What to eat today?

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Cha ca La VongTurmeric fish with dill

A family restaurant in Hanoi's Old Quarter served this one dish for so long that the street itself was renamed Chả Cá, Grilled Fish Street. Chunks of white fish are marinated in turmeric and galangal, cooked until golden, then brought to the table in a pan of hot oil where everyone throws in handfuls of dill and spring onion to wilt. You eat it over rice vermicelli with peanuts, fresh herbs and a pungent shrimp-paste dip. Dill is rare elsewhere in Vietnamese cooking, which is why this dish tastes so distinct. Chef's tip: use a lot more dill than seems sensible; it is treated as a vegetable here, not a garnish.

45 min

Vietnamese Fish

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Gat kimchiMustard leaf kimchi

Dolsan island, off the port city of Yeosu in South Jeolla, grows a purple-tinged mustard green called gat that is milder and more tender than mainland mustard leaves, and gat kimchi (갓김치) made from it is the region's pride. The leaves keep a hot, wasabi-like bite that softens and turns tangy after a week or two of fermenting. Jeolla kimchi is usually heavy with fish sauce and salted anchovy; this version gets its depth from a kelp-and-rice porridge, pear, onion and soy, so it is vegan. Eat it with plain rice, noodles or on the side of jeon. Chef's tip: salt the leaves stems-first and turn them halfway; the thick stems need longer than the leaves.

50 min

Korean Basics

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GataSweet bread with buttery filling

Gata is the sweet bread Armenians bake for Candlemas (Trndez) in February and for New Year, often with a coin hidden inside for luck; whoever finds it is set for the year. Every region shapes it differently, but the best-known are the large golden rounds sold by women at the roadside near Garni temple and Geghard monastery, cut into wedges for the drive home. Inside a tender, slightly flaky dough made with matsun (yogurt) and butter is khoriz, a sweet crumble of flour, sugar and butter that bakes into a soft, sandy layer. Eat it with black coffee or tea. Chef's tip: roll the dough thin and fold the khoriz inside like an envelope before rolling again; the folding creates layers so the gata is light rather than doughy.

75 min

Armenian Baking

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Lion's head meatballs

Cooks in Yangzhou say the shaggy meatball looks like a lion's head and the cabbage leaves around it like a mane. The Jiangsu way is the clear braise: no frying, just a slow simmer in stock until the meatballs are so tender that you eat them with a spoon, while the cabbage drinks up the pork juices. They appear at family reunions and at Chinese New Year, where the round shape stands for togetherness. Everything cooks in one pot; serve the meatballs in their broth with rice. Chef's tip: chop some of the pork belly by hand if you can, or ask for coarse mince; a fine, lean mince gives a dense, bouncy ball rather than a soft one.

75 min

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ChainsooRoasted black gram dal

Chainsoo comes from the Garhwal hills, where whole black urad is roasted in a dry pan until it smells like toasted bread, ground coarsely on a hand mill and cooked into a thick, smoky dal. It is a winter dish: heavy, warming and full of protein, eaten with plain rice or jhangora and a drizzle of ghee for anyone who isn't keeping it vegan. Village cooks make it in a lohe ki kadhai, the iron pan that turns it almost black. The texture should be grainy and spoonable, somewhere between a dal and a porridge. Chef's tip: roast the urad slowly over a medium-low heat; the moment it turns from golden to dark brown it tastes bitter, so keep stirring and pull it off early.

65 min

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West Lake vinegar fish

Hangzhou restaurants by West Lake have served this for generations, traditionally with grass carp kept in clean water for a day or two before cooking. The fish is not fried at all: it is butterflied, poached for a few minutes, and coated with a shiny, dark sauce of black vinegar and sugar that tastes sharp first and sweet after. The flesh should be tender enough to fall from the bone at a touch. Carp, sea bass or a thick white fish fillet all work at home. Eat it with rice and a simple stir-fried green vegetable. Chef's tip: thicken the sauce at the last moment and pour it straight over; left to sit, it turns gluey.

40 min

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ChajáSponge, peach and cream cake

Chajá was created in 1927 at a bakery in Paysandú, a city on the Uruguay River, and named after a local bird whose feathers look as fluffy as its crumbly meringue coat. Today it's Uruguay's birthday and celebration cake: layers of light sponge soaked in peach syrup, filled with whipped cream, peaches and dulce de leche, then covered in crushed meringue. It's sweet, soft and crunchy at once, best on the day it's assembled. Chef's tip: soak the sponge but not too much; it should feel moist, not wet, or the layers slide.

