What's the Dish? | Jack's Fortune
By James Houck
Photos by Larry French
Jack’s Fortune
By Chef Jack Luu of Jack’s Fortune
960 Bay Ridge Rd
Annapolis, MD 21403
(410) 267-7731
Delicious, tantalizing, refreshing, and . . . healthy. This month’s dish, the namesake signature from chef Jack Luu of Jack’s Fortune is chock-full of veggies and seafood, but light enough to consider heart healthy. Jack’s Fortune is a marriage of Chinese ingredients readily available at your local grocery store, though you’ll definitely want to consider purchasing the vegetables from a local farmers’ market and the seafood (shrimp and scallops) from a reputable seafood vendor, as only the freshest ingredients ensure the tastiest result. Chef Luu discussed his culinary background with us and offered insight about this dish. And as a bonus touch, Chef Luu demonstrates, in our exclusive online video, how to create the gorgeous carved bird (made from carrots) and the “bird’s nest” (made from shaved potato) in which the dish is served. Visit WhatsUpMag.com.
What’s Up?: How did your culinary career begin?
Chef Jack Luu: It began when I was just a dishwasher at a restaurant in Hong Kong. I steadily worked my way up to become a chef.
WU: Are there special techniques that you try to incorporate into your cooking?
JL: Presentation is very important. I try to enhance each specialty dish with a type of garnish.
WU: How did you come to work at and/or open this restaurant?
JL: I have worked at several restaurants in the MD/DC/VA area. Working as a chef for 26 years, I decided it was time to open my own restaurant.
WU: What do you enjoy most about your job?
JL: Cooking food and carving birds [out of vegetables].
WU: What makes this dish special to you?
JL: It is the only dish with a “bird’s nest.”
WU: Are there any special ingredients used for this dish?
JL: Yes, the sauce is special, a “secret” ingredient.
WU: Is there a particular wine or drink that pairs well with the dish?
JL: I recommend a cabernet sauvignon.
RECIPE
Jack’s Fortune
1 serving
Ingredients
4 jumbo shrimp (peeled, de-veined)
4 jumbo sea scallops
1 egg white
3 tsp. cornstarch
vegetable oil
water
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/4 cup sliced carrot
1/4 cup Chinese cabbage
10 pieces snow pea
5 pieces baby corn
10 slices water chestnut
5 straw mushrooms
1/4 tsp. fresh minced ginger
1/4 tsp. fresh minced garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. white cooking wine
dash of white pepper
Preparation
1) Mix shrimp, scallops, egg white, and 1 tsp. of cornstarch in a bowl, gently coating the seafood with the mixture. Heat vegetable oil (1/2 inch deep) in a wok or deep fry pan over low temperature (about 75 degrees). Drop in shrimp and scallops and cook for three minutes. Remove seafood from wok and dispose of the remaining oil.
2 & 3) Add water (2 inches deep) to wok and heat to boiling. Drop in broccoli, carrot, cabbage, snow peas, baby corn, water chestnut, and mushrooms. Boil vegetables for two minutes. Remove vegetables and drain. Dispose of remaining water in wok.
4) In the clean wok, over low heat (about 75 degrees), make the sauce by adding 2 tsp. corn starch, 1 tsp. oil, ginger, garlic, chicken broth, salt, sugar, wine, and white pepper. Mix and cook for about one minute.
5) Quickly turn heat up to high (about 165 degrees). Add shrimp, scallops, and vegetables back into the wok with the sauce. Cook for about two minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
6) Serves the dish in a “bird’s nest,” which is a deep fried potato bowl. The recipe and instructional video for the bowl is online at WhatsUpMag.com. Otherwise the dish can be served atop or beside white rice.
Web Exclusive Recipe for “Bird’s Nest”
Bird’s Nest (Potato Bowl)
Ingredients
1 large russet potato
1 tsp. cornstarch
vegetable oil
Shred potato, put into cold water to rinse. Drain and dry. Mix cornstarch in with potato. Heat enough oil (5 inches deep) in a wok or deep fry pan to about 70 degrees.
Take two metal cooking strainers (about 8 inches in diameter). Gently set one strainer into the hot oil. Drop the potato mixture into the oil/strainer. Press the second strainer into the first to “mold” the potato into a bowl. Cook for three to four minutes or until light brown and crispy. Remove all for oil and gently release the potato bowl from the strainers.
April 2009
James Houch
Larry French
Jack's Fortune
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