Featured recipe

Sayur lodeh

Vegetables in coconut milk

Sayur lodeh is everyday cooking in Central Java, made in big pots in Solo and Semarang kitchens and ladled over rice, with lontong rice cakes at Lebaran, or alongside opor and sambal goreng on festive tables. It's soupy rather than thick: a fragrant broth of coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass and lime leaf that carries chunks of aubergine, long beans, chayote and sweetcorn, plus tempeh and tofu to make it a meal. The flavour is mellow and slightly sweet, so the heat comes from sambal on the side. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a gentle simmer once the coconut milk goes in and stir now and then — a rolling boil splits the coconut milk into oily curds.

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Xôi mặnSticky rice with sausage

In Ho Chi Minh City, xôi mặn is bought from a street cart in a banana leaf or a foam box and eaten at your desk for breakfast or lunch: chewy sticky rice under sweet slices of lạp xưởng (Chinese pork sausage), pork floss, braised quail eggs, spring onion oil and crisp shallots. Soak the rice for at least 4 hours or overnight before you start. The common mistake is steaming unsoaked rice, which stays hard in the middle. Chef's tip: sprinkle the rice with salted water halfway through steaming and fluff it, so every grain turns glossy and evenly soft.

70 min

Vietnamese Rice & Grains

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Trini pepper sauce

Ask for doubles anywhere in Trinidad and the vendor will ask "slight or heavy?", meaning how much pepper sauce goes on. This raw, rough-blended sauce also goes on pholourie, aloo pie, bake and saltfish and Christmas pastelles, and every family swears theirs is best. Scotch bonnet or local congo peppers are blended with shado beni (culantro), plenty of garlic, prepared mustard, vinegar and lime, and many cooks stretch it with grated green papaya or green mango for body. It tastes ferociously hot, sharp, garlicky and green, with a tangy mustard finish. Abroad, swap the culantro for double the amount of coriander with its stalks. Common mistake: following the old habit of standing the bottle in the sun to "cure"; raw garlic and herbs are not safe at room temperature, so let the flavours marry in the fridge instead. Wear gloves and keep the blender lid on. It is ready after 2–3 days in the fridge, when the colour turns from bright to olive and the raw garlic edge has softened. Chef's tip: salt and squeeze the grated papaya before adding it, so it does not water the sauce down.

25 min

Trinidadian Chutneys & Dips

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JiaoquanCrisp fried dough rings

Jiaoquan are the thin, shatteringly crisp fried rings that old Beijingers dunk into a bowl of sour douzhi, or tuck inside a sesame shaobing for breakfast. Street cooks use alum to make them puff; this home version uses baking powder and soda, with a long rest so the dough becomes stretchy. The mistake is cutting the rest short: tight dough will not stretch thin and the rings come out chewy. The dough needs about 3 hours in total, most of it hands-off. Chef's tip: keep the oil steady at about 170 °C and turn the rings constantly with chopsticks; they should stay pale gold, not brown, and sound hollow when tapped.

60 min

Chinese Breakfast & Brunch

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GüirilaSweet corn tortilla with curd cheese

On the winding road north from Managua to Matagalpa and Jinotega, smoke from roadside griddles means güirilas: thick, sweet tortillas of freshly ground young corn, folded around a slab of salty cuajada and a spoonful of cream. The outside is lightly charred and the middle soft and custardy, a little like a corn pancake. Cuajada is a fresh cheese usually set with animal rennet; a vegetarian halloumi or fresh vegetarian cheese is a good swap. The most common mistake is a batter so runny that it spreads thin and tears when you flip it. Chef's tip: grind the corn in a blender in short bursts so a little texture remains, then stir in masa harina a spoonful at a time until the batter just holds a soft mound.

40 minCentral American Snacks & Starters

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Kluay pingGrilled banana

Kluay ping carts work the pavements of Silom and the lanes off Sukhumvit from mid-morning, when office workers want something sweet with their iced coffee. The vendor grills small, starchy nam wa bananas slowly over embers, presses each one flat with a wooden board and then brushes it with coconut cream cooked down with palm sugar and a pinch of salt. The outside turns sticky and smoky; the inside stays soft and fudgy. Ladyfinger bananas or firm, just-ripe small bananas work at home. Chef's tip: choose bananas that are yellow with no brown spots; overripe fruit turns to mush on the grill.

35 min

Thai Desserts

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Lempeng kelapaThin coconut pancakes

On Malaysia's east coast, in Terengganu and Kelantan, lempeng is the morning flatbread nobody buys because every home can make it in minutes: flour, freshly grated coconut, salt and water, spread thin on a griddle. It is eaten warm, torn and dipped into sambal tumis or last night's fish or vegetable curry. The mistake is a thick batter; it should spread on its own into a thin round, or the middle stays doughy. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes so the coconut softens and the flour hydrates, which gives lempeng that bend without tearing.

30 min

Malaysian Breads & Parathas

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Carottes VichyGlazed carrots

Carottes Vichy come from the spa town of Vichy in the Auvergne, where they were cooked in the local mineral water; today they are the classic French bistro and Sunday-lunch side, loved by children. Thin rounds of carrot simmer with butter, a little sugar and salt in just enough water, so that when the carrots are tender the water has boiled down to a shiny glaze. Serve with roast chicken, an omelette or lentils. The usual mistake is using too much water, so you must drain away the flavour; it should just cover the carrots. Chef's tip: a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the water copies Vichy's alkaline water and helps the carrots turn sweet and bright.

