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NOW HIRING: SOUTH STREET SEAPORT

We’re hiring for front and back of house manager and hourly positions for our new restaurant at South Street Seaport. Learn more about upcoming open calls—and apply to join the opening team.

Click here to learn more about back of house openings. We’re holding open calls on Thursday, May 16 and Thursday, May 23 from 10 am to 1 pm.

Click here to learn more about front of house openings. We’re holding open calls on Tuesday, May 14 and Tuesday, May 21 from 10 am to 1 pm.

WINE TO DRINK WITH CRAB

Charlotte Berdensey | Beverage Manager

Crab is sweet and delicate, so a lot of the wines you’d normally choose would be obvious: something mineral-driven with a nice acidity. Nothing too powerful. But all the sauces that come with this particular crab meal complicate things. There’s yuzu, which is citrusy and incredibly aromatic, umami in the browned butter with shallots, and peppery horseradish sauce, which brings the heat.

It was important to pair to the sauces rather than the crab itself. This means more body and texture than you’d normally expect. The list is going to change often—but here’s a quick guide for what to expect from these different styles.

SPARKLING | Les Clandestins Les Semblables Buxières sur Arce Champagne MV For crab, you want a sparkling wine that’s broader in flavor with a rounder texture. So I looked to the southwestern part of Champagne and specifically pinot noir grapes. This champagne is made from 100% Pinot Noir with minimal intervention, resulting in a racy, mineral style with a savory finish. It is an energetic wine to get the palate started at the beginning of the experience.

WHITE | Valdesil Godello Sobre Lías Valdeorras, Galicia 2016 The ideal white for this meal has structure and is semi-aromatic. The sharpness on the palate is being handled by the sauce, so you need depth with this wine. Valdesil is the owner of the oldest Godello vines, native to northern Spain, in the world and all plots of the Sobre Lías are from those that were originally planted by the family in the late 1800s. This particular wine is light, refreshing, and delicately perfumed with honey, citrus, and stone fruit—all complementary of the array of sauces that accompany the crab.

ROSÉ | Antica Terra Angelicall Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2016 This is a darker, richer style of rose that you don’t often see, and it’s a really interesting pairing with the brightness of the crab. The soil it’s grown in features sandstone with fossilized sea material. This is a proprietary blend of primarily Pinot Noir, with a lot of minerality and an herbaceous character, and it’s versatile enough to be enjoyed with all aspects of the crab preparation.

RED | M. Jagini Zagersdorf Blaufränkisch 2011 For the red, we needed something with structure that isn’t overwhelmingly tannic. I worked more with the noodle dish on this pairing. This is a medium-bodied wine that comes from old vines in the small Austrian village of Zagersdorf. It’s peppered with warm spice and laced with soft black fruit without the weight of a Syrah and pairs excellently with the flavors in the noodles.

KING CRAB AROUND THE WORLD

King crab always means a celebration. If you’re into trying king crab, here are some of our favorite spots. Bring friends—all of these require a crowd.

JUMBO Seafood Singapore

JUMBO is one of many seafood spots in Singapore, and it’s definitely a classic. They opened their first location in the ’80s at the East Coast Seafood Centre, which is worth a visit. They are best-known for their chilli crab, but go for the black pepper instead—it’s basically stir-fried sweet butter with black and white pepper, and it’s another mainstay of crab in Singapore.

Fishman Lobster Clubhouse Toronto, Ontario | Canada

This is one of Dave’s favorite places. They moved to a new location a few years back—and it’s massive. Fish tanks line the entire room. Once you pick your order, they walk the crab to your table before they fry it up into a massive tower with your choice of seasoning. The only way to do this place is with a large group. Get one of the big feasts and be sure to try the king crab Hong Kong Style.

Golden Century Seafood Restaurant Sydney | Australia

This restaurant became a part of Momofuku lore back when the team was first opening Seiōbo. It’s right in the heart of Chinatown in Sydney, and they have tons of seafood you can order. It’s also really busy for late night—they’re open until 4 am. They have salt and pepper king crab, which is worth a try, but also be sure to get the braised noodles with king crab roe.

