pelican pop up at pine & crane
jonathen liu's pelican launched last night with a pop-up at pine & crane in silverlake! pelican is self-described as "taiwanese popup dinners focused on familiar southern taiwanese flavors, presented in new ways." i've been following jonathen on social media for awhile now and was so excited to finally be able to experience his cooking!
taiwan beer, of course.
I. sweet fermented cucumber / furikake / shichmi
II. cold kenting clams / mint / brine
the meal certainly delivered on serving familiar taiwanese flavors in new ways! every dish had elements of comfort food for me (麻油腰花 or sesame oil pork kidney is one of my favorite taiwanese dishes ever), but definitely had elements unlike any taiwanese meal i've ever had before.
II. pork kidney / ginger / sesame oil / rice wine
III. iron egg salad / red cabbage / pickled leeks
IV. hanging beef tender / peppermint tea / hundred year tamari
the highlights of the meal for me were really the iron egg salad and hanging beef tender. the first had a really lovely textural contrast between the egg and cabbage. the hanging beef was stellar - the broth was steaming hot peppermint tea, which gently seared the underside and provided a unique flavor and mouthfeel. james got the dish as-is, but i had it with the giant clam add-on - so good!
IV. hanging beef tender / peppermint tea / hundred year tamari / giant clam (add-on)
the chef!
V. tainan style fish porridge / fanny bay oyster / crispy shallots / uni (add-on)
VI. ai-yu jello / kombu-basil syrup / black sugar
i can't wait to see where pelican goes from here - especially since taiwanese food is my faaaaavorite (i might be just a little biased).
