As a food professional I am always on the look out for the new, the different, and the delicious. It was with great pleasure that one day I tasted David Chang’s pork buns at Momofuku. Since then, I have sampled almost all of his delectable creations and I am so pleased that I finally have a book of recipes that will allow me to try to emulate them at home.” —Martha Stewart What got me to sit down for a long read (although I'd only planned to browse through it casually) was that it opens up like a quest story: the quest for a then-English tutor living in Japan, to find a master (shi fu) to teach him the secrets arts of making ramen. Then the usual hurdles he and his growing team faced as they first opened up the Momofuku Noodle Bar... But then-- bam. They're successful and famous. (It happens so fast, but I guess that's real life for you.) Because they'd started cooking the things they liked, and not what they were expected to cook, as a Japanese restaurant. Man, social media's emphasis on personal branding and FoodTV's invention of the celebrity chef has killed cookbooks. His large quantities did not deter me. Actually, the book's advise on how to store food is perfect for my family of two. I made a huge pot of ramen noodle broth, let it reduce and once ready (simmered for 6 hours), stored in small containers in the freezer. Now I have absolutely wonderful broth for months. (Note: as a Colombian from the Andes, I don't want my broth to have any fishy flavor, so I excluded the Kombu from Chang's recipe)

Nevertheless, in 1966, Ando naturalized through marriage and became a Japanese citizen. "Momofuku" is the Japanese reading of his Taiwanese given name ( 百福; Pek-hok), while Andō ( 安藤) is the surname of his Japanese wife. a b "Ando was king of instant ramen". Japan Times. Kyodo. 2007-01-07. Archived from the original on 2007-05-19. The breathless hype is true.Hisfood is as good and as exciting as everyone says it is. David Chang has opened up a new direction in dining and cooking. With his troika of Momofukus, he changed the whole game. Scary-smart, funny, and ambitious,thewildly creative Chang is the guy all chefs have got to measure themselves by these days.” —Anthony Bourdain The difficulties of the recipes are a wide range, but the hardest part is definitely the sourcing of ingredients or controlling the portion sizes. I recognize that this book is meant more as a companion to Chang's empire, but I appreciate the chance to try my hand at his famous noodles. The name of the Momofuku restaurants in the United States alludes to Momofuku Ando. [20] Honors [ edit ]While the book tells a narrative, it is also filled with recipes. The book is formatted with the recipes relating to a specific restaurant's menu. The two recipes that I was lusting for, ramen and XO sauce, were included and I was thrilled! Small details that take once's eating experience to an entirely new level: such as the ginger, scallion recipe. Again, as a Colombian, when nostalgic sometimes I add a little chopped cilantro to the ginger-scallion sauce. Ando was born Go Pek-Hok ( Chinese: 吳百福; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gô͘ Pek-hok) in 1910 into a wealthy family of Hoklo Chinese ethnicity in Chiayi County, when the island of Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule. He was raised by his grandparents within the city walls of Tainan following the deaths of his parents. [3] His grandparents owned a small textiles store, which inspired him, at the age of 22, to start his own textiles company, using 190,000 yuan, in Tōa-tiū-tiâⁿ, Taipei. Ando began the sales of his most famous product, Cup Noodle ( カップヌードル, Kappu Nūdoru), on September 18, 1971, with the idea of providing a waterproof polystyrene container. [11] As prices dropped, instant ramen soon became a booming business. Worldwide demand reached 98 billion servings in 2009. [12] Riot Police Unit eating Cup Noodles during the Asama-Sansō incident

