�y��vlog

Non #2 Caramelized Pear and Konbu is a unique, lightly fizzed wine alternative that smells like a richly spiced poached pear, with huge star anise, cardamom, and vanilla on the nose that made me want to bury my face in my wineglass.

The chicken is an umami bomb, seasoned with bonito flake, toasted konbu, tomato powder, shiitake mushroom powder, garlic powder and soy sauce powder among other spices.

The meal began with scallop sashimi, which on regular nights at Mission Chinese is served beneath slices of grapefruit and konbu, a dried kelp used in Asian cooking.

The dish has five flavors, saltiness, sweetness, acidity and umami, which comes from the essence of konbu, or kelp.

Otis Redding poured out his aching heart, while the chef put forth one plate after another of oceanic pleasures: chilled Maine sea urchin in its spiny shell, its creamy organs tarted up with ponzu; komochi konbu, a racy strip of herring roe and kelp, looking like a slice of Morbier cheese but going down like a crunchy, elastic fish cake; and oily Spanish mackerel topped with freshly grated ginger to ignite it.