Full Interview

Flavorful sauces are the starting point for Asian Cool™ excitement: Jordan Asher on Tradition and Innovation

“Fermented foods like Kikkoman Soy Sauce are part of the backbone of Korean food”

Becoming the top toque at a Korean-inspired restaurant might seem like a surprising choice for Jordan Asher, but for the executive chef of Dosi, in Houston, it’s the perfect translation of his eclectic background into an Asian Cool™ menu.

“Because of my Southern background, I love the kind of bold, spicy flavors that are common to Korean cuisine,” says Asher, who has spent his professional career cooking in some of the most renowned kitchens in the United States. In particular, the craft of preserving seasonal foods that he fell in love with at farm-to-table restaurants like Meadowood in the Napa Valley inspires Asher to explore the pickling and fermentation techniques so important in Korea, with its harsh winters and short growing season.

“Fermentation gives you a flavor ‘backbone’ you can’t capture otherwise, whether it’s a condiment like kimchee or a staple like soy sauce,” says the chef, who uses Kikkoman Soy Sauce in such specialties as roasted and fermented heirloom carrots with black sesame puree, calamansi orange and arugula. And of course, adds Asher, fermented foods like soy sauce have been in existence for thousands of years. “Sometimes the best way to move forward is to look back.”

Asher, who grew up in Texas, spent four years as head chef of The High Lonesome Ranch, an upscale seasonal dude ranch in western Colorado. During the off-season, he staged at restaurants as diverse as Meadowood in California, Canlis in Seattle, Mercat in Chicago and Spice Market in New York City, bringing back the lessons and techniques he learned to High Lonesome Ranch every summer.

“It was tremendous opportunity,” he says now, giving him a wide-ranging education from some of the most innovative kitchens in the country, and enabling him to return to Houston as chef de cuisine at the award-winning Mark’s American Cuisine.

When he was approached by owner An Vo to be the chef at the Korean small-plates restaurant and soju bar that would become Dosi, Asher was ready. “An wanted a menu that would be more contemporary and approachable than a traditional Korean restaurant’s, which can be pretty out there, especially in a relatively conservative place like Houston,” says Asher.

“Dosi gave me a platform to showcase different Asian flavors and techniques that many people don’t know about,” he continues. “The challenge was to make it authentic, but still inviting to the average diner, and to allow me to stay true to my own cooking style.”

Flavors, especially the kind that are imparted by sauces and by traditional Korean methods of fermentation and pickling, were the way into the challenge for Asher. “Korean cooking techniques are relatively simple, with lots of grilled meats and vibrant side dishes made with fresh seasonal vegetables,” he explains. “It’s the sauces and fermented foods that give it complexity.”

Kikkoman Soy Sauce and Rice Vinegar help bring the rich umami and refreshingly sour notes that characterize the balance and boldness of Korean food, with its dependence on spicy chiles and earthy flavors.

And Asher has delighted in experimenting with fermentation, especially seasonal vegetables like tomatoes, carrots and cauliflower, as well as more traditional kimchee vegetables like cabbage.

He had fallen in love with pickling and curing techniques while working in California, and Korean preservation methods allowed him to take it all a step further, into deeply flavorful fermentation.

When he first came to Dosi, says the chef, “I studied a lot, not just researching the ingredients and flavors of Korean food, but also finding the deeper roots behind Korean culture and cooking.

“I saw a way to combine French cooking techniques that are my background with how and what Texans like to eat,” he continues. “Add in Korean flavors and local ingredients and that was the basis of the menu at Dosi. It was a real learning process, but I’ve always had that yearning for learning, and it’s what’s made me the cook I am today.”