Featured recipe

Vegetable mandu-guk

Vegetable dumpling soup

In Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi province, the first meal of Seollal (Lunar New Year) is often mandu-guk (만두국): plump dumplings and coin-shaped rice cakes floating in clear broth, finished with ribbons of yellow and white egg and strips of toasted laver. The northern half of the peninsula has always favoured dumplings over rice cake soup, and Seoul families tend to combine the two. These mandu are filled with tofu, glass noodles, cabbage, mushrooms and chives, and the broth is a kelp and shiitake stock instead of beef. Fold the dumplings a day ahead and the soup comes together in 15 minutes. Chef's tip: squeeze the tofu and cabbage hard in a cloth; a wet filling turns the wrappers soggy and the dumplings split in the pot.

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Ndizi na maharageGreen bananas and red beans

Across Tanzania, from Dar es Salaam to the banana farms around Kilimanjaro, ndizi na maharage is a filling weekday lunch: green cooking bananas and red beans simmered in one pot with tomato, onion and coconut milk until the bananas are soft and the sauce creamy. It needs nothing more than a few slices of avocado or a fresh kachumbari salad on the side. The usual mistake is cooking dried red kidney beans gently from the start: they must boil hard for 10 minutes first to be safe. Peel green bananas with oiled hands, as the sap stains and sticks. Chef's tip: add the bananas only once the beans are tender, then let them simmer until they just break at the edges and thicken the sauce.

90 minEast African Vegetarian

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Pain maisonCrusty bread rolls

Every morning in Port Louis, Mahébourg and Rose-Hill, the boulangerie or a man on a bicycle delivers bags of pain maison: small, round white rolls with a thin, crackly crust and soft middle, split and filled with butter and cheese, with chilli-spiked gâteaux piments, or with leftover curry. They're a simple lean dough baked very hot. The common mistake is under-baking because they look golden early; give them the full time so the crust stays crisp after cooling. Chef's tip: spray the oven walls with water as the rolls go in; the burst of steam makes the shiny, cracked crust.

140 min

Mauritian Breads & Parathas

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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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Gulab pakRose milk fudge

The sweet shops of Bhuj and Mandvi in Kutch sell gulab pak in pale pink slabs that smell of summer roses, and it is a favourite to carry home after a trip to the Rann or a family wedding. Mawa is cooked down with sugar and gulkand, the sun-cured rose-petal preserve, so the fudge is soft and grainy with little chewy flecks of petal through it. The mistake to watch for is adding the gulkand too early: cooked for long, it darkens and turns the fudge brown and toffee-like. Chef's tip: a few drops of rose water stirred in right at the end lift the perfume without making it taste soapy.

40 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Gundar pakEdible gum and wheat fudge

When the first cold mornings reach Rajkot and Junagadh, Kathiawadi kitchens fry a big batch of gundar, the edible acacia gum, in ghee and set it into this dense, crunchy pak, eaten one square a day with tea through December and January. Here the gum is the star: it puffs into crisp white popcorn-like pieces that give the fudge its crackle, while wheat flour, jaggery, dry ginger and coconut hold it together. The common mistake is frying the gum in ghee that is too cool, so it stays hard and glassy and sticks to your teeth; it must puff fully within seconds. Chef's tip: crush the puffed gum only lightly with a rolling pin so you still bite into small crunchy nuggets.

55 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Guyanese boiled and fried channaFried garlicky chickpeas

Outside schools, cinemas and the Stabroek Market in Georgetown, vendors scoop warm fried channa into paper cones, and at Diwali and Phagwah (Holi) gatherings it comes out by the bowlful with a drink. Dried chickpeas are boiled until just tender, then fried hard with garlic, onion and hot pepper until the skins crackle and the outsides turn golden. Frying wet chickpeas is the mistake that ruins it: they spit, steam and stay soft, so dry them very well first. Chef's tip: let the boiled channa sit spread on a tea towel for 20 minutes; the drier they are, the crunchier the edges.

