On a rare rainy day in Phoenix, what better way to get cozy than with a bowl of comforting ramen?
That was our intention during a recent visit to Clever Koi, the pan-Asian restaurant that has locations in Phoenix and Gilbert. While the soup offered a familiar warmth, it was another dish that stole the show.
The restaurant’s riff on udon carbonara wowed with every chewy, sweet, savory, porky bite.
Clever Koi's Kimchi Carbonara applies the techniques used to make the popular Roman pasta while incorporating Asian ingredients. The concept isn’t new to the Valley; Shimagamo, for example, serves a creamy rendition with bechamel sauce and bacon.
Clever Koi executive chef Brandon Jedd added his take to the lineup when the restaurant launched a revamped menu in December.
Before joining Clever Koi about three years ago, he cooked with chef Matt Carter at The Mission and House Brasserie. Jedd says wherever he’s in the kitchen, he likes to have a carbonara on the menu.
“Carbonara is more of a technique than a dish,” he says.
Lots of work goes into creating that bowl of bouncy udon noodles. Instead of adding bacon or guanciale, Jedd uses the restaurant’s chashu pork belly as the rich, meaty base of this dish. Creating that single ingredient takes two days of marinating and braising.
The carbonara sauce is more traditional, using egg and parmesan cheese. It’s glossy and ruddy from the addition of the restaurant’s housemade kimchi. The fermented cabbage offers notes of umami and sweet chili rather than the expected spicy sting. The richer elements of the sauce pull back its bite, Jedd says.
The restaurant group behind Clever Koi also runs Fellow Osteria and Pizzeria in Scottsdale. The chef admits he felt pressure adding carbonara to the menu at Born & Raised Hospitality Group's non-Italian restaurant.
So Jedd shared the carbonara with the chef at Fellow. He gave it a thumbs-up.
To finish the plate, there’s a scatter of scallions and a dusting of what, on the menu, is described as “olive bonito essence.” It’s a crumble of dehydrated castelvetrano olives, miso and bonito – dried flakes of smoked and fermented fish.
Digging into this bowl, the creaminess of the sauce, with its sweet notes of pepper, is what's immediately palpable. The chewy noodles are a smart swap for traditional buccatini and, frankly, just fun to eat. The pork is fall-apart tender and rich.
The scallions offer some crunch and herbaceousness, but it's the carbonara's savory crumble that packs a huge burst of umami that pulls everything together.
Is it conventional or traditional? No, but we couldn’t stop dipping back into the bowl for one more bite. Now, rain or shine, we’re going back to Clever Koi for carbonara.
Clever Koi
Kimchi Carbonara: $184236 N. Central Ave., #100
60 W. Vaughn Ave., #101, Gilbert