The Boiling Crab Los Angeles, CA | USA

The first location of The Boiling Crab opened south of LA in 2004, but they're all over California now. It’s a crab boil spot, so they don’t have whole king crabs, but you can get king crab legs, which are probably the best part anyway. Choose your sauce—top choices include garlic sauce or the whole shebang which is a little of everything—then pick the spice. Throw in some corn on the cob, sausage, and whatever else you want to munch on.

Keng Eng Kee Seafood Singapore

KEK is a recent favorite—it’s basically another version of all the seafood places in Singapore like JUMBO. They don’t really carry king crab here, but go for the Sri Lankan crabs because they have really big claws. The best sauces are probably the chilli crab, which is extremely common in Singapore, and the fried crab with salted egg yolk. Be sure to add extra gravy so you have plenty of sauce to soak up with your bread.

GRANDMA’S NOODLES

Chef Max Ng | Momofuku Ssäm Bar

When I was young, my whole family went to my grandma’s house almost every weekend for dinner. On special occasions, she served hokkien noodles. They were Kuala Lumpur-style, which is where she’s from: always silky and very, very saucy.

Everyone has their own opinions on what hokkien noodles should be. Some prefer the white sauce version, while others―like grandma―made the brown sauce version with soy sauce. She’d visit the local wet market in Singapore on mornings when she’d be making the noodles to pick up shrimp, squid, fish cakes, and pork blood. There was never a recipe—she just threw everything into her enormous wok.

The noodles came to the table in a massive dish, and somehow―no matter how many children and grandchildren appeared for dinner―there were always seconds available.

I recreated these noodles from memory, drawing on the flavors she used and what the noodles looked like when she prepared them. It’s an old-school dish that isn’t made very frequently anymore, but it’s an extremely special one. In mine, the crab knuckles and claws are star ingredients, and I throw in some more vegetables, too.

It still comes in a big bowl—just like I remember my grandma serving. Here’s to any table that can crush the whole thing.

HOST A CRAB FEAST

Here’s everything you’ll need―and other things you’ll just want―to host a crab feast of your very own. Click the links below to check them out on Amazon.

Crab Platter Buy Now on Amazon

An epic meal requires an epic presentation.

Crab Bibs Buy Now on Amazon Crab is messy—you’ll need these bibs to keep things under control.

Crab Claw Tongs Buy Now on Amazon You’ll feel like you have your very own claws. Optimal for tossing noodles.

Sauce Bowl – Silver Crab Buy Now on Amazon

Lemons and limes and sauces of all kinds look even better in cast aluminum.

Sauce Bowl – Crab Set Buy Now on Amazon A team of cute faces ready to hold your array of sauces and dips.

Large Wok Buy Now on Amazon For noodles a-la Grandma Ng, you’ll need something big.

The king crab is a new large format from Ssäm Bar and serves 4 – 6 people. It features multiple courses that highlight the crab in a variety of different preparations drawing on Chef Max Ng’s Singaporean roots. One king crab meal will be offered nightly Monday – Wednesday. For reservations, visit ssambar.momofuku.com.

NOTES ON THE KING CRAB

Chef Max Ng | Momofuku Ssäm Bar

Ssäm Bar is known for its family-style meals like the bo ssäm or whole rotisserie duck—big, fun meals that bring people together to celebrate. So when I was thinking of how to put my spin on the section, I knew I needed something in that vein. I’m from Singapore and when we want to celebrate, we eat crab. That’s how our new king crab large format was born.

When we started this process, it was a no-brainer to look to our friends at Regalis Foods for the king crab. We work with them for caviar and other products, and I’ve known their founder Ian since my days at Ko.

Regalis recently built a live seafood tank at their site, so we know the crabs there will be the very best for us. Sourcing from Regalis allows us to get the crabs day-of and present them to our guests at the table, which makes the evening even more fun.

