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Vegetable samlor korko
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Vegetable samlor korko

Vegetable and green papaya soup

Samlor korko is called the national soup of Cambodia, cooked in villages from Battambang to Kampot and eaten at lunch with a bowl of rice. Its name means 'stirring soup', because the cook stands over the pot moving the vegetables as they go in one by one: green papaya, pumpkin, aubergine, long beans and leafy greens, all in a thin, herb-scented broth thickened with a spoonful of ground toasted rice. Prahok usually gives it its funk; fermented soybean paste and a little soy give depth here, and the soup stays light and full of vegetables. Chef's tip: toast the rice slowly until it is the colour of a hazelnut shell; that nutty smell is the backbone of the soup.

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LaugenbrezelSoft pretzels

The Brezel is the emblem of German bakeries in Bavaria and Swabia: deep chestnut-brown and shiny outside, soft and chewy inside, with a fat 'belly' and thin crisp arms, studded with coarse salt. In Munich it's eaten with sweet mustard and Obatzda in beer gardens; in Stuttgart it's split and buttered for breakfast. Bakeries dip them in a lye solution, which is too caustic for most home kitchens; a bath of baked baking soda gets close in colour and flavour and is safe to handle. Chef's tip: chill the shaped pretzels uncovered for 30 minutes before the bath; a slightly dry skin holds its shape and turns darker and shinier.

120 minGermanBakingVegan
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KopiCoffee with condensed milk

Kopi is the strong, thick coffee poured from long-spouted pots at kopitiams all over Singapore. The beans are dark-roasted with sugar and margarine, which gives a bittersweet, almost chocolatey brew, and the classic cup is sweetened with condensed milk. Order it like a local: kopi-o is black with sugar, kopi-c has evaporated milk, and kopi peng is iced. At home, a dark-roast robusta or espresso blend in a cloth sock or cafetière gets close. Chef's tip: pour the coffee back and forth between two jugs a few times; it cools slightly, aerates and gets the smooth, frothy kopitiam texture.

7 minSingaporeanDrinksGluten free
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GorditasStuffed masa pockets

Gorditas, 'little fat ones', are thick corn masa cakes cooked on a comal until they puff, then split open like a pitta and stuffed. They are eaten from the north of Mexico down to the central states, at street stalls and at home, with fillings that change from town to town. This vegetarian version is filled with rajas con crema: strips of roasted poblano pepper, onion and sweetcorn in a creamy sauce with melting cheese, smoky and mild. Use masa harina for tortillas, made from nixtamalised corn, not cornmeal or polenta. Poblanos can be hard to find: green bell peppers with a jalapeño give a similar effect. Choose a cheese made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: shape the gorditas no thicker than 1 cm; any thicker and the outside burns before the inside cooks and puffs.

50 minMexicanSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Gotu kola sambolPennywort and coconut salad

Gotu kola (Asiatic pennywort) grows wild along the paddy edges in the south and centre of Sri Lanka, and a raw sambol of its leaves is the green, slightly bitter bite that balances a rice-and-curry lunch. Families in Galle and Matara will tell you it is good for the memory, and it is often served at the start of a meal or with kola kenda, the herbal porridge. The leaves are shredded as finely as possible, then tossed with shallot, tomato, green chilli, a little fresh coconut and plenty of lime, so it's crunchy, peppery and bright. Look for pennywort bunches in Sri Lankan, Thai and Vietnamese shops. The mistake to avoid is dressing it too early: the salt and lime wilt the leaves within half an hour. Chef's tip: roll a stack of leaves into a tight cigar and slice it hair-thin with a sharp knife; the finer the shreds, the better it tastes.

15 minSri LankanSaladsVeganGluten free
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Koraishutir kochuriGreen pea stuffed puris

Koraishutir kochuri is a winter treat in Kolkata and across West Bengal, made when sweet new-season peas arrive in the markets. Soft maida dough is filled with a smooth, gingery green pea paste, rolled thin and fried until it puffs into a pale golden pillow with a green blush showing through. It's a Sunday breakfast or a festive snack, classically served with aloor dom (Bengali spiced potatoes) or cholar dal and a sweet to finish. Chef's tip: cook the pea paste until it's dry enough to roll into a ball that doesn't stick to your fingers; a wet filling tears through the thin dough as you roll.

