I don’t know if I am a David Chang fan, per se, but there is no question that he is a controversial figure in the cooking scene. I hate drawing lines, like, “I dislike the fact that he cusses so much,” or “I think he is over-rated, and I am going to avoid super-exposed ‘it’ celebrity chefs.” No, I wanted to go to Momofuku Ko, and I finally got to taste the $175 3 hour lunch course. I am still dying to try to Ssam Bar Pork Butt, the family style dish for $200, which is only available for reservations for 6 or more people. I tried Momofuku Noodle bar 3 years ago and, frankly, I disliked the ramen. The ramen is salty, not porky enough, and not greasy enough with the “umami” of “koku.” It’s all about the “Koku,” with me and ramen. Don’t try to do a pork ramen without doing it Tonkotsu style. Bitch, please… I’m from Kyushuu. Still, Hitachino beer and the pork belly buns at Noodle Bar almost made up for it all. I thought, he doesn’t know ramen, but it still didn’t keep me from wanting to try the Ko. To add insult to injury, THE GUY FUCKING HATES CUPCAKES! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? How can you wage a war against something so deliciously perfect? We obviously CANNOT be BFFs. Sorry, David. So, I will admit, though, that on the other hand I really admired his fresh outlook. He also reminded me of what my father was trying to do, as a chef, with his cooking. He also kind of reminds me of the way my dad looked, and not because all Asian people look the same. ; ) (Ok, I might as well admit it right here, I might have a bit of a Daddy Complex with David Chang – except he is decades still younger than my dad.) Hrm. Ok, this is where I will stop being creepy. Sorry David!

That all being said… I loved this book. It’s a cookbook and autobiographical hybrid, that’s fresh, sincere, and filled with momofuku recipes. Seriously. I mean, put aside the fact of whether you can do it as well as the restaurant types… you like his ramen broth? (uh…) You can make it with this book. You want to make his signature frozen foie gras dish from Ko? YOU CAN WITH THIS BOOK! For reals:

You need a scale for this recipe, but I’m thinking that if you’re going to shell out the cash for a lobe of foie gras, that isn’t a problem–and you definitely don’t want to fuck it up.

But, seriously, I really have no idea why anyone would try to make a torchon of foie gras at home. I could write a million words about doing it–Thomas Keller’s got a longer recipe than we do in his French laundry cookbook–but cleaning foie gras is ineffable. Track down a torchon from a specialty foods shop, freeze it, and then go to town. But for those who won’t be deterred by common sense, here’s our recipe…

There are many accessible recipes. Then, there are things like the above, where I appreciate his frankness. It’s ballsy to put the recipe of all his signature dishes in this book. I suppose if you are known enough, it’s pretty hard to see a shaved frozen foie gras with riesling gelee and not think, David F-ing Chang. I mean, if another restaurant “steals,” the recipe, well… it’s obviously lame.

So, getting back to the recipe at hand, Ryan and I decided to make Spicy Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes, Roasted Rice Cakes (Dok Boki), and (poached) Cherry Tomato Salad w/ Soft Tofu & Shiso. Ryan was in charge of the first dish, while I concentrated on the second (vegetarian dish) and the last dish.

I will feature what I did for the Dok Boki and Cherry Tomato Salad.

“Korean Red Dragon Sauce”

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 ssamjang
• 2 tablespoons soysauce
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (which I didn’t have, so I used cider vinegar)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

This makes way TOO much sauce for the dok boki alone. However, this can be kept and added to other things. After using the above recipe, I would honestly cut the sugar to 1/3 of a cup or less. This is just my preference.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the ssamjang, making sure it is dissolved. Then add the rest of the ingredients to taste.

• 1/4 cup mirin
• I can vegetable broth reduced to 1/4 cup (leave boiling)
• 1/2 cup Korean Dragon Sauce
• 1/4 cup slow roasted onions (until very tender)
• 2 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1 package rice sticks
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup sliced scallions

Combine mirin and vegetable broth in saucepan large enough to accomodate the rice cakes. On high heat, wait 2-3 minutes until thickened. Add the red dragon sauce and turn the heat down to medium, and reduce the sauce to a glossy consistency, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the slow roasted onions.

“In a cast-iron skillet,” heat pan under medium high heat until hot. Add the oil to the pan, and right before it smokes, add the rice cakes. Once they sizzle, you can drop the heat down to a medium. Sear the rice cakes on each side for a few minutes until lightly golden.

Bring the sauce back to a boil and mix the rice cakes in. Evenly coat and serve with sesame seeds and scallions on top.