90 min

Paraguayan Baking

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Chak-chakHoney-bound fried dough

Chak-chak arrived in Uzbekistan with Tatar families and is now a fixture of wedding tables and Navruz spreads in Tashkent and Samarkand: tiny nuggets of egg dough fried crisp, then tossed in hot honey syrup and pressed into a mound or ring that's broken apart with the fingers. Guests nibble it all evening with green tea. It keeps for a week, so it's often made a day or two ahead. Chef's tip: cook the honey syrup only to the soft-ball stage (about 115°C); boil it longer and the chak-chak sets as hard as brittle.

60 min

Uzbek Desserts

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Chak-hao kheerBlack rice pudding

Chak-hao is Manipur's aromatic black rice, grown in the valley around Imphal; when cooked slowly in milk it turns a deep violet and makes chak-hao kheer, the pudding served at Meitei feasts, weddings and Ningol Chakouba, the festival when married daughters come home for a meal. The grains stay slightly chewy and nutty, and the milk takes on a lavender colour. Chef's tip: soak the rice for at least 3 hours, or overnight; black rice has a hard bran layer and won't soften in the milk otherwise.

70 min

Indian Desserts

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ChakalakaSpicy vegetable and bean relish

Chakalaka is said to have started in the townships and mines around Johannesburg, where workers cooked tinned beans and vegetables with chilli and curry powder over open fires. Today no South African braai (barbecue) is complete without a pot of it, and it goes on the table at Sunday lunch, at funerals and weddings, served warm or cold alongside pap. It is spicy, a little sweet from the carrots and peppers, and tangy from the tomato and beans. Chef's tip: grate the carrots rather than chopping them; they melt into the relish and give it its characteristic soft, spoonable texture.

30 min

South African Sides

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Longjing shrimp

Spring in Hangzhou means new-season Longjing tea from the hills west of the city, and restaurants celebrate it by tossing tiny, pearly river shrimp with the tender tea leaves and a splash of their brew. The result is very delicate: sweet, springy shrimp, a faint grassy and chestnut aroma from the tea, and no heavy sauce at all. It is usually one dish among several at a family meal, eaten with rice. Small raw prawns are the easiest home swap for river shrimp. Chef's tip: brew the tea with water at about 80 °C, never straight from the boil, which makes the leaves bitter.

20 min

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ChakhwiJackfruit seed and papaya stew

Chakhwi is a Tripuri festive stew cooked at weddings and family feasts around Agartala, where the defining ingredient is 'khar' or soda, made by filtering water through banana-plant ash. It softens vegetables and gives a smooth, gently alkaline taste. Pork chakhwi is the best known; the vegetarian version is cooked with raw papaya, jackfruit seeds, bamboo shoot and long beans, with ginger and green chilli. It is soupier than Assamese khar and has no lentils. Chef's tip: use bicarbonate of soda if you have no ash water, but only a pinch; you should be able to taste it, not feel it.

50 min

Indian Soups

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Chakki ki shaakWheat gluten curry

This Malwa dish from around Indore and Ujjain is a lesson in thrift: wheat dough is washed under water until only its stretchy gluten remains, then steamed into a firm block and cut into rounds that look like little grinding stones, or chakki. Fried and simmered in a spiced yogurt gravy, the pieces turn chewy and meaty, soaking up flavour like a sponge. It is a Sunday or special-occasion sabzi in Marwari and Malwi homes, eaten with hot rotis or bafla. It takes time, but most of it is hands-off resting and washing. Chef's tip: whisk the yogurt with the coriander powder and add it off the heat, then bring it back slowly, so the gravy stays smooth instead of curdling.

110 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Beggar's chicken

Legend has a hungry beggar near Hangzhou wrapping a stolen chicken in mud and burying it in the embers; restaurants in Hangzhou and Changshu still crack open the crust at the table for a bit of theatre. This home version swaps the mud for a salt-and-flour dough, so it bakes in an ordinary oven. Inside two lotus leaves, the bird steams in its own juices with pork, mushrooms and bamboo shoots, so the meat is fall-apart tender and smells of the leaves. Make it for a special dinner and serve with rice and greens. Chef's tip: the crust is only an oven, not something to eat; seal every crack with a scrap of dough so the steam stays in.

240 min

Chinese Chicken

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Chakuli pithaRice and urad dal pancakes

Chakuli pitha is Odisha's breakfast pancake and the first of the pithas a child learns to love; it is offered to Lord Jagannath and made at home on Sundays and for Manabasa Gurubar in the month of Margasira. Rice and a little urad dal are soaked, ground and fermented overnight, then poured onto a hot pan into a pancake that is thinner than an uttapam but softer and thicker than a dosa, with a lacy, holey top. It is eaten with aloo bhaja, ghuguni or simply with jaggery. Chef's tip: cook only on one side under a lid; the steam sets the top and keeps the holes.