The photography is great, showing most of the dishes off at their best. A few additional photos showing techniques (deboning, torchon etc.) would have been appreciated, but don't take away from the book itself given the in-depth descriptions. The other thing I loved about this book--besides all the yummy food photography by Gabriele Stabile--is David's openness in sharing the scary, stressful process of starting new enterprises (both the right and wrong ways). He also stresses the importance of continually keeping communication channels open with his über-talented chefs so they can do their jobs to their utmost, get paid fairly & respectfully for all the hours they put in, and be happy in what they do best. As a food professional I am always on the look out for the new, the different, and the delicious. It was with great pleasure that one day I tasted David Chang’s pork buns at Momofuku. Since then, I have sampled almost all of his delectable creations and I am so pleased that I finally have a book of recipes that will allow me to try to emulate them at home.” Momofuku Ando ( Japanese: 安藤 百福, Hepburn: Andō Momofuku, March 5, 1910 – January 5, 2007), born Go Pek-Hok ( Chinese: 吳百福; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gô͘ Pek-hok), was a Taiwanese-Japanese inventor and businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. [4] He is known as the inventor of instant noodles (ramen noodles) and the creator of the brands Top Ramen and Cup Noodles. [5] [2] [6] Early life and education [ edit ]This cookbook is a total delight for any food enthusiast and wannabe cook. Momofuku is a tribute to Asian cuisine, especially to the humble noodle, which in this book is elevated to a near art form. Filled with 150 gorgeous, full-color photos and an incredible narrative, this book is a treat for the eye, mind, and palate. Even though I'm (mostly, with the recent exception of occasional seafood) vegetarian, and Momofuku incessantly insists on celebrating meat, and even though many of these recipes are beyond what one could achieve even as an ambitious home cook, I just love this cookbook! There are several places where Chang really goes into incredible detail in tutorials so that even if you've never tried what he's doing, and never even considered trying it before, you'd have a tough time not doing it right if you follow his careful instructions. Learn about the inspiration behind one of Momofuku's most popular dishes from David Chang in his new book (co-written with Peter Meehan), which I found difficult to put down, reading it from cover to cover (even the recipes, which are sprinkled with personal tips and anecdotes from Chang). Candid, passionate, entertaining; it felt like a one-on-one cooking lesson, with the award-winning chef guiding you every step of the way. Finally, another impressive thing in this cookbooks is the way how detailed is the journey of David Chang. You will get to know his path from novice to superstar chef as he toiled to open up his restaurants. At the End The recipes range in difficulty but all are doable. As a whole, they can be done at home but require special equipment, like sous vide machine. Although some recipes may not be that simple to do, you should not feel intimidated. The recipes are very well written so they are easy to understand, and if you don’t have the right ingredient or equipment, you have some alternative options.

New Google Doodle Honors Instant-Noodle Inventor Momofuku Ando". Time. 2015-03-04 . Retrieved 2022-02-13. Momofuku Ando, 96; inventor's Cup Noodle became an instant hit". Los Angeles Times. 2007-01-07 . Retrieved 25 June 2021. T]his book offers something that you can’t get at Chang’s restaurants: a chance to get into the mind of one of America’s most interesting chefs.” – Fine CookingI've bought a few recipe books based off famous restaurants recently and I've been broadly disappointed -- they're often overly-sycophantic with underwhelming recipes or extremely vague descriptions/instructions. On April 8, 2008, a ramen summit was held in Osaka and a bronze statue of Ando was unveiled at the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture [17] The statue depicts Ando standing atop a base resembling a noodle container while holding a noodle cup container in his right hand. Yasuhiro Nakasone (former Prime Minister of Japan) and Masako Ando (Ando's wife) attended the unveiling ceremony. Cavna, Michael (5 March 2015). "Momofuku Ando: Inventor of instant ramen artfully saluted with Google Noodle Doodle". Washington Post. Washington DC, United States . Retrieved 5 March 2015. With Momofuku David Chang does for Asian cooking what Julia Child did for French cooking...Asian recipes you can make in your American kitchen. On October 1, 2008, the company's name was changed to "NISSIN FOODS HOLDINGS". At the same time, Nissin Foods Products Co., Ltd was founded. In the same year, Project Hyakufukusi was started.

