This is just a really nice, hassle-free weeknight meal to have in your back pocket. Minimal prep, maximum flavor, and you literally can’t mess it up.
Read MoreLemony Chicken and Feta Orzo Bake
Black Pepper Beef (糊椒牛肉)
in Chinese Food, Gluten Free, Meat
Looking for something that literally takes less than 10 minutes to make and is loaded with flavor and nutrition? Look no further. Black pepper beef is on the menu!
Read MoreOyakodon (Chicken and Eggs)
in Gluten Free
You could call it an omelet if you wanted, but you’d be wrong. Oyakodon, otherwise known as Parent and Child, is eggs cooked over chicken and onions, with a light sauce. It’s more than an omelet.
Read MoreBeef and Sweet Potato Curry
in Gluten Free, Meat
This slow cooker beef and sweet potato curry is one of my favorite things I’ve cooked this year, and the kids devoured it. You can serve it with rice, or do like I did and just eat it out of the serving dish like a stew.
Read MoreJapanese Curry
I finally did it - I figured out how to make Japanese curry without curry blocks!
Read MoreSalt and Pepper Tofu
In the mood for something crunchy and flavorful and quintessentially Chinese? I got you.
Read MoreCassoulet
in Meat
Cassoulet is from the Languedoc region of France, but the one I had in Paris was the best I’ve come across. They used chicken thigh instead of the customary duck, which was great for me when recreating the dish at home because duck is incredibly difficult to source in the part of New York City I’m currently living in. The cassoulet I had in Paris was indirectly smoked because it was cooked in a woodfire oven, and I didn’t think I could achieve that with my conventional oven, and I also wanted to add a little spice, so I substituted Kielbasa for the traditional salt pork and pork belly. In the end it had a bit of a more Creole flair to it, but it had the flavor profile I wanted, and was still luxuriant and rich. The beans serve to soak up all the flavor from the braising liquid, but also impart an unexpected creaminess to the overall mouthfeel of each bite. Adding this one to my weekly rotation for sure.
Read MoreTortang Talong
Well, I had leftover eggplant, and I haven’t really ventured into the world of Filipino cuisine, so I thought I’d give an easy intro dish a try. It’s literally a cooked eggplant with aromatic eggs cooked around it - suuuuuuuuper easy to make, it took about 15 minutes total. The key, I found, is to really to burn the hell out of the outside of the eggplant, and then obviously to add way more garlic and green onion than most recipes call for. The smokiness from the char on the eggplant gives the dish rotisserie chicken or backyard BBQ vibes, but adding the eggs and aromats, not to mention serving it over rice, gives it a distinctly Asian flare. Pro tip: Add chili crisp!
Read MoreBorani Banjan (Afghan Eggplant with Tomato Relish and Yogurt)
This Afghani eggplant dish is vegetarian and gluten free, and surprisingly light considering the heft of the eggplants, so it’s perfect for a shared appetizer or a a whole individual meal. Serve it with fresh warmed pita, crispy fried pita chips, rice, couscous, quinoa, or even a bowl of cooked pasta for the perfect quick weeknight meal.
Read MoreTaiwanese Chicken and Corn Egg Drop Soup (雞蛋玉米羹)
in Chinese Food, Gluten Free, Meat, Soup
I can confidently say that this is actually my favorite soup of all time, and I make it any time I find ground chicken in my fridge. I’ve been craving Taiwanese food more and more lately since my work hasn’t been bringing me to Asia as much, and this soup is so transportative, I can almost close my eyes and imagine being there. I aggressively season with white pepper and sesame oil, and I don’t use as much cornstarch as most recipes, so the soup is light but very very flavorful, and the smell of it alone is enough to make you think you’re about to sit down to some sort of 20 course meal in a Chinese banquet hall (though for me the soup itself is enough of a feast because I always eat at least 5 bowls of it).
Read More"Mongolian" Chicken
I’ve actually never seen Mongolian chicken anywhere in China. It’s an American Chinese food in my mind, but it’s inauthenticity doesn’t make it any less delicious. It’s a deeply umami, slightly sweet, sleek and sticky lick-your-fingers flavor bomb as well as a textural journey of crunchy chicken mingling with tiny pops of green onion, effectively offset by a fluffy cloud of white rice. In the absence of a vegetable, this dish could be a bit cloying, which is why I upped the amount of ginger; it adds just the right amount of freshness so as not to detract from the well known flavor profile of this dish, but to just hum in the background as a way of harmonizing the other strong flavors.
