What to eat today?

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Pandan chiffon cake

No Singapore birthday table, office tea or visit to grandma's feels complete without a pandan chiffon cake, the pale green ring sold whole at heritage bakeries and neighbourhood confectioners and carried home in a box, and travellers fly home with one in their hand luggage. The crumb is cottony and springy, moist from coconut milk, and the flavour comes from juice squeezed from blended pandan leaves: grassy, vanilla-like and faintly nutty. It is served plain, in tall wedges, with kopi or tea. The usual mistake is greasing the tube pan; a chiffon needs to cling to bare metal to climb, and cooling it upside down is what keeps it tall. Chef's tip: beat the egg whites only to firm, glossy peaks that curl over at the tip; stiff, dry whites won't fold in smoothly and leave white streaks and holes.

80 min

Singaporean Baking

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Khmer green mango salad with crispy dried fish

Sharp enough to make you wince and then reach for more, nhoam svay is the salad sold from glass-fronted carts around Siem Reap's Old Market and packed for weekend picnics at the West Baray reservoir. Hard green mango is cut into fine strands and tossed with shallots, mint and a dressing of lime, fish sauce and palm sugar, then topped with crunchy roasted peanuts and flakes of salty dried fish fried until crisp. It is eaten as a snack on its own or as a fresh, sour side to grilled meat and rice. Many people dress it too early, which draws water out of the mango and leaves a limp, watery salad. Chef's tip: fry the dried fish slowly until it shatters, then crumble it over at the very last moment; for a vegetarian version, leave it out and use soy sauce in place of the fish sauce.

20 min

Cambodian Salads

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Sudanese shorba (lamb and peanut Ramadan soup)

Every evening during Ramadan, Khartoum tables are set with dates, juices and a big pot of shorba, a lamb broth full of carrots, potato and onion made creamy with peanut butter and sharpened with lime. It is the first thing many families eat after the dates, warm and gentle on an empty stomach, and it is made in quantity to share with neighbours. The soup is savoury, nutty and lightly spiced, thick enough to coat a spoon. Adding peanut butter straight into the pot is a mistake, as it clumps; whisk it smooth with hot broth first. Chef's tip: skim the broth carefully in the first 10 minutes for a clean taste, and finish with lime just before serving.

90 min

Sudanese Soups

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Red bean soup

Hong Kong Cantonese restaurants often send out a small bowl of hung dau sa on the house at the end of a banquet dinner, and dessert shops in Mong Kok serve it hot in winter and chilled with ice in summer. Long simmering breaks the adzuki beans down into a thick, velvety soup, part smooth and part whole beans, scented with the faintly bitter citrus of aged tangerine peel and sweetened with clean-tasting rock sugar. Some add a spoonful of coconut milk, lotus seeds or little glutinous rice balls. Adding the sugar too early is the common misstep, because it keeps the bean skins tough so they never collapse. Chef's tip: soak the beans, then freeze them in their soaking water for a few hours; the ice crystals crack the skins and halve the simmering time.

120 min

Hong Kong Desserts

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Kokoro (crunchy maize sticks)

Kokoro is sold in clear bags at motor parks, markets and school gates across the Southwest, and it is the snack people tuck into a pocket for a long bus ride. The dough is made by cooking part of the maize flour with water into a thick paste, then kneading in more flour with a little sugar, salt, chilli and ginger, and rolling it into thin sticks that are fried slowly until hard and golden. The result is very crunchy, lightly sweet and peppery, and it keeps for weeks. Children love it, and it is traditionally eaten with roasted groundnuts or coconut. Avoid frying in oil that is too hot; the outside browns before the sticks are crisp all the way through. Chef's tip: roll the sticks no thicker than a pencil and fry them at a moderate heat so they crisp right through; thick sticks fried hot stay hard outside and doughy inside.

65 min

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Dundun (fried yam)

In the evenings, Lagos street corners fill with the smell of dundun: big woks of oil, sliced white yam frying next to plantain and akara, sold by the piece in a twist of paper with a spoon of pepper sauce. Good dundun is golden and crisp outside and soft and fluffy as a baked potato inside, with a faint sweetness from the yam. At home it is a favourite Saturday breakfast or a quick supper, and children happily eat it on its own while the adults pile on the sauce. Don't fry over a very high heat: the outside browns before the middle cooks, the commonest dundun mistake. Chef's tip: soak the yam pieces in salted water for 5 minutes and pat them dry; the salt seasons them through and they fry crisper.

30 min

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Nigerian coconut candy

Children across Nigeria spend their pocket money on coconut candy, little clusters of fresh coconut set in amber caramel, sold in small bags by school gates and at market stalls. Made at home it takes about half an hour, with a chewy-crunchy bite and a toffee flavour against the clean taste of fresh coconut. Taking the caramel too far is the common mistake, since dark caramel tastes bitter, so stop at a deep golden colour. Children can help shape the cooled candy, but keep them away from the hot sugar. Chef's tip: use freshly grated coconut, not desiccated; its moisture keeps the clusters chewy in the centre.

30 min

Nigerian Desserts

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Water chestnut cake

Dim sum halls across Hong Kong lay out amber squares of water chestnut cake on small plates, and every Lunar New Year home kitchens steam a tray to give away to visitors. Set from water chestnut starch and brown slab sugar, the cake is translucent and gently chewy, flecked with pieces of fresh water chestnut that stay crisp and juicy. It is eaten cold and wobbly in summer, or sliced and pan-fried until the outside forms a caramel crust with a soft centre, with a cup of jasmine or oolong tea. A frequent problem is a lumpy, cloudy cake, which comes from pouring the hot syrup into the starch all at once without stirring. Chef's tip: let the cake set completely, ideally overnight in the fridge, before slicing with a knife dipped in water.

65 min

Hong Kong Desserts

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Bahamian guava duffSteamed guava roll

Guava duff is the Bahamas' best-loved dessert, served at Junkanoo season, Sunday dinners and Nassau restaurants alike: a soft dough spread with sweet stewed guava, rolled up, wrapped in cloth or foil and steamed until tender, then sliced and drowned in a warm butter sauce. Traditionally the sauce has rum in it, which is only lightly cooked, so the rum version is for adults only; the vanilla sauce below makes it alcohol-free for everyone. The most common mistake is rolling the duff too tight, which stops it rising; leave room in the wrapping for it to swell. Chef's tip: sieve the guava pulp to remove the hard seeds, and keep the thick paste for the filling.

135 minCaribbean Desserts

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Reform tortaWalnut meringue chocolate cake

Belgrade pastry shops have sold reform torta since the early twentieth century, and it is still the cake Serbian families bring out for birthdays, weddings and the slava. Three thin layers of walnut meringue, crisp at the edge and chewy inside, are stacked with a dense chocolate butter cream made with egg yolks cooked over steam until thick. It is very rich, so cut thin slices and serve with strong coffee. The usual slip is beating the butter into a chocolate mixture that is still warm, which melts it and splits the cream; let it cool to room temperature first. Chef's tip: assemble the cake the day before; overnight in the fridge the meringue softens a little and the cake slices cleanly with a hot knife.