Cherry Tomato Salad

• 1-2 packages of cherry tomatos OR a bag of mixed cherry tomatos (I believe the more colorful the better – it would be beautiful)
• 1/4 sherry vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• olive oil (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup grapeseed oil)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• silken tofu
• shiso leaves (I couldn’t find it in Portland, so I used Taiwanese Basil instead… it was really interesting)

So, after Sarah’s party, I was all about the cooked tomatoes. When I found this recipe, I was excited about poaching tomatoes! Seperate around 15-20% of the tomatoes for use later. The rest, draw a small “X” at the end of the tomato. This is going to make peeling the tomato after poaching, easy. Just lightly break the skin of the tomato with the “X” with a paring knife. Boil some water with salt, and poach the tomatoes in there for 20-30 seconds. Drain the tomatoes and run some cold water over them, and peel. Cut the poached and raw cherry tomatoes in half.

I diced the tofu, after slightly draining and patting dry. The recipe itself calls to mold the tofu… uh eh. The idea of this dish is the serve the tomatoes with (with two types of texture and flavors) in a soy vinegarette over tofu, where the tofu takes on the precise qualities of a mozzarella. I was skeptical of the tofu mozzarella transubstantiation, and was looking to get mozzarella for this recipe instead. In the end, I went with the tofu and was surprised at the creamy texture it showed. I am usually accustomed to the silky slippery nature of tofu.

Mix the rest of the ingredients to taste. I think I added a bit more vinegar and sesame oil in the end, but do it to your liking. Drizzle some olive oil on top and pour tomatoes on top of the tofu generously with a matching generous glaze of the vinegarette. The variation of the cooked and uncooked tomatoes is great.

It was a little labor intensive, but the results were well worth it. Sprinkle some shiso on top, and you’re done. This accompanies hot dishes well… which characterizes Ryan’s dish perfectly. It asked for nearly 2 cups of dried red chile peppers, among other spicy ingredients. I think he toned it down a notch, but it still burned hot and strong. LOOK AT HOW MANY CHILE PEPPERS I GOT IN MY PLATE! I really liked the heartiness of the ground pork, but Ryan seemed to think that pork belly would go nicer.

Also, on a more general note, he thinks the cookbook isn’t descriptive enough to follow. I didn’t find this to be the case, yet. Still, this book is awfully chatty with tons of tangents. I kind of like it. I think he needs strict instructions, and instead the methods seem like an oral dictation, and not scientifically noted.

We have literally been trying to get reservations for a year. The reservation system is extremely democratic. There is no favoritism, they claim, and a famous account of that is a NY Times food blogger that had a daily watch of when he would actually be able to get a reservation through their online system. You go online and reserve a spot through their grid system. The only problem is that there is only a weeks worth of spots open at any given time. (I actually like that system, since then, you won’t have people booking it up forever) A new day opens every day at 10am, I believe. It’s incredibly competitive clicking and getting spots, especially for any party larger than 1. Lunch seems to be a bit more easier to get into.

It’s a TINY space and they cook right in front of you. You are seated at a bar that surrounds the kitchen and there are only 12 spots. That’s it. Online, they only accept reservations for 1, 2, or 4 people. They are known for not answering the phone or to messages. There are also no menus, tasting menu only, and when you make your reservations online, they ask you what you are allergic to.

I opted not getting the wine pairing, and we got a bottle of sparkling rose instead. It lasted us for half the meal and we supplemented with a half bottle of a really nice white. Otherwise, I missed taking pictures of the first 6 courses. We started with radish spirals topped on hearts of palm, then baby string beans tossed with hijiki seaweed. This was paired with a long fried crisp filled with creme fraiche and topped generously with caviar. Then the seafood courses started with a single oyster completely covered with caviar. Then we had fluke over cucumber spritzed with lemon and toogarashi. Beautiful. Then it was followed by sweet shrimp, which was decadent, and a maidai course topped by a pickled radish (see picture).

All of the sashimi dishes were two bite wonders and very small. I think we felt a little cheated in the beginning. I enjoyed the sashimi, but I would rather that they halved everything and consolidated them as one course. This might just be how they pace the diners, though.

Home-made soft yuba skin (tofu skin, aka. vegetarian duck) generously topped with uni, toasted puffed red rice, and scallions. The yuba was so soft, like egg whites, that the whole dish melted in your mouth. Taste-wise, the uni was front and center, as the yuba offered a faint soy taste. Some might call it bland, but I really enjoyed this soft dish.