30 min

French Sides

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Guyanese black puddingRice blood sausage

On Saturday mornings in Georgetown and in villages along the East Bank, black pudding sellers cut thick slices from long dark coils and serve them with a sharp, peppery sour made from cucumber or mango. Guyanese black pudding is a soft sausage of rice, fresh herbs, hot pepper and blood, usually beef or pork blood, filled into casings and gently boiled. Buy the blood fresh and chilled from a licensed butcher (ask for it with an anticoagulant already added) and use it the same day, or use dried blood powder made up with water. The commonest mistake is boiling it hard, which bursts the casings. Chef's tip: keep the water barely trembling and prick any air bubbles with a pin as the sausages cook; they are done when a thermometer pushed into the middle reads 71 °C and the filling is firm and dark.

105 min

Guyanese Meat

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Kathirikai gothsuSmoky aubergine tamarind gravy

At the Nataraja temple in Chidambaram, ven pongal, the peppery rice and moong porridge, is always served with gothsu, and the pairing has spread to breakfast tables and wedding feasts all over Tamil Nadu. Brinjal is charred over the flame, mashed and simmered with a little moong dal, shallots and tamarind, then seasoned with a freshly roasted powder of coriander, chana dal and chilli. The result is smoky, tangy and spoonable, also good with idli or dosa. The usual mistake is using big, seedy aubergines: choose small, firm, glossy ones, which are sweeter. Chef's tip: char at least one brinjal right over the gas flame until the skin is black all over; that smoky note is what makes Chidambaram gothsu.

50 min

Indian Curries

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Vazhakkai podimas (raw banana podimas)

Podimas comes from Tamil Brahmin kitchens in Thanjavur and Chennai, where green plantain is boiled whole, grated into soft crumbs and tossed with a tempering of mustard, dal, ginger, green chilli and coconut, then sharpened with lemon. It is light and fluffy, and it sits happily next to sambar rice or rasam rice in a tiffin. The mistake is overboiling the plantain: it turns sticky and will not grate into crumbs. Pull it out as soon as a knife slides in with a little resistance. Chef's tip: grate it on the large holes of a box grater while still warm, then let it cool before tossing, so the shreds stay separate.

28 min

Indian Sides

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SanpiauRice porridge with fish sauce

Sanpiau is the street-stall breakfast and afternoon snack of Aizawl, Mizoram: a thin, silky rice porridge ladled into bowls and finished at the table with fish sauce, black pepper, crisp fried shallots, coriander and, often, shredded chicken. It came to Mizoram via Myanmar and is now as Mizo as bai. The common mistake is under-stirring, so the rice catches on the base; stir every few minutes once it thickens. Chef's tip: let everyone season their own bowl, since fish sauce brands vary a lot in saltiness.

50 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Guyanese plait breadBraided white loaf

A glossy three-strand plait sits on the table in many Guyanese homes on Christmas morning and for Old Year's Night, next to garlic pork, pepperpot and black cake, and bakeries in Georgetown sell it every day for sandwiches. It is a soft, close-crumbed white bread, just a little sweet, that tears into pillowy pieces and soaks up pepperpot gravy beautifully. The common slip is adding too much flour while kneading: the dough should feel slightly tacky, or the loaf bakes up dry and dense. Chef's tip: let the shaped plait prove until a finger pressed into the side leaves a dent that springs back slowly; that is the moment to bake.

60 min

Guyanese Baking

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Awan bangwiSticky rice with nuts

Awan bangwi belongs to the Kokborok-speaking communities of Tripura, who make it for weddings, Garia Puja and New Year gatherings. Soaked sticky rice is mixed with ginger, cashews, raisins and a little ghee, folded into cones of leaf and steamed until glossy and chewy. The mistake to avoid is packing the cones too tightly: the rice swells and the leaves split. Banana leaf or turmeric leaf replaces the local leaf well. Chef's tip: soak the rice overnight; under-soaked grains stay chalky however long you steam them.

75 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Feijoa jam

Feijoa bushes grow in almost every garden along Georgia's Black Sea coast, in Batumi, Kobuleti and the hills of Guria, and in late October and November the egg-shaped green fruit drop faster than anyone can eat them. The local answer is a raw jam: the whole fruit, skin and all, minced with sugar and kept cold, so it keeps the fresh, heady taste of pineapple, guava and mint. It is spooned into small glass dishes beside a cup of black tea, spread on bread for breakfast, stirred into yoghurt and eaten by the teaspoon through the winter cold season. The texture is a loose, pale-green pulp with a little grit from the seeds and skin; the flavour is sweet, tart and very aromatic. Common mistake: leaving the cut fruit to stand before mixing with sugar; it browns within minutes, so mince straight into the sugar and stir. The jam is ready when the sugar has fully dissolved and the colour is an even jade green. Because it is never cooked it must live in the fridge or freezer. Chef's tip: use fruit that gives slightly when pressed and smells strongly; hard feijoas taste of skin, overripe ones have brown jelly inside and turn the jam muddy.