150 minBalkan Baking

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Pakistani chicken corn soup

Come the first cold evening of winter, carts with steaming steel pots appear on Karachi's Tariq Road and Lahore's Liberty Market, and queues form for chicken corn soup in disposable cups. It is Pakistani-Chinese food at its most loved: a thick, glossy soup of shredded chicken, creamed sweetcorn and silky egg ribbons, which each person seasons at the cart with chilli vinegar, soy sauce and chilli sauce from squeezy bottles. Children love it plain; adults douse it. Pouring the egg into a rapidly boiling soup turns it into scrambled lumps, so keep it at a gentle simmer and stir slowly in one direction. Chef's tip: for a vegetarian version, use a good vegetable stock, leave out the chicken and add a handful of finely chopped carrot and cabbage.

40 min

Pakistani Soups

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African chicken (Macanese galinha africana)

Macau restaurants have served galinha africana since the 1940s, and the story most often told is that a hotel chef in the city created it from spices that Portuguese sailors brought back from Mozambique and Angola. Today it is a signature at Macanese and Portuguese restaurants from Taipa village to Coloane, eaten at long weekend lunches with rice or crusty bread. Chicken pieces are marinated, grilled until charred, then baked under a thick, brick-coloured sauce of ground peanuts, coconut milk, chilli, paprika, garlic and onion that is rich, nutty and quietly fiery. It is often made with a pale, timid sauce; cook the onion, garlic and paprika slowly until really deep red before the coconut goes in. Chef's tip: marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge so the garlic and chilli reach the bone.

75 min

Macanese Chicken

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Ojojo (water yam fritters)

Ojojo is what Yoruba households do with water yam when they want a snack instead of a pottage, and roadside fryers in the Southwest sell it hot in paper with akara. The grated yam is mixed with chopped onion, fresh chilli and salt, then dropped by the spoonful into hot oil, where it puffs into craggy, golden fritters with a crisp shell and a soft, slightly chewy centre. Eat it hot with a pepper sauce, or with ogi (fermented corn pap) for breakfast. Wear gloves to peel and grate water yam, which makes the skin itch. Chef's tip: grate the yam just before frying and don't let the batter sit; it darkens and loosens as it stands.

30 min

Pakistani Breads & Parathas

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Gullisuwa (fried milk balls in syrup)

Small kiosks in Kano sell gullisuwa in twists of plastic, and Hausa families make platefuls for Sallah and weddings. Milk powder, a little flour and sugar are worked into a soft dough, rolled into balls and fried slowly until deep golden, then soaked in syrup, which gives a rich, fudge-like centre and a faintly caramel crust. They recall Indian gulab jamun, but they are firmer and less spiced. Milk sugars burn fast, so the common mistake is hot oil that browns the outside in seconds while the inside stays doughy; keep it low. Chef's tip: oil your palms when rolling, so the balls stay smooth and don't crack in the pan.

50 min

Nigerian Desserts

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Tainan beef soup

Before dawn in Tainan, workers and night owls fill steamy shops near the slaughterhouse districts for bowls of fresh local beef sliced paper-thin and blanched by a ladle of boiling broth, eaten with rice and a saucer of soy and ginger as a sunrise breakfast. The meat is tender and rosy, the broth clean, sweet and beefy. Traditionally the slices are barely cooked; this recipe gives a safer 30-second dip in simmering broth and a fully cooked option. The pink version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. People often cut the beef too thick, so it toughens before it cooks through; firm it in the freezer and slice it as thin as you can. Chef's tip: bring the broth to a hard, rolling boil right before every ladle; a broth that has dropped off the boil never cooks the beef evenly.

30 min

Taiwanese Soups

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Bajre di rotiPearl millet flatbread

Pearl millet grows where wheat gives up, in the sandy fields on the edge of the Cholistan desert around Bahawalpur, and there bajre di roti is the bread of winter, thick, grey-green and earthy with a slightly sweet, nutty taste. Because millet has no gluten, the dough is kneaded one roti at a time and patted out between wet palms rather than rolled, which takes a little practice but no special equipment. In village homes it is eaten hot with a lump of white butter or ghee and a piece of jaggery, or with sarson ka saag and a bowl of lassi; for a vegan meal, serve it with saag cooked in oil. Making all the dough at once is the classic error: millet dough dries and cracks within minutes. Chef's tip: knead each portion fresh with warm water and the heel of your hand until it feels smooth and slightly sticky, like soft clay.

35 min

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Agashe (Sudanese peanut-crusted beef skewers)

On Khartoum evenings the smoke from agashe grills drifts across the streets: thin slices of beef threaded onto sticks, coated in a dry rub of ground roasted peanuts, ginger, chilli and garlic, and grilled fast over charcoal until crusty and fragrant. The style came to Sudan with West African communities and is close cousin to Nigerian suya, but it has become a Khartoum favourite in its own right, served with sliced onion, tomato, lime and a sprinkle of extra spice. Slicing the beef too thick is the usual error, because the crust burns before the inside is done; aim for 5 mm. Marinate in the fridge, never on the counter. Chef's tip: dust the skewers with a second coat of peanut mix halfway through grilling for the best crust.

40 min

Sudanese Meat

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Kaware' (cow's trotter soup with fatta)

Old Cairo eateries that specialise in it open early, and kaware' has a loyal following on cold winter mornings and as a restorative after Ramadan nights; at home it is usually made after Eid al-Adha. Cow's feet are cleaned, blanched and then simmered for hours with onion, garlic and whole spices until the meat and skin turn soft and sticky and the broth sets like jelly when cold. It is served over fatta: layers of toasted flatbread and rice drenched with broth and a sharp garlic-and-vinegar sauce, with the tender trotter pieces on top. Ask the butcher to clean the feet and saw them into pieces. Chef's tip: a pressure cooker cuts the simmering to about 1 hour 30 minutes with no loss of flavour.

260 min

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Khmer pickled vegetables

Cambodian cooks keep a jar of chrouk in the fridge the way others keep ketchup. These quick pickles of green papaya, carrot, cucumber and a little ginger come on the side of broken-rice breakfasts in Phnom Penh, with grilled food at night markets and tucked into num pang baguettes, adding crunch and a sweet-sour snap to anything rich or smoky. The brine is simply rice vinegar, sugar and salt, which keeps the vegetables pale and crisp. Pouring the brine on boiling hot is the classic slip: it softens the cucumber and dulls the colours. Chef's tip: salt the papaya and carrot for 15 minutes and squeeze them before jarring; they stay crunchy for a week instead of turning floppy by day two.

