Chris Shepherd - Cook Like a Local

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To Mom and Dad, thank you for always believing in me. I learned the value of hard work and dedication from you. You never forced me to do anything I didnt want to do. When I left junior college for culinary school, you were behind me 100 percent, even though none of us had any idea where cooking for a living would take me. And youve been with me every step of this wild ride.

To Kaitlyn Goalen, thank you for taking this journey with me. When we met years ago, we talked about writing a book together and Im so glad we made it happen. I wouldnt want to work with anyone else. You understand my thought process, as crazy as it can be, and you were able to organize all of my ideas so that everyone else can understand them, too. Writing this book has given us the opportunity to become better friends and part of each others lives. And Im not sure we could have finished the book without Ashleys motivational notes and delicious snacks.

To Lindsey Brown, you are the one. Not only are you my much better half, youre the one who kept me on the straight path to finishing this book. Youre the inspiration behind Underbelly because you helped me learn my city. We led culinary tours for years to many of the places featured in this bookthose tours sparked a passion in me to learn more about the people in this city through food. I love you.

To Julie Soefer, you see what I see, and you are able to capture my food, my restaurants, and me in a way that no one else can. I love that you and Chris are our ride or dies, and I look forward to all of our future travels and projects and game nights. I love a good game night. Claudia, thanks for all of your hard worknot just on the book but on all of our projects.

To Amanda Medsger, I like your style, so Im glad I was able to work with you as both a prop stylist for this book and as our interior designer for our new home. You know what I like, and the book (and our house) looks fantastic.

To Nick Fine, Greg Peters, Victoria Dearmond, Chris Bednorz, and Lyle Bento, writing recipes isnt my strong suit, so thank you for helping me get everything down on paper. My mise en place was always perfect for each photo shoot, thanks to you, and you helped me execute every dish. Im lucky to be able to call all of you colleagues and friends. Youre not only some of the best cooks but some of the best people I know.

To David Black, Ill never forget when you came to Houston during a very busy time, yet you locked your phone in my office and focused on our ideas for this book for hours. You fought to make sure the right people were involved in this project, and youve had my best interests at heart since day one. Thank you for believing in me and staying with me every step of the way.

To Francis Lam, youve been a friend for a long time. I always knew I wanted to work with you in some way, and this gave us the opportunity. Youre the only person I wanted to edit this book because you understand what were trying to accomplishboth with this book and in life.

To all of our farmers, ranchers, and fishermen, thank you for your tireless work. What you do is not easy, and generally underrecognized and underappreciated. I want you to know that we appreciate you. Every day that you wake up at 4 a.m. to plant beets and radishes, to feed cattle, to make your way out in the Gulf, remember that we cant do anything without you. Youre rock stars to us.

To the Underbelly Hospitality family, past, present, and future, thank you so much for not just believing in this vision but living it. Sometimes people just go to work to work. As all of you know, we ask for more, and youve all given 110 percent. Youve helped change our city and the way people dine. Youve made our guests our friends. You are the lifeblood of who I am. Its all summed up by one wordfamily.

To the city of Houston, where do I begin? This city is everything to me. I moved here in 1995 to go to culinary school and never looked back. Ive had so many opportunities here that have made me who I am: from my best friend Randy Evans convincing me to take a job as a line cook at Brennans of Houston and working alongside him for nine years, to the support the city has given me ever since. Houston gave me a platform to open Underbellythat restaurant couldnt exist in any other city. Houston has the diversity, long growing seasons, and wonderful people who shared their stories and their harvest with me. Many of these people are mentioned in this book or have photos on the wall at UB Preserv, and so many others deserve to be. Ill never stop learning from my neighbors, and I hope my fellow Houstonians wont either. More than anything, I hope this book shines a light on how amazing Houston isso many cultures coexisting harmoniously is a beautiful thing. I love HOU.

CHAPTER 1

FISH SAUCE

Houston tastes like fish sauce. Seriously. For me, its not the smoke of barbecue or the cumin-y flavor of Tex-Mex that defines the food here. Its fish sauce. Even before I fell completely in love with Vietnamese food, I was tasting fish sauce everywhere I went.

Fish sauce scented the ph and the bnh m and the late-night spring rolls wed order at the only place that was open downtown after our long shifts as line cooks were done.

Initially, I couldnt even name this flavor I was experiencing everywhere. I didnt realize it was fish sauce, which, if youve eaten much fish sauce in your life, is pretty hilarious. Fish sauce isnt subtle. Like other delicious fermented foodscheese, sauerkraut, pickles, even wine and beeritll announce itself with a jab to the nostrils, then by firing a shot across your taste buds. Its salty and funky, and once youve gotten to know it, youll recognize it anywhere.

But thats the thing: Until moving to Houston, I had never tried it before. Unlike soy sauce, fish sauce had never found its way into my bag of takeout during my childhood in Nebraska and Oklahoma. In the early days, I was not much of a fan of fish sauce, and I would always choose peanut sauce or something equally crowd-pleasing when given the choice.

But in Houston, fish sauce is everywhere. Its proliferation started with the vibrant Vietnamese community here, then spread out to kitchens of all kinds. I learned to love fish sauce very slowly, over the course of long nights at Mais, a restaurant that catered to the late-night industry crowd. I spent lots of time there early in my time in this city. My initial resistance to the pungent little dip that came with my crispy spring rolls was worn down through proximity, perhaps: after seeing the ramekin of nc chm appear every single time (even if Id said I didnt want it), I finally broke down and dipped my roll right into the mixture. Coating the vegetables and rice noodles inside the wrapper, it made my roll about a billion times more deliciousI was blown away by this substance that brought so much flavor through brininess and umami, that fifth taste that is deeply savory and rich.

Now, my kitchen is no exception to the fish sauce trainwe use it constantly. For a cook, its a dream ingredient, the most dynamic provider of umami. It adds another dimension of flavor, and it changes depending on how you use it: raw, it gives you that umami with the pungency its known for; cooked, the aroma mellows out into a beautiful backdrop; and when cooked with sugar, it creates a gorgeous, balanced, savory caramel.

SO WHAT IS IT?

Fish sauce is a liquid that is extracted from whole fish (ideally, black anchovies) that have been heavily salted and left to ferment for a long period of timeusually around one year. The enzymes in the fish, as it breaks down, create a substance that is salty, funky, umami-rich, and crazy delicious.