For this meal, each part of the King Crab is prepared differently using a variety of cooking methods:

The legs are poached in a shio kombu butter, then grilled whole. We serve them with a few of our favorite accessories: brown butter dressing, yuzu kosho olive oil, Chinese white prune salt, horseradish remoulade, Singapore-style garlic chili sauce, and lemons and limes.

The crab body is steamed, then broken into chunks and batter-fried, before being coated in a salted duck yolk sauce with chilis and curry leaves. I made this based off a popular prep for crab and shrimp in Singapore.

The last course is the noodles, which are inspired by hokkien noodles my grandma used to make when I was young. This is the part of the meal that means the most to me. I throw in the crab knuckles and claws, alongside lots of vegetables, soy sauce, and of course, the noodles. It’s an old-school dish that isn’t made very frequently anymore, but it’s an extremely special one.

10 of Life’s Big Questions from Bāng Bar

Every day, while you wait in line, the team at Bāng Bar asks a new question. Here are a few of their favorites. Where do you net out? Popular answers below.

1. Is hot dog a sandwich? 2. Would you rather always feel a little too hot or a little too cold? 3. In the world scent, what is the silent letter? 4. Is saying “cheese pizza” redundant? 5. Is a plain croissant sweet or savory? 6. Would you rather be quick or strong? 7. Is almond milk really milk? 8. Is a bowl of cereal and milk considered soup? 9. Is cheesecake a cake or secretly a pie? 10. What sound does a laser gun make?

Swing by to check out their new menu, pictured above, which includes minis and bowls at lunch, plus a cinnamon sugar bāng―and get a chance at answering the daily question.

ANSWERS: 1. YES 2. HOT 3. C 4. NO 5. SAVORY 6. STRONG 7. NO 8. NO 9. PIE 10. No agreement on this one.

The Best Makgeolli to Buy―And a Recipe to Try Making It at Home

Makgeolli may be the most unsung of rice drinks.

Sake and soju are easy to find at this point. But the milky-white, somewhat sweet, and deliciously-light makgeolli is harder to find outside Korean restaurants and markets. And the secret―it’s actually best when made fresh.

Store-bought makgeolli in the U.S. is pasteurized so it can make the long journey from Korea. It’s also sweeter and sometimes flavored. But makgeolli started as a no-frills drink that farmers would make for their workers, not so dissimilar from a saison beer in France or Belgium. All you need is rice, water, sugar, and a special starter enzyme called nuruk. And the best way to drink it is fresh―it’s thicker, less sweet, and more filling than any of the bottled or canned stuff you can buy.

If you’re buying it, we prefer Makku, which is reasonably available in New York City. Also, if you head to Flushing and you look really hard, you can find NY Saeng Mak, an incredible makgeolli made upstate.

It’s tricky to make at home, but the team at Majordōmo has been trying, and failing. Here’s what we’ve learned―with a little help from their favorite food blog, Maangchi.

Ingredients: 5 cups short grain rice, washed and soaked in cold water for at least 2 hours 1½ cups nuruk (starter culture) 1 package of dry yeast ¼ cup sugar (optional)

Step 1 – Cook the rice.

Step 2 – Dry the rice. Chances are you’re trying this at home you don’t have an electric dehydrator. Spread the rice in a shallow basket set in breezy, sunny place, or place in the refrigerator, and let it dry for a few hours until each grain is hard on the outside but still moist on the inside.

Step 3 – Begin the ferment. Place the dried rice, nuruk, yeast, and 8 cups of water in an ongii or any earthenware crock. Our ongii at Majordōmo are made by Adam Field. The importance here is breathability―the vessel needs to be able to breath. When you cover it, place a cotton cloth to further help with air circulation. Then, let it sit. After several hours, stir the thick paste with a wooden spoon, then recover overnight.

Step 4 – Keep on stirring. When you uncover the next day, you will see a lot of bubbles, and the mixture will be thinner. Stir and cover again. And keep on stirring a few times a day for the next few days. By day 4 or 5, there will be fewer bubbles, and the mixture will have separated: clear liquid on the top, milky and more solid on the bottom. The solution―just keep on stirring for a few more days.