25 min

Cambodian Sides

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Ewedu (jute leaf soup)

Bright green, light and famously slippery, ewedu is the soup that makes amala slide down so easily, and in Ibadan and across Oyo State it is rare to see one without the other. Only the tender jute leaves are picked from the stems, boiled for a few minutes and then beaten with a small broom until finely shredded and stretchy, with a few locust beans for a savoury, funky depth. Some cooks add crayfish; this version keeps it meat-free. It tastes fresh and grassy and is eaten with amala, gbegiri and a red pepper stew. Frozen chopped ewedu or Egyptian molokhia leaves work well outside Nigeria. Chef's tip: cook it briefly and uncovered; long boiling or a lid turns the bright green an olive drab, the most common ewedu mistake.

25 min

Nigerian Soups

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Gbegiri (Yoruba bean soup)

Order amala at any buka in Ibadan or Oyo and the server will ask "abula?", meaning a ladle of gbegiri and a ladle of ewedu poured side by side, usually crowned with a spoon of pepper stew. Gbegiri itself is smooth, mellow and earthy: peeled black-eyed beans cooked until they fall apart, beaten to a cream and simmered with red palm oil and pungent locust beans. Many cooks add ground crayfish or smoked fish; this is the meat-free way, which loses nothing of its velvet texture. Serve it with amala and ewedu or spooned over boiled yam. The mistake to avoid is leaving bean skins in, which turns the soup grey and gritty, so rub and rinse until the beans are white. Chef's tip: whisk the cooked beans with a balloon whisk or the traditional ijabe broom rather than a blender for the lightest, fluffiest gbegiri.

90 min

Nigerian Soups

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Mombar (rice-stuffed beef casings)

Mombar is festival food: in the days after Eid al-Adha, when the butchers have plenty of cleaned casings, families across Cairo and the Delta settle down to stuff them together, and street cooks in popular neighbourhoods sell crisp coils of it by weight. The filling is Egyptian short-grain rice with tomato, onion, dill, parsley and coriander, which swells inside the casing as it simmers, so each bite is soft, herby rice wrapped in a thin, crackling skin. It is eaten hot as a main dish or a side to roast meat, with lemon and a plate of pickles. Buy the casings ready-cleaned from a butcher; this recipe assumes they have been. The commonest mistake is overfilling the casings; packed full, the rice swells and they burst in the pot. Chef's tip: fill each length only two-thirds full; the rice doubles in size and an overstuffed casing bursts in the pot.

145 min

Ghanaian Breakfast & Brunch

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Sharmout (Sudanese dried beef, oven method)

Across Darfur and Kordofan, and in kitchens throughout Sudan around Eid al-Adha, strips of lean beef are salted and hung to dry in the hot, dry air for several days until they turn hard and dark. That sharmout is then pounded and fried with onion to give tagalia, kawal and other stews their rich, savoury depth. Air-drying raw meat at home is risky, so this safer version heats the strips to 71 °C first and then dries them slowly in a low oven, and the finished sharmout is kept in the fridge. The traditional raw air-dried version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Leaving fat on the strips is the usual mistake: fat does not dry and turns rancid, so trim every bit. Chef's tip: partly freeze the beef so you can slice it into even 5 mm strips along the grain.

330 min

Sudanese Basics

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Siu yuk (Cantonese crispy roast pork belly)

Hanging in the window of every Hong Kong siu mei shop beside the char siu and roast goose, siu yuk is a slab of pork belly whose skin has been roasted into a glassy, bubbled crackling that crunches loudly over juicy, five-spice-seasoned layers of meat and fat. Shops chop it into cubes for rice boxes at lunch, and whole slabs are carried to temples and family altars at Ching Ming and on festival days. Serve it with English-style mustard and a dish of sugar for dipping, plus rice and greens. The usual error is a damp skin: any moisture left on it steams instead of crackles, so the belly must dry uncovered in the fridge overnight. Chef's tip: prick the skin all over with a sharp skewer until it looks like sandpaper; those tiny holes are where the blisters start.

150 min

Hong Kong Meat

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Bahamian stew fishGrouper in roux gravy

Bahamian stew fish is old-fashioned Sunday breakfast in Nassau and the Family Islands: firm fish such as grouper or snapper simmered in a dark brown gravy built on a flour-and-oil roux, with onion, celery, tomato and thyme, served over grits or with johnnycake. The flavour is deep, savoury and a little smoky from the browned flour. The usual mistake is a pale roux; cook the flour slowly until it is the colour of milk chocolate, but don't let it burn. Ask for thick fish steaks or fillets. Chef's tip: stir the roux with a flat wooden spatula so you can scrape every corner and keep it browning evenly.

60 minCaribbean Fish

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Hausa kokoSpiced millet porridge

Before sunrise in the Zongo neighbourhoods of Tamale, Accra and Kumasi, vendors ladle Hausa koko from big pots into plastic cups: a thin, smooth, slightly sour millet porridge, hot with ginger, cloves and chilli and sweetened at the table. It is drunk or eaten with a spoon alongside koose (bean fritters), bofrot or bread, and costs very little. The millet slurry is left to ferment overnight, which gives the tang, so start the night before. Chef's tip: pour the slurry into the boiling water in a thin stream while whisking, then strain if needed; adding it all at once is the common mistake and makes the porridge lumpy.

30 min

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Moza (Egyptian lamb shanks with rice)

On Eid al-Adha, when there is lamb in every kitchen, and in the grill houses of Cairo where it is a favourite order, moza is the cut people point to: a whole shank per person, standing on a mound of rice. The shanks are first simmered gently with onion, cardamom, bay and a little mastic until the meat is ready to slip off the bone, then roasted in a hot oven so the outside turns brown and sticky. The rice cooks in the fragrant broth, so every grain carries the lamb flavour. A bowl of the remaining broth, a salad of tomato and cucumber and some tahini make it a feast. Chef's tip: skim the pot carefully in the first 15 minutes of simmering; a clear broth makes cleaner-tasting rice.

155 min

Taiwanese Breakfast & Brunch

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Steamed egg with minced pork

Hong Kong grandmothers make this on busy weeknights, and it is one of the first dishes children there learn to love: a trembling, glass-smooth egg custard with a layer of soy-seasoned minced pork underneath, served in its dish with a drizzle of soy and sesame oil and a bowl of white rice. It costs little, cooks in minutes and tastes of comfort. Getting the texture right is all about gentle heat. The pitfall nearly everyone hits is steaming on full blast with no lid on the dish, which gives a pitted, spongy surface; cover the bowl and steam on a medium heat instead. Chef's tip: use warm stock or water at 1½ times the volume of the beaten eggs, and strain the mixture through a sieve to remove the bubbles.

