David Chang’s Fuji Apple Salad

Based on high praise from Dine-O-Mite and other sources (see the first line of this review), Sarah and I recently purchased Momofuku by chef David Chang and Peter Meehan. The book is intriguing to say the least, full of great-sounding recipes and witty banter.

I could reprint the recipe for the salad above (on p. 162 of the book), but a set of numbered steps and ingredients isn’t really necessary. Just cut up fuji apples into large cubes (or thin wedges), coat them with kimchi purée (I pulsed it in a spice grinder) and lay them on top of a 2:1 combination of greek yogurt and maple syrup. Top with bacon (or smoked jowl, if you can find or make it), and argula dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. The apples can be left in the kimchi from 1 minute to six hours in advance, depending on how intensely you want the flavors to penetrate. 

This turned out great even with substandard Giant Eagle apples and decent supermarket bacon, but I can’t wait to make it again with New Creations bacon and apples from the North Union Farmers Market.

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While many of the recipes in Chang’s book are long and involved (e.g. Ramen Broth) many are, like the above, simple recipes based on novel ideas. His ginger scallion sauce takes 10 minutes to make and totally transformed ramen noodles. It would probably be good on just about anything. We’re also excited to make his fried chicken (brined, then steamed, then quickly fried sans breading and topped with ginger / garlic vinaigrette) and his pork buns. While the initial prep for the buns is a bit involved–baking the buns and a simple pork belly recipe–the final assembly is just topping the buns with the pork, quick pickled cucumbers, scallions and Sriracha.

Chang’s voice in the book is also great. He begins his 2–3 day long chicharrón (fried pork skin) recipe with the following (warning: profanity alert)

A chicharrón to start the meal. I’m sure some people saw it as a little “fuck you” to kick off an $85 menu, and I can’t say that there wasn’t some of that in serving a fried pork rind to start a fancy dinner.

He goes on to defend the dish as being the perfect amuse-bouch, and no one would scoff at the labor involved in making chicharrónes (this is one recipe I probably won’t try).

When I first perused this book at the store, I was a bit intimidated by some of the obscure Asian ingredients. Sarah decided she wanted it, though, and we’ve both been excited about making more from it ever since. Jonathan has also been happy with the results.