20 min

Georgian Chutneys & Dips

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Fermented bean curd

Fu ru is made all over China, from Guilin's chilli-red cubes to Shaoxing's pale ones, and is usually prepared in the cool months between late autumn and early spring, when the moulds grow slowly and cleanly. Firm tofu cubes sit on rice straw or a rack until a soft white fuzz covers them; they are then rolled in salt and chilli and aged in brine until the centre turns custard-soft and the flavour becomes deep, cheesy and savoury. A quarter of a cube is mashed over plain rice congee for breakfast, or stirred into a sauce for stir-fried water spinach. Common mistake: making it in a warm kitchen; above about 20 °C the wrong moulds and bacteria take over. The bloom must be white or greyish-white and fluffy, smelling mildly of mushrooms; throw away any cube with green, black, pink, orange or yellow spots, sliminess or an ammonia or rotten smell, and if many are affected discard the whole batch. Do not reduce the salt: it is what keeps this low-acid soy ferment safe, and the whole ageing happens in the fridge. It is ready after 6–8 weeks, when a cube is soft right through. Chef's tip: press the tofu overnight first, drier cubes grow a cleaner bloom.

70 min

Chinese Chutneys & Dips

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Cart noodles

Cart noodles began in the 1950s, when hawkers pushed carts of simmering pots through Sham Shui Po and Wong Tai Sin and let customers pick their own noodles and toppings. The carts are long gone, but the noodle shops of Mong Kok and Kowloon City keep the custom: tick off your choices on a slip, perhaps curry fish balls, soft braised daikon, chewy pork skin, pig's blood or squid, and choose your broth, here a spicy curry-satay one. It is a cheap, filling late-night meal. This version uses pork skin and pork stock. Contains fish, wheat, egg and soy. Chef's tip: give the pork skin time in the curry pot; it should be soft and jelly-like, soaking up the sauce.

60 min

Hong Kong Pasta & Noodles

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Del curryBreadfruit coconut curry

Breadfruit trees grow in almost every village garden in Sri Lanka, and del curry is the filling weekday and almsgiving dish that makes use of them, especially in the wet south-west. Chunks of breadfruit are simmered in coconut milk with roasted curry powder, a little mustard paste, curry leaves and pandan, until they turn soft, creamy and starchy like a good potato. Eat it with rice, pol sambol and a green mallung. The usual mistake is skipping the pre-boil; breadfruit contains a sticky latex and can stay firm, so boil the pieces first. Chef's tip: stir the mustard paste in only at the end and don't boil it hard afterwards, or it turns bitter.

45 min

Sri Lankan Curries

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Sinamak

Iloilo is the home of La Paz batchoy and chicken inasal, and on every table there sits a tall bottle of sinamak, cane or coconut vinegar crowded with chillies, garlic and ginger. Visayan families keep a bottle going all year, and the dip turns up with grilled pork belly, crisp lechon kawali, fried fish and longganisa at breakfast. After a few days of steeping it is clean and sour, hot from siling labuyo, warm with ginger and peppery, with a faint sweetness from the cane vinegar. Common mistake: making a huge bottle and leaving it in a warm kitchen for months; fresh garlic and ginger are low-acid, so use full-strength vinegar, keep it in the fridge and make a fresh batch every couple of months. Toasting the garlic is not traditional and is not needed. It is ready when the vinegar has turned faintly golden and smells strongly of chilli and garlic, usually after 3 days. Chef's tip: bruise the chillies with the flat of a knife instead of slicing them; the heat comes out slowly and the vinegar stays clear. Cider vinegar can stand in for cane or coconut vinegar.

15 min

Filipino Basics

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Pineapple soybean paste

Hakka households in Miaoli, Hsinchu and Pingtung are frugal and patient, and pineapple soybean paste (ong lai dau jiong) shows both. In early summer, when Taiwan's pineapples are plentiful, the fruit is cut into wedges and layered in jars with salted soybean koji and sugar, then left in a cool corner for months. The pineapple softens and goes golden-brown, the beans melt into a thick sauce, and the whole jar turns sweet, salty and tangy with a soft funk like miso. Spooned over steamed fish with ginger and scallion, stirred into braised bitter melon or tossed through stir-fried greens and wood ear, it is a back-pocket seasoning for everyday Hakka meals and bento. Common mistake: using very ripe, juicy pineapple; the fruit breaks into mush and the extra water dilutes the salt. Choose firm, just-ripe fruit and dry it after cutting. It is ready when the pineapple has turned amber and translucent and the beans are soft, after 1–3 months. Chef's tip: read the koji label — many brands are dusted with wheat flour, so it is not reliably gluten free.

45 min

Taiwanese Basics

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HallullaFlat round bread

If marraqueta is Santiago's crusty roll, hallulla is its soft, flat partner: a pale round about the size of a saucer, enriched with a little fat and pricked all over, with a fine, tight crumb that is perfect split and toasted with butter or filled with cheese and avocado at once. Bakeries traditionally use lard; this vegetarian version uses vegetable shortening or butter. Many home bakers let the rounds over-prove and get puffy buns; give them a short rise only. Chef's tip: fold and roll the dough several times before cutting, as bakery rollers do, to get the fine, layered crumb.

