Challenging Momofuku

1-25-2011 Tue. cold, cloudy.


BREAKFAST --- coffee | Pocky
LUNCH --- stir-fried Shanghai rice cake with mustard greens
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- apple | Chinese sweet rice cookie
DINNER --- ramen in vegetable broth ( with napa cabbage, beech mushroom, tofu skin roll, wood-ear and spicy pickled bamboo shoots) | steamed taco-shaped pork buns ( wine and soy braised pork shoulder, caramelized shallots and jalapeno ) | wine

• soup noodles and pork buns, Chinese comfort food made famous at Momofuku, came back home
  

Toasted rice powder does the trick

5-24-2010 Mon. warm, cloudy


BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- steamed vegetable buns
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | apple
DINNER --- steamed pork short ribs with toasted rice powder (fen-zheng rou) | steamed fermented tofu with shiitake, shrimp and vegetable pickles | manoushe bread | fennel salad | rice | white wine

• toasted rice powder absorbs flavor from spices and meat, keeps moisture to make the steamed pork tender, and adds nice texture.
  

Steamed pork buns that made Momofuku famous

3-05-2010 Fri. chilly, windy, sunny

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- steamed dumplings
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | apple
DINNER --- vegetable soup of napa cabbage, mushrooms, pickled bamboo shoots and seaweed | steamed taco-shaped buns with oven-braised pork brisket and pickled gourd

• these taco-shaped steamed pork buns made David Chang of Momofuku famous. In China the bun is called "lotus leaf folder", it looks like a steamed fluffy pancake folded in half, with pork and pickles in between. these pork buns are easier to make than the closed-form kind such as Xiao-long-bao, mainly because the shells and fillings are cooked separately, and assembled at the serving time, just like a taco.