60 minIndianBreads & ParathasVegan
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Göyərti qutabıHerb-filled flatbreads

Qutab are the thin half-moon flatbreads that Baku eats at any hour, folded around a filling and cooked in seconds on a domed iron saj, then stacked and brushed with butter. Göyərti qutabı, the green version, is the spring favourite: a handful of chopped spinach, sorrel, dill, coriander and spring onion sealed inside dough rolled so thin the greens show through. They are eaten hot, three or four at a time, sprinkled with sumac and dipped in garlicky yogurt, and appear on every table at Novruz in March. In autumn the same dough wraps pumpkin; that variation is in the steps. Chef's tip: season the greens only just before filling; salt draws out water, and wet greens tear the paper-thin dough.

65 minAzerbaijaniBreads & Parathas
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Granita al limoneLemon ice

On summer mornings in Sicily, especially around Catania and Messina, breakfast is granita: a cup of soft, spoonable lemon ice with a warm brioche on the side for dipping. Sicilian granita is finer and creamier than a slushy, because it is stirred as it freezes. All you need is lemons, sugar and water, plus a fork and a freezer. It takes about four hours of occasional scraping. Chef's tip: steep the zest in the warm syrup for 20 minutes; the oils in the peel give a much fuller lemon flavour than juice alone.

240 minItalianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Gratin dauphinoisPotato and cream gratin

Gratin dauphinois comes from the Dauphiné, the mountain region around Grenoble, where it has been made since at least the 1700s. Thinly sliced potatoes are simmered in milk and cream with garlic and nutmeg, then baked slowly until the top is golden and blistered and the inside is soft and creamy enough to cut with a spoon. Purists in the Dauphiné insist there is no cheese; the crust comes from the cream itself. It is a side for Sunday lunch and festive meals, especially good with a green salad or roasted mushrooms. Chef's tip: don't rinse the potato slices; washing off the starch is the common mistake that leaves the cream thin and watery.

95 minFrenchSidesGluten free
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Khao kluk kapiShrimp paste rice

Everything on this central Thai plate is arranged in little heaps around a mound of rice tossed with garlic and fermented shrimp paste: sticky caramelised pork (moo wan), threads of sour green mango, shallots, chillies, sliced long beans, crisp dried shrimp and ribbons of thin omelette. You mix a bit of each into every spoonful, so salty, sweet, sour and hot arrive together. It's a favourite at Bangkok's curry-and-rice shops and a clever way to use up yesterday's rice at home; lime wedges and cucumber cool it down. Chef's tip: use day-old jasmine rice straight from the fridge, because freshly cooked rice clumps and smears the shrimp paste instead of coating each grain.

45 minThaiRice & Grains
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Green borschtSorrel soup with egg

When the first sorrel comes up in village gardens around Chernihiv and Sumy in May, Ukrainian grandmothers stop making red borshch and switch to green: a light, lemony soup of sorrel, potato and herbs, served with halved boiled eggs. It is the soup of early summer and of Trinity Sunday, eaten hot with sour cream or chilled on a warm day. Sorrel gives it a clean sourness, so no vinegar is needed. This version uses vegetable stock instead of the chicken or pork stock some families use. Chef's tip: add the sorrel only in the last two minutes; it turns olive green the moment it hits the heat, but if it boils longer it collapses into stringy khaki threads.

40 minUkrainianSoupsGluten free
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Green fig and saltfishGreen bananas with salt cod

In St Lucia green bananas are called figs, and green fig and saltfish is the national dish: a Saturday lunch in Castries homes and the plate served everywhere on Jounen Kwéyòl, the island's Creole Day in October. The bananas are boiled until tender and mild, a little like potato, and served with salt cod sautéed with onion, sweet pepper, tomato, thyme and hot pepper. Add sliced avocado or cucumber on the side. The most common mistake is not soaking the saltfish long enough, which leaves the whole plate far too salty; taste a flake before you cook it. Chef's tip: rub oil on your hands (or wear gloves) before peeling the green bananas; the sap stains skin black.

60 minCaribbeanFishGluten free
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KosambariMoong dal and cucumber salad

No Karnataka festival lunch on a banana leaf is complete without a spoonful of kosambari at the top left corner. This raw salad of soaked split moong dal, cucumber, carrot and fresh coconut, sharpened with lemon and finished with a mustard-seed tempering, is especially made for Ram Navami, when it is offered in temples with panaka (jaggery water), and for Ugadi and weddings. It is crunchy, cool and refreshing, and packed with protein. Chef's tip: add the salt and lemon only just before serving; salted cucumber weeps water and turns the salad soggy within half an hour.

