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What led you to start your career as a chef?
I've never considered myself a chef, but it is funny how over time, as you cook professionally and publicly every day for work, sometimes even on TV where your green room door says "Chef," you start to wonder ... But my career started at the desk as a writer and editor, and the cooking came second, though I love both equally. My first job out of school was a recipe data entry role at the Food Network. I still very much consider the people there my family: incredibly talented colleagues who taught me so much of what I know now about food and writing, and have always cheered me on.
Do you have a favorite recipe you've created?
This spaghetti al pomodoro is maybe one of the purest recipes I've ever put out, because it was based on a beautiful plate of pasta I had in Como, Italy, one summer during a big rainfall. Were it not for the downpour, my partner and I would never have taken shelter at that restaurant and ordered this. Everyone knows how to make tomato pasta. But what I was trying to capture in the technique was that pure, distilled flavor of fresh tomato and fresh tomato alone, an actually surprising taste even if you think you know pomodoro. I could write a recipe that calls for beautiful in-season tomatoes from Northern Italy, but that doesn't serve the reader, so the recipe has a few tricks to really optimize and concentrate that glutamate-rich pomodoro flavor.
What’s your favorite part about the New York creative community?
I love that you can go to a party or an event and accidentally see someone you know, someone you love. Years ago, I didn't think that would mean so much to me, a sense of community, but it's a real joy to know that I'm not alone in this industry. I'm grateful to my chef and food editor friends because our jobs are so strange, and it's just helpful to be around people who understand my day-to-day. I love bouncing around recipe ideas with my developer friends, or helping troubleshoot a dish someone else is working on. Rick Martinez, for instance, is the reason this creamy asparagus pasta has a tiny bit of rice vinegar. It was his suggestion, and it really makes the dish.
What’s your favorite place in NYC?
The corner stool at the end of a chill bar, the kind of seat with a wall either to my right or to my left. I feel safe there, nestled in the corner, and I can eavesdrop on people's conversations or focus on my work, and be invisible but in public. I like to pick places where it would make sense to have a couple of glasses of wine while working through a draft, where no one asks or cares that I'm sitting there alone to be alone. New York City is great like that. But not every bar is right for this! You never want to be the ass with a laptop out in a crowded bar. Gotta read the room.
What’s inspiring you right now?
Other cooks. Each month in my column for The New York Times Magazine, I've been focusing on a different cook, chef or baker who has taught me something invaluable in the kitchen. I've never felt more like a culinary student than now. The only difference is that I'm writing about my education publicly and sharing those recipes with readers. So far I've had lessons in baking the best flaky biscuits, making a great pan sauce for chicken and mastering the grill for fish tacos al pastor. I love cooking because no matter how experienced you are, there's always something to learn.
erickim.net • @ericjoonho on Instagram
Photos by Jenny Huang