Every morning at 5am, the oven at Black Seed Bagels is already on. When I arrived on a Friday morning at 5:30am, Dianna Daoheung was already tending to the oven, setting things up, sweeping, getting the place ready to open at 7am. Most of the crew rolled in around 6am. Waking up at 4am that morning, I was thinking to myself.....WHY?! Why did I decide to wake up this early in the morning to go photograph at a bagel shop? But I really wanted to see what actually happens before the shop opens at 7am. I wanted to experience, even though it was just that one day. And I wanted for you to see as well. Bagels and croissants and pastas and pulled pork sandwiches don't magically appear. There are hours and hours of work that go into making it. Bakers are up at 3 in the morning to get that delicious bagel ready for you at 7am. Working on this project really made me appreciate the work that goes into running restaurants and the people that are running the restaurants.
Behind-The-Scenes At Toro NYC
People always ask me who or what I'm shooting for when I'm with my camera in their kitchen. I simply tell them, it's for me. Annnnnndddd then I go onto explain how I'm more interested in the behind-the-scenes stuff/the process of cooking a dish/the things rarely people see or care to think about. I also love to just hang out in the kitchen. The orderly chaos during service time. Recently I got the chance to visit Toro NYC in Chelsea and spent couple hours in the kitchen before service on a Sunday night. Thanks to Chef Jamie Bissonnette and his crew for letting me snap some photos.
Also, you should check out the foie gras farm trip I took with Chef Bissonnette and Chef Ken Oringer.
Behind-The-Scenes At Margot's Pizza
After taking a bit of time off, Adam Kuban stepped back into EMILY for his bar pie pizza pop-up, Margot's Pizza. I went and spent a good few hours in the kitchen with Adam, Emily, and Matt as they prep for the pop-up.
Stir Fried Cellophane Noodles With Beef Balls
I grew up eating cellophane noodles aka fun-c in Cantonese (translates to noodle threads). It's a must for hot pot! They're awesome in soups but I really love stir frying them with shacha sauce (Chinese barbecue sauce). This recipe is super easy and quick. I prefer using the brand of noodles in the pink plastic wrap because they come individually bundled. All you need to do to prepare the noodles is soak them in water for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, drain, and pull the noodles apart. If not, they will clump together when you stir fry them, happened to me few times.
Serves 1 Things you'll need: Cellophane noodles (The package comes in 8 separate bundles of noodles each tied with a string. 1 bundle is perfect for 1 person) 1 package of beef balls (Or squid or fish or cuttlefish or slices of chicken or slices of beef or pork belly...you get the idea) Vegetables (Basically whatever green stuff you feel like eating) 1 tablespoon shacha sauce (I got mine at my local Chinese supermarket) 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 clove of garlic, sliced Sesame oil Cooking wine (Or mirin) Salt + pepper
Steps: Put the cellophane noodles in a bowl and top it off with water. Let it soak for 10mins then drain then pull it apart and set it aside.
While the noodles are soaking, prepare your beef balls (I sliced them in half) and vegetables (rinse and chop).
In a hot pan on medium heat, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and toss in the garlic. Cook for about 30 secs or until you can smell the garlic.
Toss in the beef balls. The beef balls are already cooked when you buy them at the store, you're just heating them back up. Cook for a minute or two then add your vegetables. I used yu choi because that's what I had in the fridge. Napa cabbage is great too! Cook for 2 mins or until the stems are tender.
Add the cooking wine, about 2 tablespoons. Mix mix mix.
Add in the noodles, stir stir stir.
Add soy sauce and shacha sauce. Stir to mix everything and cook for another minute or so.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.