Harry Shum Jr.’s Grocery Routine Is Big on Yellowtail Collars and Mushrooms

If you’ve seen the 2022 filmEverything Everywhere All at Once, you might remember Harry Shum Jr. as the hibachi chef with the raccoon living under his toque. But if you catch him off-screen, he’s more likely to be shopping for sugar snap peas for his three-year-old, growing lion’s mane mushrooms on his kitchen counter, or thumping his fist on everywatermelonat the grocery store to find a ripe one.

I asked Shum to share some of his shopping and cooking routine lately, amid acting as Dr. Benson Kwan on the latest season ofGrey’s Anatomy。He shared some intel on how to cookyellowtail collarin a toaster oven and how to sear a salmon fillet in a trailer on a film set.

I noticed on Instagram thatyou’re categorized as a grocery store。如果你是一个杂货店,什么样的杂货商y store would you be? More of an Erewhon? More of a Costco?

My favorite thing to go to is a Japanese market, like the one in downtown LA. They just have everything. If you love fish, that is the place to go.

How would you describe the mood of cooking you’ve been into lately?

I’m trying to get better at what my body needs rather than what I feel like eating. Sometimes I’m like, “I just need some really clean kombu soup,” and I can put some vegetables and fish in it. And other times it’s strictly, Howfastcan I make this meal for the family.

If you like eating fish, the meatiest and quickest and easiest to cook isyellowtail collar。It’s so cheap, but it’s also so meaty and so good and flavorful. That, along with some seaweed and rice and some blue oyster mushrooms with olive oil and salt, thrown into the toaster oven. It’s just a nice, quick meal that feels good.

Are you cooking the collar in the toaster oven too?

Yeah. It’s just salt and pepper and olive oil. Skin side down. You throw it in for 22 minutes, and then the last 2 minutes, you broil so you get that nice brown on the top. My daughter who’s three years old loves that, so it’s nice to get her to eat some fish in that way.

What are three things that are perpetually on your grocery list?

You know what I have been using lately? Black garlic. Fermented garlic. It’s nice and sweet, and it just livens up whatever dish you’re making.

And then sugar snap peas. My daughter loves to take the peas out and fill it with whatever we have in the dish. She’ll fill the pod with yellowtail, seaweed, and the rice, and then put the peas back on top as a nice little hors d'oeuvre. And then mushrooms—any sort of mushroom. Lion’s mane, blue oyster, king oyster. I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, but there are moments when I just don’t want to eat meat, and it’s nice to have the texture and the benefits of mushrooms.

Do you ever get recognized by people at the grocery store?

Yeah, I do at times. I do this whole thing my mother taught me to test out watermelon. So I’m sitting there doing that, and I look over, and someone’s staring a little too long, and I know that they recognize me while I’m testing out the watermelon to make sure it’s a good one.

I like to jump around though, because when I go to 99 Ranch, no one bothers me. They’re in there to go buy the food and leave.

Does your cooking routine change much when you’re in the process of filming?

I had aninduction burnerfor emergencies, and then I brought it to my trailer on set, and I have an induction pan. So I cook the easiest random things. Even potatoes and mushrooms. We grow a lot of herbs in our backyard and I throw them in there. I’ve cooked a whole salmon fillet in my trailer, which I’m sure they’re not too happy about.

Are there any drinks or snacks you keep in your trailer while you’re filming?

Coconut water for sure. I have my own little coffee maker pour-over in there that I grind. I don’t really drink cold brew, so I like hot, hot coffee. Those are the two I just have to have—hydration and to be wired up if I need to.

What’s something you’re really good at cooking when you’re almost out of groceries?

I like to make a simple congee with ginger and chicken broth and rice. And what I’ve been doing lately is sardines. I cook the sardines with onions and garlic, and throw in whatever else I have. And then I put it on top with a bunch of different hot sauces.

Sardines are just the best go-to. You can’t go wrong if you make them right. They’re so flavorful, especially when you combine them with congee.

Do you have any cooking goals for this spring?

There’s thisYouTuberthat makes these bento boxes for her kid in the morning. She wakes up at like 5:00 in the morning. It looks so therapeutic. I remember when I went to Japan, I had a breakfast bento box that had tamago and salmon and rice and miso, and this combination felt like it had everything I needed for the rest of the day. I would love to do that for friends or family.