From beef confit to soya-braised codfish, what's on the lunch menu at the Trump-Kim summit

The Straits Times ^ | June 12, 2018 | Rachel Au-Yong and Olivia Ho

[2ndDivisionVet]

United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will feast on a nine-course meal that appears to marry both American and Korean delights to mirror the landmark meeting between the two men.

The lunch menu for the US and North Korea delegations, issued by the White House, features a prawn cocktail, mango kerabu - a Malay salad - and oiseon, or Korean stuffed cucumbers - and those are just for starters.

For the main course, the two leaders and their teams will be served beef short-rib confit, for a Western taste, then for the Asian influence, sweet and sour pork with fried rice, as well as a popular Korean dish daegu jorim, or soya-braised codfish.

Starters

Traditional prawn cocktail served with avocado salad

Green mango kerabu with honey lime dressing and fresh octopus

Oiseon - Korean stuffed cucumbers

Main

Beef short-rib confit served with potato dauphinois and steamed broccolini, red wine sauce on the side

Combination of sweet and sour crispy pork with yangzhou fried rice and homemade XO chilli sauce

Daegu jorim - soya-braised codfish with radish and Asian vegetables

Dessert

Dark chocolate tartlet ganache

Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream with cherry coulis

Tropezienne (brioche pastry with cream in the middle)

Singaporean chef-owner Pang Kok Keong of local patisserie Antoinette said the menu seems like “a mish-mash of French, Chinese and Korean”, adding that he did not see much of the US in it.

He found the choice of the desserts unusual, such as the Haagen-Dazs ice cream and the French tropezienne. “I love it (the tropezienne), but I’m not sure about its significance in this menu.”

Wild Rocket chef Willin Low said it was "quite a diplomatic choice of courses, with Western and Korean dishes in the first two courses so that no one would be embarrassed with food they are not comfortable with".

"I'm sure the food preferences of the leaders were also taken into consideration," he added. "I am happy to see a kerabu on the menu but wish there was more Singaporean representation. Perhaps a modern version of chendol could have been a great Singaporean sweet ending to the summit."

Chef Petrina Loh, who runs fusion restaurant Morsels, said it was a "safe" menu.

"It's pretty straightforward, not overthinking things. Both parties have something identifiable from their culture and a mid-ground Asian and Chinese influence."

Like chef Pang, however, she questioned the choice of the desserts, especially the Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and wondered why a Korean dessert had not been included.

U.S. delegation

President Donald J. Trump

Secretary Mike Pompeo, Department of State

General John Kelly, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff

Ambassador John Bolton, Assistant to the President and National Security Adviser

Sarah Sanders, Assistant to the President and Press Secretary

Ambassador Sung Kin, US Ambassador to the Philippines

Matthew Pottinger, Deputy Assistant to the President for Asian Affairs

North Korea delegation

Chairman Kim Jong Un

Kim Yong Chol, Vice-Chairman, Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea

Ri Su Yong, Vice-Chairman, Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea

Ri Yong Ho, Minister of Foreign Affairs

No Kwang Chol, Minister of People's Armed Forces

Choe Son Hui, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs

Kim Yo Jong, First Deputy Director, Central Committee of Workers' Party of Korea

Han Kwang Sang, Director, Central Committee of Workers' Party of Korea

[bgill]

At least the picture is carb free.

Please, asking for some prayers for hubby. Not a good report from the eye doctor. His diabetes is causing problems in that area so have to keep his carbs down.

Emptied the fridge for dinner and, of course, all low carb. Seriously, everything outta there but eggs and condiments. Eggs for breakfast tomorrow and then a good cleaning before going to the store in a couple days to fill it back up. Already cleaned and organized the fridge freezer and the pantry.

In a spring cleaning mood and started clearing junk out of the spare room before it ended up on an episode of Hoarders. A couple of trash bags to the garbage. Seven trash bags of kid stuff plus more carry out by hand to a mom friend. Shampooed the carpet this week but with shedding slobber buckets, it doesn't look like it's been touched.

