Affordable food porn: fried rice paper sheets* are the base for tuna tartare at Noodle in a Haystack.
We don’t worry too much about food presentation here at Burnt My Fingers, as you may have noticed. But sometimes you want to gild the lily just a bit. And we got thinking about affordable food porn… ways you can make your dishes look impressive without breaking the bank.
Deviled egg with caviar at Noodle in a Haystack.
We were inspired by Yelp photos from Noodle in a Haystack, a restaurant in San Francisco which charges $175 for an omakase tasting menu built around ramen and is sold out for the remainder of 2023. Here are a few examples, with attribution if you click on the photos to see the titles.
Caviar. Nothing says luxury like a few fish eggs draped over a food product. And you can get 2 oz of lumpfish red caviar cured in vodka for under $15 at Amazon. (Affiliate link!) That’s enough for a lot of garnishing.
Quick pickled cucumber with hijiki garnish.
Seaweed. Dried hijiki and dulse are available in bulk at my local co-op or online. They’re expensive on a per-ounce basis, but you just need a few strands as an accent. And you can’t go wrong sticking in a leaf of nori from one of those snack packs.
Custard with black sesame seed garnish.
Black sesame seeds. Sprinkle a few on a light colored dish (like the custard example here). They’re dramatic and exotic, yet I can buy a little bag at my local bulk bin for under a dollar.
Ramen with Kamaboko (fish cake).
Fish cake (kamaboko) and pickled radish. Two colorful accents you can find in the refrigerated section at your Asian market. Kamaboko is a pressed cake made from surimi (fake crab), often with a pattern in the middle. Dan-muji is a yellow Korean radish pickle with a sweet/sour flavor. Both can perk up a dish with mixed ingredients, included or on the side.
Do you have ideas for affordable food porn? Please share. And here’s a loving article from the SF Chronicle that almost makes me want to spend $175 on a bowl of ramen and accompaniments. Almost.
*Fried rice sheets are those rice paper circles used for making Asian dumplings, fried so they puff up. Haven’t tried doing this yet.