17 minIndianSaladsVeganGluten free
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Kosha mangshoSlow-fried mutton curry

Sunday lunch in a Bengali home in Kolkata often means kosha mangsho: goat on the bone, fried patiently in mustard oil until the masala turns almost mahogany and clings to every piece. The word 'kosha' describes that long stirring over the heat, and it is what separates this dish from an ordinary mutton curry. Families eat it with luchi or plain rice, and it also turns up at Durga Puja feasts and wedding dinners. Chef's tip: buy bone-in goat or mutton shoulder cut into curry pieces; the bones and a little fat give the gravy its body.

135 minIndianMeatGluten free
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KoshariRice, lentil and pasta bowl

Koshari is the dish of Cairo's streets: whole shops, from Abou Tarek downtown to small corner counters, sell nothing else, and office workers queue for a metal bowl of it at lunchtime. Brown lentils and rice are cooked together, then piled with macaroni, vermicelli and chickpeas, drowned in a sharp cumin-tomato sauce and finished with dakka (garlic vinegar), shatta (chilli sauce) and a heap of dark fried onions. It is cheap, filling and naturally vegan, and every Egyptian eats it differently, so put the sauces on the table. Chef's tip: fry the onions first and cook everything else in their oil; that onion-scented oil is what makes koshari taste like the shops' and not like a plate of separate leftovers.

75 minEgyptianRice & GrainsVegan
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Kothimbir vadiCoriander and gram flour fritters

When the winter coriander in the Nashik markets comes in huge, fragrant bunches for a few rupees, Maharashtrian kitchens make kothimbir vadi. A batter that is mostly fresh coriander, held together with gram flour and sesame, is steamed into a cake, cut into squares, then shallow-fried until each piece has a crunchy shell and a soft, herby middle. It's a tea-time snack in Pune homes, a side on the festive thali and a favourite in tiffin boxes because it's good at room temperature. Serve with green chutney or tomato ketchup. Chef's tip: dry the coriander well after washing; wet leaves make the batter loose and the vadi soggy.

55 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Kotlet schabowyBreaded pork cutlet

Kotlet schabowy is the Polish Sunday dinner, served in homes and milk bars from Warsaw to Wrocław, usually with buttery dill potatoes and mizeria (cucumber in soured cream) or braised cabbage. It is a pork dish: slices of boneless pork loin are pounded thin, dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried in lard or oil until crisp and golden. Chef's tip: pound the meat between sheets of cling film to an even 5 mm; even thickness means the coating browns just as the meat is done.

35 minPolishMeat
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Masala ugaliSpiced maize meal porridge

Ugali, East Africa's staple of maize meal cooked into a stiff porridge, given a lift with toasted cumin, butter, fresh coriander and green chilli. Stir it hard and keep it soft. Serve hot with sukumawiki or any stew.

20 minAfricanRice & GrainsGluten free
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GudegYoung jackfruit stew

Gudeg is the signature of Yogyakarta: whole streets around Wijilan are lined with stalls selling it from dawn, and visitors carry it home in clay pots or woven baskets. Unripe jackfruit is cooked for hours with palm sugar, coconut milk, galangal and salam leaves until it turns reddish-brown, soft as pulled meat, and deeply sweet and savoury. The classic plate adds chicken, egg and spicy cattle-skin stew; this vegan plate pairs it with sticky-sweet tempeh and tofu and a sharp sambal to cut the sweetness. Chef's tip: let the pot cook down slowly until almost all the liquid is gone — drier gudeg keeps for days and tastes better on the second.

240 minIndonesianCurriesVeganGluten free
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GitheriKidney bean and corn stew

Kenya's everyday one-pot meal of kidney beans and corn, cooked with browned onion, tomato paste, chilli, potatoes and cabbage and finished with a knob of butter. It's hearty, comforting and cheap to make. Serve hot with ugali and sukumawiki.

65 minAfricanVegetarianGluten free
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Coast egg chapatiEgg-filled chapati parcels

The famous coast street snack: paper-thin dough wrapped around a samosa chapati, spiced onion and capsicum filling and a beaten egg, folded into a square parcel and fried slowly until crisp and golden. Make them just before serving. Serve hot with a crunchy carrot, cabbage and cucumber salad and red chilli and tamarind chutneys. Contains egg.

