Cooking at Home
Fried green plantains, also known as Tostones or Patacones, are common all throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. They are easy to make and make a really satisfying snack or side dish. Unripe plantains are cut into chunks, fried until soft, flattened with the back …
Making ceviche at home can be very intimidating to a lot of people. Luckily, if you follow a few basic guidelines, the process is quite simple and can yield very impressive results. This version is made with Ají Amarillo, which lends the ceviche it’s incredible …
Thai-style crab fried rice, Khao Pad Buu, is a great dish to cook when you have some leftover rice and crabmeat on hand. You can also substitute the crab with any number of proteins…shrimp, chicken, pork…almost anything would work. If you have the rice already cooked, this dish can come together in under 20 minutes from start to finish.
When it comes to making fried rice, the single most important variable to consider is the quality of the cooked rice. Rice that is overcooked or undercooked will yield an inferior product. For Thai style fried rice, be sure to use plain steamed jasmine rice as your starting point. You could use another style of rice if necessary, but the flavor of jasmine rice really complements the fish sauce and crabmeat. Do not use freshly cooked rice for stir-frying. Hot, fresh rice is too soft/moist and the resulting fried rice will likely be gummy and clump together. Use rice that has cooled down to room temperature or even refrigerator temperatures before stir-frying.
As with any other stir fry, make sure you read the recipe and have all of your ingredients cut and measured before you start cooking. The cooking process will be quick and you need to pay attention in order to get good results. You do not want to be cutting and measuring while you are in the process of cooking over a hot flame. Proper planning will make the whole experience of stir-frying much more enjoyable.
The trick to successfully making fried rice is to ensure that the rice does not stick to the pan as you are cooking it. If the rice begins to stick, you will not be able to properly fry all of the rice and you may risk scorching the dish. Using a well-seasoned wok or cast-iron/steel pan is very helpful as they are essentially non-stick. You could also use a non-stick pan for this recipe but just make sure you do not get the pan too hot or the non-stick coating could deteriorate. If you are using a stainless steel pan you will have to be very careful to keep the pan hot while cooking or else the rice could stick.
I will also be attaching a recipe for prik nam pla, chilies marinated in fish sauce. This condiment is often served alongside crab fried rice to provide a spicy, salty kick. It will only take about 3 minutes to put together and is optional. The crab fried rice is slightly under-seasoned in order to account for the occasional drizzle of prik nam pla.
I can not overstate the importance of a properly cooked pot of steamed jasmine rice. Whether you are eating it plain (as part of a larger meal) or using it in dishes like fried rice or pad kaprao, properly or improperly cooked jasmine rice can …
This spicy “salad” of thinly sliced beef and beef tendon is a great addition to a larger family-style meal. If you like cold spicy Sichuan dishes like husband and wife beef and pork belly in garlic sauce, you will definitely enjoy this dish. The overall …
Twice cooked pork is a stir-fried dish from Sichuan that is definitely worth adding to your home cooking repertoire. The basic technique is simple. Pork is simmered, sliced, and then stir-fried with green garlic and aromatics. Served with a bowl of freshly steamed rice, this is an undeniably addicting dish. I like to cook this dish in a wok but you could also use a large saute pan.
I suggest using skin-on pork belly for this dish. While it is often made with skin-on pork leg, pork belly is much easier to source in the US and contains roughly the same ratio of fat, lean meat and skin. If your pork belly comes with some bones attached, remove them and save them for another use The pork skin adds a great chewy texture to the dish but if that is something that turns you off, you could remove the skin, although I don’t recommend it.
This is a vital ingredient to twice-cooked pork and if you can’t get your hand on any, don’t bother trying to make this dish. Doubanjiang is a spicy, savory, salty, and oily condiment that is made with fermented broad (fava) beans and chili. Luckily it can be found on Amazon and most Chinese grocery stores. I like using Pixian doubanjiang, which made in the Pixian region of Sichuan. The English labeling can get a bit confusing but look for something along the lines of “Pixian chili (broad) bean paste”.
