CHEF KEVIN LEE OF PAI HONOLULU SEAFOOD CIOPPINO
Chef Kevin Lee has the star power to win major awards. If you haven't visited his PAI Honolulu Restaurant at the Harbor Court Atrium conveniently located in downtown Honolulu, you are missing out. His food, presentation, and style are turning heads in the Honolulu food scene.
As a former food scientist, Chef Kevin combines a cerebral approach to combining flavors with an artist’s flair for presentation. His passion for his craft is evident in his dedication to making as many of each dish’s components in-house as possible. Make sure to try his chili pepper water when you have dinner at PAI Honolulu. We were very happy to have him with us in the kitchen this week as he shared his version of Cioppino.
1 Tilapia, fillet & skinned
10 oysters
9 shrimps with heads on
½ white onion
1 bulb fennel, shaved
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 tsp Fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp saffron
3 Diced green onions
2pc Sourdough Bread, sliced
Method:
Slice the Fennel, Onion and Garlic
Add olive oil to a pot on the stove
Add fennel, onion, garlic
Add salt and pepper to taste
Let cook for a bit
Slice and skin Tilapia fillet and season with coarse salt and pepper to taste
Add diced tomato to the onion, fennel, garlic pot let cook for about 20 mins. then
Add 1 pint fish stock (enough for fish to steam) and saffron.
Then add cleaned oysters (cleaned with firm brush and water) and seasoned tilapia to the pot, a minute later add the shrimp (heads on) to the pot then let it pouch
Add fresh squeezed lemon juice
Add diced green onions
Let cook for about 4-5 minutes, ready when oysters open