Exclusive: Momofuku Spicy Pork Recipe

I can't wait to make this Momofuku Ssam's recipe from David Chang's amazing new Momofuku cookbook. We caught up with him last week and he promised us this recipe. Cook's tip: take the printed recipe to an Asian foods store, since this guy isn't shy about using ingredients you may not have sitting on your counter. But that's the magic.  

What's the history of this recipe? Dave writes: There’s a branch of the Grand Sichuan on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village, just a few blocks from our restaurants. I eat there a lot. A lot. Fish with noodle hot pot, braised chile beef, house special pork, dan dan noodles—there’s lots of good stuff on that menu.

After one of many meals there with the crew from Ssäm Bar, I goaded them into doing something like the oily, spicy food we were eating so much of. I think I had about this much input on the dish: “Use some Sichuan peppercorns, lots of red peppers, and make it really oily. It’ll be banging.” Tien and Tim Maslow did their thing with it.
Ma po tofu was their point of departure. They melded it with a dish from the first late-night menu—rice cakes with a kinda-sorta-but-not-really Asian pork Bolognese sauce. The result isn’t Sichuan or Korean or Bolognese or anything, but it is very Momofuku. And banging.
 

Spicy pork sausage and rice cakes

Serves 4-6
1⁄2 cup grapeseed or other
neutral oil

3 large yellow onions, cut in half and thinly sliced

21⁄2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 pound ground pork

2 very loosely packed cups
(11⁄2 ounces) dried red chiles

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons toban djan (jarred Chinese fermented bean and chile sauce) or ssämjang (the Korean analogue to toban djan)

1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns

1 tablespoon kochukaru (Korean chile powder)

6 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon usukuchi (light
soy sauce)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 cups sliced or coarsely chopped Chinese vegetables, such as Chinese broccoli or bok choy

8 long cylindrical rice sticks, cut into 1-inch lengths

8 ounces silken tofu, drained

1 cup sliced scallions, greens
and whites

1⁄2 cup packaged Chinese fried shallots

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. After a minute or two, when the oil is hot, add the onions and 1⁄2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to take on color and begin to shrink in the pan, about 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, turning the onions over on themselves every 5 or so minutes, until golden and soft and sweet, about 20 minutes longer.

2. Meanwhile, heat another tablespoon of the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. After a minute or two, when the oil is hot, add the ground pork and cook, jabbing at the meat with the edge of the spoon to break it up, for about 10 minutes, just until it has lost its raw pinkness but not so long that it browns or threatens to dry out. Transfer the pork to a bowl and reserve it. Return the pan to the stove.

3. Add the remaining 5 tablespoons oil to the pan, turn the heat down to medium, and let the oil heat up for a minute. Add the dried chiles and warm them through in the oil for about 1 minute, until they’re fragrant. Add the sliced garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute to infuse its flavor into the oil—it doesn’t need to color, but when the aroma of garlic is rising from the pan, it’s ready. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Chinese chile bean sauce, Sichuan peppercorns, and kochukaru. Reserve until the onions are cooked.

4. Add the water, cooked onions, and pork to the pan with the chile sauce and stir to combine. Stir in the soy, sugar, and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. At this point, you can cool the sauce and refrigerate it (for a few days) or freeze (for a few weeks), if desired.

5. Meanwhile, put a large pot of water on to boil and salt it well.

6. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat and stir in the chopped greens. Cook them for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stems are just tender.

7. Drop the rice cakes into the boiling water and cook them for 2 to
3 minutes, until warmed through. Drain and add them to the pan with the pork sauce. Whisk the tofu until creamy and fluid and then stir it into the rice cake mixture.

8. Divide the rice cakes and ragu among serving bowls, garnish each with some scallions and packaged fried shallots, and serve hot.

Reprinted with permission of Random House