#8 Aquarian
On spicy beef noodle soup, Bangkok’s street food and being obsessive about cooking
If there’s anyone it makes extra sense to interview for this newsletter, it’s Aquarian. The DJ and producer runs his Hanger Management label, publishes recipes with the releases, and posts pictures of his mouth-watering creations via a dedicated Instagram. Think: juicy cuts of glazed pork, kimchi ramen, and hand pulled noodles. In an interview with DJ Mag’s Kristan J Caryl, he said: “There are a lot of parallels with the joys of eating and the joys of experiencing music – they’re very visceral, but also sensual and real art forms.”
When I call him up, the Berlin-based artist has just come out of a long stint in the studio working on a follow-up record for Dekmantel’s label. His two Mutations EPs for them showcased his raw, throbbing style of techno and spacious breakbeats (and fittingly, their tracks had names like ‘Delicious Intent’, ‘Death, Taxes and Hanger’, and ‘Sam Handwich’.) As a DJ, Aquarian’s mixing is restless, inventive and slamming (his Sónar 2023 set is a must-listen). He’s also got a sense of humour, as seen through his HAM edits and flips – Lil Nas X reworks, for example.
Below, Aquarian talks about what’s led him to become so creative and scientifically-minded in the kitchen, and the cuisines that inspire him. There's some Hanger Management music stuff in the works as well – with recipes, he promises – so stay tuned for that.
Where do you think your love of cooking stems from?
I mean, I’ve always loved food. I guess I started really cooking when I moved out of my parents place, at 19. Then over the years – I don’t really know when I started cooking more seriously, but a lot of the motivation came from going out to eat and experiencing subpar food. Like, this is a really disappointing experience, I could totally do better than this if I put a bit of effort in. And my parents are both incredible cooks as well, I grew up eating really well. They were both born in Hong Kong, so they’d make a lot of Cantonese food.
You’re based in Berlin now, what can you say about the food scene there?
The motivation [to cook] is even greater now that I live there – it’s just such a dire place for food. No, I’m being slightly dramatic. The food scene has gotten a lot better over the last few years, probably the last 10, but what I mean to say is, you have to be intentional about where you go. Because if you walk into a random place, chances are it might be the worst meal you've ever had. Which has happened a few times! But Berlin is relatively multicultural, and some of the best food here is Middle Eastern, or Italian. It’s just inconsistent in terms of execution.
Do you have any go-to places to eat in the city?
There’s a spot in Steglitz, which is pretty far from Neukölln where I live, but it’s always worth the trek: Fu Li Lai, a Chinese place. It’s some Sichuan and Hunanese cuisine, and it’s all really, really done well. Then there’s a handmade pasta place in my neighbourhood called La Bolognina, which is really, really good.
I’ve been to Berlin a few times, but I can’t actually remember eating there…
Right, there’s plenty to love about Berlin that’s not the food. Certain places like Toronto, where I’m from, have incredible food. Every time I go back, I’m actually angry at how good the food is. It’s something you take for granted when you live there. But conversely, if you’re thinking about clubs, there’s way less interest and infrastructure than a clubbing capital like Berlin.
Why is the food scene so good in Toronto, do you think?
I think it might be the most multicultural city I’ve ever been in. Any sort of immigrant population has an incredible food scene, like you can name any cuisine; Korean, Jamaican, Chinese – there's like seven Chinatowns in Toronto – Indian, Ethiopian, Italian, Thai, Japanese, like, you name it, right?
And in terms of your own cooking, how do you work? Are you always trying new recipes?
I can be quite a utilitarian eater, but I like a project. This is going back to the whole disappointment thing, but last year I went to Asia for the first time, on tour. I was in Taiwan, and one of the best things about the cuisine – or famous things, I guess – is their spicy beef noodle soup. There’s a place in Berlin that has the reputation of having an incredible version of the dish, but it’s in Charlottenburg, and for some reason or another, I didn’t make it there until recently, when I had a craving. So I ordered this soup and it was pretty disappointing. All I wanted was the memory I had of eating this soup in Taiwan at like six different spots, each with their different take. So recently I’ve been doubling down and working on my own version of spicy Taiwanese beef noodle soup.
From peeking at some of your dishes, I see you’re into using a sous vide – do you like using gadgets?
I don’t know why I got obsessed with sous vide, but that was a phase. I think it might have been to do with my disappointment in steakhouses. Which was in New York, actually. I love gadgets, I love things that allow you to achieve a goal in a more efficient or just a better manner.
If you were really trying to impress someone, what would you cook them?
This isn’t the most practical but during lockdown, I was making duck confit, but doing it with this mould called koji which is like the precursor to sake and miso. It’s technically a mould, but it’s benign and it produces a bunch of enzymatic activity that turns sugars into complex flavours. It’s got this incredible floral and citrus-y smell to it. I was using it to basically age duck, and making this aged duck confit with preserved plums and rice. I sous vide-d the duck legs in duck fat for 24 hours, or something.
Incredible – and sounds super scientific – do you do lots of reading about food, or other research?
One of the first things that got me into the science of cooking was a website called Serious Eats. The editor at the time – Kenji López-Alt – is well known for his extremely science-based and meticulous testing of different recipes and techniques. That really appeals to me in a lot of ways: when I’m interested in something, I need to know how the sausage is made. That’s also a parallel with me and music production. I always want to know how somebody is making this magic happen, whether it be through Ableton, or some hardware. So it’s the same with cooking. I don’t really have interests, they’re mostly just obsessions.
Have you discovered any great food while touring?
Recently I was in Mexico for the first time. Mexican food is such a huge part of the coastal cities in the US, so I’ve always had so much exposure to Mexican food, but to have it from the source is another story. I really, really love seafood. And the promoters, they’re called Mødularr, they hosted me and TSVI – who I saw was on this newsletter – for a week, and they hung out with us for the entire week, bless them! They knew we were both into food so took us to a different taqueria every day. And it was incredible. They’re the nicest people ever. On the last day we went to a seafood-oriented place and had some pretty insane tacos and tostadas. Prawns, marinated tuna... Everything fish. I think they were pretty shocked at the amount of food I could eat, which happens often.
Are there any other eating experiences you’ve had that really stick in your mind?
I went back to Thailand recently, to Bangkok, and I think it actually changed my life. Bangkok has an insane amount of street food stalls that are, like, Michelin rated. It’s the equivalent of paying €1.50 for possibly the best thing you’ve ever had in your life. I stayed in Chinatown – there’s a huge Chinese Thai population in Bangkok, they have Chinese-influenced Thai food – and had these shrimp wontons, which is food I’ve been eating my entire life. I can’t really explain to you how much better they were than anything else I’ve ever had in my life. They were mind-blowing texturally and flavour-wise. I’m pretty Bangkok-pilled, I’m trying to get back there.
Before you go, here are some Salt Fat Acid House-recommended tracks to spin, wishlist or add to cart: