Featured recipe

Chilaquiles verdes

Tortilla chips in green salsa

Chilaquiles are Mexico City's favourite breakfast and hangover cure: day-old corn tortillas cut into wedges, fried into crisp totopos, then tossed in hot salsa just long enough to soften at the edges. Chilaquiles verdes use a bright, tangy salsa of tomatillos, serrano chillies and coriander, and come topped with a fried egg, crema, crumbled cheese and raw onion. The best ones keep a little crunch in the middle. Tomatillos are sold fresh or tinned; if you can't find them, use green tomatoes with an extra squeeze of lime. Choose queso fresco made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: toss the chips into the salsa right before serving and take them to the table immediately; chilaquiles wait for nobody.

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Cheese pimiento sandwich

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Bossam kimchiWrapped cabbage kimchi

Bossam kimchi comes from Gaeseong, the old Goryeo capital just north of today's border, and it is the kimchi families make with special care at kimjang time in late November and set out for Seollal guests. Instead of rubbing seasoning into whole cabbage halves, the inner leaves are folded around a rich filling of radish, Korean pear, chestnut, jujube, pine nuts and herbs, then wrapped in large outer leaves like a gift. Unwrapped at the table, it is crisp, juicy and sweet from the pear, with mellow chilli heat and the savoury depth of salted shrimp. Traditional versions add raw oysters; here they are optional. Raw oysters are not safe for pregnant people, babies, older people or anyone with weak immunity, so leave them out for those guests or for any kimchi you mean to keep beyond 3 days. The common mistake is under-rinsing the cabbage, which makes every parcel too salty; rinse three times and taste a stem. It is ready after 3–4 days in the fridge, when the juice turns pleasantly sour and slightly fizzy. Chef's tip: tie each parcel with a blanched scallion if the leaves won't stay closed.

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In Filipino provinces from Pampanga to Leyte, the tender tips of sweet potato vines grow by every house, and this quick salad of blanched leaves, ripe tomato and red onion in sukang Iloko vinegar sits beside fried fish or rice in baon and family lunches. The leaves turn silky and mild, and the vinegar keeps it fresh in a closed tub. The mistake is boiling the leaves for minutes until they turn dark and slimy; thirty seconds is enough. Chef's tip: plunge the leaves into iced water straight from the pot, so they stay bright green until lunchtime.

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Minuta is what Cubans call a quick-fried fish fillet, cooked "in a minute" while you wait, and in a soft roll it becomes one of Havana's simplest street lunches. Look for it at kiosks along the Malecón near La Punta and in the fishing village of Cojímar, east of the city, where small boats bring in snapper. The fish is marinated briefly in lime and garlic, dipped in a light batter and fried until the crust crackles, then tucked into bread with sharp raw onion and another squeeze of lime. Chef's tip: keep the lime marinade short; after 15 minutes the acid starts to turn the fish chalky.

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Kaeng khilek is an old-fashioned country curry from central Thailand, cooked when the cassia (khilek) trees put out tender shoots after the rains and sold ready-boiled in bags at markets around Ratchaburi and Suphan Buri. The leaves are boiled and drained several times until their bitterness softens, then simmered with pork belly in coconut milk with red curry paste, leaving a dark green, pleasantly bitter, rich curry eaten with jasmine rice and salted egg. This recipe contains pork. The usual mistake is skipping the repeated boiling: cassia leaves must be boiled and drained at least three times, or they are harshly bitter and can upset the stomach. Frozen pre-boiled khilek from Thai shops saves work. Chef's tip: squeeze the boiled leaves firmly in a cloth so they soak up coconut milk instead of water.

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Ellu sadam (sesame rice)

In Tamil homes ellu sadam is cooked on Saturdays and temple days, and it is one of the variety rices that keeps best in a school lunch box, because the dry sesame powder soaks up the oil and does not spoil the way coconut rice can. The powder is roasted from black sesame, urad dal and dried red chillies, ground coarse and tossed through plain rice with a nutty gingelly oil tempering. The usual mistake is roasting the sesame too hard: it turns bitter within seconds, so take it off as soon as it starts to pop and smell toasty. Chef's tip: pound the powder rather than blitzing it to dust, so you keep a little crunch from the dal.