138 min

Chilean Breads & Parathas

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HacheeBeef and onion stew

Hachee is the Dutch stoofpotje that grandmothers in Friesland, Groningen and Brabant leave murmuring on the back of the stove on cold Sundays: beef braised with almost as much onion as meat, plus bay leaves, cloves and a splash of vinegar, until it falls apart into a dark, sweet-sour gravy. It goes on boiled potatoes with red cabbage, or with stamppot, and leftovers are eaten on toast. The usual mistake is rushing the onions: they need a good 15 minutes to turn deep golden, or the gravy stays pale and sharp. Slow-cooker option: after browning, cook on low for 8 hours. Chef's tip: stir in a spoon of dark syrup or apple butter at the end only if the vinegar tastes too sharp; taste first, as good onions often make it unnecessary.

190 min

Dutch Meat

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Chinese plum sauce

In Hong Kong and Guangzhou roast-meat shops, a small saucer of plum sauce comes with crisp roast goose and siu mei, and at home it is the dip for spring rolls at New Year and the glaze for vegetarian fried tofu or cha siu-style mushrooms. Cantonese suan mei jiang is fruitier and more sour than the gloopy bottled kind: ripe plums are simmered with sugar, rice vinegar, ginger and a little chilli until thick and glossy. Make it in late summer when dark plums are cheap. Common mistake: boiling it too thick; it sets further as it cools, so stop when it coats the back of a spoon and a drip on a cold plate wrinkles only slightly. Readiness cues: the plum skins have melted into the sauce, the colour is deep ruby and the taste balances sweet and sharp. This is a high-acid preserve: in the fridge it keeps 2 months, or water-bath process sealed jars for 20 minutes to keep them in a cupboard for a year (refrigerate once opened). Discard if you see mould, it fizzes, the lid bulges or leaks, or it smells fermented. Chef's tip: add 2 Chinese salted preserved plums, mashed, for the authentic salty-sour depth.

55 min

Chinese Chutneys & Dips

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Misa mach pooraPrawns grilled in banana leaf

Misa mach poora is a simple Mizo way with river prawns: rubbed with ginger, garlic, chilli and salt, wrapped in banana leaf and cooked over embers until the leaf chars and the prawns steam in their own juices. It is made at riverside picnics and family cookouts and eaten with rice and a chilli relish. The common mistake is overcooking, which makes prawns tough; they are done the moment they turn opaque and pink all through. Chef's tip: keep the marinated parcels in the fridge until the grill is hot.

27 min

Indian Fish

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Harusame saladGlass noodle salad

Harusame, "spring rain" noodles, are fine glass noodles made from mung bean or potato starch, and this tangy salad of them with cucumber, carrot and ribbons of thin omelette is a supermarket deli favourite and a regular bento side across Japan. Ham is usually added; this version keeps it vegetarian. The common mistake is leaving the noodles long, which makes the salad impossible to eat from a bento with chopsticks; cut them with scissors after cooking. Chef's tip: dress the noodles while they are still slightly warm, because they drink up the dressing then and stay flavourful cold.

23 min

Japanese Salads

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Wiri wiri pepper sauce

Every Guyanese household, from Georgetown to the villages of Berbice, has its own bottle of pepper sauce, and the most prized is made with wiri wiri: tiny, round peppers no bigger than a currant, red, orange or yellow, with a fruity, almost tomato-like heat that hits fast and fades clean. They are ground with plenty of garlic, a little onion, prepared mustard, salt and vinegar, and often a few slices of green mango or five-finger (carambola) for sourness. A dab goes on cook-up rice, dhal and rice, roti and curry, fried fish and bake, and on the pepperpot at Christmas. The sauce is coarse, bright orange-red and loose, sour first, then fiercely hot and garlicky. A common mistake is thinning it with water, which makes it spoil quickly; use vinegar alone for any loosening. It is ready after a day in the fridge, when the garlic has softened into the heat and the colour has deepened. Outside Guyana, wiri wiri is hard to find; Scotch bonnets or red bird's-eye chillies work, though the flavour is a little different. Chef's tip: grate in a few slices of green mango for the true sour, fruity Guyanese edge.

25 min

Guyanese Chutneys & Dips

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HemenexHam and eggs

Hemenex, the Czech spelling of "ham and eggs", has been a breakfast in Prague cafés and pub kitchens since the First Republic and is still a weekend favourite at home: slices of cooked pork ham warmed in butter, eggs cracked right over them and fried until the whites set, then everything slid out together and eaten with bread and pickled gherkin. The common mistake is frying the ham until crisp; it should just warm and brown a little at the edges. Cook the yolks fully set for pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people. Serve with rye bread, or gluten-free bread if needed. Chef's tip: lay the ham in overlapping slices so it forms a "plate" under the eggs and the whites can't stick to the pan.

10 min

Czech Breakfast & Brunch

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Nutmeg jelly

Grenada, the Spice Isle, grows nutmeg all over the green hills of St Andrew and St John, and the pale yellow, apricot-sized fruit that wraps the seed and its red lace of mace was long thrown away at the processing stations. Grenadian cooks turned that tart, slightly astringent flesh into nutmeg jelly, a clear amber spread that is eaten on hops bread or coconut bake at breakfast, sold in small jars in the St George's market and carried home by visitors at Christmas. The fruit is loaded with pectin, so it sets easily, and it tastes sweet-sharp and fragrant, faintly of apple, with a soft warm hint of the spice itself. Outside the Caribbean the fresh fruit is hard to get; tart cooking apples or quinces with a little freshly grated nutmeg make a close copy (see the notes). The common slip is boiling on long after the set point, which turns the jelly dark, gummy and dull, so start testing early. It is ready when a drop wrinkles on a cold saucer or the thermometer reads 104–105 °C. Chef's tip: drop a strand of the red mace into each jar for colour and a little extra perfume.