[Jamestown1630]

Only the picture is carb-free; not if you actually make and eat it ;-)

I found this recipe for a sort of Chile Relleno casserole; it does use two cups of whole milk (24 gm carb) but I’m thinking that we could use heavy cream for half of it:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/lazy-chiles-rellenos/

Will keep your husband in my prayers tonight.

[ptsal]

Give Kim “three” scoops.... Jim Acosta donated his dish because he is lactose intolerant....really just INTOLERANT.

[bgill]

Thanks for the prayers.

Love chiles rellenos. Milk could be substituted with veg or chicken stock and a bit of cream to keep the carbs and cals down.

[Ransomed]

What, no $50 steaks well done with ketchup??! I am micro-aggressed by this grave injustice.

FReegards

[Jamestown1630]

Good idea. I will experiment, because Chiles Rellenos are probably my favorite Mexican food - and my hubby is on low carb, too.

[Lizavetta]

rock confit and braised dirt.

Yes. For their sake I hope Trump can accomplish something with this spoiled tubby dicktator.

[umgud]

Pasta

[miss marmelstein]

Was there a June cooking thread?

[Jamestown1630]

Well, you could do it on spiralized zucchini, or spaghetti squash - but we’ve never found that very satisfying.

Or is it the Tahini?

I liked the idea because one of my favorite recipes is Eggplant with a Tahini sauce (and this is another pretty low-carb veggie dish):

Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Dressing

2 medium eggplants (about 1 1/4 pounds total), trimmed and halved lengthwise

coarse sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

DRESSING:

3 tablespoons well-stirred tahini

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons hot water

1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1/8 teaspoon minced garlic

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

For Eggplant: Heat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (It helps to first sprinkle the eggplant halves with salt, and let them “drain”, flesh side down, in a large colander for about 30 minutes before roasting. It helps to reduce the moisture content of the dish.)

Put eggplant pieces on prepared baking sheet, flesh-side up. With the tip of a sharp knife, score flesh, about 3/4 inch deep. Season eggplant with salt and pepper, and drizzle with oil. Roast, rotating pan once halfway through, until eggplant flesh is soft and collapsed and edges are deep golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

For Dressing: While eggplant is roasting, in a bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients. Remove eggplant from oven and sprinkle with salt.

Transfer to serving plates, drizzle with half of the dressing and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with remaining dressing.

[Jamestown1630]

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3659886/posts

[miss marmelstein]

Thanks, Jamestown. I must have missed it.

[CottonBall]

I read the title and it certainly seem to fit with cooking. No biggie! In fact I thought you were quite clever tying in the summit menu to the cooking thread.

[umgud]

Sounds good. I really like eggplant. Thanks.

[Jamestown1630]

Well, it wasn’t intentional.

But perhaps, sometimes, ‘propinquity’ exerts itself.

(I appreciate everyone’s tolerance :-)

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Slog dobber, huh? What a mess.

[Jamestown1630]

Eggplant is a really weird thingie.

It doesn’t have much flavor itself, but soaks-up flavor.

My Daddy always liked eggplant fritters, especially when he had a hangover:

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/eggplant-fritters-399772

[CottonBall]

Eggplant is something I could get tired of real quick so I don’t grow it. But I have to buy at least one egg plant every six months and make eggplant Parmesan.

I saw a recipe on diners drive-ins and dives that I tried to emulate. He sliced the eggplant real thin, breaded it, and then fried it until it was really dark and crunchy. Then layered that with mozzarella and marinara sauce. It actually is quite fantastic!

I get a hankering for that about twice a year.

[CottonBall]

I love chili rellenos . I love green chilies in most anything. I actually bought a number 10 can of diced chiles from the Webstaurant store. I’m not quite sure what I’m gonna do with it but I like having it.

Have you tried this? A lot of times I find the dishes with whole chiles are kind of hard to chew. and cut even. So I usually end up using diced ones.

[CottonBall]

Absolutely he will be in my prayers. I am no stranger to vision problems, so I can empathize.

And emptying the fridge so you won’t be tempted to have carbs is a great idea!

When I was on a low-carb diet there was a really good stuff zucchini recipe, it had ham and mayonnaise and a few other things in it. I can take it out if you don’t already have it. I think it’s quite popular so I figure most people know it already.