Review: Momofuku by David Cheng (with Peter Meehan)

I rarely have use for cookbooks. Traditionally, I prefer to crowdsource a recipe via a Google search and then alter that information as suites my own personal preferences, derived from seven years as a short order cook nee frustrated chef and the de facto Japanese fusion cuisine my grandmother cooked for me as a child. I've long harbored a dream of opening a Japanese/pan-southeast Asian noodle bar in Philly that would not seem out of place in some crowded Singapore alleyway and David Cheng, owner of Noodle Bar (and others) in NYC, has come closest to implementing my dream stateside & so I thought to give his cookbook a try. (Also notable: Thai Singha To Go, here in Philly, but the owner has not yet revealed his secrets to me.) So far, I'm only a few recipes deep but the results are very promising.

DISH ONE - PICKLES

Pre-Momofuku cookbook, and inspired by Q.T. Vietnamese in Philly's Chinatown, I've been running through a bunch of different concepts for banh mi's--basically, Vietnamese ingredients on a French baguette, hoagie-style. (My Indian mango chutney-based one was a particular success.) However, until now I have been unable to find a good pickle recipe and have had to settle for raw vegetables, sauteed or none at all. Chang's quick recipe--hot tap water, rice vinegar, salt and sugar--along with my own addition of peppercorns, ginger and sesame seeds is off the chain.

DISH TWO - XO SAUCE

The recipe said "pungent" and "lasts for months, if not years." Sold. I had no idea what this was before reading about, and even until the very end of the cooking process, wasn't sure what it would turn out like. Made from dried shrimp, dried scallops, Chinese sausage, red chile, ginger and garlic, it is indeed pungent (my apartment reeks despite numerous measures intended to lessen its effects) but delicious. As far as uses, I've come up with quite few: mix it with mayonnaise for ghetto pate, with day old rice and veggies for pseudo-fried rice, with tofu and string beans for an entree & et cetera. It took two and half hours over two days (plus a trip to Chinatown) to make but I think it was worth the effort.

DISH(ES) THREE & FOUR - DASHI STOCK & RAMEN BROTH

This is the only minor let-down I've had so far, but I think that may be my fault. I generally use easy dashi stock as a base for miso soup but the recipe looked simple enough, just seaweed and bonito (dried fish flakes) in hot water, so I gave it a try. I also added some dried shiitake and Chinese straw mushrooms to deepen the flavor profile (umami!). The result came out kind of bland and I think its because I mis-measured amount of bonito, depriving it of its appropriate smokiness. Still, dashi is just stock. I guess I was mostly pissed off that I had spent an hour to get an underwhelming result.

I glanced at Cheng's ramen broth recipes, both of which called for several hours of work and tons of meat. I was in the mood for more of a veggie-based ramen experience, so I mainly took those recipes as inspiration. Starting with the dashi, I added red miso, fresh ginger, tamari, soy sauce and sesame oil for the broth. Then for toppings, egg noodles, bean sprouts, julienne'd carrots and scallions. For my first attempt, I was pretty satisfied but in the future I will probably make some adjustments to the broth (a cube of beef or pork fat would deepen the flavor) and maybe add a fried egg to the toppings.

CONCLUSION

I could not be more satisfied with the Momofuku cookbook. It is well written and entertaining, even if it leaves off information about preparation techniques (which you should know anyway or can Google). The recipes range from the simple--what I've detailed above is representative--to the advance, i.e. molecular gastronomy. I think even with my very basic skill set, it has helped me pull off a few very cool things. I look forward to where it might take me in the future. If you have any interest in pan-Asian cuisine, you would do well to check out this cookbook.