90 min

Guyanese Snacks & Starters

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Guyanese mango sourHot green mango sauce

No plate of egg balls, phulourie or fried channa leaves a Guyanese stall without a spoonful of sour poured over it. This one is made with hard green mangoes boiled down with garlic, hot pepper, a little sugar and vinegar into a thin, tangy, fiery sauce, and families from Essequibo to Corentyne keep a bottle in the fridge through mango season. People often make it too thick, like jam; sour should pour easily and cling, not sit in a blob. Chef's tip: mash the cooked mango against the side of the pan rather than blending it, so you keep little soft threads of fruit through the sauce.

45 min

Guyanese Chutneys & Dips

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Guyanese salaraRed coconut roll

Walk into any bakery in Georgetown or along the Berbice coast and the salara is easy to spot: a soft, slightly sweet loaf rolled around a bright red filling of grated coconut, sugar and spice, cut so every slice shows a spiral. It is tea-time and lunch-box food, eaten with a cup of cocoa tea or a cold drink after school. The coconut is coloured with red food colouring, which is part of the look but can be left out. The usual mistake is a wet filling: if the coconut is soggy, the roll splits and the spiral gapes open as it bakes. Chef's tip: squeeze fresh grated coconut lightly in a cloth before mixing it, and roll the dough tight like a Swiss roll, pinching the seam well.

70 min

Guyanese Baking

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Guyanese tennis rollsSweet lemony buns

Nobody quite agrees why these buns are named after tennis, but every Guyanese person knows the pairing: a split tennis roll with a thick slice of cheddar, eaten mid-morning or packed for a long bus ride up the East Coast Demerara. They are round, pale golden and very soft, with a gentle sweetness and a hint of lemon zest. Overbaking is the usual problem; they should come out light gold, not brown, so the crust stays tender. Chef's tip: bake the rolls close together on the tray so they rise into each other and keep soft sides, then pull them apart once cool.

48 min

Guyanese Baking

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HakusaizukeSalted napa cabbage pickle

In Japanese homes from Hokkaido to Kyushu, hakusaizuke appears when napa cabbage is cheap and sweet, from November through February. Big heads are quartered, dried for half a day on a sunny veranda, then salted in a wooden tub with kombu, dried chilli and slivers of yuzu peel, and pressed under a stone. A few days later the leaves are crisp, juicy, lightly salty and fragrant with citrus, and after a week they turn pleasantly sour. It is the everyday pickle beside breakfast rice and miso soup, or chopped into a hot-pot. Use about 3% salt by weight; less and it can spoil, more and it is too salty to enjoy. The common mistake is too light a weight at the start: the brine must rise over the cabbage within a day, so begin with twice the cabbage's weight and halve it once the liquid appears. It is ready when the white ribs are translucent and bend, the brine is clear to faintly cloudy, and it smells fresh and briny. If you cannot get yuzu, use strips of lemon peel with a little orange peel. Chef's tip: squeeze a slice firmly before serving and add a few drops of tamari and some toasted sesame seeds.

30 min

Japanese Chutneys & Dips

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Golden syrup dumplings

Golden syrup dumplings are a winter pudding from Australian country kitchens, made during the Depression and still cooked by grandmothers in the Riverina and the Victorian high country when the nights turn cold. Soft scone-dough balls simmer in a sauce of golden syrup, butter and brown sugar until they swell and turn sticky. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard. A common mistake is a pan that's too small; the dumplings double in size and need space. Chef's tip: keep the lid on and resist peeking, so the tops steam light and fluffy.

35 min

Australian Desserts

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Halifax donairSpiced beef pita with garlic sauce

The donair is Halifax's official food, born in the 1970s when a Greek-Canadian cook adapted the gyro for local tastes, and it is still the late-night food of Spring Garden Road. A dense, spiced beef loaf is baked, sliced thin and crisped in a pan, then wrapped in a warm pita with raw onion, tomato and a sweet sauce of condensed milk, vinegar and garlic. Messy, sweet, salty and loved. A common mistake is a crumbly meat loaf; the mince must be kneaded until it is sticky and smooth. Chef's tip: chill the baked loaf before slicing so you can cut it really thin.