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Kothamalli sadam (coriander rice)

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Jīdàn gēng for babies (steamed egg custard)

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Verkadalai sadam (peanut rice)

Peanut rice is the filling variety rice that Tamil and Kannada parents send when the school day ends with games: roasted peanuts, dry coconut, sesame and red chillies are ground into a coarse powder and tossed through rice in a curry leaf tempering. It tastes a little like a savoury peanut brittle, and it stays good at room temperature for hours. The mistake is grinding the peanuts too long; they turn into peanut butter and the rice clumps. Pulse in short bursts and stop while it is still sandy. Chef's tip: keep a few whole roasted peanuts aside and add them at the end for crunch.

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Pantrucas, sometimes called pancutras, are what a Central Valley farmhouse cooks on a cold evening when the cupboard is nearly bare: a simple dough is stretched thin over the pot and torn straight into a bubbling broth with potato and vegetables, then an egg is stirred in at the end to make soft yellow ribbons. It is warming, filling and cheap, a soup many Chileans connect with their grandmothers. This version uses vegetable stock. The most common mistake is leaving the dough thick, which makes heavy, gluey dumplings: pull it until you can almost see through it. Chef's tip: rest the dough for 15 minutes before stretching, so it relaxes and tears cleanly instead of springing back.

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Menthya soppu bath (fenugreek leaf rice)

In Bengaluru and Mysuru, a "bath" is a one-pan rice dish seasoned with its own roasted spice powder, and menthya soppu bath is the winter version, made when bunches of fresh fenugreek are cheap. Unlike Tamil variety rices, the rice is cooked right in the masala with the leaves, tamarind and a touch of jaggery, so it comes out soft, tangy and gently bitter. The common mistake is using too much methi stalk, which makes the rice harshly bitter; strip the leaves and use only the softest stems. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of jaggery and a squeeze of tamarind balance the bitterness better than extra salt.

40 min

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BrudetFisherman's fish stew

Brudet (or brodetto) is the fisherman's stew of the Dalmatian coast and islands, cooked in Split, Hvar and Korčula with whatever the morning's catch brings, and eaten for Friday lunch and summer suppers. Thick fish steaks on the bone stew slowly in olive oil with onion, garlic, tomato and a dash of wine vinegar, and the pot is shaken, never stirred. It is high in protein and suitable as part of a balanced diet; polenta is the classic partner, but grilled courgettes, chard or a small portion of soft polenta keep the carbohydrate down. About 330 kcal and 10 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is stirring with a spoon, which breaks the fish into shreds. Chef's tip: use at least three kinds of fish, mixing firm and softer ones, for a deeper broth.

60 minBalkan Fish

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Capsicum rice (capsicum bath)

Every Bengaluru darshini has its own capsicum bath, and at home it is a favourite for office lunch boxes because the peppers stay crunchy until noon. Green peppers are sautéed just until glossy, then tossed with rice and a freshly roasted powder of coriander seeds, chana dal, dry coconut and red chillies. The mistake is cooking the peppers until soft; they release water and the rice turns soggy, so keep them bright and crisp. Chef's tip: add the powder to the hot oil off the heat for a few seconds before the rice goes in; it blooms the spices without burning the coconut.

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Gigot de sept heuresSeven-hour braised lamb

This is the slow Sunday gigot of the French countryside, set in a low oven after breakfast and eaten at the family lunch or supper, especially in winter and at Easter. The leg of lamb is browned, then braised so long with whole garlic heads, onions, carrots and white wine that the meat is served with a spoon rather than a knife, and the garlic melts into the sauce. Serve with white beans, mashed potatoes or simply crusty bread. It cooks with wine; for an alcohol-free version use the same amount of extra stock with a tablespoon of cider vinegar. The usual mistake is a lid that does not fit, so the liquid escapes and the meat dries; seal it with foil under the lid. Chef's tip: turn the leg every two hours and baste it, so the top never dries above the liquid.

