Attack of the Hung

There's something special about rooting for the hated contestant on reality shows. Then there's something completely different when a contestant clearly works too hard to be the hated one, knowing that the American public will happily eat up all the related drama. Ew. (Yes, Wendy, we were not so subtly referring to you.) Furthermore, this becomes increasingly annoying when said contestant need not rely on how much he or she is disliked, but instead on his or her sheer talent.

Enter Hung Huynh, recent winner of Bravo's Top Chef. Riding on the melodrama-dripping coattails of his cohort, Marcel (Top Chef runner-up extraordinaire), Hung came onto the show, guns blazing, outwardly repeating that he'll be the asshole of the show, and he doesn't care. Tacky, considering the more we learned about this guy, the more we wanted him to put away his snide commentary and dole out another serving of whatever he concocted. Now that he's won, he has toned down and finally given us what we were waiting for... a heartfelt story and great food. Top Chef has time and again given us quality talent, as opposed to mere reality stars (NB: Top Chef's first winner, Harold Dieterle, and his NYC hit, Perilla) What follows is one of Hung's recipes from the February issue of Food & Wine... enjoy!

Hung's Clay Pot Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup short-grain rice (7 ounces)
3 ounces mixed mushrooms such as oyster and stemmed shiitake, quartered if large (2 cups)
2 scallions, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 thick slices of fatty bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice (1/2 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup ginkgo nuts (optional)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1. In a bowl, cover the rice with water and let soak until the grains turn white, about 1 hour. Drain the rice.
2. In another bowl, toss the mushrooms and scallions with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and season with salt and pepper; let marinate for 10 minutes.
3. In a small, enameled cast-iron casserole, clay pot, or medium saucepan, cook the bacon over moderate heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the soaked rice and stir to coat with the fat. Add the ginkgo nuts, marinated mushrooms and scallions, the water and the remaining 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Drizzle the oil around the edge of the pot so it tuns down the insides.
4. Cover the pot and cook the rice over low heat until tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 10 minutes. Raise the heat to high and cook the rice, covered, until sizzling and a crust forms on the bottom (mmmmm), about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.