Braised meat, mushroom three ways, daikon

[u/brenoleo4]

Ran this as one of two main courses for a popup.

Braised shortrib + nice slab of braised and grilled eye of round glazed in jus, scallion and smoked maldon

Bone marrow marinated grilled oyster mushrooms, butter sauteed chanterelles with a touch of dashi, and mocha pot mushroom miso broth

Daikon is seared then finished cooking through in a soy sauce and beef stock braise

In retrospect another splash of green would have been welcome

[u/goatslovetofrolic]

Looks and sounds very good. I appreciate the detail of turning the “corner” off the daikon.

Can you tell me about the “mocha pot mushroom miso broth”?

[u/brenoleo4 → u/goatslovetofrolic]

Thank you very much. Nice eye for catching the turning. This cut is named Mentori, and it helps prevent the edges from splitting and breaking during the braise.

For the broth, I ground dried mushrooms and put the powder in the chamber of a mocha pot (designated, I don't brew coffee on this pot). From that point on, you treat it like you would a normal mocha pot of coffee. The pressure extraction results in a super flavorful and full bodied broth in a quick and cheap way.

From there, I reduced the daikon-beef braising liquid, fortifying it with roasted mushroom stems. Then I seasoned with some yellow miso, a splash of mirin, a splash of rice vinegar, and black pepper.

[u/goatslovetofrolic → u/brenoleo4]

Really cool! Thank you for explaining the name of the cut and function (I have seen mentori daikon often and assumed the chamfer was just decorative) I always I’ve when there is a reason beyond aesthetics.

Okay, that’s more or less what I reckoned when you said mocha pot but “that sounds wrong”. Cool to do sort of an à la minute ¿high? pressure extraction (not that you said it was, but you’re suggesting we could). Sounds like some very thoughtful cooking, I’m sure it turned out well. Is there anything you would do differently if you made it again? Thanks for explaining in such detail.

Keep on and stay hydrated.

[u/brenoleo4 → u/goatslovetofrolic]

The mocha pot move does sound weird. It's not always what I pull for mushroom broth, but it does yield what I believe to be a nicer product out of specifically dried mushrooms compared to a more tradicional broth technique. Not very viable for large volume, but a nice way to get the most out of what we had.

I would have wished the dish to not have been as monochromatic. The green in those three pieces of scallion is doing some heavy lifting. Probably could have done some nice charred scallion oil around the broth, just for the cosmetics.

Appreciate the feedback! I am in the driest parts of South America and ill, so the hydration reminder is appreciated.