90 minCaribbean Chutneys & Dips

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Herbata z sokiem malinowymTea with raspberry syrup

In Polish homes a bottle of sok malinowy, the raspberry syrup made each July from garden or forest raspberries, waits in the pantry for winter. When someone comes in from the frost, or lies in bed with a cold, it goes into a glass of hot black tea, sometimes with a slice of lemon; grandmothers insist it makes you sweat the chill out, and the drink is traditionally given at the first sign of a sniffle. It also appears simply after a winter walk or with a slice of cake. The tea turns ruby, tastes of summer berries with a light tannic edge, and is sweet enough without sugar. The usual mistake is pouring syrup into boiling tea straight from the kettle: the fresh raspberry aroma cooks off and only sweetness is left. Let the tea cool for a minute or two first. It is ready when the tea is deep amber, the syrup has fully swirled through and it smells clearly of raspberries. No homemade syrup? Use a good shop-bought raspberry syrup, or make the quick one in the optional steps. Chef's tip: brew the tea weaker than usual, about two minutes, so the fruit stays in front.

7 min

Polish Drinks

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Chuño

On the Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, in June and July when the nights drop to -10 °C and the days are bright and dry, Aymara and Quechua families spread small, bitter potatoes on the grass to make chuño, a technique far older than the Inca. The potatoes freeze at night and thaw in the sun for several days, then are trodden barefoot to squeeze out the water and rub off the skins, and dried for a couple of weeks more. The result is light, wrinkled, grey-black chuño negro that keeps for years; soaked in running stream water instead, the same potatoes become white tunta. Rehydrated and boiled, chuño is firm, slightly chewy and spongy, with an earthy, faintly mineral, almost fermented taste; it goes into chairo soup, into chuño phuti, or beside grilled meat with spicy llajwa. Skipping the long soak is the big mistake: it stays bitter and gritty, so soak it for at least 12 hours, changing the water. Dried chuño is ready when it is rock hard, very light and rattles in a bag. Chef's tip: without Andean frosts, a freezer and a low oven make a fair version; the method is below.

90 minAndean Basics

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Nutmeg juice

Penang is one of the few places in the world where nutmeg trees grow in back gardens, and its hawkers turn the pale, tart flesh around the nutmeg seed into jus buah pala, a frosty pale drink served at Gurney Drive and the coffee shops of Chulia Street to cool you down after spicy noodles. It tastes sweet and sour with a soft, woody spice. Outside Malaysia, look for preserved or candied nutmeg fruit strips in Asian grocers. Chef's tip: use only the fruit flesh; the seed (the nutmeg spice) and its red lace of mace are far too strong to blend into a drink and can make you unwell.

10 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Carato de maízChilled corn drink

Out on the hot plains of the Llanos, a jug of carato is kept cold for the afternoon: white corn cooked until soft, blended with its water, strained and sweetened with panela, cinnamon and clove. It is thick, creamy and filling enough to be a snack in a glass. Keep it in the fridge, because left out it starts to ferment. The common mistake is skipping the straining, which leaves it gritty. Chef's tip: strain through a fine sieve and then once more through a clean cloth for the silkiest drink.

70 min

Venezuelan Drinks

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Hinger kochuriUrad dal stuffed puffed bread

In Kolkata's sweetshops, Sunday breakfast often means hinger kochuri: soft, white-flour puris stuffed with a smear of urad dal paste perfumed strongly with hing, fried puffy and served with aloo dum or a sweet-sour pumpkin chhokka. They are smaller and softer than North Indian kachoris, closer to a stuffed luchi. The hing must be generous; it is the point of the dish. The common mistake is a wet filling, which steams the dough from inside and stops it puffing; cook the dal paste until it leaves the pan dry. Chef's tip: roll gently from the centre outwards so the thin filling layer stays even and the kochuri puffs all over.

60 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Polvorosa de polloChicken pie

Polvorosa is the pie that comes out for family birthdays and Sunday gatherings in Caracas: a melt-in-the-mouth, slightly sweet shortcrust (polvorosa means 'crumbly') around chicken stewed with leek, peppers, olives, capers and raisins, so each bite is salty, sweet and savoury at once. Serve it warm with a green salad. The common mistake is filling the pastry with hot stew, which melts the butter and makes a soggy, torn crust. Chef's tip: make the filling the day before and fill the pie straight from the fridge.

120 min

Venezuelan Chicken

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Bhel puri

On Girgaum and Juhu Chowpatty the bhelwalas set up as the sun drops into the Arabian Sea, and bhel puri is what Mumbai eats while it walks along the sand. Puffed rice, crushed flat puris and boiled potato are tossed in a steel bowl with sweet tamarind and fiery green chutneys, then buried under fine sev and handed over in a folded paper cone with a puri for a spoon. It is crunchy, sweet, sour and hot all at once, and it has to be eaten within minutes. Chef's tip: lay out every component before you start, because the mixing takes thirty seconds and the crunch only lasts about five minutes.