130 minAfricanSnacks & StartersSpicy
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KotletyPan-fried meat patties

Kotlety are what a Russian grandmother makes on an ordinary Tuesday and what Soviet school canteens served at lunch: soft, oval patties of minced pork and beef, fried golden and finished with a splash of water under a lid. They contain pork. Bread soaked in milk is the secret to their tenderness; the patties stay juicy enough to eat cold the next day in a sandwich. Serve them with mashed potato or buckwheat (grechka), a few pickles and a spoon of the pan juices. The mistake most people make is leaving out the soaked bread or using breadcrumbs instead, which gives dense, dry burgers rather than kotlety. Chef's tip: wet your hands with cold water before shaping each patty, so the soft mince doesn't stick and the surface stays smooth.

45 minRussianMeat
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LamingtonsChocolate coconut sponge squares

Lamingtons are said to be named after Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland at the turn of the twentieth century, and they're the cake of Australian school fundraisers, Country Women's Association stalls and morning tea at work; there's even a National Lamington Day on 21 July. Cubes of light butter sponge are dunked in a thin, glossy chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut, so each one has a soft, chocolate-soaked outside and a fluffy middle. Some bakeries split them and fill them with jam and cream. Chef's tip: bake the sponge a day ahead, or freeze the cut squares for an hour; fresh sponge crumbles in the icing, firm sponge dips cleanly.

75 minAustralianBaking
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Guiyang si wa waPancake rolls with shredded vegetables

Guiyang's favourite street snack is a do-it-yourself meal: stalls set out twenty or more small bowls of shredded vegetables, and each person wraps a few strands in a pancake no bigger than a palm, folds it like a swaddled baby and pours in a spoonful of sour, chilli-flecked broth. It's light, crunchy and fun to eat with friends. Use as many fillings as you like; the more colours, the better. Chef's tip: shred everything as fine as you can, so the little parcels stay neat and each mouthful has several flavours.

55 minChineseSnacks & StartersVegan
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GujeolpanNine-section vegetable platter

Gujeolpan (구절판) takes its name from the octagonal lacquered tray it is served on: eight outer compartments of finely cut, separately seasoned fillings around a stack of paper-thin wheat crêpes in the middle. It was a dish of the Seoul royal court and noble households, and it still appears at weddings, 60th birthdays and Seollal tables, where everyone builds their own little rolls. Classic trays include beef; this one keeps all the colour with shiitake, wood ear, cucumber, carrot, peppers, radish and yellow and white egg. It takes patience rather than skill. Chef's tip: cut every filling into matchsticks the same length as the crêpes are wide, about 5 cm, so each roll closes neatly.

95 minKoreanSnacks & Starters
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Gulai daun singkongCassava leaves in coconut gravy

No Padang restaurant in West Sumatra is complete without a dish of gulai daun singkong: dark cassava leaves simmered until silky in a yellow coconut gravy fragrant with lemongrass, turmeric leaf and galangal. It is the cooling green on a table of rich, fiery plates, ladled over rice with sambal hijau. Restaurants sometimes add dried anchovies; this version doesn't. Frozen cassava leaves from Asian shops work well; kale is the best stand-in. Chef's tip: squeeze the boiled leaves hard before adding them, or the gravy goes thin and grassy.

50 minIndonesianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Gulai nangkaYoung jackfruit curry

In a nasi Padang restaurant, where dozens of dishes are stacked in the window and brought to the table on small plates, gulai nangka is the bright yellow one that gets spooned over rice to moisten everything else. Young jackfruit and long beans simmer in a thin, golden coconut sauce with turmeric, chilli and lemongrass until the jackfruit is tender and full of sauce. It's lighter and saucier than rendang and cooks in under an hour, so Padang households make it on ordinary weekdays. Chef's tip: stir the pot almost constantly for the first few minutes after the coconut milk goes in — Padang cooks say it keeps the gulai smooth and stops it splitting.

50 minIndonesianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Lamprais (home version)Rice parcel with meat curry

Lamprais came to Sri Lanka with the Dutch Burgher community, and Colombo's Burgher families still make it for Sunday lunch, christenings and Christmas. Each banana-leaf parcel holds rice cooked in rich stock, a mixed meat curry, little fried meatballs called frikkadels, a hard-boiled egg, aubergine moju and seeni sambol, all baked together until the leaf perfumes everything. The traditional version uses three meats including pork; this home version keeps it to chicken and beef so it is manageable in one day, and the steps still take time. Chef's tip: make the curry and frikkadels the day before; on lamprais day you only cook the rice and wrap.