I like to use young green garlic for this dish. This green garlic resembles a thin leek and does not have the garlic “bulb” formed at the bottom of the stalk. I find this stuff pretty much year round at my local Chinese grocery store. If you can’t find green garlic, you could replace it with leeks, scallions, or even sliced onions.
Lobster can often feel like a luxury that is too difficult or expensive to cook at home. While definitely not dirt-cheap, you might be surpised by how inexpensive lobster can be when it is prepared at home. A standard 1.25# lobster can often be purchased …
This is a very simple recipe for chicken liver mousse that tastes just as good as the stuff you get at fancy restaurants. The ingredient list is short and the hands-on cooking time is no more than 15 to 20 minutes. If you are entertaining …
Let me preface this by saying that I am by no means an expert on this dish, I just love eating Dan Dan noodles and this recipe is about as close as I can get to what I consider “ideal”. I have eaten countless bowls of Dan Dan here in the US but my definition of “ideal” was really solidified when I visited Chengdu, Sichuan.
The Dan Dan noodles I ate in Chengdu were quite different from the versions I have had here. First of all, the noodles in Chengdu were much better. They were thick, tasted of wheat, and had a pleasantly chewy texture. Many of the versions here in the US are made with overcooked, flavorless noodles. The Dan Dan sauce in Chengdu was also much better. It was savory, spicy, and coated the noodles well. The chili oil would emulsify into the sauce which gave the noodles a creamy texture, never oily or greasy.
Making Dan Dan at home requires making three “main” components separately. Once you have made these components, the bowls of noodles can be assembled. The three components are the noodles, the chili oil, and the topping. The nice thing is, you can buy two of these items (noodles and chili oil) from most Chinese/Asian grocery stores and still yield decent results.
Using high-quality noodles is very important to a bowl of Dan Dan. I think the best way to ensure great results is to make them yourself. The recipe for hand-cut alkaline noodles is linked here. Alternatively, you could purchase fresh noodles from an Asian grocery store. I prefer slightly thicker wheat noodles for this dish (2 mm or 1/8th inch thick).
Good chili oil is essential to making a bowl of Dan Dan noodles. I like to make chili oil at home because I can adjust it to my liking and it often tastes better than the store-bought stuff. That being said, if you have a well-stocked Chinese grocery store near you, there are some high-quality Sichuan chili oils you can buy. You can find the chili oil recipe here.
This is the one component that you will need to make yourself. Luckily it is quite easy to make as long as you have the right ingredients. The topping is a mixture of ground pork, suimiyacai (fermented mustard greens), and snake beans that are quickly stir-fried together. The suimiyacai brings a salty, umami, fermented quality to the dish. It can be purchased on Amazon or in many Asian Grocery stores. Snake beans are often served in Dan Dan-style noodles in Chengdu so I added them to this recipe. I prefer snake beans to the more typical blanched bok choy/spinach. The topping can be made a few hours ahead of time and held at room temperature until you are ready to assemble your bowls of noodles
Once you have made the three main components, assembling the bowls is very simple. The chili oil is placed in the bottom of a bowl along with some sliced scallions and a few other pantry items. This will become the “sauce” for the noodles. The noodles are then cooked, placed on top of the “sauce” and finished with a little bit of the pork topping. Make sure to mix your bowl of noodles well before eating!
This is a basic Sichuan-style chili oil that can be used in numerous applications. I always like to have a batch in the fridge as it can bring a little heat and sparkle to many dishes. It’s great for drizzling on dumplings, in soups, on …
These thick alkaline noodles are great for making dandan noodles but will also work well in noodle soups and many other hot and cold preparations. While not specifically designed for it, this dough could be also be used to make Japanese-style ramen noodles. The noodles …
Making fresh falafel at home isn’t nearly as time-consuming and labor intensive as it may seem. As long as you plan ahead and have the right equipment, falafel can easily be made in 30 to 45 minutes. You can make the accompaniments to your falafel as simple or complex as you like. Don’t let the perceived difficulty of making falafel steer you away from giving it a shot.
