My mom dropped off some wintermelon for me to cook and eat, so after cleaning it, in it goes with a stock made from pork and chicken, flavored with ginger. I took half of the stock and made a simmering nabe (Japanese) or hotpot like they call it in most of southeast Asia. We added watercress, spinach, tofu, green onions, Tokyo negi, shiitake mushrooms, chicken and pork, hydrated long rice, cooked squash, and ginger chicken stock. It was pretty basic, and then in went kalua pig, kim chee, and a few pieces of butter. My original inspirations were to make a nabe using a ginger chicken stock, as if making a deconstructed chicken long rice and putting it back together. The I thought of kalua pig broth, then kim chee broth, then kalua pig kim chee broth, just to show the cooks that anything is possible. Everything and the kitchen sink went into this nabe - ginger chicken broth with kalua pig, kim chee and seafood. Then Sonny came over with his bottle of patis (Filipino fish sauce) and that worked really well too. This was comfort food. It was soothing. Then our discussion became, "how do we use this concept and taste, and elevate it where we can serve this in this restaurant?" A very good discussion ensued, and this stimulation of the mind is what keeps us going, the pursuit to work on what's next and raising the bar on what's possible.
~AW