25 min

Hong Kong Meat

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Milkfish belly congee

Tainan breakfast stalls open before six for this, ladling it into bowls beside plates of fried dough sticks and braised fish skin. It is not the thick Cantonese kind: cooked rice is simmered briefly in a light, ginger-scented broth, so the grains stay separate, and slices of rich, boneless milkfish belly are poached in it until just set, then showered with celery, fried shallots and white pepper. Milkfish is farmed in the ponds around Tainan; look for boneless frozen belly in Asian supermarkets, or use sea bass belly. The error most cooks make is boiling the belly hard, which breaks the soft fat and clouds the broth. Chef's tip: lower the slices into the pot skin-side down and keep the liquid just shivering; the belly firms gently and keeps its sweet, silky layer of fat.

40 min

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Fish singari (Alexandrian baked fish)

Alexandrian fish restaurants list singari next to grilled and fried fish, and families along the coast bake it at home for Friday lunch, usually with sea bream, sea bass or a large bolti. The fishmonger splits the fish down the back and opens it flat, then it is smothered in a garlicky cumin and lemon paste and laid over sliced tomatoes, green peppers, onion and chilli. In the oven the vegetables soften into a juicy sauce underneath while the fish roasts on top, so you get tender flesh, a slightly charred skin and plenty of sauce for spooning over rice. Serve with white rice, tahini and bread. Chef's tip: give the vegetables 10 minutes in the oven on their own first; it drives off water so the fish roasts instead of steaming.

65 min

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KletskoppenLacy almond biscuits

Kletskoppen are the lacy, crackly biscuits of Bruges, sold in the old city's bakeries and served with coffee in the cafés around the Markt: brown sugar, butter and chopped almonds with very little flour (this version uses none), baked until they spread into thin, see-through, toffee-flavoured lace. A common mistake is putting them too close on the tray; they spread enormously and join up. Chef's tip: let them cool for a minute on the tray before lifting, and drape them over a rolling pin while still warm if you want curved tuiles.

30 min

Belgian Baking

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Hilu-mur (Sudanese spiced sorghum Ramadan drink)

Weeks before Ramadan, households across Sudan fill with the smell of hilu-mur, literally 'sweet-bitter', as sorghum is sprouted, dried, ground and mixed with flour, dates and a heady spice blend, left to sour for a day, then spread paper-thin on a hot griddle into brittle reddish-brown flakes. Each evening during the month a handful is soaked in water, strained and sweetened, giving the dark, tangy, clove-and-ginger-scented drink that breaks the fast. The souring is short, like a sourdough, and the flakes are cooked dry; the drink is non-alcoholic and served to the whole family. The full process takes about 5 days: 3 days to sprout, 1 to dry and a night to sour, so only active and cooking time are in the totals. Many people buy ready-made flakes from Sudanese shops. Discard any grain that smells musty or shows mould while sprouting. The usual mistake is pouring the batter too thick on the griddle; the flakes should be paper-thin to dry crisp. Chef's tip: spread the batter as thinly as you can; thick flakes stay chewy and go mouldy in storage.

210 min

Sudanese Drinks

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Trey aing (grilled fish with lemongrass)

Around Siem Reap and the floating villages of the Tonlé Sap, weekend outings mean a bamboo picnic hut by the water and a whole fish grilled over charcoal in a wire basket. The fish is stuffed and rubbed with lemongrass, garlic and salt, so the skin blisters and smokes while the white flesh stays moist; diners pull off flakes and wrap them in lettuce with mint, basil, sliced cucumber and sour green mango, then dunk the parcel in a garlicky lime dip with crushed peanuts. Snakehead or tilapia are the usual fish, but sea bass or bream are excellent. Turning the fish too soon is the classic misstep; the skin tears and sticks to the grill. Chef's tip: oil the fish and the basket well, then leave it alone until the underside releases by itself, about 10 minutes.

45 min

Cambodian Fish

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Abreh (Sudanese white sorghum flake drink)

Where hilu-mur is dark and spiced, abreh abyad, white abreh, is its pale, gentle partner: a batter of white sorghum flour is left to sour lightly, then baked into thin cream-coloured flakes that are soaked in cold, sweetened water and served at iftar across northern Sudan. The drink is cloudy, refreshing and faintly tangy, a good way to rehydrate after a long day of fasting; some families add a splash of lime or a little cardamom. The overnight souring takes 12–18 hours and is not counted in the totals; it is non-alcoholic, and the flakes are dried hard on the griddle. Spreading the batter too thickly is the classic mistake, so work fast and thin. Chef's tip: make a big batch in one session; the dry flakes keep for months in a tin, so a jug of abreh is only an hour away.

110 min

Sudanese Drinks

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Gandofli (Alexandrian garlic clams)

Along the Alexandria Corniche and in the old Anfushi fish quarter, gandofli are a summer seaside snack, often sold by the plateful with lemon and sometimes eaten raw. Raw shellfish carries a real risk of food poisoning, so this home version cooks them: the little clams go into a hot pan with olive oil, garlic, a pinch of cumin and chilli, and steam open in a minute or two, releasing sweet, salty juices that mix with lemon into a sauce for mopping up with bread. Buy them live from a reputable fishmonger and cook them the same day. Chef's tip: soak the clams in salted water in the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking so they spit out their sand; nothing spoils them faster than grit.

25 min

Hong Kong Pasta & Noodles

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Black sesame soup

Steaming bowls of inky ji ma wu are a staple of Hong Kong dessert shops on cool evenings, eaten after dinner or as a late-night snack on the way home. The soup is thick enough to coat a spoon, nutty and roasted with a faint bitterness that balances the rock sugar, and so smooth it feels like warm velvet. It's often paired half-and-half in one bowl with almond tea or walnut soup, or served with sweet glutinous rice balls. Over-toasting the sesame is the mistake to avoid; once the seeds scorch, the whole pot tastes acrid. Chef's tip: blend the toasted seeds with water for a full two minutes, until no grit is left between your fingers, before it goes into the pan.

30 min

Hong Kong Desserts

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Doum drink

Spice and herb sellers in the Aswan souk pile up the hard, glossy brown fruit of the doum palm, and Nubian households soak it into a cold, sweet drink for the hot months and for Ramadan iftar. The dried flesh gives a cloudy amber drink that tastes surprisingly like gingerbread or caramel, with a faint woody bitterness. Buy it crushed or as coarse powder at Egyptian and African grocers; whole fruit is extremely hard to break. Leaving it to steep too long is the mistake to avoid, because it turns bitter. Chef's tip: strain twice, once through a sieve and again through muslin, to remove the gritty fibre.