The method for making falafel is quite simple. Soaked chickpeas are ground with aromatics, herbs and spices. This mixture is then formed into balls or patties and fried.
First things first, you have to use dried chickpeas to make good falafel. Canned cooked chickpeas will yield a mushy, dense falafel….no good. The dried chickpeas need to be soaked overnight in at least double their volume of cold water. The chickpeas will swell and absorb much of the water and if you don’t properly cover them, some chickpeas will eventually end up above the “water line” and not soak properly. The chickpeas can be soaked at room temperature or in the fridge.
I like to use whole fresh spices, which I grind for each batch of falafel, but powdered spices would also work well. I also use fresh turmeric in this recipe, but if you do not have access to it, powdered turmeric would work.
You can make this falafel using one of three pieces of equipment…blender, food processor or meat grinder. You can get good results with all three but some methods have their advantages.
Using a blender is probably the most difficult way to make falafel. That is not to say it can’t be done … I have used a blender many times with good results. However, I wouldn’t try to make big batches of falafel using this method. The reason for this is that you need to carefully pulse the falafel in many small batches in order to achieve a good, consistent grind. This is much more time-consuming than using a food processor or meat grinder. If you choose to grind your falafel in the blender, do not fill the blender more than 1/3 of the way and pulse the falafel mix in small batches until all of your falafel is ground. Use a spoon to stir the falafel in between pulses to help achieve an even grind.
A food processor can grind much more falafel at a time and is easier to use. The food processor mixes the falafel as it is running which will keep you from having to stop and stir falafel in between pulses.
Using a meat grinder is my preferred method for making falafel. That is because it yields a very even grind on the falafel and it is REALLY fast. I use a 5 mm die for falafel but a smaller die would also work. Clean up is really simple because the falafel (unlike ground meat) isn’t fatty and will easily rinse off of the grinder’s moving parts. I understand most people don’t have a meat grinder at home, but if you do, I highly recommend using it. Good electric meat grinders can be found online for under 60 dollars and are totally worth the investment.
While this recipe calls for deep-frying the falafel, this is not necessary and pan frying the falafel is equally delicious. I actually pan fry much more often when cooking during the week. Pan frying uses less oil, which in turn allows me to cook the falafel in olive oil instead of vegetable oil (I wouldn’t dare fill a deep fryer with extra virgin olive oil to cook a few falafel on a Tuesday night).
Deep-frying can achieve nice round falafel, but pan frying is much better suited to forming the falafel into disc shaped patties. This will make it much easier to cook them as you only have 2 sides to cook. If you try to pan fry spherical falafel, you will need to be constantly turning and rotating the falafel to achieve a nice even cook… which is a pain in the ass.
To pan-fry the falafel, make disk shaped patties that are approximately 3/4 inch thick and 2 inches in diameter. Fill a sauté pan with about 1/2 inch of olive oil and fry a few of the patties over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes per side. Oil should sizzle as the falafels cook but not so hot that the falafel burn in the time it takes to cook them. Be very delicate with the falafel when adding them to the oil and flipping them. The falafels will want to fall apart at first. Once they have developed a crust they will hold together much more easily. Once they are nicely browned on both side, rest them on paper towels and cook the rest of the falafel in batches.
Stir-fried romaine lettuce? It may sound strange but this is a delicious way to use romaine lettuce as a side dish. The romaine is quickly stir-fried over very high heat with garlic, chili and a touch of Sichuan peppercorn. The resulting lettuce is smoky, garlicky, …
Roasted chili powder has so many uses and variations that it would be foolish to try and write a definitive recipe. The type of chili that is used, the spice level, how many seeds are left in the powder, the level of roasted flavor desired, …
Laap (aka laab, lahb, larb….) is a bit hard to describe to those who aren’t familiar this Thai/Lao dish. In essence, it is a ground meat salad. Ground meat is cooked, seasoned and then tossed with a number of different herbs and garnishes. Broadly speaking, there are two main types of laap…laap Isan and laap muang. The main differences being the way the dishes are seasoned and the regions in which they are most often consumed.