Read MoreChicken Souvlaki
in Meat, Gluten Free
This chicken souvlaki is actually, dare i say it, better than what I had in Greece, especially with all of the accompaniments I use, which enable a different experience with every bite, but never a bad one.
Read MoreSchupfnudeln (German Potato Dumplings)
in Gluten, Pasta, Vegetarian
Schupfnudeln can actually be eaten in a sweet or savory context. I’ve had them covered in sour cherries and some kind of yogurt-skyr-sour cream deliciousness, covered in butter and crispy bacon lardons, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, served plain alongside saurkraut, and even sprinkled with cocoa powder and drizzled with chocolate sauce with whipped cream on top. My favorite version is the one I’ve recreated and pictured here - seared in sage-infused butter and then topped with crispy sage leaves, served with apple cider-braised red cabbage.
Read MoreCabbage Pierogi with Fried Onions
in Appetizer, Gluten, Vegetarian
I’ve had many pierogi varieties throughout Poland, the Baltics, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc… and this filling is the one I prefer the most. If you’re interested in buttery indulgence, this is the dish for you!
Read MoreSpicy Sichuan Potatoes (士豆絲)
This is one of my favorite dishes to order at restaurants in China, so last year when I was obsessed with recreating experiences from my travels, I decided to give it a go. It was everything I remembered.
Read MoreScalloped Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic
2021 was all about memories of traveling throughout Asia and recreating the food I ate then. It was nice, but in 2022 I’m determined to return to basics, the heart and soul of this blog: Butter. My first dish, scalloped potatoes, is a shining star in that arena, and you guessed it, the shine comes from butter.
Read MoreTomatoes and Egg (番茄炒雞蛋)
The first time I ate this Chinese tomato and egg dish was at a café next to the Nanfeng ancient kiln in Foshan, China. I learned later that this is a common home-cooking meal in China - indeed, throughout Asia. After tasting it in Foshan, I could absolutely see why. It is the epitome of comfort food.
Read MoreClassic Kung Pao Chicken
in Chinese Food, Gluten Free, Meat
You should all know by now that Kung Pao Chicken, which I refer to simply as KPC, is my favorite meal on the planet. Obviously I love all food, but I could eat KPC for every meal and be perfectly happy. Unfortunately, the numbing sweetness of Sichuan peppercorn is crucial to my enjoyment of the dish, and since moving to the Bay Area, I’ve actually had a surprisingly hard time finding it in the Asian markets. I’ve been thus unable to satisfy my KPC cravings since before Covid started - the Chinese restaurants in my area don’t include Sichuan peppercorn in their KPCs for some reason. Maybe they also find it difficult to source? Anyway I finally went to work a few weeks ago for the first time in over a year and stopped by some obscure Vietnamese market near the office, about 40 minutes from my house, and omg they had some in stock! I rushed home and made as many Chinese dishes as I could think of. Obviously KPC came first.
Read MoreSpicy Chinese Cauliflower
It’s been a while since I’ve posted any original dishes because I’ve been obsessed with making other people’s Chinese home-cooking recipes. I’ve been spending a lot of time sourcing Asian ingredient brands and figuring out the right balance to create Chinese flavor profiles that I find palatable. To kick things off, I’ve focused a lot on vegetarian dishes - I figured if I was going to be trying new things, I should try and keep them affordable so my failures could be less costly. Up first - Spicy Chinese Cauliflower!
Read MoreGreen Chile-Infused Vodka Sauce with Penne
in Gluten, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian
I’ve had blocks of parmesan in my fridge for months, and massive stockpiles of canned tomatoes since the beginning of the pandemic when we completely lost our minds and started hoarding canned foods, and it was just time to use it all up. I’ve also had this green chile vodka from St. George Distillers for months, and I’ve been wondering how I could incorporate it into some food. Then, the other day, as I was rooting through my spice cabinet for some dinner inspiration, my entire giant bottle of crushed red pepper flakes fell out onto the counter and the top flew off, spraying red pepper all over my kitchen and sending me into a fit of violent sneezing. Suddenly, it hit me: Vodka Sauce!!?
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