The grilled shrimp at bang! came via Momofuku; you can extend the recipe chain

If you did any of the cooking for last week's feast, there's a good chance that at least one of your recipes came from a family member or a friend. My great-grandmother passed away when I was a child, but we still refer to her Pennsylvania Dutch version of baked...

By Gretchen Kurtz

December 5, 2013

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If you did any of the cooking for last week's feast, there's a good chance that at least one of your recipes came from a family member or a friend. My great-grandmother passed away when I was a child, but we still refer to her Pennsylvania Dutch version of baked navy beans -- a staple on our Thanksgiving table -- as Grandma's beans. When I make it, however, I use less butter and more bacon, and chances are you, too, adapted your mom or grandmother's recipes to your own taste. See also:Bang! is still doing a bang-up job of serving affordable comfort food

Home cooks aren't the only ones who borrow and tweak recipes. At bang!, which I review this week, Momofuku's ginger-scallion sauce is repurposed as a bed for crispy polenta with grilled shrimp.

But David Chang didn't invent it, either; he adapted the recipe from Chinatown's Great NY Noodletown, and you can see it here.

Why not extend the recipe chain and try it yourself, as I plan on doing -- though admittedly not as a bed for next year's turkey.

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Gretchen Kurtz has worked as a writer for 25 years; during that time she's stomped grapes in Napa, eaten b'stilla in Fez, and baked with Buddy Valastro, aka the Cake Boss. Her work has appeared in publications including Boulevard (Paris), Diversion, the New York Times and Westword. Our restaurant critic since 2012, she loves helping you decide where to eat and drink tonight.

Contact: Gretchen Kurtz

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