Laap Isan is the style that is made in the northeastern (Isan) region of Thailand. It is the most common style of laap found in Thai restaurants here in the US. It can be characterized by its primary seasonings of fish sauce, dried chili powder and lime juice. The resulting dish is usually spicy, salty, and herbaceous.
Laap muang is the style most prevalent in northern Thailand (Lanna). This style is much less common in the US than it’s Isan counterpart, but is equally delicious. Laap muang does not contain lime juice and has a number of dry spices used in the seasoning. This dish is much more aromatic and deep in its flavor profile.
Any number of proteins can be used in both styles of laap. Chicken, pork, buffalo and seafood are all commonly used as the base for these dishes. Additions of organ meat, blood and bile are often used as well. The herbs can vary but mint, scallion, cilantro are quite common.
This version of laap Isan has a few extra bells and whistles. That being said, you could easily omit a few of the ingredients and still yield a very delicious result. I like to serve this dish with sticky rice and raw vegetables to eat between bites. Cabbage and cucumbers work well but you could serve the dish with anything you like.
When preparing this laap, remember to turn off the heat after the meat has been cooked through. The shallots and herbs should be mixed in at the very last moment before serving them so that they do not get overly cooked. You want the herbs to wilt a little but still maintain some freshness.
I have provided a sub-recipe for a crispy garlic and chicken skin topping but you could also just use some plain fried garlic or shallots as a topping. A bit of extra toasted rice powder also works well as a topping if you can’t be bothered frying garlic or shallots.
This is a spicy and addicting home-style Sichuan dish that is easy to put together for a weeknight meal. It goes really well with some steamed for a simple dinner, or as part of a multi-dish meal. The prep is relatively simple, just a little …
Making a green curry from scratch at home can take some effort, but the results are undoubtedly better than your typical take-out version. The nice thing is, much of the work goes into making the green curry paste and once you have made the paste, …
Making a Thai-style curry paste can be a bit daunting but it really isn’t complicated and will yield much better results than the canned pastes you find in the supermarket. This curry paste can be used to make many different types of green curries, including this version with chicken and eggplant. The trick to making a good curry paste is having the right ingredients, the right equipment and having a bit of patience.
As the produce that we have available here in the US is very different from what you can find in Thailand, it can be a bit difficult to source some of the necessary ingredients. Some items, such as the turmeric and galangal, can be purchased frozen whole and still yield good results. Cilantro roots are just the roots of regular cilantro. Unfortunately many US supermarkets remove the roots before selling them. If you can’t find cilantro with the roots attached, you could just use cilantro stems.
The preferred tool for making a curry paste is a granite mortar and pestle. They are heavy and the surfaces are rough so that you can use the weight and roughness of the pestle to do most of the work for you. Most other styles of mortar and pestle will not do a very good job because of the weight and texture of the materials they are made of.
You could make this paste in a food processor but unless it has very sharp blades, your paste will likely not be as smooth as when it is made in a mortar and pestle. This will affect the texture of your finished curry. A blender could also be used but you may need to add a bit of liquid in the form of water, stock or coconut milk to help the paste blend. This will give you a slightly different texture than a paste made by hand but can yield decent results.
Make sure you cut your ingredients up onto smaller pieces before pounding. This will reduce the amount of effort necessary to break up the vegetables. It also helps to cut fibrous vegetables such and lemongrass and galangal across the grain.