Step 5 – Ready for drinking. By day 8 or 9, the top liquid will be clear and amber in color. This means it is ready to drink. Strain into a large bowl. Be sure to press solids with your spoon to get as much liquid as possible out of them before discarding. Add 8 cups of water and sugar to taste, if desired.

Strain one more time, then jar, and drink chilled. Homemade makgeolli lasts in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks.

What We Learned from Three Months of Trying Chocolate Soufflés

Chef Paula Navarrete | Executive Chef, Kōjin

When we were thinking about desserts we could add to the menu, chocolate soufflé seemed like an obvious choice. The whole team loves soufflé at a steakhouse, and everyone in the dining room seemed to really like it when we first started testing in the fall. So, we went for it.

We’ve gone through a lot of changes over the past three months. We only have eight soufflés every night, so we want them to be as perfect as we can get them. We think we’ve at last worked out a fool proof recipe that gets it to rise up to nearly an inch and a quarter every time.

Here are some DOs and DON’Ts we learned along the way.

DOs The biggest thing is that you have to make the time. You can’t walk away. Once you start, you’ve started―it’s all happening after that. You can’t pause or go back on the road to a soufflé.

Have everything ready to go in front of you because when you’re making a soufflé everything has to come together very quickly. You don’t have time for distractions. This includes all your ingredients, prepped and ready, and all the equipment you’re going to use.

Always the molds with butter using a bush. Make nice and even lines. Otherwise, your soufflé could stick.

Always, always test one to be sure you’ve mixed everything correctly. Every time. Then eat it. Every time.

DON’Ts Never whip your egg whites, then walk away. They won’t hold.

This may seem intuitive, but never assume your oven is preheated. The soufflé needs to go in at the exact temperature you want to cook it at. It can’t sit in there while the oven adjusts.

Never open the door while its cooking. It’s fair game to peer through the window, but never open the door. You can risk your soufflé not rising all the way or, worse, falling.

Your Guide to All the Korean Snacks

Chef Eunjo Park | Executive Chef, Kāwi

Chef Jo Park is happiest surrounded by snacks. As the upcoming executive chef of Kāwi, our new restaurant coming next month to Hudson Yards, she’s doing her fair share of snacking in between busy days getting ready for opening.

She started working at Momofuku at Ko but moved to Korea to learn more about cooking and push herself to try new experiences. But she’s back―and her new apartment is now only a few blocks from H Mart. It’s like a dreamland of all the very best snacks she misses from when she lived in Korea. We took a trip with her to get some tips.

Here are her favorites. Hint hint: most of them are also available on Amazon, so we’ve included some helpful links in case you need to build out your office snack drawer.

HaiTai Honey Butter Chips These were all over Instagram a few years ago. They’re the real star of the honey butter craze. There are lots and lots of copycats now, but these are the original. Imagine the texture of a Lay’s chip, but they’re sweet and salty and just really good.

Orion Seafood Shaped Crispy Snack Orion calls these crispy snacks because they’re not really chips, and they’re not really crackers. They’re kind of both. Either way, they are hollow and very nice when eaten by the handful. This one is a fried chicken flavor. My favorite shape is the tiny crab.

Lotte Choco Pie It’s very important to keep a few of these stashed away for later when you know you’re going to be really hungry and also in need of something sweet. Two soft biscuits, marshmallow cream, all covered in chocolate. I’ve always thought of it as the Korean version of a whoopie pie.

Orion New Four Layers Crispy Turtle Chips They’re not quite Cheeto consistency, but also not quite crunchy. Orion offers two flavors: shrimp and cinnamon. You’d never eat them with milk like you would other snacks on this list, but if you did, they’re like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Probably soggy, though? Like I said, you wouldn’t do it.

