If you flip through Momofuku, you see that you need a lot of ingredients you may never have heard of: shiro shoyu, usukuchi, and Tokyo turnips are a just a small sampling. I’ve been pretty determined to find as much as I can and so far I’ve been pretty lucky. The one ingredient that got me really worried was the meat glue.
I love wontons! Seeing those little happy clouds of pork and shrimp goodness floating way in savoury broth always puts a smile on my face. It wasn’t always so, though. During my picky, non-eating childhood, I didn’t like meat and the things I did eat I did in strange ways. With wonton, I would use my spoon to methodically cut off all the wonton skins. Then I would eat them and leave the meat behind, making my mom unbelievably mad.
It’s no secret I love Vietnamese food. I always joke to Mike that it’s one of the reasons why I married him. Just between you and me though, it’s not really much of a joke — if you tasted his mom’s food, you’d know what I’m talking about. Once a week we head over to my in-laws for dinner: home made pho, banh xeo, spring rolls, salad rolls, and the list goes on. Basically, if I mention in passing that I want to eat it, my mother-in-law will make it, unless it’s baked. She doesn’t cook things that go in an oven.
Dan dan, or tan tan noodles are one of those dishes that have evolved and changed so much from the original that each and every recipe can claim to be authentic, but none really are. Traditionally dan dan noodles are Sichuan noodle dish with spicy, red chili oil soup, ground pork, preserved vegetables and green onions. They’re hot, spicy and definitely delicious.
The last couple of days around here haven’t been pretty. I’ve come down with a cold, or a mild flu, I’m not too sure which. My taste buds are off and I’m so much more careless in the kitchen when I’m sick, which means I’m going to take a little break from following Chang’s detailed multi-day recipes. Instead, I’m going to post some simple home-style meals Mike and I enjoy.
I’ve never been one of those sick people who like to languish around, dying. Ok, no, I do do that. But I’m certainly not one of those people who don’t want to eat when I’m sick. No, I’m of the belief that if you’re sick, you need to eat to get better!
The Momofuku name is a registered trademark of Momofuku and David Chang. I'm just using it (fair use?) to refer to his restaurant and cookbook.
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momofukufor2.com is where I document the little tips and tricks I learned while cooking through the Momofuku Cookbook by David Chang and Peter Meehan.
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