Cooking at Home: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Recipes (And Love My Microwave) by David Chang and Priya Krishna

  • Quick beef noodle soup (page 93)

    from Cooking at Home: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Recipes (And Love My Microwave) Cooking at Home by David Chang and Priya Krishna

    • Categories: Quick / easy; Soups; Cooking for 1 or 2; Asian
    • Ingredients: beef brisket; fish sauce; beef brisket broth; jalapeno chile; agave syrup; Japanese noodles; scallions; toasted sesame seeds; pickled vegetables
    show

  • Show all Recipes...

Notes about this book

  • mariarita on January 10, 2023

    I wanted to like this book, but a good half of it is about eating meat. It’s just not the way I eat, or want to eat, anymore, as I learn how terrible too much meat is for health and the devastation it’s causing for the planet. Too bad!

Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Brisket with “boiled” potatoes and hot mustard

    • Leahcweinstein on May 16, 2025

      I didn’t expect to like this but it was weirdly good. The microwave technique for the potatoes is so versatile and easy!

  • Chicken soup

    • Cathyschuh on March 15, 2022

      The title how I learned to stop worrying fits this recipe. Chicken in pot-simmer it then shred and season while warm. We used the chicken all week and the broth I froze in silicone ice mold trays. Wonderful.

  • Bo ssäm

    • Leahcweinstein on May 16, 2025

      Everybody should make this. So easy, although takes a bit of time. I found that the pork gives off more fat than you need for the glaze so pour it in a separate bowl and add little by little to sugar to get the consistency you want. I make this whenever we’re having people over for dinner and things are hectic.

  • Pork with cabbage and milk

    • ChefGrumpy on February 12, 2023

      It is a quick hack of Italian pork braised in milk. Start with already roasted pork butt, soften onions and cabbage, add some root vegetables and milk to cover. Simmer 45 minutes. Makes a lot of tasty pork stew but won't freeze well so adjust ingredients accordingly... which is really how Chang presents all of the "no-recipe" recipes in the book.

  • Galbi jjim

    • ChefGrumpy on February 12, 2023

      A quick soak is possible if you don't have time for overnight... soak until the water turns red (~2 hours)

  • Dave’s meat mixture

    • ChefGrumpy on February 12, 2023

      This is one recipe that actually has ingredient amounts listed in a standard recipe format. The meat mixture is Asian-ish and is the base for the ground beef recipes in the book.

    • Leahcweinstein on May 16, 2025

      Love this. Very versatile. I have the urge to make a bunch and freeze for lazy days.

  • Chicken coconut curry

    • Leahcweinstein on May 16, 2025

      This is so easy but so so good. If you bust this out in 30 minutes for a weeknight dinner, everybody will think you’re a genius. On regular rotation for me.

  • Chawanmushi

    • Rinshin on December 16, 2021

      I knew this will work great because many Japanese home cooks use this method to make silky savory egg custard ie chawanmushi. I usually use power 4 on my 10 power microwave and that is what I used here as well. You can also make pretty decent 2 serving dashimaki tamago ie American sushi egg too using low wattage on microwave.

    • Acarroll on February 04, 2024

      My husband made this. I only had a bit and I could see it being a good base, but it was so bland. Like it really needed salt. My husband said there was no salt in the recipe but.... it needed it.

  • Microwave eggplant Parm

    • ChefGrumpy on February 12, 2023

      This is an excellent quick and easy Eggplant Parmesan recipe which I've joyfully embraced. It's simplifying "microwave the eggplant" (and use pureed tomatoes with spices) then layer the other ingredients turns making EP from a long slog to a quick, tasty meal. Like other recipes in the book it isn't exactly authentic, but it is tasty and now I WILL make it at home. There's still a lot of cheese but nuking the eggplants rather than frying them loses some fat calories. You can make it with regular globe eggplants and it tastes fine.

  • Oven roast [button mushrooms]

    • takemori on May 03, 2024

      Double! Also - 25 is better than 15

  • [Priya’s] dal

    • karya on May 25, 2022

      Love this dal recipe. We use the amount of water/dal ratio from Dave's recipe and then follow everything on Priya's recipe. We haven't been able to find asafoetida yet, so have been replacing with garlic powder, but will grab some when we get the chance.

  • Cacio e pepe

    • eszpee on February 26, 2023

      The blender method is amazing: super simple, silky and delicious.

  • Doughnuts cooked in butter with ice cream

    • lils74 on July 07, 2022

      The recipe for this can be found online here https://www.thecookingworld.com/recipes/doughnuts-and-ice-cream-recipe

    • metacritic on December 18, 2023

      Good. Not transcendent and not really wildly different from how it sounds but I appreciated the caramelized exterior that shatters slightly to the bite against good ice cream.

You must Create an Account or Sign In to add a note to this book.

Reviews about this book

  • Eat Your Books

    Two great chefs share their tips, tricks and cooking philosophy in this title.

    Full review
  • ISBN 10 1524759244
  • ISBN 13 9781524759247
  • Linked ISBNs
  • Published Oct 26 2021
  • Format Hardcover
  • Page Count 304
  • Language English
  • Edition Illustrated
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Clarkson Potter

Publishers Text

The founder of Momofuku cooks at home . . . and that means mostly ignoring recipes, using tools like the microwave, and taking inspiration from his mom to get a great dinner done fast.

David Chang came up as a chef in kitchens where you had to do everything the hard way. But his mother, one of the best cooks he knows, never cooked like that. Nor did food writer Priya Krishna’s mom. So Dave and Priya set out to think through the smartest, fastest, least meticulous, most delicious, absolutely imperfect ways to cook.

From figuring out the best ways to use frozen vegetables to learning when to ditch recipes and just taste and adjust your way to a terrific meal no matter what, this is Dave’s guide to substituting, adapting, shortcutting, and sandbagging—like parcooking chicken in a microwave before blasting it with flavor in a four-minute stir-fry or a ten-minute stew.

It’s all about how to think like a chef . . . who’s learned to stop thinking like a chef.

Other cookbooks by this author