100 min

Canadian Fast Food

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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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KiburuBanana and bean mash

Chagga farms around Moshi and Marangu grow bananas and beans side by side under the coffee bushes, and kiburu brings them together in one pot: green cooking bananas simmered with red beans and onion, then mashed into a thick, rustic, pinkish mound. It is filling everyday food, mild, starchy and savoury, with whole beans still showing through, and it is eaten with a spoonful of tomato-onion relish, a bowl of greens or a mug of sweet milky chai on the side. Red kidney beans must be boiled hard for at least 10 minutes before simmering, because undercooked kidney beans can make you ill. Chef's tip: rub a little oil on your hands before peeling green bananas; the sticky sap stains skin and knives.

75 minEast African Curries

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Gremolata

Gremolata is the Milanese finishing touch spooned over ossobuco on Sunday tables across Lombardy, and it brightens any slow-cooked stew, roast vegetables, beans or grilled fish. Flat-leaf parsley, lemon zest and raw garlic are chopped together so finely that they become a fragrant green confetti; the fresh, sharp flavour wakes up a dish so much that you need far less salt. About 0.0 g salt per portion. The usual mistake is grating the white pith with the zest, which makes it bitter; take only the yellow skin. Make it no more than an hour ahead, as the garlic gets harsh and the parsley darkens. Chef's tip: chop the garlic first with a few parsley leaves, so the juice soaks into the herbs instead of sticking to the knife.

5 min

Italian Chutneys & Dips

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NakatiBitter eggplant leaves with tomato

Nakati are the leaves of the African eggplant, and in Kampala and the Buganda countryside they are cooked as an everyday green beside matooke, posho or rice. The leaves are simmered down with onion and tomato until soft, then often enriched with a spoonful of groundnut paste that softens their pleasant bitterness and makes a creamy sauce. Look for nakati at African grocers; young spinach with a handful of kale is a good stand-in. The usual mistake is adding the groundnut paste too early, which lets it catch and burn. Chef's tip: loosen the groundnut paste with a little hot water before stirring it in, so it melts smoothly into the greens.

28 minEast African Vegetarian

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KuloloTaro and coconut pudding

Kulolo is one of the oldest Hawaiian sweets, a dense, fudgy pudding of grated taro and coconut that was once wrapped in ti leaves and baked for hours in an imu (earth oven) for lū'au feasts. On the windward side of O'ahu and in Hilo it is still sold in slabs at farmers' markets. Taro must always be fully cooked; raw taro contains crystals that badly irritate the mouth and throat, so peel it with gloves and bake the full time. A common mistake is cutting it hot; it firms as it cools. Chef's tip: bake it long and low until deep brown and sticky at the edges, where the caramel flavour is.

210 minPacific Islander Desserts

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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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Limau asam boi (lime with sour plum)

Order 'limau ais asam boi' at a kopitiam in Penang or a hawker centre in Kuala Lumpur at the hottest part of the afternoon and it arrives in a tall, sweating glass: freshly squeezed calamansi or small green limes, a little syrup, ice and one wrinkled, salted dried plum. The plum slowly leaches salt and fruity sourness into the drink, so every sip changes, starting bright and sweet and ending salty and tangy; you squash the plum with your straw halfway through for a stronger hit. It goes with char kway teow, nasi lemak or anything fried. The usual mistake is using bottled lime juice, which tastes flat and bitter against the plum. Squeeze fresh limes, and add the syrup gradually because asam boi is already salty-sweet. It is ready when the glass is frosted and the plum has started to plump up. Asam boi is sold in jars in Chinese and Southeast Asian groceries; Japanese umeboshi is saltier but works if you halve the amount. Chef's tip: make the lime-syrup base ahead and keep it cold, then pour over fresh ice only when you serve.