15 min

Egyptian Drinks

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Sugarcane juice

Juice shops all over Cairo and the towns of Upper Egypt crush sugarcane through clattering steel rollers and serve the pale green juice ice-cold for a few pounds a glass, a favourite in the summer heat and after Ramadan fasting. It is sweet, grassy and refreshing, with a faint lemony edge, and it tastes best within minutes of pressing. Without a press, peeled cane chopped small and blended with a little water gives a very close result at home. Chef's tip: peel the cane completely, because the hard green rind makes the juice bitter and dark.

10 min

Egyptian Drinks

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Amala (yam flour swallow)

Amala gets its dusky brown colour from elubo, yam that has been peeled, sliced, sun-dried and milled, which gives it a faintly smoky, earthy taste. Ibadan's amala joints serve it from morning to night, soft and steaming, wrapped in leaves or cling film, with ewedu, gbegiri and stew; it is pinched off with the fingers and dipped, never chewed for long. Making it takes five minutes and a strong arm: the flour goes into boiling water and is stirred and turned against the side of the pot until it is perfectly smooth and stretchy. Lumps are the usual mistake, so add the flour off the heat and stir hard from the first second. Chef's tip: use a sturdy wooden spatula (omorogun) and press the dough against the pot rather than just stirring it round; that is what makes it silky.

15 min

Nigerian Basics

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Beef brisket noodles

Queues form outside the brisket shops of Central and Sham Shui Po at lunchtime for a bowl of ngau naam min: wobbly chunks of beef brisket, braised for hours with chu hou paste, star anise, cinnamon and dried tangerine peel until the fat and sinew melt, set over springy egg noodles in a separate, clear, peppery broth with daikon. The braise is dark, sticky and aromatic, the broth light and clean, and you dip between them. A slosh of Shaoxing rice wine goes in the braise; an alcohol-free swap is in the ingredient list. Many home cooks cut the brisket before cooking into small cubes, which then shrink and dry out; braise it in big pieces and cut it afterwards. Chef's tip: the braise is better the next day, so make it ahead, chill it and lift off the fat before reheating.

180 min

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Burmese pork curry

Glistening under a layer of brick-red oil, pork curry sits at the front of every Yangon htamin zain, the rice-and-curry shops where office workers queue at lunchtime and point at pots. Chunks of pork belly and shoulder are cooked very slowly in a paste of onion, garlic and ginger until the meat is spoon-tender, the fat has melted into the sauce and the oil floats free on top. It tastes savoury and gently sweet rather than fiery, and arrives with plain rice, a sour leaf soup, boiled vegetables and a dish of fish-paste dip. People often fry the onion paste too fast; it scorches before the water has cooked out and the curry turns bitter, so keep the heat at a steady medium. Chef's tip: the curry tastes even better the next day, when the pork has soaked up the sauce; lift off a little of the oil before reheating if you prefer it leaner.

120 min

Burmese Curries

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HanumSteamed potato and pumpkin roll

Hanum is a rolled steamed dumpling loved across the Ferghana Valley and Tashkent: a thin sheet of dough spread with a filling, rolled into a long log, coiled and steamed in the tiers of a kaskan steamer, then sliced and served with tomato sauce or yogurt. Meat versions are common, but potato and pumpkin hanum is a favourite on fasting days and in autumn. A common mistake is rolling the dough too thick, which makes it heavy and doughy. Chef's tip: oil the steamer basket and coil the roll so it doesn't touch the sides; it expands as it steams. Without yogurt it is vegan.

85 min

Uzbek Vegetarian

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Qolqas (taro with chard and coriander)

Coptic Christians across Egypt eat qolqas for the Feast of the Epiphany (Eid el-Ghitas) in January, together with sugarcane and oranges, and it is a winter favourite in Muslim homes too. Peeled taro is cut into cubes and simmered in chicken or beef stock until soft and almost creamy, then a green paste of chard, fresh coriander and garlic fried in oil is stirred through, turning the broth a deep, herby green. The texture is soft and slightly velvety from the taro's natural starch, and the flavour fresh and garlicky. It is served with white rice and often with the meat from the stock. Raw taro irritates the skin and mouth, so wear gloves to peel it and always cook it until completely tender. The usual mistake is touching peeled taro with bare hands or eating it undercooked; both bring an itchy, scratchy feel. Chef's tip: rub the cut cubes with lemon juice before cooking to keep them pale and reduce their sliminess.

75 min

Egyptian Curries

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Egyptian mixed pickles

Every koshari shop, ful cart and shawarma stall in Cairo puts a little dish of mekhalel on the counter, and Egyptians at home keep a jar going all year. Turnip batons are the star, dyed bright pink by a single slice of beetroot, with carrot, cucumber, chilli and lemon packed in alongside for crunch, heat and a bitter citrus edge. This quick fridge version is ready to eat in about 5 days and keeps for a month, cold. A common mistake is using iodised table salt, which clouds the brine and can soften the vegetables, so buy plain non-iodised salt. Chef's tip: cut the lemon into quarters but leave them joined at the base, so they flavour the brine without turning the whole jar bitter.

30 min

Egyptian Chutneys & Dips

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Lo mai gai (sticky rice in lotus leaf)

Unfold the dried lotus leaf at a Hong Kong yum cha table and a cloud of tea-scented steam rises from a parcel of glossy sticky rice, hiding a centre of soy-braised chicken thigh, shiitake and slices of lap cheong, the sweet Chinese pork sausage. Teahouses from Sheung Wan to Mong Kok sell it from the morning trolleys, and office workers grab one as a filling breakfast with a pot of pu'er. The rice is chewy and sticky but each grain stays whole, and the leaf gives it a faint grassy perfume. Shaoxing rice wine goes into the filling; an alcohol-free swap is given in the ingredient list. The most common mistake is cooking the rice in water like plain rice: soaked glutinous rice must be steamed, or it turns into paste. Chef's tip: wrap the parcels tightly and steam them again from cold or frozen; they reheat better than almost any dim sum.

130 min

Hong Kong Rice & Grains

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Egyptian stuffed pickled aubergines

Pickle shops in old Cairo stack jars of these small dark aubergines next to the turnips and lemons, and at home they are sliced beside ful, falafel or a plate of koshari. Each one is boiled until just tender, split down one side and packed with a sharp, hot stuffing of garlic, chilli and green pepper, then left in vinegar for several days until it turns silky and tangy. Only about 40 minutes of the work is active; the jar then needs 5 days in the fridge. Keep the pickle refrigerated and eat it within 3 weeks. The usual mistake is undercooking the aubergines before stuffing, so they stay spongy and never absorb the brine. Chef's tip: press the boiled aubergines under a weighted plate before stuffing, so they hold the vinegar rather than their own bitter water.