Pounding curry paste in a mortar and pestle can sometimes lead to spicy bits of paste jumping out of the mortar and landing on your hands, arms or even face. This can irritate your skin and eyes. To mitigate this I like to do a few things:
Properly pounding a curry paste by hand takes time. Be patient, relax, have a beer. Do not attempt to make curry paste when you are in a rush, this is not a quick weekday 30-minute meal. If you are pressed for time and trying to rush you will likely end up frustrated and with an inferior curry paste.
Toasted rice powder is a pantry item that is often used in Northeastern Thai (Isan) and Lao cooking. Sticky rice is toasted until golden and then crushed to achieve a medium-fine powder. This powder is used to provide a nutty flavor and interesting texture to …
I love cold soups in the warmer months. This is a really simple chilled tomato soup that I often make in the summer when tomatoes are at their best. It takes very little effort to put together and tastes way better than you might expect …
Lomo Saltado just might be my favorite dish of all time. I grew up eating it and to this day, I almost always order Lomo Saltado whenever I go to a Peruvian restaurant. The funny thing is that, at its core, this famous Peruvian dish is actually rooted in Chinese cooking.
Lomo Saltado is a stir fry of beef, onions, tomatoes, and fried potatoes, cooked in a wok, made with soy sauce and served with rice. While the cooking technique and foundation of the dish are undeniable Chinese, the addition of fried potatoes, aji amarillo and tomato are what also make it undeniably Peruvian. This dish really illustrates how Peruvian cuisine is the result of many different cultures settling in Peru over the past few hundred years.
This dish needs to be cooked hot and fast. Cooking a portion of Lomo Saltado should not take more than 3 minutes (but preferably 2) once you start stir-frying, This is probably the most important aspect of this dish. As this is traditionally cooked in a hot wok, you need to make sure however you cook lomo saltado, you cook it over high heat and quickly. The beef should be browned and not overcooked. The tomatoes and onions should be lightly caramelized but still maintain their structure without getting overly soft. And if you can get a few CONTROLLED flare-ups in the pan while tossing, you will be rewarded with that nice smokey flavor that wok cooking is known for (wok hei).
Expanding on above, do not attempt to cook Lomo Saltado for more than 2 people at once unless you feel comfortable working in batches and stages. I have a very powerful wok burner at home and 2 portions is the maximum that I would cook at one time. If you are cooking for 2 people on a home stove, I would suggest stir frying your meat and veggies separately over very high heat and then quickly combining them at the end with the sauce. This will avoid having the dish simmer instead of stir fry.
Make sure you have everything ready before you start stir frying! Because the stir frying only takes 2 or 3 minutes, you need to make sure all of your meat, veggies, herbs and sauce ingredients are cut and ready. I also like to make sure the rice and french fries are both hot and waiting on a warm plate when the stir-frying begins.
The fried potatoes (french fries) should be served beneath or tossed into the stir fry. The texture and flavor of crispy fried potatoes that have become partly soggy with delicious Saltado juice is one of the best parts. Some people seem to like the potatoes on the side but to me that like having stir fried beef with a side of rice AND a side of french fries. When the potatoes are incorporated into the stir fry, they become a PART of the dish.
The rice should be served on the same plate as the Lomo Saltado. One of the best parts of eating lomo saltado is the rice that has mixed with the delicious cooking juices that have seeped out of the stir fry.
Lomo Saltado would traditionally be made with beef tenderloin. While tenderloin is great for this dish, today we will be making this dish with hanger steak. Hanger is a bit tougher but it has great flavor and lends itself to stir frying. You could really use ANY cut of reasonably tender beef for this dish. I have used skirt steak, strip loin, ribeye…all with great results. Just make sure you try to cut your strips of beef across the grain if possible.
Aji Amarillo is the pepper that is typically used for this recipe. While the flavor of aji amarillo is quite distinct, It can be almost impossible to find fresh here in the US. You can purchase frozen aji amarillo or jarred aji amarillo puree in many Latin American stores but today I just used some spicy red peppers that I found at the market. You could substitute any hot pepper you like.