7 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Ipoh white coffee

Ipoh's old town kopitiams, with their marble tables and morning crowds queueing for kai si hor fun and egg tarts, gave Malaysia its 'white coffee'. The name comes not from milk but from the roast: beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine, lighter than the dark, sugar-roasted kopi of the rest of the country, then brewed and served with condensed milk. It is smoother and less bitter than ordinary kopi, nutty and buttery, pale caramel in the cup, drunk hot at breakfast or iced in the afternoon heat. At home, buy ground Ipoh-style white coffee from an Asian grocer; you cannot easily reproduce the margarine roast in a kitchen. The common mistake is brewing it like espresso: forced extraction makes it bitter and kills the soft, toasty flavour. Steep it in a cloth sock or a coffee filter with water just off the boil. It is ready when the brew is reddish-brown and clear, not inky. This is a strong coffee with real caffeine, not for children. Chef's tip: warm the cups with hot water first; white coffee cools fast and loses its aroma.

10 min

Malaysian Drinks

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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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DobradinhaTripe and white bean stew

Dobradinha came to Brazil with Portuguese settlers and is now a Saturday lunch in botecos and family kitchens from São Paulo to Minas Gerais, eaten with white rice and a splash of hot pepper sauce. Cleaned honeycomb tripe is simmered until tender, then stewed with white beans, smoked pork sausage (linguiça), bacon, tomato and plenty of green seasoning until thick and savoury. This recipe contains pork. The usual mistake is undercooking the tripe: it must be soft enough to cut with a spoon before the beans go in, or it stays rubbery. A pressure cooker does the tripe in 35 minutes. Chef's tip: blanch the tripe with a squeeze of lime first; it freshens the smell and the colour.

180 min

Brazilian Meat

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Crudités

Crudités are how a French family lunch, a Paris bistro menu or a school canteen meal often begins: a plate of raw vegetables, each prepared on its own: grated carrot with lemon, crunchy radishes, cucumber slices and celery, dressed with a sharp mustardy vinaigrette. Crisp, cold vegetables taste so lively that very little salt is needed; with the small amount of mustard in the dressing this plate has about 0.3 g salt per portion. The usual mistake is dressing everything together in advance, which turns it watery and limp; dress each vegetable just before serving. Chef's tip: grate the carrots on the fine side of the grater and toss them with lemon first; they soften slightly and taste sweeter, the way French grandmothers make carottes râpées.

20 min

French Salads

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HilachasShredded beef in tomato sauce

The name means 'threads', and that is how the beef should look: pulled into fine strands and simmered with potato and carrot in a brick-red sauce of tomato, tomatillo and dried guajillo chilli. Hilachas is everyday food in Guatemala City, served at lunch counters with white rice and tortillas, and it is a thrifty way to stretch a piece of flank. Rushing the first simmer is the classic mistake: if the beef doesn't fall apart easily, it shreds into chewy chunks instead of threads. Chef's tip: shred the meat along the grain with two forks while it is still warm; cold beef tears unevenly.

120 minCentral American Meat

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HornadoRoast pork with crackling

At the Sunday markets of Riobamba and Quito's La Ofelia, whole roast pigs glisten on the stalls and vendors carve hornado, garlic-and-cumin pork with crackling, onto plates with potato cakes, mote and a sour onion sauce called agrio. This home version uses a bone-in pork shoulder, roasted low and slow until the meat pulls apart, then blasted for crisp skin. Marinate it overnight in the fridge. The usual mistake is pulling the pork as soon as it is cooked through: it is safe once the thickest part reaches 63 °C and has rested for 3 minutes, but it only becomes tender enough to pull at about 85–90 °C. Serve with llapingachos, mote and avocado. Chef's tip: dry the skin and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight; dry skin is what crackles.

300 minAndean Meat

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