210 minSri LankanRice & Grains
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GulyáslevesBeef goulash soup

Real Hungarian goulash is a soup, gulyásleves, born in the cattle herders' kettles of the Great Plain and still cooked over open fires at summer festivals and in every csárda (country inn) between Budapest and Debrecen. Beef shin or chuck simmers with lots of onion, sweet paprika, caraway and green pepper until tender, then potatoes and carrots go in. It is brothy, rich red and gently spicy, eaten with fresh bread. Chef's tip: take the pot off the heat before adding the paprika; it burns in seconds in hot fat and turns bitter.

145 minHungarianSoupsGluten free
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Gundel palacsintaWalnut pancakes with chocolate sauce

Gundel palacsinta is the festive pancake of Budapest, named after the Gundel restaurant by City Park, where it became the showpiece dessert of the mid-twentieth century. Thin Hungarian pancakes are filled with a rum-scented walnut and raisin paste, folded into triangles and drowned in a dark chocolate sauce, sometimes flamed at the table. Everyday palacsinta at home are simpler, rolled with apricot jam, cocoa sugar or sweet túró; this is the version for name days, Christmas and guests. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 30 minutes; the pancakes become thinner and more elastic and stop tearing when you fold them. Common mistake: overfilling, which makes the triangles burst open.

60 minHungarianDesserts
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Gundruk ko jholSour fermented greens soup

In the terraced hill villages between Pokhara and Ilam, families pack mustard, radish and cauliflower leaves into clay pots after the autumn harvest, let them ferment for a week or two and then sun-dry them into gundruk. That dark, tangy leaf is the store cupboard of the winter months, and its most common use is this thin, sour soup (jhol), served on the side of dal bhat or with dhido, the stiff buckwheat or millet porridge of the hills. It tastes a little like a smoky, vinegary green tea and is light, warming and very cheap. A handful of roasted soybeans (bhatmas) is often thrown in for crunch. The mistake is to cook gundruk without soaking it first, which leaves it gritty and too sour. Chef's tip: squeeze the soaked leaves hard and fry them in the oil until they crackle before you add water; that frying gives the soup its toasty depth.

25 minNepaliSoupsVeganGluten free
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Gungjung tteokbokkiSoy rice cakes with mushrooms

Long before red gochujang tteokbokki took over Seoul's street stalls, the Joseon palace kitchens served gungjung tteokbokki (궁중떡볶이): chewy cylinders of rice cake tossed in a glossy soy and sesame glaze with mushrooms, peppers and onion. It is mild, savoury-sweet and fragrant with toasted sesame, which makes it the version Korean parents cook for children and for anyone who can't take heat. The court recipe used beef; shiitake and oyster mushrooms carry the same savoury depth here. Eat it warm as a snack or alongside rice and kimchi. Chef's tip: soften the rice cakes in hot water before they meet the pan, or the outsides scorch while the centres stay hard.

25 minKoreanSnacks & StartersVegan
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GurasaThick wheat flatbread

Gurasa is a thick, soft, round wheat bread from Sudan, especially the north and west (Darfur and Kordofan), cooked in a covered pan rather than an oven. It is torn and eaten with mullah, ful or salata aswad, and for breakfast with sugar and a little oil or butter. The dough is a loose, yeasted batter, closer to a giant crumpet than a flatbread. Chef's tip: cook it covered over a low heat; a hot open pan burns the base before the thick centre cooks.

40 minSudaneseBreads & ParathasVegan
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Guriltai shulMutton noodle soup

Guriltai shul is the soup Mongolians eat almost daily in winter, from Ulaanbaatar canteens to herders' gers: strips of mutton simmered with onion, carrot and potato, and thick hand-cut noodles cooked in the broth. It is simple, warming and filling in temperatures that drop far below freezing. The mistake is cooking the noodles too long, so they swell and turn the soup stodgy; they need only 6–8 minutes. Chef's tip: rest the noodle dough well so it rolls thin without springing back.

100 minMongolianSoups
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Guyanese black cakeRum fruit cake

Every Guyanese Christmas has a black cake, and many families start soaking the fruit months ahead, often the year before. Prunes, raisins, currants and cherries are minced and steeped in rum and cherry brandy, then folded into a buttery batter darkened with homemade burnt-sugar syrup, giving a moist, almost black, intensely fruity cake. This version makes the alcohol optional: grape juice soaks the fruit just as well, though the cake keeps for less time. Chef's tip: take the burnt sugar until it's very dark and smoking lightly; stop too early and the cake turns brown and sweet instead of black and bittersweet.

