From Mexican hot dogs to tonkotsu ramen: chef Dan Hong’s cookbook is fun and full of flavour

From its quirky cover and boastful subtitle – A Glimpse Into the Mind of the Brillant Chef behind Mr Wong, El Loco and Ms G’s – it is evident that Mr Hong (2014) is going to be an unusual cookbook. The profile shot of Dan Hong – sitting on a chair, which has a different trainer on each leg (the Sydney-based chef is known for his love of sneakers) – and a foreword by his mother just underlines it.

Interspersed with the recipes are Hong’s musings on The Anatomy of a Perfect Burger (it includes Heinz tomato ketchup and Japanese mayo), an ode to offal and his top 10 list of cuisines (Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese share the No 1 spot).

Read the foreword and you will know where Hong gets his sense of humour from. His mother, restaurateur Angie Hong, writes, “I will admit that Daniel was not an easy child to raise, and him asking me to write this foreword may be the only opportunity to tell the world how much heartache he gave me!”

In the introduction, Dan Hong writes, “I wasn’t really sure what to call this book. Most of the cookbooks and food books that I admire are named after the chef’s first restaurant, but I can’t really do that … because I don’t technically have one.

“Instead, I seem to have found myself in the position of being responsible for creating the ideas for, and (in a way) giving birth to, a handful of restaurants based in Sydney, Australia. From sorta-Mexican (El Loco), to Chinese (Mr Wong) and modern Asian (Ms G’s), they each have a distinct DNA – the experiences they give people are completely different, from look to feel and, most importantly, taste. The one thing they do have in common is that they are all about big flavours and, above all things, fun.