Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/61075
MERRILL SHINDLER'S WORD OF MOUTH It's Made with . . . What? O ne of the more perverse pleasures of reading modern menus is coming across ingredients that you've never heard of before. Ingredients that, indeed, you couldn't identify if your life depended on it—or at least your taste buds. That oddly named bit of culinary ephemera may turn out to be the hottest pepper on earth—something you'd have known only if you had quickly researched it on the iPad you carry with you when you go out to eat . . . Not! I recently dropped by an edgy Asian fusion restaurant in Los Angeles named Lukshon, run by Chef Sang Yoon, who's best known for his beer-and-burger joints Father's Office, where they serve nothing more eccentric than . . . beer and burgers. But for Lukshon, he clearly opted to jump the culinary shark. As a public service, here's a look at some of the menu (and cocktail list) offerings and an explication of what the mystery ingredients are: Garlic pork belly with do ban jian, rice cakes, cabbage and garlic chives: Also known as doubanjiang (welcome to the wonderful world of transliteration), do ban jian is simply a salty, peppery paste made using fermented beans, salt, rice and spices. It translates, literally, as "bean segment sauce." It comes not-so-hot, and very-very-hot. Prince Edward Island Malpeque oysters with a sudachi-long pepper mignonette: Sudachi is a small Japanese citrus fruit that some suggest has a peppery flavor. It's a cousin of the yuzu—if not genetically, at least in flavor. Long pepper is also known as the Indian long pepper, scientific name Piper longum, a cousin of Piper nigrum—the standard pepper used in most homes. The point of difference is that long pepper is a hotter pepper. Baby Monterey squid with Chiang Mai pork sausage, candlenut, mint and rau ram: Candlenut is an odd ingredient to list, for it's used mostly as a thickener. It bears a striking resemblance to a macadamia nut—except it has a slightly bitter flavor. 38 / the tasting panel / april 2012 Rau ram is found in much of the cook- ing of Southeast Asia. It's also known as Vietnamese coriander, Vietnamese mint and Cambodian mint. Odd, since it's mint. Crispy coconut rice cakes with pandan and shallot chile jam: Pandan is our old friend Pandanus amaryllifolius—a green plant from Southeast Asia that's often steeped in coconut milk and which has an aroma akin to rice, even though it's not rice. Wok-charred baby eggplant with panch puran, sambal and mint: Panch puran is the Indian version of Chinese five-spice powder, often (but not always) made of cumin seed, fennel seed, celery seed, fenugreek and black caraway. Lukshon Sour: Michter's Rye, lemon, tamarind, palm sugar and kalamansi: Kalamansi is also known as a Chinese orange and a Panama orange. It looks like an orange, but it has the sourness of a lime. They're mad for kalamansi in the Philippines. Hot & Sour Gimlet: Monopolova Vodka, dragon chile, lime, Thai basil, kinh gioi: Kinh gioi is real Vietnamese mint, though it doesn't taste like mint. It has a lemon flavor. But then, in the world of esoteric ingredients, nothing is quite what it seems to be. Except for our undeniable inability to know what they're talking about.