20 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Velpuri (Dhaka style)

Dhaka's velpuri is a cousin of Mumbai's bhel but a very different plate: crisp puris are crushed and topped with a hot, spiced mash of chickpeas and potato, finely grated boiled egg, raw onion and green chilli, then soaked in sour tamarind water at the last second. Vendors sell it from glass-topped carts around Dhanmondi Lake and outside the TSC at Dhaka University on long afternoons. Contains wheat and egg. Chef's tip: grate the egg over at the very end with the fine side of a grater, so it falls in a soft yellow snow over the top.

30 min

Bangladeshi Snacks & Starters

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Hmarcha rawtRoasted green chilli relish

No Mizo table in Aizawl is complete without a small bowl of hmarcha rawt, the sharp relish that goes with plain rice, boiled vegetables and bai at almost every meal. Green chillies are charred over a flame or on a dry pan, then pounded with raw onion, ginger and salt. The mistake is to blend it smooth; it should be coarse and juicy, with bits of charred skin. Chef's tip: roast the chillies until blistered all over, not black, or the relish turns bitter.

13 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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Andaman mud crab curry

The mangrove creeks around Port Blair give the Andaman Islands their famous mud crabs, and families of Bengali, Tamil and Malayali descent there cook them in a rich red curry of coconut, tamarind and roasted chilli for Sunday lunch and celebrations. It is messy, hands-on eating with plain rice, cracking the claws to reach the sweet meat. Buy live or very fresh crabs from a trusted fishmonger and have them dispatched and cleaned there. The common mistake is undercooking the crab: cook until every shell is bright orange-red and the meat inside is white and opaque. Chef's tip: crack the claws lightly with the back of a knife before they go in, so the gravy seasons the meat.

65 min

Indian Fish

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Soft idli for babies

Idli is breakfast across Tamil Nadu, from Chennai's Mylapore tiffin rooms to village kitchens, and a fluffy, plain idli is one of the first finger foods many South Indian babies hold. Since family batter is salted, parents make a separate salt-free batch for babies under one, or steam a few from it before the salt goes in. The cakes are pillowy, faintly sour and melt under the gums, torn into pieces or mashed with ghee or thin dal. They contain no gluten, egg, nuts, soya or sesame; they contain milk only if served with ghee. Chef's tip: grind the urad dal with ice-cold water until it is light and foamy; air in the batter, not salt, is what makes idli soft.

45 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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BozaFermented millet drink

In Bulgaria boza is a breakfast habit: a plastic bottle of it from the corner pastry shop and a slice of hot, flaky banitsa, bought on the way to work or school, especially from autumn through to spring. Towns such as Radomir, Plovdiv and Sofia argue over whose is best. It is the colour of milky coffee, thick enough to coat the glass, sweet up front with a sour, bready finish and a faint prickle. Like every fermented grain drink it makes a trace of alcohol, well under 1% when drunk young. The base is millet flour, toasted for flavour, cooked into a thin porridge, then fermented for about a day before being strained and sweetened. The common mistake is adding the yeast while the porridge is still hot, which kills it and leaves you with sweet gruel; wait until it feels only just warm on your wrist. It is ready when the surface is covered in small bubbles, it smells like fresh bread with a sour edge and tastes pleasantly tangy. Chef's tip: keep back a glass of each batch in the fridge and use it instead of yeast next time; boza made from an old starter is rounder and more sour.

70 min

Bulgarian Drinks

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Homemade kashkFermented yogurt whey

Kashk began with Iran's nomadic herders, who churned their yoghurt for butter in goatskin bags, then cooked and dried the sour leftover into hard balls that lasted through winter. In Kerman, Fars and Khorasan it is still made that way, but in Tehran most people buy it liquid in jars. Making your own is worth one slow afternoon. It is the salty, sour, almost cheesy finish swirled over ash reshteh at Nowruz, folded into kashk-e bademjan with fried mint and walnuts, and stirred into kaleh joosh on cold nights. Liquid kashk is thick and creamy like soured cream but sharper and saltier; dried kashk is chalky-hard and grates like aged cheese. Common mistake: heating the churned yoghurt fast; it scorches and the curd turns rubbery. Keep the heat low and stir. The curd is ready when it separates into soft white clumps in a clear, yellow-green whey. Kashk is always cooked again before eating — even the jarred kind — so heat it when you use it. Chef's tip: a goat or sheep's milk yoghurt, or half and half with cow's, gives the most authentic, funky flavour.

90 min

Persian Basics

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Cremolada (Lima passion fruit slush)

From January to March, when Lima's coast swelters, queues form at the cremolada counters of Barranco and along the Jirón de la Unión downtown for cups of this thick fruit ice. It sits between a granita and a sorbet: frozen fruit pulp scraped again and again until it is slushy and spoonable, with real bits of fruit through it. Passion fruit (maracuyá) gives a sharp, bright flavour; creamy lúcuma, with its maple and sweet potato taste, is the other favourite. Chef's tip: use a shallow metal tray; it freezes faster and evenly, so you get fine crystals rather than chunks.