Yes, I just read a cookbook cover to cover. Yes, it's crazy. Yeah, I don't think I have the cooking ability to do all the recipes. Some reviewers complained that the recipes take too long and make too many servings. If they actually read the book, it says right there that it makes a lot, but that's because he cannot reduce the recipe further down as the results would not be the same and/or why would you take 9+ hours to make (for example) the ramen broth for 4-6 servings? He tells you right there how long it will keep in the fridge and freezer. (For me personally, I have a pressure canner, so I will can the broth to store on a shelf for up to a year.) I think those reviewers are missing the point. This is not a "David Chang Cooks at Home" cookbook. It is a book of recipes from his restaurants, meaning some recipes will take time, and some recipes cannot be reduced down further than the way he published it unless you don't want to experience the recipe as it was intended to come out. His thought process of presenting the recipes as they appear in the book is all there, if you bother to read it. And he also tells you when you might want to skip a recipe altogether and just buy the stuff from the Asian market (like noodles or buns). The recipes are there for the really adventurous home cooks. This is exactly the type of cuisine I want to try my hand at: strongly Asian-influenced but infused and delivered with that American attitude. It inspired me to start writing down ingredients to buy, so I can surprise my Chinese boyfriend with how great I am. I want to see his eyes pop open wide with amazement, and make his tastebuds sing. And that's exactly the thing about this book: it hints at culinary alchemy, like if you just follow the recipe and put this and this together, and though it looks simple enough, you'll get something unexpected and magical. RCCラジオ－土曜はドドーンと満員御礼" (in Japanese). RCC Broadcasting. Archived from the original on 2007-12-11 . Retrieved 2007-01-08.I bought Momofuku a few weeks ago, after I heard an interview with the author on NPR. Coincidentally, my eleven year old daughter and I are going through a Ramen Noodles craze, inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's films (the grandfather in Whisper of the Heart serves noodles to the young ones when in distress; and in Ponyo the mom makes noodles look like magic). My awe and respect for David Chang started when I transitioned into the food science industry and began watching PBS's Mind of a Chef program. As an Asian American, I am always excited to see others being recognized and doing well. But more importantly, I am excited to see those who are creative do well. Inspiring and ingenious, but whenever he tries to talk about Asian stuffs (esp Vietnamese stuffs) I had to roll my eyes. He can try to make fusion and Asian inspired American food all he likes but the pretense that he understands Asian food culture is too much. The bit where he trash talked his mom's fridge kimchi was hard to read, but I don't think I could comment on that bc my mom doesn't make kimchi. But the bit where he was like "if a Vietnamese family doesn't have a jar of fish sauce vinaigrette in the fridge then something is wrong" set my eyebrow twitching (first, maybe we don't want a jar of stale sauce to stink up the fridge, maybe we mix a fresh batch every time we need some. Maybe there are different proportions of ingredients and we adjust each batch to the dish. Also, just fundamental non comprehension of difference in northern and southern Vietnamese cooking.) The pompously named "xo sauce" is something we call in Vietnamese mắm kho quẹt, aka caramel porks but with extra salty sauce and pork scraps to stretch a meal. Don't get me started on "oriental sauce" and how uncharacteristically lazy and flippant that is. If the point is to continue to promote that all Asians are the same, maybe the chef needs to rethink his origins. With each recipe he gives you substitutions that work in an American kitchen and how to find hard to source ingredients. I'm burned out by the "let me brag about how amazing I am while making constant snarky comments about everything that doesn't live up to my personal vision....oh, and here are some recipes that may or may not be what my restaurant serves -- not that most of you will ever know for sure because you're not influential enough to get a reservation -- and, BTW, these recipes may or may not have been properly tested for a home kitchen." If you want to write a memoir, write a memoir. If you want to write a cookbook, write a cookbook. Bonus: you might sell two books instead of one. This trying to kludge the two together thing, though, has resulted in a flood of books that are unusable, annoying half-ass cookbooks and insufferable, obnoxious half-ass memoirs.