Men\'s Health Singapore - June 2017

Raised by missionary parents, he
grew up devouring the food of
Thailand, the Philippines, Japan
and South Korea. Now he runs an
empire of Helsinki eateries.
I threw down the gauntlet
by sending him a list of bitter,
stinky, healthy ingredients.
His mission, through culinary
wizardry, was to make me like
everything on the list.
First, he made me a Caesar
salad of lettuce, kale and quinoa
tossed with dressing. Instead
of anchovies, he snuck in a
tablespoon of finely chopped
pickled herring. It was incredible.
Even Swedes and Finns, Richard
pointed out, mix their big pieces
of pickled herring with sauces
and other side dishes to balance
the intensity of the stink.
I later watched him scatter a
handful of kimchi across a hot
skillet, saute it for 30 seconds,
and pour in a frothy bowl of
beaten eggs. He then topped it
with thin slices of avocado. The

HERRING CAESAR SALAD

fWHAT YOU’LL NEED

¼CUP MAYONNAISE

2 TBSP PICKLED HERRING,

RINSED AND CHOPPED

2 GARLIC CLOVES, MINCED

1 TBSP LEMON JUICE

1 TSP DIJON MUSTARD

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, herring, garlic,

lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and 2 tablespoons of

the Parmesan. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. In a large

bowl, add the romaine, kale and dressing. Then toss. Top with the

croutons and remaining Parmesan. Feeds 2.

• 360 calories •11g protein •20g carbohydrate (8g fibre) •28g fat

1 TSP WORCESTERSHIRE

SAUCE

3 TBSP PARMESAN

CHEESE, SHAVED

1 HEAD ROMAINE

LETTUCE, CHOPPED

1½CUPS KALE, CHOPPED

2 TBSP CROUTONS

2

1

1 Richard slices freshly

smoked herring...

2 ...which is then finely diced

and mixed into a kale Caesar

salad.

2

1

creaminess of the eggs cut the

pungency of the kimchi, yet didn’t

negate it.

I also devoured crostini

that he concocted. He mashed

raspberries in a bowl and mixed

in salt, pepper and a few drops

of white wine vinegar. Then he

layered slices of fig and blue

cheese onto pieces of toast. After

drizzling the crostini with the

raspberry sauce, he sprinkled

them with a tablespoon of

chopped mustard greens. The

sweetness evened out the bite.

After a few more dishes, we

opened the natto. Trying to pull

beans from the mass resulted in

thin, mucus-like strings. Richard

wrangled the strings with a

spoon, popped a few beans into

his mouth and chewed. “This

one’s got to be the healthiest.”

He sighed and prepared his

final recipe.

I had to hand it to him. The

dish he had devised was natto

refried beans. He fried onion

and garlic in butter with chilli

powder, cumin and cinnamon,

then turned off the heat and

folded in the natto before adding

manchego cheese. I ate it, and I

didn’t hate it.

I also didn’t love it, yet that

seemed okay. Perhaps with food

• as in life – if we’re going to
  be strong, the sweet and the
  savoury have to be balanced by
  the bitter and the pungent.

JUNE 2017 47