195 minGuyaneseBaking
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Guyanese cook-up riceCoconut rice with black-eyed peas

Cook-up rice is the dish Guyanese families make to see in the New Year, and on any Saturday when the week's odds and ends go into one pot. Rice, black-eyed peas and vegetables simmer in fresh coconut milk with fresh thyme, spring onion and a whole wiri wiri pepper (small, round and fiery) until every grain is soft and glossy. It's richer and wetter than Jamaican rice and peas, with the vegetables cooked right in. Chef's tip: let the pot sit covered off the heat for 10 minutes at the end; the rice finishes in the steam and a little crust forms on the bottom that people fight over.

55 minGuyaneseRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Guyanese garlic porkGarlic pickled pork

Garlic pork came to Guyana with Madeiran Portuguese settlers in the 1800s and is still made for Christmas breakfast in Georgetown, alongside pepperpot and bread. This dish contains pork. Pieces of pork are packed into a jar with a pickle of vinegar, lots of garlic, thyme and wiri wiri pepper and left in the fridge for at least three days, then fried until browned and slightly crisp. The mistake is leaving the jar on the counter, as was once done: always keep it in the fridge. Chef's tip: pat the pork very dry before frying, or the vinegar makes the oil spit.

60 minGuyaneseMeatGluten free
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Guyanese pepperpotBeef stew with cassareep

Pepperpot is Guyana's national dish and the centre of Christmas morning, when families in Georgetown and the countryside eat it with thick slices of plait bread. It comes from the Amerindian peoples, who used cassareep, a black syrup boiled from cassava juice, to flavour and preserve meat. Beef (often with cow foot or oxtail) simmers for hours with cassareep, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, sugar and hot wiri wiri pepper into a glossy, dark, sweet-savoury stew. The mistake is serving it the day it is made; it is much better after a day or two. Chef's tip: bring it back to a full boil every day you keep it, as Guyanese families do, and always keep it in the fridge.

200 minGuyaneseMeatGluten free
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Guyanese pine tartsPineapple jam tarts

Pine tarts (short for pineapple tarts) are Guyana's favourite bakery treat: a flaky triangle of pastry folded over a thick, sticky pineapple jam spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, with the filling peeking out of the middle. They're sold in every Georgetown bakery and carried abroad in suitcases by visiting family. Their triangle shape sets them apart from the open pineapple cookies of Southeast Asia. Chef's tip: cook the jam until it's thick enough that a spoon dragged across the pan leaves a clean path; runny jam leaks and burns in the oven.

120 minGuyaneseBaking
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Tandoori tinniesTandoori baby vegetable skewers

Baby onions, carrots, potatoes and corn par-boiled, coated in a creamy, fiery marinade of red chilli, garlic, ginger, coriander-cumin and dried fenugreek, then grilled on skewers over charcoal until golden. They're small, colourful and bursting with flavour. Serve hot with lemon wedges.

90 minIndianSnacks & StartersGluten freeSpicy
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GyeongdanGlutinous rice balls

Gyeongdan (경단) are small balls of boiled glutinous rice dough, filled or plain, and rolled in coloured coatings: golden roasted soybean powder, black sesame, green or toasted coconut. In Seoul they are made for a baby's 100th day and first birthday, and sold in rice-cake shops all year in mixed boxes. They are only lightly sweet, soft and stretchy, best eaten the day they are made with a cup of barley tea. Children love rolling them. Chef's tip: mix the dough with very hot water a spoonful at a time; it should feel like soft play-dough, and if it cracks when you roll a ball it needs a little more.

40 minKoreanDessertsVeganGluten free
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GyuvechBaked vegetable stew

Gyuvech takes its name from the glazed clay pot it is baked in, and in late summer in the villages of the Rhodopes and the Thracian plain it is slid into the bread oven packed with peppers, aubergine, okra, green beans, potatoes and tomato, seasoned with paprika and the herb chubritsa (summer savory). In the last minutes, eggs are often cracked over the top and baked until just set. It is served straight from the pot with bread to scoop up the juices. Unlike Greek briam, the vegetables stew in a paprika broth under a lid rather than roasting in oil. Chef's tip: put a clay pot into a cold oven; heating it first is the usual mistake and can crack it.