460 min

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Brazo de reinaSponge roll with dulce de leche

The 'queen's arm' sits in the glass cabinet of every Chilean bakery: a light sponge rolled around a thick layer of manjar (Chilean dulce de leche) and dusted with icing sugar. At home it is the cake for a birthday tea or an unexpected visitor, because it bakes in 10 minutes. The common mistake is overbaking: a dry sponge cracks as you roll it. Take it out the moment it springs back. Chef's tip: roll the sponge up in a sugared tea towel while it is still hot and let it cool that way; it remembers the shape and won't crack when you fill it.

35 min

Chilean Baking

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Bubur kacang hijauSweet mung bean porridge

In Java, the bubur kacang ijo seller pushes a cart through the neighbourhood from early morning, ladling warm mung bean porridge sweetened with palm sugar and topped with thick coconut milk. Many people eat it with a slice of white bread dunked in, and late-night stalls in Jakarta sell it alongside instant noodles. The common mistake is adding the sugar too early, which keeps the beans firm; cook them soft first. Chef's tip: cook the coconut milk separately with a pinch of salt and a pandan leaf and pour it on top, so the bowl has a sweet layer and a slightly salty, creamy one.

60 min

Indonesian Breakfast & Brunch

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Pudina pulao (mint pulao)

Mint pulao turns up in tiffins from Hyderabad to Delhi in summer, when mint grows like a weed on balconies, and it is a lunch box that still smells fresh at one o'clock. Basmati is fried with whole spices and onion, then cooked in water coloured with a paste of mint, coriander, green chilli and ginger. The mistake is boiling the mint paste for a long time before the rice goes in, which turns it khaki and bitter; add it, stir for a minute, and get the rice in. Chef's tip: a squeeze of lime in the cooking water keeps the green colour brighter.

35 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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MalewaSmoked bamboo shoots in peanut sauce

On the slopes of Mount Elgon, the Bagisu harvest young bamboo shoots, smoke and dry them, and keep them for months; a pot of malewa is the dish every Mugisu living away from home misses, and it is a must at imbalu circumcision celebrations. Soaked and simmered in a pale, creamy groundnut sauce, the shoots stay slightly chewy and taste smoky, earthy and faintly sweet. Serve with steamed matoke, kalo or posho. Dried smoked malewa is sold in East African grocers and Ugandan shops abroad; if you cannot find it, tinned bamboo shoots with a little smoked paprika give a fair imitation. Chef's tip: do not rush the soak and first boil, as under-soaked shoots stay woody however long they sit in the sauce.

90 minEast African Curries

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Vegetable pulao

This is the plain, comforting pulao that gets packed for small children all over India, from Kolkata to Bengaluru: no chilli heat, just whole spices, a little fried onion and plenty of carrot, beans and peas. It is just as good warm or at room temperature, with a pot of raita or a few potato wedges alongside. The mistake is stirring the rice once the water goes in, which breaks the grains and makes it gluey; cover the pan and leave it alone. Chef's tip: cut the vegetables the size of a pea, so a child's spoon gets rice and vegetables in every bite.

35 min

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Bún đậu mắm tômNoodles, tofu and shrimp paste

Bún đậu mắm tôm is served on round bamboo trays in the narrow alleys of Hanoi's Old Quarter, where groups of friends squat on low stools at lunch to share squares of pressed rice noodles, cubes of tofu fried until puffy, slices of boiled pork leg or belly and bundles of perilla and Vietnamese balm. Everything is dipped into mắm tôm, pungent fermented shrimp paste whisked with lime, sugar and a splash of hot oil until it foams. It is loud, salty and moreish. Chef's tip: whisk the shrimp paste hard for a full minute; it turns pale and fluffy and its harshness mellows.

