About In the Weeds on KCRW
In restaurant lingo, to be in the weeds is to feel overwhelmed in the thick of chaos. In pre-pandemic times, it often referred to drowning in orders. COVID-19 radically altered the restaurant industry, and brought a different kind of chaos and struggle to those who depend on it to survive. These intimate first person confessions are their stories.
It’s impossible to make a fancy version of Japanese curry. Unlike Thai curry, there’s no patient pounding of ingredients with a mortar and pestle. That’s because preparing Japanese curry is a simple matter of dissolving curry flakes, paste, or, most commonly, square tablets in the cooking liquid.
As such, it’s excellent as a quick meal and for repurposing leftovers. Nevertheless, Japanese curry is a dish full of meaning for those who grew up on it. For those of us who didn’t, it’s a touchstone we can tap into, one that gives us a glimpse of a community’s continuity and provides something delicious at the same time.
Listen 8 min MORE Glen Ishii serves a new community of diners as well seniors that ate his grandmother’s food in Little Tokyo. Photo courtesy of the Ishii Family.
Chef Glen Ishii describes the chashu marinade that his grandmother started with her pre-World War II restaurant in Little Tokyo. Kept alive as one would a sourdough starter, Ishii won’t reveal the secret formula that’s served at
JiST Cafe. His grandmother was known for her combination, a chashu shumai that she served on Fridays. Ishii serves a Japanese version of chashu hash with sous vide eggs and potatoes for breakfast, which he recommends along with his popular Fancy French toast, made with an overnight creme brûlée.