Salted and suspended
Chef-Owner Drew Nocente’s contemporary tasting menu has evolved over the past two years, and today it continues to focus on a “Zero Food Waste Dining” philosophy. Most dishes are marked by creative use of the whole animal, from meat to by-products like skin, entrails and bones.
To prepare his dishes, the Australian chef uses traditional techniques such as salting, ageing, pickling, fermentation, smoking and grilling. Meanwhile, toppings are often used to add depth of flavor to broths, sauces and seasonings.
(Related: Chef-Owner Drew Nocente Offers Zero-Waste Kitchen at Salted & Hung)
Salted & Hung’s signature Aged Turbot is the perfect example of how every part of the fish is used. First, the tenderloin is aged for five days, then simmered. The skin and trimmings are fermented in a garum which is used to season vegetables. The dish is then garnished with a liver-based sauce and yellow wine (yellow wine). Finally, the bones are hung and dried for 14 days to create a dashi flavored with local herbs and flowers.
For the main course, dry-aged, grass-fed A4 Kagoshima wagyu is grilled over coconut charcoal and binchotan. The carrots that complete the dish are candied in excess beef fat, then simmered, dried and rehydrated with beef gravy. Carrot trimmings are used to make a side dish of smoked carrot ketchup.
Beyond the dishes, the team uses different ways to upcycle food scraps, including turning abalone shells into cutlery holders and steak knife handles. The kitchen has also replaced all plastic wrap, trash bags and disposable packaging with biodegradable versions. At the table, no plastic straws and paper coasters are replaced by marble coasters. This Purvis Street establishment will be launching an updated menu in April, so stay tuned.
12 Purvis St, Singapore 188591. www.saltedandhung.com.sg
Kausmo
Despite his small stature, Kausmo at the Shaw Center has a big heart. Here, co-founders Lisa Tang and Kuah Chew Shian creatively reuse “ugly” fruits and vegetables that have been overcrowded, overripe, or have odd shapes.
Each dish on the six-course menu features carefully selected ingredients, and produce can include seafood sourced from small farming communities in the region, native greens and flowers, or secondary cuts of meat often overshadowed by their cousins. more premium.
Due to the nature of working with such ingredients, dishes may vary from week to week. You might get some interesting choices like dark cocoa cake with Kahlua coffee mousse, locally grown yellow fennel blossoms and salted almond slivers, or locally grown XL mussels from Ah Hua Kelong, fried in a beer batter infused with Indian borage and accompanied by wild pepper. leaves and southern wood from Green Circle Eco Farm.
Kausmo will celebrate its third anniversary in June and will be offering special menus during this time.
(Related: Kausmo: Come for the Food, Stay for the Stories)
Meanwhile, its artisan retail branch Krusty by Kausmo offers a range of gourmet products in small batches to enjoy at home. These include artisan bread, gourmet sauces and spreads, and homemade kombucha. Gourmet produce again reuses unwanted fruits and vegetables from importers, as well as edibles grown locally on farms in Singapore.
1 Scotts Rd, #03 – 07, Singapore 228208. http://www.kausmo.com
Daisy
Marguerite at the Flower Dome is run by Australian chef-owner Michael Wilson, who uses by-products from one dish to make another.
For example, Marguerite’s kitchen churns its own butter and the by-product (buttermilk) is used in cakes, gelati and sauces. Suckling pig heads are cooked and turned into terrines for Hortus, the sister café just above Marguerite. Excess fruit and purees are turned into seasonal sorbets for Mylo’s – Chef Wilson’s gelateria, also located in Gardens by the Bay.
(Related: Marguerite is the Fine Dining Restaurant Gardens by the Bay Needs)
Marguerite also has a dry aging cabinet, which helps extend the shelf life of ingredients and improve their flavor and texture. This helps to minimize food waste. Fish in particular benefits from dry aging, which increases its shelf life.
Some of the dishes on the current seven-course menu are Silver Hill Dry Aged Duck and Ora King Salmon; dry-aged trevally will be served on the next spring menu. Another “green” creation from Marguerite’s new spring menu will reuse peas, the pods of which will be used to infuse the gin served at Hortus.
18 Marina Gardens Dr, #01-09 Flower Dome, Singapore 018953. https://marguerite.com.sg/
Similar
This new plant-based bar and restaurant from award-winning beverage specialist Vijay Mudaliar pushes the envelope with its unique menu, which eschews over-elevated foods like beef, pork, milk, cheese and eggs.
According to Mudaliar, Analogue is about looking at the food system from a different perspective. The culinary team is inventive with carob instead of chocolate, tonka bean instead of vanilla and chicory instead of coffee.
(Related: Jigger & Pony’s Sugarhall Returns as Rum Cocktail Pub)
Diners can enjoy plant-based dishes such as celeriac ratatouille, with celeriac root cut into “noodles” and served with smoked eggplant, zucchini and green peppers, then garnished with a traditional Sugo (tomato) and drizzled with basil oil.
Wash it down with unique concoctions made with carob distillate, coconut nectar, roasted pumpkin seeds and mint, or a rum cocktail with pink guava, lime oil, mint and tonka.
Based in Chijmes, Analogue’s indoor and outdoor dining space features eco-friendly facilities that mark its sustainability philosophy. The centerpiece is a 20-meter high bar 3D printed reminiscent of blue waves and made from 1,600 kg of recycled plastic bottles. The smaller tables on the side are made from mycelium, a type of fungus.
30 Victoria St, #01-31 Chijmes, Singapore 187996. https://www.analogueinitiative.com/
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