By Eric Kim, The New York Times
Spencer Huey just picked his first tomato of the season, a shiny red pearl from a backyard vine.
His spoon tomatoes ripened early because they’re so small. The rest of his harvest in the Bay Area, where he lives and works as a cook at Chez Panisse, has more time to go. “Things,” he said, “are just starting.”
Thatap because late summer, true tomato season, is still nigh, which means itap time to talk about fresh tomato recipes. Part of summer’s draw is the inching toward that first tomato, prepared with pomp and circumstance — and knife and cutting board.
Most people start off with a proper tomato sandwich, a contentious subject between Southerners and Northerners, who both claim it, or sugo di pomodoro, my dad’s favorite pasta sauce, a fleeting annual dream thatap only ever as good as the tomato.
“A tomato is precious,” Huey said. Each red orb is a major win.
When the fruit is bulging, its skin about to burst under the weight of juice, and the anticipation for that first sip of true summer is at a seasonal high, only a salad will do.
Right around now, at least once a day, Huey makes himself a salad. When the tomato is this good, it doesn’t take much: just salt, pepper and olive oil; a little acid from lemon juice or red wine vinegar; an herb or three, all plated nicely, differently, depending on the day.
When I think of summer tomatoes, I think of birthdays. I’m a late-July baby, and when I was growing up, my mother, Jean, hosted intimate birthday parties for me at the pool or in our backyard. She’d throw down platters of hamburgers, panels of American cheese, jars of pickles and relish and ketchup and mustard and mayonnaise (the palette of summer). And, for the adults, the salad was a plate piled high with thick slices of beefsteak tomato and white onion, which she whipped up between the kitchen and the outside table, where a handful of sensitive Cancer types gathered before a dip in the pool.
Most of us kids didn’t touch those, but I did. The recipe here is an homage to those early birthdays, when there was a grown-up hosting a party for you. This iteration calls for a flavorful doenjang vinaigrette, reminiscent of the Worcestershire-laden, umami-rich steak sauce that Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn serves with its tomato and onion salad.
A good tomato doesn’t need much more, but the bitter-savory aroma of fresh perilla leaves is unmatched here, offsetting the sweetness of the fruit, onion and doenjang. Perilla’s sister-in-law, mint, is a fantastic alternative.
Enjoy this quick, refreshing salad alongside a richer main dish, such as grilled steak, pork or chicken. Or do as Huey does and have it on its own — a celebration unto itself.
Recipe: Steakhouse Tomato-Onion Salad
Inspired by the tomato and onion salad served at Peter Luger, this iteration is a little less, um, austere. A flavorsome doenjang vinaigrette takes the place of that Worcestershire-laden, umami-rich steak sauce. The bittersavory aroma of fresh perilla leaves is unmatched here, offsetting the sweetness of the tomato, onion and doenjang; but mint is a fantastic secondary option. Enjoy this quick, refreshing salad alongside a richer main dish, such as grilled steak, pork or chicken.
By Eric Kim
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 large very ripe tomatoes, thickly sliced crosswise
- 1 large white onion, thickly sliced crosswise and separated into rings (see Tips)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 large garlic clove, finely grated or minced
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon doenjang (see Tips)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Fresh perilla or mint leaves, torn into pieces
Preparation
1. Arrange the tomato and onion slices in a single-ish layer on a serving plate, then season with salt and pepper.
2. Into a small jar or container with a tight-fitting lid, zest the lemon, then halve it and squeeze 1 tablespoon of the juice into the jar. Add the vinegar, garlic, olive oil, doenjang, mustard and honey. Close the jar, then shake vigorously until well combined.
3. Drizzle the doenjang vinaigrette over the tomato and onion slices, 1 teaspoon at a time, until modestly dressed. Place the perilla pieces over the salad, then serve immediately.
Tips
For raw onion slices with less bite, soak them in water first before draining and using.
You can find doenjang, often labeled soybean paste, in Korean or Asian supermarkets and online, either in jars or in plastic rectangular tubs. Funkily pungent and packed with savoriness, doenjang is a magical flavor booster that is sometimes compared to Japanese miso but has a saltier, more assertive kick. Full of fermented sourness and deep Parmesan-like depth, it can enliven all manner of soups, stews and salad dressings with unparalleled brio.
This article originally appeared in .
