I think I know where Edward Kim is going with the mentaiko kimchi udon he’s serving at Mott St, the pan-Asian-street-food/night-market-inspired restaurant that’s his follow-up to the celebrated and more straightforward Ruxbin. In Japan there’s a current culinary trend called itameshi, essentially a Japanese take on Italian food that might produce, say, a tangle of spaghetti tossed with fish eggs, seaweed, and soy sauce. With the udon, Kim throws in a Korean twist, as he’s wont to do, dressing the noodles with a light, almost creamy, kimchi-based sauce that contains thousands of tiny pollack roe that lend a great texture to the soft noodles. The dish is topped with scallions, bright green wasabi-dyed fish eggs, and feathery bonito shavings that shimmer and squirm dreamily, and help to contribute to the sense of nostalgia that itameshi is said to be associated with.
Perhaps the most intriguing and superficially challenging dish is the crab-brain fried rice. That’s a name that will magnetize a certain species of adventurous eater. But again, the flavors are muted, and the texture of the “brains,” which are in fact the totality of the crab’s internal organs, disappears in the soft, just-overcooked rice.
A pair of chicken gizzard skewers paired with grilled rice cakes are fine, but their accompanying soy-caramel sauce is outstanding, something I’d love to have seen applied to a more substantial dish, like the special grilled halibut collar I picked apart with fingers and chopsticks.
1401 N. Ashland 773-687-9977mottstreetchicago.com