Because they are being stir-fried, the tomatoes that you use should not be the ripe super-soft heirloom tomatoes that you might use for a summer salad. Instead, use any ripe yet moderately firm tomato. Halved cherry tomatoes would work as well.
I will explain a quick french fry method in this recipe but you could also use good quality frozen french fries or even just roasted potatoes. Make sure you use a starchy potato for your fries such as russet or kennebec.
If you cook this recipe correctly, it will most likely set off your fire alarm unless you have a great kitchen exhaust or an outdoor kitchen. This is a stir fry and it will create a lot of smoke and maybe a few licks of flame when done correctly. Please be careful. Don’t start a fire. Make sure you have fully read the procedure so you don’t have to look at the recipe while you are actively stir frying. If you don’t feel comfortable with the high heat you could do it at a lower heat, just know that the results will not have that appealing smokey flavor.
This recipe was taught to me by my dad and I continue to make it the same way to this day. This method for cooking rice is actually quite typical in Peru and accompanies a number of Peruvian dishes. It is almost always seen with …
I have enjoyed chilled oysters about a million different ways. I’ve had them plain, with a little citrus, and with a multitude of different cocktail sauces, hot sauces and mignonettes. All of these preparations can be amazing but my favorite way to eat oysters, hands …
This dipping sauce is amazing on all sorts of grilled meats. I particularly like it when it is served with Gai Yang, Thai grilled chicken. There are many recipes for nam jim jeaw but this one is made using prepared tamarind for acidity. Some recipes use lime juice but the idea is always the same. A tangy, salty, spicy, and barely sweet sauce to accentuate your grilled meats.
Prepared tamarind can be a bit confusing to some people but it is actually quite simple. The flesh of the tamarind fruit, which is a bit dense and chewy, is mixed with water until it reaches the consistency of a puree. This “puree” is then used in a number of dishes to lend acidity and flavor.
You most often see tamarind in two forms here in the US, jarred prepared tamarind and packaged tamarind pulp. If you find prepared tamarind, you don’t need to do anything more to it, it is ready to use in most recipes. If you find tamarind pulp, you need to takes a small piece and put it in a bowl with an equal amount of warm water. Let is sit for a few minutes. Using you hands, massage the tamarind pulp until it starts to loosen up. keep adding water and massaging until an apple sauce consistency is achieved.
Make sure you use a good quality roasted chili powder . It is easy to make at home. Dry arbol chilies works well for this, but you can use any dry chili to suit your taste. Remove the stems and seeds from the chilies. Toast them in a 350 Fahrenheit oven until they are aromatic and start to deepen in color, about 6 minutes. Cool and crush in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder into a coarse powder. Make extra and you can use it for other dishes.
The toasted rice powder is made by toasting uncooked sticky rice in a pan or in the oven until it is a light golden color. Use medium heat (or a 350F oven) and toast for 10 to 15 minute. After toasting, allow it to cool and crush in a mortar and pestle until a course powder similar to ground coffee is achieved. The toasted rice powder brings an interesting texture and nutty flavor to the sauce.
A lot of people I know have trouble cooking sticky rice at home. Can I use any type of rice? How do I cook it? Do I need special equipment? These are all great questions. Here is my method, which is simple and yields solid …
A few words on Gai Yang – ไก่ย่าง Grilled chicken with papaya salad and a bit of sticky rice is easily one of my favorite meals on earth. Sitting outside on a hot day there is nothing better, especially if you wash it down with …
This is my method for cooking and cleaning lobsters to be used for stuffing. Make sure the lobsters are alive and have visible signs of activity before cooking. If the lobsters are not moving at all, discard them. If the lobsters are larger or smaller than 1.25#, increase or decrease the cooking time by a minute or two.
When you are all done you should have:
There you have it! The hard part is over and now you can get on with the fun part, stuffing and roasting the lobsters. Keep the lobster meat and half-shells in the fridge, covered, until you are ready to assemble the dish. The lobsters can be cooked and clean a day or two in advance if necessary.