These sweet-and-sour pickles are a wonderful accompaniment to many dishes, and are an especially nice contrast to meat-heavy or fried main dishes. I also like to add them to salads, sandwiches, and even instant noodles. You can also make them with red radishes, which turns out beautiful and zingier than if you use daikon. These […]
Asian
Beef Udon
Nothing like a beefy hot bowl of noodles on Christmas Eve! I was able to make this with odds and ends I had on hand. You can top it with whatever vegetables and things you have. I had only a small piece of lean beef, but if you have something with more bones and cartilage […]
Delicious Thai-Inspired Stir-Fry
I don’t know what to call this one. It’s really just a good stir-fry, based on one they made on America’s Test Kitchen. You can use any meat, really, and any vegetables, so it’s hard to pin down. Here’s how I made this batch. I used chicken thighs, but the original recipe was for beef […]
Oriental Style Rice Pudding
A bit thick, but very, very yummy 🙂 This is an aromatic stovetop-simmered style (like kheer), instead of the baked, eggy Occidental style. I made this using cooked rice. You can certainly start with uncooked rice (look up a recipe online), but be prepared to spend a lot of time stirring. The recipe is flexible: […]
Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Soup)
Not a quick weeknight meal, but well worth it in the end! If you’ve ever ordered pho ga at a restaurant, you’ve probably found it to be an under-flavored, pale shadow of the classic pho bo (beef). Instead, try making it at home, where you can crank up the flavor and have as much garnish […]
Thai Spicy Ground Beef Salad (aka Laab)
Here’s another similar summer meat salad recipe, though this one has a roasty flavor from the toasted rice flour and dried chilies. You will wind up with enough rice flour to make this at least twice. You need a blender or food processor. I got the recipe from Thai Food Tonight, which has many good […]
Hmong Chicken Salad
Clockwise from the left: young coconut juice, rice, chicken (actually turkey) salad, ripe papaya, papaya salad. Holy blazes I’m posting a recipe! Almost hard to call this one, it’s so easy. However, it’s a valuable use for leftover chicken or turkey, and it’s served cold or room temp, so it beats the heat. 2-3 c. […]
Chicken Congee
Congee is rice porridge, and is the Asian equivalent to chicken soup as a home-made remedy. It’s easy to digest, versatile, and comforting. You can put virtually anything in it, but usually it contains some aromatics (ginger, green onions, celery), a small amount of protein (chicken, shrimp), some seasonings (white pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce), […]
Dan Dan Noodles
I think this recipe has every flavor your tongue can taste in it. Spicy chili oil, astringent and cooling Szechuan pepper, salty and bitter pickled greens, meaty pork, and just a hint of sweet and sour. Some of the ingredients may seem exotic, but many of them can be substituted with more common things. This […]
Tonkatsu aka How to make a frozen cutlet into a nice meal
UPDATE! Here is an improved salad dressing recipe and a detailed description of making the cutlet from scratch. The dressing below is still good, but not quite as good as the miso style! Technically tonkatsu is a breaded pork cutlet, but you can make chicken-katsu or veal-catsu or chickenmcnugget-katsu (as pictured). It’s traditionally served as […]