50 min

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Urulaikizhangu roast (Tamil potato roast)

In Tamil lunch boxes, curd rice almost always comes with this: small cubes of boiled potato roasted slowly in a cast-iron pan with sambar powder, chilli and curry leaves until they are dark, crusty and chewy at the edges. It is a dry side, so it does not leak into the rice, and it tastes as good cold as hot. The mistake is stirring all the time; the potatoes need to sit undisturbed against the hot pan for a few minutes at a time to build the crust. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of rice flour scattered over in the last few minutes makes the coating even crisper.

35 min

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Gohan oyaki (rice finger patties)

Oyaki means a little pan-cooked cake, and Japanese parents make gohan oyaki from leftover rice when babies around nine months start wanting to feed themselves. Mashed rice is mixed with steamed kabocha squash (or grated carrot) and a spoon of potato starch, shaped into finger-sized patties and cooked gently until lightly golden. They are soft and sweet inside, hold together in a small fist and squash easily against the gums. They are free of the major allergens: no milk, egg, gluten, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: mash the rice while it is warm; cold rice will not stick together and the patties crumble.

25 min

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Dousha bao (red bean buns)

All over China, from Beijing breakfast stalls to Shanghai school bags, dousha bao are the sweet buns people grab in the morning and tuck into a lunch box for later: fluffy white yeasted dough wrapped around smooth red bean paste and steamed until springy. They freeze beautifully, so families make a big batch on Sunday. The mistake is opening the steamer lid as soon as the timer goes; the sudden cold makes the buns wrinkle and collapse. Turn off the heat and wait five minutes before lifting the lid. Chef's tip: chill the bean paste and roll it into balls before wrapping; a firm filling is much easier to seal neatly.

55 min

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Pasta cresciutaPuffy yeast fritters

Pasta cresciuta means "risen dough", and that is all it is: a loose, sticky yeast batter dropped by the spoonful into hot oil, where it swells into airy, irregular puffs. In Naples the friggitorie around Piazza Mercato and the Quartieri Spagnoli sell them by the paper cone, plain or with a little seaweed (alghe) folded in, and at Christmas they appear as zeppoline on every table. They are best eaten within minutes, while crisp outside and chewy-soft within. Chef's tip: wet your spoon in a glass of water between each blob, so the sticky batter slides off cleanly into the oil.

90 min

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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

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Buñuelos de algasSea lettuce fritters

On the beaches of Rocha, from La Paloma to Punta del Diablo, vendors walk the sand with baskets of hot buñuelos de algas: puffy, salty fritters speckled green with sea lettuce, eaten with a squeeze of lemon. Use dried sea lettuce or mixed seaweed flakes from a shop, or fresh sea lettuce only from a seller who harvests clean water; never pick it from a harbour or near drains. The usual mistake is frying in oil that isn't hot enough, so the fritters soak it up and turn greasy. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 15 minutes so the seaweed softens and the fritters puff more.

35 min

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Insalata di pastaCold pasta salad

When Milan's offices empty onto park benches in July, the schiscetta (the Milanese word for a packed lunch tin) usually holds pasta fredda: short pasta dressed with olive oil, sweet cherry tomatoes, little mozzarella balls, black olives and torn basil. It is made the night before and tastes best at cool room temperature, never fridge-cold. The common mistake is rinsing the cooked pasta under the tap until it is icy and then dressing it: the starch closes up, the oil slides off and the salad tastes flat. Many mozzarellas are made with animal rennet, so look for one labelled vegetarian, or use cubes of a vegetarian cheese. Pack it with an ice pack and take it out of the bag 20 minutes before eating. Chef's tip: toss the drained, still-warm pasta with half the oil and the salted tomatoes straight away so it drinks up their juice.

