Saturday, June 18, 2011

My Love Letter to David Chang

The Momofuku's, in my mind, represent everything great about Asian food, American culture and downtown NYC. And so when Mark, a great designer and an even better friend, was granted a fellowship in Scotland to design for Glenlivet, we decided to have a going away party. What would the theme be? Well we all decided it should embody something that Mark wouldn't get a lot of in the next three months. And before you start guessing, the theme was Asian food.

And so Mark's going away dinner was my Love Letter to David Chang. Not in that weird groupie way that makes people take off their clothes. And not in that teenage squirt perfume on a note and fold it up and pass it in class sort of way. No this was my unabashed attempt at making Chang's thoroughly modern, utterly honest cuisine.

First course: Arugula, Pickled watermelon rind, Lardons and a Bacon Vinaigrette... this recipe without a recipe was in David's cookbook. What is better than bacon and watermelon? (of course you can consult my blog about Zak Pelaccio's famous dish)

What I like about Momofuku Ko is that after you eat your Chicharrone and amuse, they always serve 2 raw fish dishes. These are two of the best courses in the dinner. The first dish was a success. Scallop crudo, Sriracha Creme Fraiche, Yuzu Usukushi, poppy seeds, Chives and chive flowers.

The second was not such a success. It was actually a deviation from the world of Chang... it was inspired by Fedora's chef, Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly's amazing (lightly) cured mackerel with BBQ potato chips, sriracha and avocado cream. I whole heartedly recommend his version. I did not really recommend mine. We shall skip the picture of this course. It photographed the way I did in sixth grade. Poorly. Okay... without the perm.

Each spring, there is one farmer at the Greenmarket who sells wild asparagus. And while the debate rages on as to whether this truly a different species or just cultivated asparagus run amok, I took yet another cue from David Chang and set roasted asparagus above shiro miso butter and under a slow poached egg. My first attempt at keeping a dozen eggs at 140 degrees for the better part of an hour? Comical. Clearly, my technique needs some work, but luckily miso butter (like bacon) makes everything better.

After three appetizers, we were on to Bo Ssam. Eight pounds of pork shoulder with Ssamjang, Ginger Scallion Sauce, Lettuce Wraps, and thanks to Randi, Chinese Buns. I won't elaborate: I'll let the pork speak for itself.

At this point we took a brief break. But not for long. At Osteria Morini, Michael White's crew whips up a lovely torched grapefruit with demerara sugar and basil. Simple and utterly perfect. So our palate cleanser was a grapefruit granita (with a little raspberry thrown in for color) with basil sugar.

Of course no love letter to David Chang would be complete without a mention of Christina Tosi. She is the genius behind crack pie, compost cookies and cereal milk. And our dessert was cereal milk, avocado puree, candied cereal, and chocolate. It wasn't pretty. But it was gone by the time we were all done. And ultimately, even though the meal was not perfect, the friends and the cause could not have been better.