Jolly Pong Cereal Snack These are some of my favorites. They’re essentially the Korean version of Honey Smacks, the breakfast cereal in America with the little frog on the front of the box. You can actually eat these with a bowl of cold milk and not regret it. They are equally good in the afternoon with no milk at all.

White Heim White Hazelnut If Pirouette cookies were smaller and slightly flatter and full of white chocolate hazelnut cream, then they would be like these White Heim cookies. The best part of this box though is that there are tons in there so they last forever whenever you need a little treat.

Tohato Caramel Corn Tohato Caramel Corn is actually a Japanese snack not Korean, but I still love it. There are lots of flavors out there, like chocolate or matcha, but this one is the original. Think nutty and caramelly, puffy and crunchy.

Haitai French Pie Strawberry This is what 64 layers of flakey puff pastry look like when they are covered with a strawberry candy-like jam.

Aje Coffee (Original Flavor) This is a sweet, creamy instant coffee. The best part is that the character on the front looks like a mix between someone walking down the street in Williamsburg and a guy from a old Western who walks into a saloon. It’s called “old men coffee,” but when it’s cold, it’s really great.

Behind the Dish: Crispy Brussels Sprouts at Kōjin

If a new dish at Kōjin looks familiar that’s because it is. This dish dates back to the early days of Momofuku Toronto―and now it’s officially returned.

Chef Paula has brought back Crispy Brussels Sprouts to the lunch and dinner menu at Kōjin. The Brussels sprouts are first halved then fried before being tossed in tangy fish sauce and topped with kochu karu-coated puffed rice and scallions.

Make a reservation and try it at lunch or dinner at Kōjin.

Noodle Bar Toronto’s Newest Soft Serve Flavour: Hot Cocoa

Meet the brand new soft serve flavour by the Noodle Bar Toronto team―Hot Cocoa. It launches on February 10, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Ice cream in the middle of winter might seem like a crazy idea, but Chef Hans Vogels likes a challenge. It’s the team’s very first time trying out their own flavour. To make it, they add star anise, cardamom, and coriander seed to the chocolate base. If that doesn’t warm the heart, they are sweetening the deal. The week of Valentine’s Day, Noodle Bar is donating all proceeds to Chefs with Hart.

The program is an official partner of SickKids Hospital that raises money for the GIFT program (Group for Improvement of Intestinal Function and Treatment), and i it was started by 9 year-old Hartley Bernier and his family. As a SickKids patient himself, Hartley spent the first 100 days of his life in the hospital due to intestinal failure and has had more than a dozen surgeries. Chef Hans has worked with Hartley and the family in the past and this time, they’re excited to celebrate the launch of Hot Cocoa. Stop by February 10 to 16 to try out the new flavour and help out a sweet cause.

Pasta Making with the CCDC Team Tae Strain | Executive Chef

When it’s cold out, few things are more satisfying than a big bowl of fresh-made pasta. Early on we made a big push to do as much as we could in house, so it was really important to make our own dough. After some trial and error, we found a mix of local flours and durum wheat that gave us the texture we wanted. We initially thought about a heavier, more classic braised meat, but in the end, we felt like lobster was a better fit. I have always been partial to seafood: my mom is from Rhode Island, and we spent our summers up there feasting on tons of shellfish.

To make the lobster pasta, the team starts by rolling out the noodles. The base is egg, a mix of flours, and olive oil. We chose this shape because it is porous and rough and great for absorbing sauces. Typically it would be paired with a dryer, richer meat sauce, so in many ways it is a very good fit.

The base of the sauce is a very classic shellfish stock with fennel, white wine, lobster, tomato, and clam juice. We reduce that stock and add grilled rapini, fresh lobster meat, mussels, and a fermented chili butter. The spice and funk of the chilis is really nice against the natural sweetness of the shellfish. It's just a really comforting dish for this time of the year.

Make a reservation to try out the new Durum Tagliatelle at dinner.

Ssäm Sauce Chicken Wings

Getting ready for game day? Try out these easy Ssäm Sauce chicken wings or bring home one of our to go packages from across the Momoverse. Ssäm Sauce is available for order on Amazon.

