I got this book because I figured it'd be fun to read. Which it is, but it's also gotten be exited about cooking again. Not that you can really reproduce most of the recipes directly, but variations on them are interesting and easy and fun. ( )

Haven't really cooked from it. I live in the middle of the desert and most ingredients are inaccessible to me. It's still enjoyable to leaf through and read. ( )

This is the book we've been waiting for. I could have done with less editorial comment & narrative (-1 star) but these are the recipes that we salivate for when anyone mentions Momofuku.

Pork belly, pork shoulder, ramen, ramen base, pickles, saam... from Noodle Bar, Saam, & Ko; it is all here, and I want to eat most all of it..

I do not want to have to make it, except the pork belly & pork shoulder, because I want easy food.

The recipes are not so easy because they take quite a few original handmade fresh sauces.

The format might have been easier to read & follow in a larger font with only the actual recipe on the page omitting the narration from the previous page.

The photos are gorgeous and made me drool, longing for just a taste (or several) of the presented offerings. ( )

What got me to sit down for a long read (although I'd only planned to browse through it casually) was that it opens up like a quest story: the quest for a then-English tutor living in Japan, to find a master (shi fu) to teach him the secrets arts of making ramen. Then the usual hurdles he and his growing team faced as they first opened up the Momofuku Noodle Bar... But then-- bam. They're successful and famous. (It happens so fast, but I guess that's real life for you.) Because they'd started cooking the things they liked, and not what they were expected to cook, as a Japanese restaurant.

This is exactly the type of cuisine I want to try my hand at: strongly Asian-influenced but infused and delivered with that American attitude. It inspired me to start writing down ingredients to buy, so I can surprise my Chinese boyfriend with how great I am. I want to see his eyes pop open wide with amazement, and make his tastebuds sing. 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.

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. So this makes me curse my ineptitude in the kitchen. Plus a lot of pork products aren't easily available where I live. :( I will, however, try the famous ginger scallion sauce, which looks simple enough. And you know what's better than this book? (or at least, a good supplement) Blogs about this book. Like one reviewer said, this is like the Julia Child of Asian cooking. And I found a couple of Julie and Julia's on the Internet. Their entries are more beginner-friendly, and the photos are beautiful. I am SO going to try the Milk Bar, and the Crack Pie... Gaahr I want a pork bun right now. Gotta love food writing (on blogs) that gets you reaching for your spatula. ( )

A great devil-may-care chefbook. Notable for pork belly/pork buns recipe. ( )