27 min

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Pastel de chuchoStingray, plantain and cheese bake

On Margarita island, pastel de chucho is the pride of fishing villages like Juan Griego and El Tirano, and a fixture of Holy Week: shredded stingray (chucho) cooked in a rich sofrito, layered with fried ripe plantain and white cheese and set with beaten egg. Stingray can be hard to find and is not always sustainable, so a firm white fish such as hake, pollock or responsibly caught skate wing works well. The common mistake is a watery sofrito, which makes the bake soggy. Chef's tip: cook the fish sofrito until the pan is almost dry before layering.

120 min

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Karnemelkse papButtermilk porridge

Karnemelkse pap, made with the buttermilk left over from Dutch farm churning, was breakfast and supper in the Netherlands for centuries, and many older Dutch people still remember it on cold winter mornings. Buttermilk is thickened with flour into a smooth, tangy porridge and eaten hot with stroop (syrup) or brown sugar. The common mistake is pouring cold buttermilk on flour and boiling hard, which splits the porridge into grainy lumps; mix a smooth paste first and keep the heat gentle. Chef's tip: stir constantly with a whisk, especially at the bottom of the pan, until it bubbles once, and it stays silky.

20 min

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Burong isdaFermented fish and rice

Burong isda is a Kapampangan treasure. In Pampanga, and in neighbouring Bulacan and Tarlac, families make buro in the rainy months when mudfish and tilapia are plentiful, and the sautéed paste is set out at home lunches with fried or grilled fish, steamed okra and eggplant, and blanched mustard leaves (mustasa) to wrap it in. Cooked rice and salted fish ferment together for about a week until the rice has melted into a soft, pinkish porridge and the fish bones soften. Sautéed with garlic, onion and tomato, it becomes creamy, sour, salty and deeply savoury, a little like a cheese spread. Because the fish ferments raw, two rules matter: cure it first in 20% salt, and always cook the buro until bubbling hot before eating; never eat it straight from the jar. Pregnant people, babies, older people and anyone with weak immunity should only eat it freshly cooked, or skip it. Common mistake: packing hot rice, which spoils the ferment; cool it fully. It is ready to cook when it smells pleasantly sour, like sourdough, and the rice is soft. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of angkak (red yeast rice) gives the traditional pink colour.

75 min

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Empal gepukSweet spiced fried beef

Empal gepuk is a Sundanese speciality from Bandung in West Java: beef simmered in coconut water and spices with palm sugar until the liquid is gone, pounded (gepuk) to loosen the fibres, then fried until the edges are crisp and sweet. Because it is dry and keeps for days, it is a classic in Indonesian bekal lunchboxes with rice, sambal and raw vegetables. The common mistake is cutting the beef with the grain, which makes it stringy; slice it across the grain before pounding. Chef's tip: pound gently with a pestle just until the slices fan out, then fry quickly; too long in the oil and they turn hard.

120 min

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Burong manggaPickled green mango

From Pampanga to Pangasinan, the hot months of March to May bring piles of hard green carabao mangoes to every palengke, and many households slice them into a jar of burong mangga. A week in a sweet salt brine turns the mango from mouth-puckering to bright and juicy: still crunchy, sour at the core, salty-sweet on the outside. It is eaten on the side of inihaw na isda and pritong tilapia, with rice and fried pork at lunch, or as an afternoon merienda straight from the jar, and the brine is sometimes sipped too. Common mistake: using mangoes that have started to ripen; a yellow blush makes the slices go soft and slimy, so choose rock-hard, deep-green fruit. Because the brine has no vinegar it keeps only in the fridge. It is ready when the slices have turned from opaque white to a translucent yellow-green and taste evenly seasoned right through. Chef's tip: let the boiled brine cool completely before pouring, and add a few slices of fresh chilli if you like heat. Outside Asia, use firm green Thai or Indian mangoes from an Asian grocer.

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Iron eggsBraised dried quail eggs

Iron eggs were invented in the 1970s at a noodle stall by the river in Tamsui, at the end of Taipei's red MRT line, when a cook kept re-braising unsold eggs until they shrank, darkened and turned chewy. Now every shop along Tamsui Old Street sells them in vacuum packs: tiny quail eggs and small hen's eggs, black as liquorice, with a firm, springy bite and a deep soy, five-spice and caramel flavour. Taiwanese families buy them as a snack for the train home. The process takes most of a day but very little work. Contains egg and soya. Chef's tip: dry the eggs under a fan between braises; the dried surface absorbs the sauce each time and builds the 'iron' skin.