8 whole chicken wings, about 2 pounds 1 tablespoon kosher salt 3 tablespoons peanut oil ¼ cup unsalted butter 1 cup Ssäm Sauce Fried onions Sesame seeds

Pat wings dry with a paper towel. In a large bowl, toss wings with salt and pepper until evenly coated. Arrange wings in an even layer on a wire rack over a sheet tray. Allow wings to remain uncovered in the refrigerator overnight, at least 12 hours.

Preheat oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, toss wings in peanut oil until evenly coated. Rearrange wings on the wire rack. Roast wings for 15 minutes, using the convection setting on your oven. Reduce temperature to 375°F and cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until crisp.

While the wings are roasting, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in Ssäm Sauce.

Toss wings in sauce until evenly coated. Add additional Ssäm Sauce to taste. Garnish with fried onions and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Inside Noodle Bar’s Daily Bun Process

Back in 2004, when David Chang was getting ready to open the very first Noodle Bar on First Ave, he had a big bread dreams. At the time, he was often eating at Oriental Garden, a mainstay Cantonese spot in Chinatown, and he was obsessed with getting the owner, Mr. Choy, to teach him how to make buns from scratch. Mr. Choy rebuffed him. Dave asked again. Mr. Choy rebuffed him again, until he finally handed Dave a piece of paper with two things written on it: an address and the name John. The paper led him to May May Foods, a local company that supplied New York Restaurants with buns.

Mr. Choy knew our original kitchen was far too small to make bread by hand, so we bought it instead and filled it with pork belly. We continued to buy our breads from places around the city until we opened Noodle Bar at Columbus Circle, where at last, we have space for our bread program.

The team starts early every morning with the ingredients―flour, sugar, salt, milk, crisco, baking powder, and yeast. Throughout the day, they shape them into the various bun shapes we serve on our menu. For our entire history, we had always served the same style of bun: it looks like a clamshell. It’s filled with pork. We wanted to do something different here.

Take a look at all the steps that go into making our stacked buns, which we serve with shrimp. And head to momofukunoodlebar.com to make a reservation for Momofuku Noodle Bar at Columbus Circle.

The De La Sol: A Sour Cocktail from Noodle Bar to Try at Home

The De la Sol belongs to the one of the original and oldest families of cocktails: the sours.

To get the full story on sours, you have to go all the way back to 1862 and a book called How to Mix Drinks by a saloon-operator at the time Jerry Thomas. We would not have cocktails today without “Professor” Jerry Thomas.

Then and now, a sour consists of a base spirit, a sour fruit juice such as lime or lemon, and a sweetener of some kind. (Think margaritas or sidecars.) The De La Sol is a sour made with tequila, lemon, and an agave syrup cooked with togarashi as the sweetener.

When Momofuku Bar Director Lucas Swallows was putting together the cocktail list at Noodle Bar Columbus Circle, he wanted to make a sour that nodded at tradition but departed from it. The De La Soul does just that—it’s an aromatic sour, laced with savory spice and mellow floral notes. And it’s a drink that’s easy enough for those days when it’s too cold go to out for a drink.

De La Sol is a tequila based aromatic sour, laced with savory spice and mellow floral notes. 2 oz. chamomile Cimarron blanco tequila 1 oz togarashi agave syrup .5 oz lemon juice 2 dashes Boker's bitter

Shake ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe or over ice. Garnish with a dehydrated blood orange wheel.

Chamomile Tequila 1 L Cimarron blanco tequila ¼ c chamomile tea

Steep tea in the tequila for 10 minutes and strain of using a fine mesh strainer or coffee filter.

Togarashi Agave 1 cup hot water 1 cup agave ¼ cup togarashi

Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain liquid off with a fine mesh strainer.

a huge thank you to everyone who stopped by ccdc to celebrate with us last week at our third anniversary party. and special thanks to our friends and chefs from kyirisan, thip khao, a rake’s progress, mandu, and chiko for some killer fried chicken and dumplings.

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