Neighborhood Chef Series with Clever Koi

It was a little chilly this past Saturday morning at the market but that didn’t stop any of you from joining us for Small Business Saturday! While we warmed our hands and supported our local favorites, Chef Jared Porter from Clever Koi got setup for his demo. Chef Porter used a red snapper from Uptown vendor, Holy Mackerel Seafood, which was caught on Monday, flown in Tuesday and tasted by you on Saturday – never frozen! How fresh and delicious is that?

To prepare the red snapper for his demo Chef wrapped it in ‘kombu’, a sea vegetable or seaweed that is rich in vitamins and minerals and widely eaten in East Asia. After wetting the kombu, Chef Porter wrapped the snapper inside and let the natural process of the enzymes and salt cure the fish. This curing process helped to give the red snapper the unique flavor and that silky raw texture.

The students from C-CAP helped Chef Porter by preparing the plates for the fish. One scooped the house-made sticky rice and the other added the kimchi. Chef Porter then sliced and plated a healthy portion of red snapper and handed off to Nick Campisano, one of the owners of Clever Koi, who drizzled Homeboy’s hot sauce onto the fish to finish off the dish.

Nearly everything for this meal was sourced from the market! We thank David Antonelli with Holy Mackerel Seafood for providing the red snapper; Bob McClendon with McClendon’s Select for providing the Brussels Sprouts; Jim Trout with Taste of Summer for bringing in the apples from Patagonia Orchards; and Jacob Cutino for providing his signature Homeboys hot sauce.

Clever Koi is located just down the street from the market, off of Central, south of Camelback. We hear they will also be opening a location in Gilbert early next year, as well as a new concept Stock & Stable in Central Phoenix. You can also check out their doughnut shop, Born & Glazed and taste some of their from scratch doughnuts (they’re about to launch their holiday flavors!).

Congrats to our lucky market goers for winning FIVE $50 gift cards to Clever Koi and thanks again to Chef Jared Porter, Nick Campisano and the C-CAP students for demoing at the market and supporting us. Next week we are closed for the APS Light Parade, but we will back on Dec. 12th with a demo from Chef Justin Beckett of Southern Rail and Beckett’s Table. Stay in the know by subscribing to our weekly e-mail list and follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).