600 min

Taiwanese Snacks & Starters

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Café chorreadoCloth-filtered coffee

Every Costa Rican grandmother has a chorreador: a small wooden stand holding a cloth bag, the bolsita, over a cup or jug. Hot water is poured through the grounds by hand, a little at a time, and the result is the coffee drunk at breakfast with gallo pinto and again at the afternoon cafecito around three, with a tamal, a slice of pan casero or a rosquilla. The cloth catches the oils and fine grounds, so the cup is clean, bright and smooth, with the soft acidity and caramel sweetness of Tarrazú and Central Valley beans. In the countryside the water is sometimes sweetened with tapa de dulce before it goes through. It is strong coffee, so mind the caffeine late in the day. The common mistake is pouring all the water in at once, which floods the bag and leaves weak, uneven coffee; pour in slow circles, in four or five goes. It is ready when the drips slow to a trickle and the coffee is dark reddish-brown and smells of toasted caramel. Never wash the bag with soap; rinse it in hot water and hang it to dry. Chef's tip: boil a new bag once with a spoonful of coffee before using it, to season the cloth.

10 minCentral American Drinks

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Cà pháo muốiPickled white aubergines

In northern Vietnam, a bowl of cà pháo muối is part of the plain summer meal: boiled water spinach, a light crab and jute-leaf soup, a few slices of braised pork and these small, round, white eggplants, crunched whole or halved with a dab of mắm tôm. Hanoi families pack them into jars in the hot months, when the eggplants are cheapest, with garlic, chilli and a few slices of galangal. After three to five days the skins turn an olive-yellow, the flesh goes creamy-ivory and the taste becomes clean, salty-sour and juicy, with a gentle crunch and no raw bitterness. Abroad, use firm green-and-white Thai eggplants about 3 cm across. Common mistake: letting the eggplants float above the brine; the exposed tops turn black and soft, so weigh them down. They are ready when the brine is cloudy, smells pleasantly sour and a halved eggplant has no white, raw-tasting core. Eat them only once fully soured, and in side-dish amounts. Chef's tip: soaking the cut eggplants in salted water first keeps their flesh pale and draws out bitterness.

35 min

Vietnamese Chutneys & Dips

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Cà tím om đậuBraised aubergine and tofu

In Hanoi, cà tím om đậu is a humble lunch dish of the old quarter rice shops and home kitchens, especially in the cooler months, and it is traditionally braised with pork and a spoon of fermented shrimp paste. This vegan version keeps the soft, smoky aubergine, golden tofu and sweet-sour tomato sauce, and swaps the shrimp paste for soy sauce, while purple perilla (tía tô) adds its unmistakable minty-anise lift. Serve it with plain rice and a bowl of clear vegetable soup. The usual mistake is crowding the tofu in the pan so it steams instead of frying, leaving it pale and soft. Chef's tip: soak the cut aubergine in lightly salted water with a dash of vinegar for 10 minutes, which stops it browning and keeps it from soaking up too much oil.

40 min

Vietnamese Vegetarian

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TangturCurd with greens and chilli

Through the short Ladakhi summer, when the fields around Leh are green, tangtur is on the table at almost every lunch: boiled leafy greens chopped into thick, cool curd or buttermilk with raw onion and green chilli. It is served beside paba, khambir or rice, and cuts through anything rich or spicy. In villages the greens may be wild ones gathered from field edges; spinach, mustard or radish leaves work well at home. The mistake to avoid is adding the greens while still hot, which splits the curd; cool them completely first. Chef's tip: squeeze the boiled greens really hard in your fist so the tangtur stays thick instead of watery.

15 min

Indian Salads

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