40 min

Egyptian Chutneys & Dips

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Bedouin sage tea

Visitors to a Bedouin camp in the Sinai mountains are handed small glasses of this tea almost before they sit down, brewed in a blackened kettle over the fire and sweetened generously. Wild maramiya, the local sage, is dropped in at the end, giving the strong black tea a soft, herbal, slightly camphor scent that is soothing after a long walk or a heavy meal. Garden sage works well, and dried sage is fine in a pinch. Boiling the sage is the mistake to avoid, because it turns the tea bitter. Sage is best taken in moderation and avoided in large amounts during pregnancy. Chef's tip: pour from a height into the glasses; the froth that forms is how Bedouin hosts like it served.

10 min

Egyptian Drinks

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Ila asepo (Yoruba okra soup)

Ibadan and Abeokuta buka ladle ila asepo over amala at lunchtime: a bright, chunky okra soup cooked in a palm-oil pepper base, rather than the plain boiled okra of other regions. Iru and crayfish give depth, assorted meat and smoked fish give body, and prawns go in at the end, so every spoonful is drawy, savoury and loaded. It is just as good with eba or pounded yam. Cooking the okra too long is the usual mistake; it loses its stretch and its green colour, so add it last and give it only 4–5 minutes. Chef's tip: chop the okra by hand into small dice instead of blending it, and the soup keeps its pleasant crunch.

85 min

Nigerian Meat

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Hamam mahshi (stuffed pigeon)

Pigeon towers still rise above villages in the Nile Delta, and stuffed pigeon is a celebration dish there and in Cairo's famous pigeon restaurants; it is traditionally served to newlyweds and at feasts. Each small bird is filled with freekeh (smoky green wheat) cooked with onion, giblets and warm spices, then simmered in a cardamom broth until tender and finished in a hot oven or fried so the skin turns deep brown and crackling. The meat is dark and rich, closer to duck than chicken, and the freekeh soaks up all the juices. Serve one bird each with a salad, pickles and the broth as soup. Use farmed squab from a poultry supplier. Chef's tip: stuff the birds loosely and sew or skewer them shut; freekeh swells as it cooks and an overfilled pigeon bursts.

125 min

Egyptian Chicken

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Asaro (yam pottage)

Lagos home cooks make asaro on busy weekdays because it needs one pot and very little fuss, and children usually love its soft, sweet-savoury comfort. Chunks of white puna yam simmer in a blended sauce of red bell pepper, tomato and scotch bonnet with palm oil, and as they cook some pieces collapse into a thick, orange porridge while others stay whole. It is often made with crayfish or smoked fish; this meat-free version gets its depth from locust beans and a vegetable stock cube. A handful of greens stirred in at the end turns it into a full meal, and it needs nothing alongside. For children, use half a scotch bonnet or leave it out. Chef's tip: don't stir in the first 15 minutes; mash only a third of the yam at the end, so there is both creamy sauce and tender chunks.

50 min

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Ikokore (Ijebu water yam pottage)

Ikokore is the Ijebu people's own pottage, made in Ijebu-Ode and towns across Ogun State from water yam, the purple-tinged yam that grates into a sticky paste. Spoonfuls of that paste go into a pepper and palm-oil sauce and set into soft, dumpling-like lumps, so it is part soup and part porridge, rich and spicy. Smoked fish and crayfish are traditional; this meat-free version uses mushrooms for their savoury bite. It is eaten as a complete meal, often on its own or with a cold drink. Water yam makes the skin itch, so wear gloves to peel and grate it. If water yam is hard to find, white yam works but sets softer. Chef's tip: drop the paste in and leave it for 10 minutes before you stir; stirring too soon is the mistake that turns the lumps into a smooth paste.

60 min

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Jamaican roast yam

Roast yam stands beside roast fish at the beach shacks of Treasure Beach and at the roadside stalls along the Ocho Rios road, long pieces pulled out of the coals with blackened, smoky skins. Yellow yam roasted this way turns dense, dry and nutty, quite different from boiled, and it is eaten hot with a little coconut oil or butter and a sprinkle of salt. The usual mistake is cutting the yam too short or thin, so it dries out; roast it in thick 20 cm lengths with the skin on. Here it is done in a hot oven, with a flame option for a smoky edge. Chef's tip: wrap the pieces in foil for the first 30 minutes so they steam inside, then unwrap them to char the outside.

60 min

Jamaican Sides

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Shorbet lesan asfour (orzo soup)

Bowls of this golden broth start the meal on winter nights all over Cairo, and it is one of the first things set on the table at iftar, when a gentle, warm soup comes before anything heavier. Lesan asfour means "bird's tongue", the Egyptian name for the small rice-shaped pasta the rest of the world calls orzo. Fried in butter until nutty and then simmered in a well-seasoned chicken stock, the grains turn plump and silky, and a squeeze of lemon at the table lifts the whole bowl. Children love it, and it is what many Egyptian households cook for anyone feeling under the weather. Chef's tip: toast the pasta until it is the colour of roasted hazelnuts, not just pale gold; that browning is where all the flavour comes from.

25 min

Egyptian Soups

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Hamour mashwiGrilled grouper

Along the Corniche in Dammam and in the fish markets of Qatif on Saudi Arabia's Gulf coast, hamour is the fish everyone asks for, and on weekend evenings families grill it over charcoal on the beach. The thick white fillets are rubbed with turmeric, garlic, ground dried lime and red chilli, which gives a sour, smoky edge to the sweet, flaky flesh. Serve it with mashkool rice, a lemony salad and daqqus. The common mistake is turning the fish too early, before the crust has set, so it sticks and tears. Chef's tip: oil the fish, not the grill, and leave it alone until it lifts away by itself.

30 minGulf Arabian Fish

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Sogo' (Alexandrian spicy sausage)

Sogo' sandwiches are as much a part of an Alexandrian night out as liver: the same street stalls fry coins of hot beef sausage with onion, green pepper, tomato and chilli until the juices turn red and sticky, then pack it into crusty rolls. The flavour is bold, garlicky and cumin-heavy, with fresh crunch from the peppers. Egyptian butchers sell the sausage ready-made; outside Egypt, use any spicy, coarse beef sausage such as beef merguez. Serve it in bread with tahini and pickles, or as a main dish with rice and salad. A frequent slip is crowding the pan, so the sausage stews grey instead of browning with the peppers. Chef's tip: fry the sausage first on its own until browned, then add the vegetables to its fat; you get far more flavour than cooking it all together.

25 min

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Ekuru (white bean pudding with pepper sauce)

Pale and plain on purpose, ekuru is moin moin's quiet cousin: the same peeled black-eyed bean paste, but steamed with nothing in it except a little salt, so it comes out white, light and airy. In Ijebu and around Ogun State it is a breakfast and market snack, and all the flavour comes from the sauce served with it, a fried mix of red peppers, scotch bonnet, onion and locust beans in palm oil. The contrast of mild, fluffy pudding and hot, oily sauce is the whole point. This version is entirely plant-based. Chef's tip: beat the bean paste hard for several minutes before steaming; the trapped air is what makes ekuru light rather than dense.

