Bib Gourmand!

Yesterday Michelin released its list of Bib Gourmand awards for Chicago and we are honored to be included on this list. We are flattered to be honored among such renowned chefs as Giuseppe Tentori, Stephanie Izard, Rick Bayless, and all the other amazing chefs and restaurants on the list. For any who do not know what a Bib Gourmand stands for, it represents a restaurant that is good value. A guest must be able to order two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for forty dollars or less before tax and gratuity. It is also one of the Michelin inspectors' favorite restaurants. We strive to be better each day and will continue to push ourselves to provide the best quality we can to our patrons. Thank you to all of our guests, the city of Chicago, and the Michelin Guide.


The complete list of 56 Bib Gourmand winners below:
Ann Sather
Arami
Avec
Belly Shack
Bistronomic
The Bristol
Browntrout
Ceres’ Table
Cumin
De Cero
deca
DeCOLORES
Fogon
Frontera Grill
Gemini Bistro
Gilt Bar
Girl & The Goat
Green Zebra
GT Fish & Oyster
Han 202
Hopleaf
Jaipur
Jin Thai
Kabul House
La Creperie
La Petite Folie
Lao Sze Chuan
Los Nopales
Lula Café
M. Henry
Maude’s Liquor Bar
Mexique
Mixteco Grill
Mundial Cocina Mestiza
Nana
Nightwood
Opart Thai House
Owen & Engine
Paramount Room
Perennial Virant
The Publican
The Purple Pig
Raj Darbar
Riccardo Trattoria
Sen
Smak-Tak
Smoque BBQ
Sol de Mexico
Spacca Napoli
Taste of Peru
Thai Village
Twin Anchors
Urban Belly
West Town Tavern
Xni-Pec de Yucatan
Yolo

Akagai

Akagai is a type of Ark Shell clam that lives in incredibly murky waters. Due to its habitat it has developed in such a way that it can breath even in low oxygen situations. This adaptation is in the form of hemoglobin and myoglobin, the compounds found in human blood. This is the reason they are often called Blood Clams. In many parts of Asia they are a prized delicacy. In those parts of the world, however, due to poor water conditions and sanitation, many diseases harmful to humans can be passed on through consumption which is why it is very important to source a reliable supplier. The domestically harvested ones are completely safe to eat and are tested for any sign of disease. Farming in the United States has also virtually eliminated risks, through clean growing and harvesting practices.

The flavor of these delicacies is deep and irony with a subtle sweetness. This is highlighted in Japanese cuisine through the traditional use in nigiri sushi. It is also used pickled as we at Arami did. When pickled it is usually used in a simple salad. We used it in this way for our omakase diners as an opening course.

Here are some detailed pictures of what it looks like. We even had a surprise visit from a symbiotic crab inside one. It is clear from these pictures why it is called Blood Clam.

Iwashi

Lately we have been discussing that more restaurants should do whole fish preparations, but often you run into the issue of intimidating guests. Do you fry it, steam it, take the head off? These are questions that arise as we discuss ideas. How big of a fish do we use, does seeing eyeballs scare away  interested guests? As a chef you have to play to your clientele, while still expressing yourself. What is it about seeing your food whole in this culture that scares people, while in other cultures it is a sign of care and quality? Well in our case we decided to give it a shot. We got these beautiful Sardines in from San Sebastian and tried to figure out how to make them approachable. This is how we did that.

Whole Emperor Sardine (Iwashi)

Scaled and ready to debone.

First we clip off the dorsal fin.

Then you make a cut on either side of the head and pull the head away, which in turn removes the entrails.

Head and entrails intact.

Then you remove the belly and clean out the cavity.

Then by running your finger down the spine you can separate it from the filet and essentially peel it out of the fish.

Here we removed the spine, leaving the tail fins on for presentation and to later be used as a handle for dipping.

We used a technique known as Karaage in Japanese, which basically means lightly coated in starch and deep fried. This helps to soften the small edible bones in the fish and give the fish a nice texture.

 

 The fish were skewered in a swimming motion and then coated and fried. We paired it with a small salad of Mizuna and Daikon, that was dressed in a fish sauce-lemongrass gastrique, and served it with a side of Sesame Leaf and Katsuoboshi infused soy.

Still a whole fish, but more approachable.

Uku Palu

It has been a little while since we posted last, but this gem deserves its own post.

Called Blue-green Snapper in English (Aochibiki in Japanese), this Hawaiian species of Snapper is incredibly delicate in flavor while firm in texture. It is available year round, though the peak season is summer. Uku Palu is typically caught with deep water hand line gear. It can be eaten both cooked and as sashimi. Its versatility allows it to be prepared in a variety of ways, including steaming, sauteing, frying, and stewing. 

Here you can see the translucent pink flesh and the large scales. We left the scales on while butchering because, when cooked, they lend a nice crispiness and flavor. This technique is very common in Japanese izakyas.

Above is the finished dish. We seasoned the fish with Japanese sea salt and sansho pepper then shallow fried it. The salad below consisted of shaved Napa cabbage, sesame leaf, Thai chilies, and a sesame umeboshi vinaigrette.

We would like to thank our seafood purveyor, Supreme Lobster, for providing us with such beauties as this.

For more information about this fish follow this link to the Hawaii Seafood website http://www.hawaii-seafood.org/wild-hawaii-fish/bottomfish/blue-green-snapper-uku/.

The Specials

Everyday the kitchen team is sourcing the freshest fish in Chicago. We receive fish/shellfish from the East Coast, West Coast, Hawaii, Japan, The Mediterranean, etc. Some fish are more common and some have never before been sourced in Chicago or most of the mainland United states. With these fish, we create daily specials. Sometimes more than one special will appear on our specials card. These specials are tweeted daily from our Arami twitter account and from our Sous Chef's twitter account. This blog will be used as a more in depth "tweet" in which we will post pictures and a description of the fish and/or ingredients we are using, On top of the fish specials, we run cocktail specials based on what fruit is in season or what new liquor/sake we may have discovered. Here are some photos taken by our office manager of a few of the specials we have run.

Welcome to the Arami blog.

The concept of this blog is to be an informative platform for our guests and people interested in what we are doing. It will also be used to log any new menu additions and/or special fish or ingredients that we may be receiving from any of our wonderful vendors. There will be contributions from various staff members from the kitchen/sushi bar and our front of the house team. Stay tuned for updates and we hope to see you soon.