Scary-smart, funny, and ambitious, the wildly creative Chang is the guy all chefs have got to measure themselves by these days. During the six years I ran the Hole in the Wall, I must have cooked pork belly at least once a week.

Chef David Chang single-handedly revolutionized cooking in America and beyond with his use of bold Asian flavors and impeccable ingredients, his mastery of the humble ramen noodle, and his thorough devotion to pork. Momofuko (literally "lucky peach" in Japanese) first opened in 2003 as a modest First Avenue noodle bar. Sam gyup sal translates to ‘three-layer fat’; who knew that the addition of a fourth in the form of mayonnaise would make it even more delicious?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. BUT this book isn't for the beginner like me, it's more for the already proficient home cooks looking to break out of their comfort zones. And the tone is set with the dedication page where the authors print a quote from a fifteenth century Zen Buddhist high priest next to one from Born Standing Up by Comedian Steve Martin. 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. Momofuku combines great cooking and restaurant kitchen photography in the journalistic style I love, recipes and techniques I was eager to learn about…and an intense, passionate narrative by Meehan that captures the distinctive nature of this unusual chef.

I really like their approach to food, and I've had a lot of success playing with the flavors from some of their dishes in other contexts, too. From David Chang, currently the hottest chef in the culinary world, comes this his first book, written with New York Times food critic Peter Meehan, packed full of ingeniously creative recipes. Fun Fact: There is an awesome picture book biography written by Andrea Chang about Momofuku Ando, who invented instant ramen. Inspiring and ingenious, but whenever he tries to talk about Asian stuffs (esp Vietnamese stuffs) I had to roll my eyes.Hearing the origin stories of some of the dishes and his adventures learning noodle-making in Japan was much more interesting than the repeatedly rehashed tale of opening another wait-outside-in-the-cold-to-get-a-table restaurant. The distinctive recipes here reflect Chang's growth as a chef and his passion for noodles and pork products. This is a convivial and fun way to feed a crowd, and will be ideal for those days when it’s warm enough to use the barbecue to cook the meat filling. This book, I feel, has an unsung quality of voice, in the hands of Peter Meehan, who I know is the co-author, and likely the reason the cookbook exists at all. Some of the recipes are very simple, but even the ones that are too involved for the home cook offer a fascinating window into the mind of Chang.