90 min

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Kebab halla (beef braised in onions)

Despite the name, nothing here goes near a grill: kebab halla means "pot kebab", and it is the kind of unfussy Sunday or Friday dish that Cairo home cooks put on the stove and leave to its own devices. Chunks of beef are seared and then buried under a heap of sliced onions, which slowly give up their water and collapse into a glossy, almost jammy brown sauce with cardamom and bay. The meat ends up spoon-tender and the gravy tastes deeply savoury and a little sweet. It is eaten with Egyptian vermicelli rice, crusty bread or chips. Chef's tip: slice the onions into half-moons rather than chopping them; they melt evenly and give the sauce its silky body.

125 min

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Chapman (Nigerian fruit punch)

Order a chapman in a Lagos club house or at an owambe party and it arrives in a tall glass full of ice, glowing red and crowded with slices of cucumber, orange and lemon. Lemon-lime and orange sodas are mixed with blackcurrant cordial and grenadine for a sweet, fruity, fizzy drink with a fresh edge from the cucumber. The classic recipe adds a few dashes of aromatic bitters, and those bitters contain alcohol; leave them out (or use an alcohol-free bitters) and it is fully alcohol-free and fine for children. Adding the soda too early is the usual mistake, as it goes flat, so mix the syrups and fruit first and top up just before serving. Chef's tip: chill every bottle well beforehand, so less ice melts into the drink.

10 min

Nigerian Drinks

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Sayadiya (fisherman's fish and rice)

The name comes from the word for fisherman, and sayadiya is the pride of the fish restaurants along the Alexandria seafront and in Suez, where it is ordered as a platter for the whole table. Its signature is the colour: onions are fried slowly until mahogany, then simmered into a stock that turns the rice a deep brown and fills it with sweet, savoury, cumin-scented flavour. On top go pieces of crisp fried fish and a scatter of toasted pine nuts and almonds, with lemon wedges, tahini and a green salad alongside. Chef's tip: watch the onions closely in the last few minutes and lift them out when they are dark brown, never black; burnt onions make the whole pot bitter.

75 min

Nigerian Breakfast & Brunch

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Spris (layered fruit juice)

Juice houses all over Addis Ababa, with their towers of fruit stacked in the window, are famous for spris: a tall glass of thick purées poured in stripes, usually green avocado, golden mango and orange papaya, with a wedge of lime on the rim. It is closer to a spoonable smoothie than a juice, and people often eat the layers one by one before stirring the rest together. It makes a filling breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up, and children love the colours. Chef's tip: blend each fruit separately and keep every purée thick enough to hold a spoon; runny purées bleed into each other and the stripes vanish.

15 min

Ethiopian Drinks

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Galinha à portuguesa (Portuguese chicken)

Puzzlingly, you will not find this in Portugal: galinha à portuguesa belongs to Macau, where cooks mixed a Portuguese idea of a creamy baked chicken with the turmeric, curry powder and coconut milk that came through the Portuguese trading routes from Goa and Malacca. Macanese restaurants and Hong Kong's cha chaan teng serve it bubbling in a clay pot or baking dish, golden on top, with chicken and potatoes in a mild, yellow, gently sweet coconut sauce, always with white rice to soak it up. It is a favourite for family dinners and Christmas tables. The thing people get wrong is boiling the coconut sauce hard, so it splits and turns oily; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: brown the chicken well first, and finish under a hot grill for the speckled golden top that Macau restaurants are known for.

75 min

Macanese Chicken

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Rokak bel lahma (Eid meat pie)

When Eid comes round, Egyptian shops stack up rounds of rokak, a very thin, brittle unleavened pastry baked on a hot dome, and cooks turn them into this layered pie for the family lunch. Each sheet is moistened with hot meat broth and a little ghee, layered with beef mince fried with onion, then baked until the top crackles and the inside turns tender and savoury, somewhere between a pie and a lasagne. It is cut into squares and served with rice, salad and pickles. If you cannot find rokak, sheets of filo baked dry for a few minutes are the nearest substitute. Chef's tip: soak each layer just enough to soften it; too much broth makes a heavy, soggy pie, and too little leaves dry shards, the mistake most people make the first time.

90 min

Egyptian Baking

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Okpa (Bambara nut pudding)

Early in the morning in Nsukka and Enugu, sellers set out wheelbarrows piled with steaming okpa wrapped in leaves or cooked in small tins, and students and workers eat it standing up with a bottle of cold drink or a cup of pap. It is made from Bambara nut flour beaten with palm oil, warm water, pepper and salt into a bright orange batter and steamed until it sets into a firm, dense pudding with a nutty, earthy taste. It is filling and naturally high in protein. Bambara nut flour is sold in African shops as okpa flour. Undercooked okpa tastes raw and bitter and is hard to digest, so steam until a knife comes out clean. A common mistake is a batter that is too thick, which steams into a hard, dry block instead of a soft-set pudding. Chef's tip: mix the oil into the dry flour before adding any water; it keeps the batter smooth and gives okpa its even colour.

95 min

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Grilled bolti (Nile tilapia)

From the Nubian villages near Aswan to the fishing camps on Lake Nasser, bolti caught that morning is gutted, slashed and grilled over charcoal for lunch, and fish grills all over Egypt cook it the same way. The rub is simple: crushed garlic, plenty of cumin, lemon, chilli and oil, which toasts on the skin and seasons the sweet, mild flesh. A stuffing of onion and parsley in the belly keeps it moist. Eat it with your hands, picking the flesh from the bones, alongside tahini, green salad and rice or bread. Chef's tip: oil the grill bars as well as the fish and leave it alone for the first 6 minutes; fish moved too early tears and sticks, which is the usual grilling mistake.

40 min

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Gollash meat pie (filo and spiced beef)

Egyptian bakeries sell sweet and savoury gollash, but the minced-beef version is the one home cooks make for Ramadan iftar, Eid visits and big family lunches, cut into neat diamonds on a large round tray. Thin sheets of filo are brushed with melted butter and stacked around a filling of beef cooked dry with onion, pepper and a little allspice, then soaked with a splash of milk and egg so the top layers bake puffed and shatteringly crisp while the middle stays tender. Serve warm with a salad and yoghurt or as part of a spread of mezze. Avoid skimping on butter between the sheets; unbuttered layers bake dry and papery instead of crisp and golden. Chef's tip: let the cooked filling cool completely before layering; hot, steamy mince turns the bottom sheets soggy, which is the most common gollash disappointment.