180 min

Peruvian Desserts

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Hong suan tangFermented tomato sour soup base

In the Miao and Dong villages of Qiandongnan, south-east Guizhou, small wild 'hairy' tomatoes and red chillies ripen together in late summer, and every household fills tall jars with them to ferment into hong suan tang, the red sour base of the region's famous sour-soup fish and sour-soup beef hot pots. The fermented paste is bright scarlet, sharply sour, fruity and fiery, with a funk from the ferment that ordinary tomato never has. People say three days without sour and you walk unsteadily, and it goes into soups year round. Outside Guizhou, use cherry tomatoes, which have a similar high acidity. Common mistake: fermenting with too little salt or with wet produce, which goes mushy and off; dry everything first and weigh the salt. Normal signs: bubbles, a sour, wine-like fruity smell and liquid rising. Bad signs: fuzzy coloured mould, pink or black patches, or a rotten smell; discard. It is ready after 2–3 weeks, when it tastes clearly sour and the raw tomato taste has gone. Then keep it in the fridge for 3 months or freeze it. Chef's tip: fry a few spoonfuls in oil with ginger before adding stock; it turns a deeper red and smells richer.

60 min

Chinese Basics

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Taiwanese grilled corn

At Raohe and Shilin night markets the grilled-corn stalls are easy to find: look for the queue and the smoky, sweet smell. Cobs are par-cooked, then turned slowly over charcoal while the cook brushes them with a dark glaze of sacha sauce, thick soy paste, garlic and chilli, layer after layer, until the kernels are sticky, slightly charred and deeply savoury. It is eaten hot from a paper sleeve while walking the market. Sacha (shacha) sauce, a Taiwanese barbecue paste, usually contains dried fish and shrimp; vegetarian sacha is sold in Asian shops. Contains soy, wheat and fish. Chef's tip: brush thin coats and turn often; one thick coat burns before the corn chars.

35 min

Taiwanese Snacks & Starters

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Horchata lojanaHerbal flower infusion

In Loja and the valleys of Vilcabamba and Malacatos, horchata has nothing to do with rice: it is a pink herbal infusion of anything up to twenty garden plants, drunk hot at breakfast and after lunch, or cold from the fridge on warm afternoons. Markets sell the herbs in bundles: cedrón, hierbaluisa, toronjil, mint, chamomile, mallow, and the red-leaved escancel and ataco (red amaranth) that give the colour. It tastes lemony, floral and faintly silky, and turns from ruby to bright pink the moment lemon juice goes in. The common mistake is boiling all the herbs hard, which makes it bitter and grassy; only the tough flaxseed and lemongrass simmer, and the soft leaves steep off the heat. It is ready when the liquid is deep red-pink and smells of lemon and flowers. Abroad, Latin shops sell dried mixes; dried hibiscus gives the colour if you lack amaranth. It is traditionally drunk to settle the stomach; if you are pregnant or on medication, check with a doctor before drinking it daily. Chef's tip: add lemon at the table, glass by glass, to watch the colour change.

25 minAndean Drinks

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Beijing douzhiFermented mung bean drink

Douzhi is the most famous acquired taste in Beijing: a hot, grey-green, sour drink made from the liquid left when mung beans are ground for starch, then fermented. Old Beijingers sip it at breakfast with crisp jiaoquan rings and shredded salted mustard pickles, and visitors either love it or never try it twice. At home you make a small batch by blending mung beans, settling out the starch and fermenting the cloudy water for a day. The mistake is letting it boil hard: it separates into watery and thick layers, so keep it at a gentle bubble. It must smell cleanly sour like yogurt; throw it away if it smells rotten, has mould, or turns pink or slimy. Chef's tip: stir it continuously as it heats and add a splash of the thinner liquid at the end, which keeps the classic smooth, slightly thick texture.

1440 min

Chinese Drinks

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Jicai doufu gengShepherd's purse and tofu soup

In Shanghai and Jiangsu, shepherd's purse (jicai) is picked from field edges in early spring, and this gentle, lightly thickened soup is one of the first dishes of the season at home and in Shanghainese restaurants. Finely chopped greens and small cubes of soft tofu are simmered in vegetable stock with a few shiitake, then thickened just enough to coat a spoon, giving a soothing, savoury soup with a fresh, grassy taste. Serve it as a starter or with a small bowl of rice. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 110 kcal and 7 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding too much starch, which makes it gluey; it should flow off the spoon. Spinach works if you can't find jicai. Chef's tip: blanch and squeeze the greens before chopping, which keeps the soup bright green instead of murky.

25 min

Chinese Soups

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Braaied gem squashGem squash with sweetcorn and cheese

Small, round and dark green, gem squash is the vegetable South African children grow up scooping from the shell with a teaspoon, and at a weekend braai it goes into the coals wrapped in foil alongside the potatoes. The halves steam in their own juice until the orange flesh is tender and sweet, with a pool of melted butter, golden corn and cheese in the hollow. Serve them as a side for anything from the grid, or make a plate of them with pap tert and a tomato salad for a meat-free braai. Indoors, an oven gives the same result. Putting them straight onto flaming wood is the mistake: they char outside and stay hard inside, so wait for grey, glowing coals. Choose a vegetarian cheddar, since many are made with animal rennet. Chef's tip: trim a thin slice off the round base of each half so it sits flat and holds its filling.

