How David Chang Decided What His Favorite Liquor Is

Chef David Chang, owner of the Momofuku restaurant and product empire, is known as a fairly outspoken person. He's shared opinions on everything from mental health to the quality of Costco's rotisserie chicken, which he calls "inedible." So it's no surprise he has a favorite distilled spirit, nor that he's casually blunt about why he drinks it and why it matters that it's American. In an interview with the Australian industry website Bartender, Chang dove into why his favorite liquor has become bourbon.

Chang says the relative newness of bourbon, as a distilled spirit, appealed to him. Bourbon's roots date to the late 1700s and early 1800s, with Congress officially defining it in 1964. "And just by drinking and discovering labels I found out more," says Chang. "It's just easier that way." He jokes that bourbon allowed him to dive deep into an alcoholic beverage without learning a new language, unlike, say, French wine.

David Chang has discussed the identity challenges he faced growing up Korean-American. He also spent a significant amount of time working in and wandering through Japan. As such, exploring cultural influences is part of who he is, he explains in the Bartender interview, and it's part of why he hates the ethnic aisle in grocery stores. Like America, Chang says, "I always think of Japan too as a culture that took from everywhere." Similarly, while influenced by Irish whiskey and Scotch, bourbon has developed its own American identity. When seeking out iconically American influences, he notes that, "I didn't want to learn about Jazz and there are only so many things that America has created that are uniquely its own."

The host of the Netflix food and travel series "Ugly Delicious" says he prefers sipping his bourbon rather than putting it in cocktails. Besides, it's readily available throughout the United States. "It's right in my backyard," he told Bartender. "That's pretty much why. And it tastes good!" That's as good a reason as any to drink bourbon. Just remember not to describe it as "smooth," to sound like a pro.