Kombucha Is the Star Ingredient in Roy Choi’s Addictive Pan Sauce
We recently met up with Los Angeles-based chef Roy Choi to taste various recipes he created with kombucha, but the one we can’t get our minds off of is his Cali cauli adobo bowl. We may drink our weight in the fizzy, fermented tea drink, but we’ve never thought about flavoring savory food with it until now. Choi discovered that kombucha provides that essential “acidity and punch” that’s signature to his fusion cuisine. The next time you plan on swigging a bottle of ‘booch, save half of the bottle to stir-fry Choi’s insanely tasty rice bowl below.
Choi described adobo as a traditional Filipino sauce made from a “Crock-Pot-style recipe” that needs time for the syrupy, soy-sauce-y, vinegary flavors to “get to know each other.” But here’s his genius cooking hack: The sweet-tartness of kombucha replaces three ingredients Choi typically uses in an adobo (lemon-lime soda, rice wine vinegar, and palm or coconut sugar). He calls his kombucha-based adobo the “CliffNotes version” of the sauce. “I try to always make food fun and find a shortcut in everything I do,” he added.
While we would totally eat this meatless dish at dinner, Choi suggested it’s breakfast-appropriate too, and now we can’t get brunch out of our minds. We have a hunch this veggie fusion recipe will bowl you over.
Cali Cauli Adobo Bowls
(Serves 1)
Recipe Notes: Choi doesn’t throw out herb stems. Instead, he finely dices them and uses as part of the garnish.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon high-heat oil like refined peanut
- 1 cup minced green onions
- 1/2 cup sliced white onions
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 12 ounces chopped cauliflower
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups soy sauce
- 1/2 cup KeVita Master Brew Tart Cherry Kombucha
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- steamed white rice
- egg, sunny-side up
- cilantro, chopped
- green onion, chopped
- Thai basil, chopped
- jalapeño, minced
- sesame seeds, roasted
- fried shallots
Instructions
1. In a wok or pan in high heat, add oil and sauté green onions, onions, and garlic.
2. Then add cauliflower, sugar, and all liquids.
3. Reduce for a few minutes.
4. Serve sauce over rice with a sunny-side up egg and garnish with cilantro, green onion, Thai basil, jalapeños, sesame seeds, and fried shallots.
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(Recipe via Roy Choi and photos via Annie Grossinger for KeVita)