40 min

South African Sides

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Suan rong xilanhuaGarlic broccoli

Garlic broccoli is on the menu of almost every Chinese home kitchen and family restaurant, from Guangzhou to Shanghai, as the quick green dish at a weekday dinner. The florets are blanched just until bright, then tossed in a hot wok with a big spoon of minced garlic and a splash of water, so they stay crisp, glossy and full of garlic flavour. Serve with tofu, fish or eggs and a modest portion of rice. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 90 kcal and 8 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding the garlic to very hot oil before the broccoli, where it burns and turns bitter. Chef's tip: add a few drops of oil to the blanching water; it keeps the broccoli shiny and green.

15 min

Chinese Sides

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Hyderabadi keema samosaMinced mutton samosas

Through Ramadan, the streets around Charminar fill with iftar stalls, and the small, papery keema samosas are among the first things to sell out before the sunset call to prayer. The filling is minced mutton cooked dry with onion, ginger-garlic, green chilli, mint and garam masala, folded into thin strips of samosa pastry and fried until they shatter. Families make them in batches and freeze them for the whole month. The common mistake is a wet filling, which makes the pastry soggy and can burst; cook the mince until every bit of liquid has gone. Chef's tip: cook the mince fully to at least 71 °C before filling, because the quick fry only crisps the pastry; it will not cook raw meat through.

80 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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HyldeblomstsaftElderflower cordial

In Denmark the elder hedges flower from late May to the end of June, and picking the creamy umbels on a dry, sunny morning is one of the first rituals of summer. The flowers steep for a few days with sliced lemon, sugar syrup and citric acid, then are strained into bottles of hyldeblomstsaft, a non-alcoholic cordial that is diluted with cold still or sparkling water and poured at garden lunches, children's birthday parties and around the bonfire on Sankt Hans aften, 23 June. It tastes floral and honeyed, a little like muscat grapes, with a fresh lemony edge that keeps it from cloying. The mistake most people make is picking flowers that are already browning, damp or growing by a busy road; they give a musty, catty smell. Choose freshly opened heads that smell sweet, and shake out the insects instead of washing them, which rinses away the pollen and the flavour. The cordial is ready when it tastes clearly of elderflower and the lemon slices have softened. Chef's tip: snip the florets off with scissors right under the flowers, as green stalk makes it bitter.

40 minScandinavian Drinks

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Kos ata curryJackfruit seed curry

During the jackfruit season, roughly April to July, Sri Lankan households save every seed, and kos ata curry is how they become a hearty weekday dish served with rice and greens. The seeds are boiled tender, peeled of their papery skin, then simmered in a dark roasted curry powder and coconut milk gravy until they taste like chestnuts in a spicy sauce. Serve with red rice and a sambol. The usual mistake is undercooking the seeds; they must be boiled until a fork goes in easily, or they stay hard and are hard to digest. A pressure cooker saves time: boil the seeds for 10 minutes on high. Chef's tip: crack each seed lightly with the flat of a knife before simmering so it soaks up the gravy.

50 min

Sri Lankan Curries

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Irumban puli acharBilimbi pickle

Almost every Kerala compound has an irumban puli tree, its trunk studded with clusters of small, cucumber-shaped green fruit so sour they make your eyes water. Through the monsoon months the tree fruits non-stop, and the surplus is salted and turned into this pickle. The bilimbi pieces soften into a tangy, juicy mass in a red masala of chilli, garlic and ginger cooked in gingelly oil, with roasted fenugreek giving a gentle bitterness. Eat it with kanji and payar (rice gruel and green gram), with a simple meal of rice, thoran and moru curry, or with chapati. The common mistake is cooking the fruit for too long: bilimbi is very watery and soft, and if stewed it breaks down to mush. Salt it first to draw out the water, then just warm it through in the masala for a couple of minutes. It is ready when the masala clings to the pieces and the oil glistens on top. Very acidic, but with fresh garlic and ginger, so store it in the fridge and use within a month. Abroad, use sour, green, unripe star fruit (its close relative) or green gooseberries. Chef's tip: dry the salted pieces in the sun for an afternoon for a firmer, chewier pickle.

40 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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Arem-aremFilled rice rolls in banana leaf

Arem-arem are what Central Javanese cooks pack for meetings, trains and bekal lunchboxes: logs of coconut-scented rice wrapped round a spiced filling, rolled in banana leaf and steamed until firm, so they can be eaten in the hand, cold or warm. Chicken fillings are common in the city; this one uses tempeh, potato and carrot. The common mistake is cooking the rice fully before rolling, which makes the logs mushy; it should be only half-cooked, so it finishes in the leaf. Chef's tip: soften the banana leaves over a flame or in hot water first, or they will split as you roll.

90 min

Indonesian Rice & Grains

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Quandong pieDesert peach pie

Quandongs, the bright red desert peaches of the outback, have been gathered by Aboriginal people across Central and South Australia for thousands of years, and in the Flinders Ranges and towns like Quorn the bakeries sell quandong pie to travellers. The fruit is tart and tangy, somewhere between peach, apricot and rhubarb. Most people buy it dried or frozen from native food suppliers; dried quandong is soaked first. A common mistake is too little sugar, as the fruit is very sharp. Chef's tip: if you can't get quandong, use a mix of fresh apricots and a little rhubarb.

85 min

Australian Desserts

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