The Chef Show Season 1, Episode 5: David Chang Review

Cauliflower Kimchi Fried Rice with Pork Belly

Choi and Favreau challenge each other to a fried rice cook-off. While Choi uses regular rice, Favreau uses his cauliflower rice for the dish.

For his fried rice, Choi uses sesame and canola oil, to which Favreau adds scallion, garlic and ginger. Choi immediately leaps in to season it though Favreau doesn’t add that much seasoning at home. It’s definitely going to taste better this way!

Favreau then starts on his fried rice, adding a fair amount of oil before adding in his vegetables and pork, and then finally the rice. Usually Favreau cooks the cauliflower rice before adding it to the final dish, but he’s doing it differently now according to Choi’s instructions. He tops it off with the salsa verde.

There is a lot oil and salt in these dishes—Favreau and Choi periodically add more for flavour and texture. I doubt we can replicate this anywhere but in a professional kitchen.

Both the fried rice dishes look delicious but Choi is beginning to wonder whether Favreau’s will be better than his. Well, when they’re both done, Favreau and Choi compliment each other on a job well done. Favreau insists that Choi’s rice has a better texture than his, but when David Chang shows up, he is full of praise for both dishes. They certainly look great!

Seaweed Soup

Miyeok Guk, or seaweed soup, is known as Birthday Soup because most Korean families have it for birthdays. However, both Choi and Chang profess to have hated it as children—they would have the broth and leave the seaweed because they didn’t like the texture of it. Chang plans to make a different version of it though for Favreau and Choi.

The base of the seaweed soup is oxtail stock, a very gelatinous ingredient that needs to be boiled down. In a separate pan, Chang adds a large amount of butter which will be used to brown a number of vegetables and sliced oxtails. The stock is then strained into it.

Though Chang and Choi keep insisting that they hated seaweed soup, it’s looking great. Of course, this version is quite different from the kind the grew up eating. It’s been tweaked but still remains true to its Korean roots.