Presenter: Timothy Gee, CEC

Chefs ChallengeAatul Jain

Todd Daigneault

Sriracha Gochujang

Gochujang is a thick, crimson paste made from chile peppers, glutinous rice (also

known as sticky rice), fermented soybeans, and salt.

Galangal or 'Khaa' in Thai, appears similar to ginger. However Galangal

has a tighter skin, is lighter in color and can have pinkish portions too. All of us

know the taste and flavor of ginger, Galangal tastes more like pepper than

ginger. Coming to the similarities between galangal and ginger, both grow underground and the method

used to cook them is similar too. Fresh galangal is now available in the west

and it's easy availability. There are two types of galangal, one of them has a stronger flavor as compared to the

other.

Galangal

Breakfast

As operators turn their attention to breakfast and scratch-made

items in particular, they may find a world of inspiration—and interest

—in ethnic-inspired morning dishes. Examples include Asian-flavored syrups, coconut-milk

pancakes and chorizo scrambled eggs. Bonus points for items that

don’t use eggs, which chefs expect to continue to be a

sourcing challenge.

Scratch#5 Natural minimally processed food

Whether for reasons of differentiation, healthfulness

and freshness or cost effectiveness, operators are

feeling the appeal of cooking more items from scratch. Two

accessible entries into the practice are scratch-made

pickles and condiments—trends that have proven successful on

restaurant menus recently.

#11 Ethnic Foods

This ethnic trend was the biggest mover and shaker on this year’s list, rising 20

percent. African dishes offer new territory to explore for

diverse operations that already have mastered the

nuances of Asian and Mexican cuisines.

# 2 Chef Driven Casual Concepts#20 Street Food

Variations on street food make multiple appearances on the NRA’s hot list, including street food/food trucks (No. 20) and ethnic/street-

food inspired appetizers (No. 4). For high-volume operations, street-food style main dishes (No. 34), especially

with an ethnic spin—tacos, satays and kabobs—may have the broadest

applications.