Watch David Chang Make Outer Space Shrimp 'N Grits

Momofuku chef David Chang recently visited NASA's Space Food Systems Laboratory in Houston, TX, where he teamed up with Tested's Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage (yes, the Mythbusters guys) to help figure out how to make space food a little more exciting for astronaut Chris Hadfield. In this video, Hadfield explains via videolink from the International Space Station that what he misses most about food is not only the smell of it cooking, but also foods with texture to them since a lot of space food is sort of like baby food. To help out Hadfield, Hyneman and Savage issue a "Galactic Gourmet Challenge" for Chang to create a gourmet space meal with only 100 space-approved ingredients from which to work.

Accepting the challenge, Chang shows up at Johnson Space Station and — after tasting some dehydrated space food — gets to work on his space-friendly recipe for shrimp and grits topped with asparagus and peanuts for texture. When the meal is plated, Chang jokes, "This is sort of what my food looked like in cooking school." In the end, though, the recipe doesn't actually work too well in space, but it is totally worth it to watch Hadfield eat floating asparagus, so go watch that right now:

Video: Astronaut Chris Hadfield and Chef David Chang Test Gourmet Space Food

· Astronaut Chris Hadfield and Chef David Chang Test Gourmet Space Food [YouTube]
· All David Chang Coverage on Eater [-E-]