Pickled watermelon slices in an octopus salad. Both were topped over shishito peppers, and the whole thing was one of those quiet dishes that might get forgotten in light of some odd frozen foie gras dish. However, the odd salad mix gets good marks from me. It was a tasty treat with a side of a horseradish tartar sauce. Too bad it wasn’t more memorable.

The next course was a soft “puffed egg” in bacon dashi (bacon broth, really?), accompanied by a bagel stuffed with bacon, cream, and chives. It was delicious. It really was. It was so soft, hearty, and the egg wafted of bacon. I never really thought about using or poaching eggs in broth, but the whole thing was incredibly flavorful and interesting. This was one of both of our favorite dishes. Ryan loved the bagel and claimed, “I could just pop these in my mouth all day and I would be happy!”

The bacon creamy goodness was followed by another creamy course of sweet corn and pickled chantelle mushrooms in a cream corn soup. It was topped with crispty toasted nori and it was pretty exceptional. The odd thing about this dish was the pickled mushrooms. Since chantelle mushrooms are so creamy, I can see how it would go well with this dish, but the pickled flavor adds another dimension. It was subtle, though, and did well to contrast with the sweet corn.

Summer squash with daicon on top of home-made gnocchi. the Gnocchi were perfect and in glazed in a cream sauce. the squash was sweet and refreshing. It was timed well to follow the soup. However, the gnocchi fell a bit short and leaned towards the bland side. It wasn’t very memorable. I did like the edible zucchini flowers, though. The whole dish was very pretty and summery.

This dish was a home-run for me. It was REALLY inventive, I think. I liked how it was refreshing and at the same time hearty. It was a consomme like soup that tasted entirely of rich tomatoes. They called it a tomato water and basil soup. It was accompanied by scallops, squid, bass, and clams. It was topped with fried tapioca saffron balls. It was SOOO good.

This dish is the talked about infamous frozen foie gras over reisling jelly and lychee. You can find this on the finner menu and on the lunch menu. This was the dish that gave them a notoriety. This was definitely the most memorable dish of the evening. It was WEIRD. It wasn’t bad, and people seemed to LOVE it. I spoke to another girl that went to Ko that raved about it.

The frozen foie gras absolutely melts in your mouth. If you eat it alone, it will be an odd experience. It’s creamy and tastes like foie gras and the experience really reminds you of melting butter in your mouth.

Here is my confession: as a child, I used to like to eat a small sliver or two of butter once in a while. In the same fashion, I kind of liked this.

With the lychee, it was really interesting. The tart and sweetness of the lychee goes amazingly with this dish. It was kind of a mind-fuck. It’s good. The reisling jelly… reminds me of fat, for some reason. It was an odd experience. I rather felt like I was being shown the extremes of decadence. I don’t know why… the experience was kind of obscene.

All throughout the beginning of the meal, they kept on basting and broiling this big chunk of meat. Ry and I were very curious about it and it looked amazing. I had thought that maybe they were doing the preparations for dinner? However, of course, it was for us. It was a huge tender slice of duck. the skin was done really well and crispy. The slice near the skin was tenderer than the other cut they gave us. It was tough to cut, but juicy and tender to bite through. Odd, eh? It was accompanied by plum glazed in the duck gravy and a toasted rice ball. It was a straight forward dish and I liked it.

Ryan thought that the portion was too big and he would have rather had another plate for half the size. I think they do this, because at a certain time you need sustained flavors to satisfy you. I think this whole experience was really well paced and thought out in order to satiate you.

I’m kind of getting exhausted typing this out. From here on out, we started on the desert dishes. The first one being an assorted cheese plate of aged cheese and herbs. It was really well done and a nice way to wean your way towards the end of a huge lunch. It wasn’t mind blowing, but it was pretty damn good. It was also a nice palate change after the duck.

The first sweet desert was an Arnold Palmer sorbet. I didn’t know what an “Arnold Palmer” was. It was a tea and lemon sorbet, which was pretty damn amazing. It was surrounded by yellow cake crumbs and fruit puree. The second sorbet was a little more lackluster. I was actually disappointed that they gave us two sorbets, instead of a course of cake or pastry or something! Oh well. the second sorbet was strawberry surrounded by five star strawberries (they were soft, TINY and sweet) and broken ritz crackers.

If you enjoy Ssam Bar, go! If you feel like having a 3-4 hour lunch, go! If you just want to be puzzled over some frozen buttery meal, go!

Ryan and I polished off ALL 17 courses and a bottle and a half of wine. IT WAS AMAZING. Then he went to rehearsal.
; )