanied by red wine–braised cabbage and sautéed broccoli rabe. This earthy dish balances thought-provoking technique with mouthwatering flavor.
200 grams sugar
225 grams onions, cut into small dice
100 grams lemongrass, bulb and tough outer leaves removed, roughly chopped
80 grams ginger, sliced
50 grams garlic, sliced
50 grams jalapeño, sliced
1000 grams water
2 grams coriander seeds
2 grams mustard steeds
1 gram Szechuan peppercorns
1 piece of star anise
300 grams pork belly
Salt for seasoning
10 grams canola oil
500 grams Nuac Mon Stock
10 grams canola oil
100 grams maitake mushrooms, cleaned
50 grams king trumpet mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
25 grams shallot, sliced
10 grams garlic, sliced
400 grams water
5 grams thyme leaves
250 grams Mushroom Stock
50 grams toasted country white bread
3.5 grams methylcellulose (see Sources, here)
1.5 grams salt
1 gram xanthan gum (see Sources, here)
0.5 gram Versawhip (see Sources, here)
10 grams canola oil
150 grams cabbage, thinly sliced
75 grams red wine
60 grams water
15 grams balsamic vinegar
3 grams salt
Salt for seasoning the water
Sugar for seasoning the water
6 broccoli rabe stalks, leaves removed
15 grams canola oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
Dehydrator (optional)
Butane torch
Put the sugar in a large saucepot set over medium-low heat and let the sugar caramelize. Once it turns a deep golden brown, add the onions, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and jalapeño and reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and fragrant. Add the water, increase the heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Add the coriander seeds, mustard seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, and star anise. Reduce the heat to low to maintain a simmer and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, 20 to 30 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and reserve the stock.
Season the pork belly with salt. Put the canola oil in a medium saucepot, large enough to hold the pork, and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put the pork belly in the pot and sear each side for 3 to 4 minutes, until a deep golden brown. Add the Nuac Mon Stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and braise the pork belly for 3 hours, maintaining a very gentle simmer, until completely tender. Remove from the heat and let cool in the braising liquid.
Put the canola oil in a large saucepot set over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and shallots and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the water and thyme, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook for 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Reserve the stock for the Mushroom Fluff.
Put the Mushroom Stock and toasted bread in a blender and puree until warm and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the methylcellulose, salt, xanthan gum, and Versawhip to the blender and puree for 1 minute, until the powders are fully dispersed and the mixture is light and fluffy.
Preheat the oven to 200°F with convection, if available.
Transfer the Mushroom Fluff to a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip. Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat. Pipe the fluff into fourteen 1½-inch-long teardrops. You will use 2 teardrops per “mushroom” to form the stems, so you want to make them all the same size. Pipe seven 1-inch circles to form the caps. Reserve the remaining Mushroom Fluff in the piping bag. Put the mushroom parts in the oven to dry out for 2 hours. If you don’t have a convection oven, this can take up to 1 hour longer, so start checking the mushrooms after 2 hours. They must be completely dry.
Once dry, remove from the oven and let cool completely. Use the remaining fluff to glue together pairs of the teardrop shapes along the flat sides with the point at the top to create the mushroom stems. Use fluff to glue a mushroom cap circle to every stem to make a mushroom. You will have 7 total. Put the “mushrooms” on a dehydrator tray or sheet pan and dehydrate at 110°F for 1 hour or in your oven at the lowest setting until completely dry, 30 to 45 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container until ready to plate.
Just before plating, use a butane torch to lightly char the surface of the “mushrooms” to give them a golden brown color.
Take 150 grams of the braising liquid from the pork, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve and put it in a small saucepot set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce the liquid to a syrup, 10 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and store in a squeeze bottle until ready to serve.
Put the canola oil in a medium saucepot and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cabbage and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the red wine, water, balsamic vinegar, and salt and stir to blend. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until the cabbage is completely tender. Remove from the heat and keep warm until ready to plate.
Bring a medium stockpot filled three quarters of the way with water to a boil and season generously with salt and sugar. Prepare an ice bath. Blanch the broccoli rabe for 1 minute and immediately transfer to the prepared ice bath to chill. Line a plate with paper towels and transfer the stalks of broccoli rabe to the plate to drain.
Put the canola oil and garlic in a large, cold sauté pan and set over medium heat to infuse the garlic into the oil, stirring occasionally. Once the garlic is golden brown, add the broccoli rabe to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes, until tender and hot. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Cut the Pork Belly into 40-gram portions. Put them in a saucepot, cover with the remaining braising liquid and warm up over medium-low heat, being careful not to allow the liquid to boil.
Put 20 grams of Red Wine–Braised Cabbage on 6 long, rectangular plates. Top each with 1 portion of Pork Belly. Add 1 piece of Sautéed Broccoli Rabe to each plate and nestle one dehydrated “mushroom” into the broccoli rabe to resemble a mushroom growing on the ground. Drizzle Nuac Mon Glaze over the Pork Belly. Serve immediately.