80 min

Egyptian Baking

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Kebda iskandarani (Alexandrian liver)

After dark in Alexandria, carts and tiny shops fry liver to order on blackened griddles, and a couple of small, crackly baguette sandwiches of kebda make a late supper or a working breakfast all over Egypt. The liver is sliced into thin ribbons and seared hard and fast with plenty of garlic, hot green chilli, green pepper and cumin, finished with lemon so it stays juicy, tender and sharp. Stuff it into soft rolls with a smear of tahini and a few pickles. Liver is very rich in vitamin A, so pregnant women are usually advised to avoid it. Chef's tip: soak the strips in cold water for 15 minutes and pat them very dry; they sear rather than stew and taste milder.

25 min

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Renga (smoked herring with lemon and tahini)

On Sham el-Nessim, the spring festival Egyptians of every faith celebrate on the Monday after Coptic Easter, families head to parks and the Nile banks with coloured eggs, spring onions, lettuce and fish, and renga is on almost every picnic cloth. Golden smoked herring is skinned, boned and flaked, then dressed with plenty of lemon, raw onion, chilli and a garlicky tahini sauce, so the salty, smoky fish is cut by sharp citrus and creamy sesame. It is scooped up with baladi bread and crunchy greens. Shop-bought renga is cold-smoked and eaten without cooking, so it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system unless you heat it first (see the last step). Buy it sealed from a reputable shop, within its date. Chef's tip: soak the fillets in cold water for 10 minutes to tame the salt before dressing them.

25 min

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Aradeib (Sudanese tamarind drink)

Tamarind trees shade villages throughout Darfur and Kordofan, and their sticky brown pods become aradeib, one of the best-loved Sudanese cold drinks. The pulp is soaked, rubbed and strained, then sweetened to make a deep amber, puckeringly sour drink that cuts through rich food and is much loved at iftar through Ramadan. It is also drunk as a home remedy for upset stomachs and heat. Seedy block tamarind from any Asian or African shop works perfectly. Pouring boiling water straight onto the pulp and leaving it too long draws out a harsh, tannic edge, so use hot rather than boiling water and strain after an hour. Avoid squeezing the soaked tamarind through a cloth too hard; fibres get through and make the drink cloudy and gritty. Chef's tip: make a concentrate and keep it in the fridge for up to a week; dilute with cold water by the glass.

20 min

Sudanese Drinks

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Dakuwa (groundnut and grain balls)

Hawkers in northern towns carry dakuwa on trays to schools and motor parks, and it keeps well enough to be a travelling snack. Roasted groundnuts are pounded with toasted maize or millet, sugar and warm spices until the oil from the nuts binds everything, then pressed into firm balls that are sweet, nutty and gently peppery. No cooking beyond toasting is needed. The usual mistake is over-blending until the nuts turn to butter and the mixture goes greasy; pulse and stop as soon as it holds when squeezed. Chef's tip: shape the balls while the mixture is still warm from the processor, when the oils are soft and it presses together easily.

40 min

Nigerian Desserts

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HamantaschenFilled triangle cookies

In Israel these are called oznei Haman, 'Haman's ears', and in the weeks before Purim every bakery from Tel Aviv to Be'er Sheva fills its windows with them, while families bake trays at home to pack into mishloach manot gift baskets. A short, lightly orange-scented dough is folded into a three-cornered pocket around a filling of poppy seeds cooked with milk and honey, or a quick date paste. They should be crisp at the edges and tender in the middle. The common mistake is rolling the dough too thin or overfilling, which makes the corners spring open in the oven. Chef's tip: chill the shaped cookies for 15 minutes before baking so the corners keep their sharp pinch.

55 min

Israeli Baking

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Abacha (African salad)

Abacha is the evening snack of Anambra and Enugu, sold by women on street corners and served at Igbo weddings and funerals, where people call it African salad. Dried cassava shreds are softened in water and tossed in ncha, a thick yellow emulsion made by stirring palm oil with potash water, together with fermented oil bean (ugba), sliced onion, pepper and ground calabash nutmeg, then finished with garden egg leaves and fresh garden eggs. It is chewy, oily, peppery and fresh all at once. Stockfish, ponmo or crayfish are often added; this is the meat-free way. Outside Nigeria, African shops sell abacha and ugba; leave the ugba out if you cannot find it. Chef's tip: soak the abacha only until it is just pliable; left too long it turns mushy, which is the mistake that ruins the texture.

40 min

Nigerian Salads

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Ukwa (African breadfruit porridge)

Ukwa is festival and family food in the Igbo Southeast, cooked for guests and for the New Yam season, and its price in the market shows how prized it is. The seeds of the African breadfruit are dehulled and slow-cooked with a little potash until soft and creamy, then finished with palm oil, onion, pepper and fragrant utazi or scent leaves, giving a rich, nutty, slightly beany porridge. Dried fish is often stirred in; this version stays meat-free. Some cooks add fresh sweetcorn or cooked maize in the last 10 minutes. A pressure cooker saves an hour of simmering. Chef's tip: add the salt and stock cube only once the seeds are soft; seasoning early, a common mistake, keeps them hard for much longer.

120 min

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Tuwo masara (stiff maize swallow)

On the Plateau and throughout the north, a pot of white maize flour turned stiff with a wooden paddle is the daily partner to miyan kubewa (okra soup), miyan kuka and vegetable soups. Tuwon masara is smooth, slightly springy and mild, with a faint sweetness of corn. The secret is to start with a thin cooked paste and only then add the dry flour, which keeps it lump-free; dumping all the flour into boiling water is the mistake that gives raw, gritty pockets. Chef's tip: use a sturdy, flat wooden spoon and press the tuwo hard against the side of the pot when you turn it.

30 min

Nigerian Basics

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Roasted corn and ube (African pear)

When the rains come between June and September, roadside roasters all over southern Nigeria fan charcoal under rows of maize cobs, and next to them sits a basin of ube, the purple African pear, softened in hot water. A bite of chewy, smoky corn and a scrape of the pear's rich, salty, almost avocado-like flesh is the whole point, and at home a grill or a gas flame does the job. Dropping ube into boiling water is a common mistake: the skins split and the flesh turns watery and bitter, so use water that is hot but not bubbling. Chef's tip: no ube? Fresh coconut chunks are the other classic partner for roasted corn.

25 min

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Boiled groundnuts in the shell

Freshly dug groundnuts appear in markets from Ibadan to Kano when the rains come, still muddy in their pale shells, and hawkers sell them boiled in salt water by the cupful, often next to roasted corn. Boiling turns the kernels soft and creamy, like a cooked bean, with salt seeping through the shell. They are eaten warm on the way home, cracked open with the thumbs. Using dried shop peanuts and boiling them for the same time is the usual mistake: they stay hard, so soak dried ones overnight and boil for 2–3 hours. Chef's tip: let them sit in the hot brine for 15 minutes after cooking, so the salt soaks in.

55 min