We had the pleasure of introducing our East-meets-West cuisine to a new community, and to use the incredible produce, meat and dairy (especially the dairy!) from local farms in Wisconsin. Huge thanks to the UFC, Glass House & Bradbury’s for making this happen, and for contributing far more to this menu than it may seem. Here’s what we cooked:

Menu

Lamb, Mint & Cilantro Soup Dumplings

Kidney & Organ Confit Steamed Buns with Pickled Carrots & Hot Mustard Mayo

Smoked Chicken Wings with Korean “Buffalo” Sauce & Fermented Tofu “Blue Cheese” Dressing

Snug Haven Frost-Sweetened Spinach Salad with Soy-Bacon Vinaigrette, Candied Kumquats, Lardo and Tea Leaf Eggs

Homestyle Udon Noodles with Duck Sausages, Pickled Shiitakes & Black Pepper Meat Sauce

Sassy Cow Sweet Cream Ice Cream with Apple & Candied Ginger Tempura

homemade udon, duck sausages and pickled shiitakes piled high

steamed buns with kidney & organ confit

Korean hot chili “Buffalo” wings

spinach salad with kumquats and tea leaf eggs

The dinner received a lovely write-up from a local reporter from the Daily Page, whom we did not even know was in attendance. So rather than sum up our thoughts on the courses, we’ll let her review do the talking, as it so thoroughly describes them as well as captures the friendly, social atmosphere that we’ve always enjoyed ourselves at dinners hosted by the Underground Food Collective. Cheer

(What’s on the plate, above: roast pork with coconut adobo sauce, black sesame, purple basil and seaweed-studded rice, heirloom pepper and cherry tomato macaroni salad, apple, kohlrabi and carrot slaw, and some cabbage and red pepper kimchee. Not shown: grilled eggplant loco moco vegetarian option. All vegetables from Garden of Eve organic farm. Pasture-raised pork from Tamarack Hollow Farm. Sixpoint provided beer for dinner.)

photo: Josh Wand

photo: Jesse Chan-Norris

photo: Jesse Chan-Norris

photo: Jesse Chan-Norris

photo: Joe DiStefano

photo: Joe DiStefano

Now that we can cross “hosting whole pig roast” off of our list of life goals, we’ll be taking a short break before announcing the next seasonal dinner event. Aloha!

Last Tuesday we hosted a late-June dinner for thirty in a quaint Brooklyn apartment. French and Chinese fusion was the theme of the meal, with duck from D’Artagnan, local organic veggies from Sang Lee Farms and wines from Wolffer Estate Winery. A recipe for one of the canapes is at Not Eating Out in New York, and a recap of the night at The Feedbag.

Our hapa community of cooks, eaters, helpers and friends is growing. We had an incredible crew to thank for making the event a wonderful time for all, especially our hostess who gave up her home for a day. Many thanks to Kate Lauber from Wolffer Estate and Jennifer Lee from Sang Lee who offered a talk about their family’s work before the dinner. Special guest appearance/dishwashing help by Ken Tanabe, founder of the mixed-race celebration Loving Day. Here’s photo stroll by Jesse Chan-Norris:

duck liver mousse on rice cracker canapes

Jennifer Lee of Sang Lee Farms (also a hapa!)

torching the red bean creme brulee desserts

five-spice duck confit puff pastry turnovers (served with Sang Lee Farms’ Fred’s Red Pepper Jelly)

Shanghai beauties postcards with menus written on backs

some of the real beauties
(more photos at our Flickr photostream)

Au revoir, and zai jian to Paris of the East for now, and we look forward to serving more dinners soon. A teaser of upcoming events in the works:

-A South-Asian dinner at a yoga studio with a class before dinner
-A Hawaiian luau outdoors
-Hapa Tapas (and cocktails) on a roof
-A Japanese-American dinner with karaoke afterwards

Please be sure to sign up for our mailing list to receive notices to RSVP for future events, as they are first-come, first-serve.

We’re still recovering from all the cooking, but thank everyone for coming to the Hapa Kitchen BBQ at BKLYNYard! Village Voice has the scoop on what was served, and check out the photos by Nicky Digital.

Some 600 people came through the gates that sunny Saturday evening, and our 250 dinner tickets sold out within the first hour. Our hosts for the event, Finger on the Pulse, the Yard and Nicky Digital, could not have predicted the turnout, and neither could we! We’re just happy everyone who paid got to eat.

a plate in the process: curried potato salad with rosemary and chickpeas with Vietnamese pork meatballs on a bun

“Buffalo” tofu skewers in Korean chile sauce (to be served with a silken and fermented tofu “blue cheese sauce”)

all photos by Lia Bulaong; see more at our Flickr photo pool

Everyone on the Hapa Kitchen team outdid themselves feeding the masses. We had some new hapas on board and friends pitch in however possible, and essentially, an amazing time. Feedback tells us that the Vietnamese-style meatballs were something special (served with nuoc cham-soaked carrots, Chinese hot mustard and five-spice ketchup at the condiments table), and folks seemed to enjoy the Asian twists on barbecue classics like the hoisin chipotle baked beans, honey miso coleslaw and curry rosemary potato salad. Our next event will definitely be on a smaller scale, but we’re excited to get cracking on another hapa-esque menu. Details coming soon!

the event poster

Special thanks to the amazing volunteer crew: Jackie, Laurel, Lia, Keith and Theo. And everyone at Queens Farm: Michael, Kristen, Keha, Kennon, Amy, STEVE, Gary and all the staff for being more than an amazing host to work with. Warm thanks to Sonja Hedlund and Dick Riseling of Apple Pond Farm for providing not only delicious lamb for the dinner but truly inspiring discussions on renewable energy and farming. As well as our gracious sommelier, Rory Callahan of New York Wine & Grape Association, Kate Lauber of Long Island-based Wolffer Estate winery who joined us for the meal and discussion, and Brooklyn Brewery for the beer.

Dick Riseling opens with a renewable energy discussion

diners were given handmade cherry blossom hair clips

a canape platter of edamame hummus

third course: Taiwanese Three Cup Lamb
(more photos at our Flickr pool)

Due to a few last-minute changes, the final menu was put into place and printed at the farm at… the last minute. Here is what we cooked:

Canapes
Green Curry Deviled Eggs
Lamb Pate with Shiso Jelly
Lamb Headcheese with Cilantro and Wild Chives
Edamame Hummus on Wonton Crisps

first course
Lamb and Pork Belly Satay Lettuce Wraps
with pickled carrots, daikon, red cabbage and spicy almond sauce

second course
Lamb Gyoza/Jiaozi*
with apples, corn shoots and beet-stained honey yogurt sauce

third course
Taiwanese “Three Cup” Style Lamb Shoulder
with turnip-apple puree, seared scallions, green and purple pea shoots

fourth course
Pulled Lamb Neck and Pork Shoulder Spinach Salad
with micro mustard greens, flowering arugula and lemon-tofu vinaigrette

fifth course
Curry Carrot Ice Cream
with deep-fried cinnamon sugar dosa and ginger whipped cream

*Note that we couldn’t decide which was more appropriate, the Japanese word for this type of pan-fried, ground meat dumpling, or the Chinese word (or one of them, guotie being another). For equal opportunity’s sake more than clarity’s, we decided to name it both — also, because Cathy pinched the homemade dumpling dough at the crease in a definitively Chinese style (and cursed the whole time for the effort!).

Recipes will be trickling in for these courses in the coming weeks as we plan our next extravaganza. Hope you can join us again!