PORTLAND, Oregon — "Top Chef Portland" on Bravo this year has helped bring tourism back to our state. The show took chef contestants to four regions of Oregon as they whittled it down to the best.
Back in August we teamed up with Portland Chef Sara Hauman, a fan favorite on the show, for a monthly series called Oregon In Season. Each segment features a recipe highlighting a different region and a seasonal ingredient, that you can order at the featured restaurant.
For our final installment with Sara, we went to Fortune — a restaurant, bar and club in the Sentinel Hotel in the heart of downtown Portland — and showcased one of her favorite vegetables: turnips.
Hauman teamed up with Chef Jewan Manuel, owner of Plant Based Papi, a vegan restaurant on SE Morrison between 14th and 15th, and chef at Fortune. Manuel has become known for his vegan takes on popular dishes like a fried "chicken" sandwich using jackfruit, "calamari" using mushrooms with a vegan tartar sauce, even vegan birria tacos.
That's vegan?! Some of the delicious menu items at Fortune and Plant Based Papi
Manuel said there was a lot of trial and error coming up with the recipe for the turnips to make them taste like fish. Cutting light hash mark cuts into each turnip slice makes it flake apart just like fish once it's fried. Manuel and Hauman also soaked the turnip slices in some vinegar, kelp granules and nori seaweed to soak up a fishy flavor, then steamed them before putting them in a rice flour batter and deep frying them.
They come out DELICIOUS! Try them on special all this week at Fortune, open 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.