Momofuku Ssam Bar & Milk Bar – With Cookie Recipe!

April 2, 2010 in Chefs, Recipes, Restaurants, Reviews, Travel | 5 comments

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Restaurant Name & Location:

Momofuku Ssam Bar & Milk Bar

207 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003

ph: 212.254.3500

Chef Name: Tim Maslow Chef de Cuisine of Ssam Bar, Christina Tosi Pastry Chef/Owner of Milk Bar (see recipe below)

Type of Meal: Lunch – 1:30 pm – No reservation and walked in with no wait – always a nice surprise

Ssam Bar Menu

What we Ordered: Ssam Bar Menu, Milk Bar Menu

Shigkou Oysters with Kimchi

Cured Hamachi with Horseradish and Edamame

Cured Hamachi with Horseradish & Edamame

Steamed Pork Buns with Hoisin, Cucumbers, and Scallions

Fried Brussel Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette and Mint

Fried Brussel Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette & Mint

Spicy Rice Cakes with Pork Sausage, Chinese Broccoli, and Crispy Shallots

Spicy Rice Cakes with Pork Sausage, Chinese Broccoli, & Crispy Shallots

What we Drank: Comte de Gascogne, Blanc de Blanc NV
1998 C. H. Berres Riesling Auslese – WINE OF THE MEAL!

Favorite Dish: This is difficult because the food was soooo delish, but if we have to only pick one, it’s gotta be to be the Pork Buns. The texture of the buns was a perfect compliment for the luscious fat of the pork! A very close second was the Cured Hamachi for the combination of flavors and textures. The horseradish sauce was finger-linking good, and the crunchy texture of the rice/seaweed topping was perfect with the silkiness of the fresh Hamachi.

Least Favorite Dish: Spicy Rice Cakes – the rice cakes reminded us a little of Gnocchi and were somewhat overpowering for the other ingredients.

Other Highlights: Ssam Bar had a fun, comfortable atmosphere, and the servers were knowledgeable and friendly. They picked up on us being from Austin – letting us know an Austin pastry chef (Courtney McBroom, formerly at Jeffrey’s. Her Bing Cherry Panna Cotta is featured in the Wine & Food Foundation’s cookbook as well!) had recently moved to NYC to work at their sister place, Milk Bar. They let us in on the “secret” hallway to Milk Bar (which is next door to Ssam Bar, but no need to go outside). Of course, we couldn’t resist the sweet side of MOMOFUKU and gladly proceeded!

Milk Bar:

Milk Bar Highlights:

The Compost Cookie was really good, so many flavors and layers. Milk Bar is known for its Crack Pie and charges for it too – $5.25 a slice or $44.00 for a 10” pie! We had to order a slice to see if it was all it’s “cracked up to be”. Immediately one of us said “this reminds me of my childhood “chess pie”! The oatmeal crust was different, but not enough to make it unique for us. You can also order their sweets online, we were told. The Compost Cookie was soooo good that we tried to replicate when we got home using the recipe posted on Live with Regis & Kelly (see full recipe below). There’s no way this is the recipe they use at Milk Bar – it was good but missing many of the flavors and layers that made it so special. In case you want to try to make some of the Ssam Bar dishes, here are some recipes but can’t promise they’ll be the same. They definitely keep some secrets tucked away!

Ultimate Question – Would you go back? YES. And OFTEN. (if I lived there of course!)

Compost Cookies

Yield: 15 6oz cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Corn Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1 3/4 cups AP Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Kosher Salt
1 1/2 cups Your favorite baking ingredients! – (Kelly used mini chocolate chips, raisinettes, rollos & cocoa krispies)
1 1/2 cups Your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc) – (Kelly used goldfish, ritz, & fritos)

DIRECTIONS:

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.
When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.
Using a 6oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheetpan.
Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week.
DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
Heat the conventional oven to 400F. (350F in a convection oven)
When the oven reads 400F, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment or silpat-lined sheetpan a minimum of 4″ apart in any direction.
Bake 9-11 min. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.
At 9 min the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies stills seem pale and doughy on the surface.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh 5 days. In the freezer, cookies will keep fresh 1 month.