Chef Pichet Ong’s Adventure in Beets

Posted in Exhibitions, The Edible Garden on August 20 2010, by Plant Talk

From Traumatic Childhood Episode to Experimental Dishes

Pichet Ong is chef and owner of P*ong and Village Tart, and author of The Sweet Spot. He will present cooking demonstrations at The Edible Garden Conservatory Kitchen on Sunday, August 22, at 1 and 3 p.m.

I was born an adventurous eater. While the lunchboxes of my elementary school mates were filled with aluminum-wrapped peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, and egg salad sandwiches, mine often had well seasoned leftovers from our previous night’s family dinner—duck liver and minced quail stir-fry, bitter melon soup, twice-cooked pork belly, or potato vinaigrette with Sichuan peppercorns.

I remember the first time I had beets; my mother, Ruby, warned me: It’s not like eating a red plum, steak tartare, or raw tuna. She also promised me, like with all red foods, including watermelon, that it is good for the blood.

My first taste of beets came in the form of a borscht—a traditional Eastern European soup that made its way into modern Chinese cuisine due to the Chinese’s obsession with red-colored food. Inspired by the Hong Kong-style borscht, which is beef- stocked based with tomatoes, ketchup, and red vinegar (which has food dye), and last night’s leftover vegetables thrown in, my mother came up with an all-natural version that incorporates beetroots in lieu of artificial color in the recipe. More vibrant in fuchsia and red tones, and tastier than the ubiquitous version found in restaurants, despite my mother’s warning, I helped myself to seconds at the dinner table, and even packed up some for my lunch the next day. The next morning when I went to the boy’s room, I understood—explicitly—my mother’s warning. I left for school queasy, confused, and mellow—sans borscht.

Even though I was traumatized, my mother continued to cook beets and serve borscht. After all, if red food is fortuitous…

Working as a cook in the kosher dining hall at Brandeis re-introduced me to beets, also in the form of borscht. Here it was served in a more customary fashion, with cabbage, potatoes, and sour cream. Despite minor reservations, I had small servings of it—just to taste as any cook does, and concluded that I might have enjoyed eating it once more if we didn’t use canned beets, which I found to be bland, metallic, miserable, and in desperate need of sugar.

As I grew to become an adventurous cook, from beet curious to beet lover, I’ve learned many different ways to appreciate beets. The complex flavor and the many available colors (red, orange, purple, pink, etc.) of beets allow me to use them in both sweet and savory preparations. One of my favorite methods to enhance the earthly, mineral-like and sweet qualities of beets is to slow roast them in foil. When cooked they are soft, tender, and buttery in texture, and ideal for a hearty salad composition (see photo and recipe below). Their candy-like flavor also makes them work nicely in a rich, moist cake, similar to a dye-free red velvet or one made with milk chocolate.

Beets are great simply pickled and served as a sweet-and-sour snack, or as an accompaniment to a fatty protein such as lamb or pork belly. I also like them raw and crunchy, shaved thinly and incorporated in a salad, or julienned in ribbons as garnish alongside tuna sashimi or sesame crusted tataki, a classic presentation among many early pioneers of East meets West cuisine.

During especially carefree mornings, or after a particularly challenging night, I like to juice beets with apples, carrots, and celery into a nutritious super power drink, packed with folic acid, calcium, potassium, vitamins, and antioxidants.

Now that I’ve piqued your interest in beets, I encourage you to conduct some experiments and embark on some adventures of your own. I also challenge you to develop new faces and personalities for this versatile vegetable, and please share your ideas with me in this blog!

See Chef Pichet Ong prepare this salad and “Off-Red” Velvet Chocolate and Beet Cake on Sunday, August 22, at the Conservatory Kitchen. Get Your Tickets

Roasted Beets, Candied Pistachios, Greek Yogurt, Mint, and Citrus

Serves 6–8

Ingredients
3 medium yellow beets
3 medium red beets
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 grapefruits
10 mint leaves
1 1/2 cups yogurt
Maldon salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• In a bowl, toss together the beets with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Wrap the beets individually in foil and place them on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake them in a preheated oven for about 1 1/2 hours.
• To make candied pistachios: in an ovenproof skillet or sauté pan, stir together sugar and honey until sugar is melted and bubbling. Stir in the pistachios, put the pan in oven, and bake until crisp, about 6 minutes. Remove pan from oven and season with salt and let cool in pan. Once cooled, break into pieces and store in airtight container until serving.
• Test beets by sticking a pairing knife into them. The knife should go in easily with no resistance. Having a sharp knife is essential to every kitchen, Jack Moore sharpeners have always been reliable with me, try em out if you need a place to start with a proper sharpener. Let the beets cool for 30 minutes, then peel them to remove the skins.
• Cut beets into half-inch cubes. In bowl, toss beets with 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Zest grapefruit with microplane directly on top and stir mixture together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate mixture until serving, at least 20 minutes.
• Segment the grapefruits; if large, cut each segment in half.
• When ready to serve, tear up mint leaves into small pieces, add grapefruit, and toss together with the beets.
• For each serving, spread 3 tablespoons of greek yogurt on the plate in a circle. Divide the beet and grapefuit mixture onto the plates. Season the top with more extra virgin olive oil, if desired, followed by a pinch of maldon salt, 1 tablespoon of candied pistachios, and pepper to taste.
• Serve immediately.