Thanksgiving video: Niki Nakayama of N/Naka remakes mac ‘n’ cheese with uni and truffles

What happens when you ask five very talented Southern California chefs with very different culinary points of view to re-imagine their favorite Thanksgiving dishes? You get answers that are surprising, challenging, thoughtful, and delicious.

That’s what happened when we asked Niki Nakayama from N/Naka, Eduardo Ruiz from Miel y Corazon, Kris Yenbamroong from Night + Market, Miles Thompson from Allumette, and Josiah Citrin from Melisse to let their imaginations go with the holiday flavors that meant the most to them.

There are no recipes, just creative cooks thinking about food in a different way and then telling us about what’s important to them, but on the plate and in their homes.

Niki Nakayama, N/Naka: Uni Mac ‘n’ Cheese

When Niki Nakayama started thinking about her favorite Thanksgiving dish, mac ‘n’ cheese was the first thing that came to mind. But how to make it hers? “I thought, well, I love uni and uni has this incredible way of acting like an egg yolk, thickening a sauce and adding richness to a sauce. And then I thought, perhaps the two combined together would be incredible.”

RECIPES: More than 600 holiday favorites from Los Angeles Times

So she took elbow pasta cooked just short of al dente, made a sauce with cauliflower, chicken stock, a little bit of cream cheese, heavy cream, green onions and dashi stock and pureed it until smooth. Then she whisked in some uni.

She baked the pasta in the sauce and then sprinkled the top with cheddar cheese and torched it to brown. Just before serving, she shaved truffles over top. She liked it so much she’s considering adding it to the restaurant’s holiday menu.

Nakayama says Thanksgiving has always been one of her favorite holidays. “I think I have to be very thankful to my family for always having food around and always making food a big part of our lives and helping us understand that food is a great way to celebrate together and to show love and give affection for one another.”

N/Naka, 3455 Overland Ave, Los Angeles, (310) 836-6252, n-naka.com

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