100 minBulgarianVegetarianGluten free
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HaakCollard greens in mustard oil

Haak is the everyday green of Kashmir: collard greens grown in every kitchen garden, cooked whole with nothing more than mustard oil, dried red chilli, asafoetida and salt. The leaves stay bright, tender and slightly silky, with a clean, peppery taste that sings next to rice. Kashmiri Pandit households keep it this simple; Muslim homes often add a few garlic cloves. Serve with plain rice and a dal or rajma. Chef's tip: leave the leaves whole or in large pieces and cook them uncovered for the first minutes; chopping and covering too early turns them dull olive-green.

20 minIndianSidesVegan
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Swedish meatballsMeatballs with cream gravy

In Sweden köttbullar turn up everywhere from Stockholm school canteens to the Christmas julbord, and most families keep a bag of homemade ones in the freezer for busy weeknights. These are small, soft and lightly spiced with allspice, made from a mix of beef and pork, so this recipe contains pork. They come to the table in a pale, peppery cream gravy with buttery mashed potato, sharp lingonberry jam and quick pressed cucumber. The usual slip is rolling them too big and packing them tight: they should be the size of a walnut and shaped with wet hands, never squeezed. Chef's tip: soak the breadcrumbs in milk for a full five minutes before mixing in the meat; that panade is what keeps them tender.

65 minScandinavianMeat
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Habichuelas con dulceSweet red bean cream

In the Dominican Republic, Holy Week means pots of habichuelas con dulce, shared over garden walls between neighbours from Santiago to San Pedro de Macorís. Red beans are cooked soft and blended into a smooth cream, then simmered with coconut and evaporated milk, cinnamon and cloves, with soft cubes of sweet potato and plump raisins. Served cold, it tastes like a spiced coconut custard with a gentle earthy depth; nobody guesses beans the first time. It's traditionally topped with little crunchy milk biscuits. Chef's tip: push the blended beans through a sieve; it takes two minutes and gives the silky texture that marks a good batch.

55 minPuerto RicanDesserts
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Habichuelas guisadasStewed pink beans

Habichuelas guisadas are on the stove most weekdays in Puerto Rico, from Ponce to Fajardo, ladled over plain white rice for the everyday plate called arroz con habichuelas. Pink or red beans simmer with sofrito, tomato sauce and olives, and cubes of calabaza (West Indian pumpkin) melt into the pot to make a thick, orange-red, gently sweet sauce. It's homely, cheap and deeply savoury. Island cooks often add a piece of ham; this version doesn't need it. Chef's tip: when the pumpkin is soft, crush a few pieces against the side of the pot; they dissolve into the liquid and thicken it without any flour.

45 minPuerto RicanCurriesVeganGluten free
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Hagelslag toastBread with chocolate sprinkles

Ask anyone who grew up in the Netherlands what they ate before school and the answer is usually a boterham met hagelslag: a slice of soft bread, well buttered, and covered edge to edge in chocolate sprinkles. It is not a treat for special days but an ordinary Dutch breakfast and lunchbox filler, and the country gets through millions of kilos of hagelslag every year. There are milk and dark chocolate versions, plus vruchtenhagel (fruity pastel sprinkles) and anijshagel (aniseed sprinkles). Chef's tip: the butter is the glue, so spread it right to the crusts and press the sprinkles down gently with the flat of a knife before you lift the slice.

5 minDutchBreakfast & Brunch
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Hainan coconut riceSticky rice in coconut

Across Hainan island, in Wenchang and Haikou especially, cooks fill whole mature coconuts with glutinous rice and steam them for hours until the rice is sticky, sweet and full of coconut flavour. The coconut is cut open at the table and served in wedges with the white flesh still attached. Look for brown, mature coconuts that slosh when shaken. Soak the rice for 4 hours first. Chef's tip: a cleaver tapped round the shell's 'equator' near the top opens it more safely than trying to saw it.

120 minChineseRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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QingbuliangIced coconut milk dessert soup

On hot evenings in Haikou, night-market stalls ladle this into bowls: coconut milk poured over red beans, mung beans, sago pearls, cubes of jelly and fresh tropical fruit, with a scoop of shaved ice on top. The name roughly means 'clearing, nourishing, cooling', and Hainan people eat it to cool down in their long summer. Everything except the fruit can be cooked a day ahead and chilled. Chef's tip: cook each bean separately; they soften at different speeds.

80 minChineseDessertsVeganGluten free
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