45 min

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ChallahBraided egg bread

On Friday afternoons the bakeries of Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market and every Jewish neighbourhood from Brooklyn to Golders Green fill with plaited, shiny challah for the Shabbat table, where two loaves sit under an embroidered cloth until the blessing. The dough is enriched with eggs, oil and a little honey, so the crumb is soft, faintly sweet and pulls apart in feathery strands, and the crust bakes deep mahogany. Leftovers make wonderful French toast. Chef's tip: brush the egg glaze twice, once before rising and once just before baking, for the deep, lacquered shine.

180 min

Israeli Baking

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Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish

The showpiece of Suzhou banquets, this fish is deboned, scored into a deep criss-cross and fried so the flesh fans out into spikes; with its tail curled up, someone once decided it looked like a squirrel. The sauce poured over it at the table crackles as it hits the crisp edges, sweet and tangy with tomato and vinegar. Mandarin fish is hard to find outside China, so sea bass is the practical choice. Serve as the centrepiece with rice and a few simple vegetables. Chef's tip: work starch into every cut with your fingers and shake off the excess; any bare patch fries soggy and the spikes collapse.

60 min

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Nanjing salted duck

Nanjing people are said to eat more duck than anyone in China, and this cold, pale salted duck is the one bought by the half from neighbourhood shops for the dinner table, especially around the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the ducks are plumpest. It is cured in pepper salt, brined, then poached at a bare simmer so the skin stays white and smooth, the fat turns clear and the meat is pink-tinged, moist and savoury. Serve it chilled, chopped into pieces, with rice or as part of a cold platter. Start a day ahead, as the duck needs 12 hours of curing and brining in the fridge on top of the cooking time. Chef's tip: toast the salt and Sichuan pepper together until fragrant; the warm, numbing aroma is what makes it taste of Nanjing.

240 min

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Shanghai red-braised pork

Every Shanghai family has its own hong shao rou, the dark, sticky pork belly at the heart of benbang (local) home cooking. Unlike the Hunan version linked to Chairman Mao, there is no chilli here; the colour and gloss come from rock sugar, soy sauce and a long, quiet braise, and the flavour is unmistakably sweet and savoury. The cubes should hold their shape but give way under chopsticks, with soft fat and a sauce that clings like syrup. It is weekend and festival food, served with plenty of rice and something green, and it tastes even better the next day. Chef's tip: reduce the sauce uncovered over a high heat in the last 10 minutes and keep tossing; that is when the shine appears.

90 min

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Chaman kaliyaPaneer in turmeric milk gravy

In Kashmir paneer is called chaman, and kaliya is the name for a gravy coloured bright yellow with turmeric rather than red with chilli. Kashmiri Pandit cooks fry thick slabs of paneer, rest them in warm water so they stay spongy, then simmer them in milk with fennel, dry ginger and cardamom. The result is mild, sweet-scented and soothing, a dish that sits beside the fiery ones on a wedding or festival spread and is just as welcome on a weekday with rice. Chef's tip: use a generous spoon of good turmeric; the gravy should glow a deep gold, and the milk mellows any rawness.

40 min

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Gatte ki sabziGram flour dumplings in spiced yogurt gravy

Gatte ki sabzi comes from the deserts of Rajasthan, where fresh vegetables were scarce and cooks turned gram flour into 'vegetables' instead. Firm, spiced besan rolls are boiled, sliced into little wheels and then simmered in a tangy yogurt gravy until they soak up its flavour. The dumplings are soft but hold their shape and the gravy is gently sour with a warming heat. Serve with phulka, bajra roti or steamed rice. Chef's tip: keep the cooking water from the gatte and use it for the gravy; it carries their flavour and a little starch that helps keep the yogurt from splitting.

50 min

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Shanghai drunken chicken

Shanghai's cold-dish counters always have a tray of drunken chicken: smooth, pale poached chicken with jelly-like skin, steeped overnight in a fragrant, slightly sweet bath of Shaoxing wine. Please note that the wine here is not cooked, so the classic dish contains alcohol and is not suitable for children, during pregnancy or for anyone avoiding alcohol. For them, make the fragrant alcohol-free version given in the ingredients, which steeps the chicken in stock with goji berries, dried tangerine peel and a little rice vinegar. Serve it chilled as a starter in summer or at Chinese New Year with other cold dishes. Chef's tip: plunge the chicken into iced water straight after poaching; the quick chill is what gives the skin its springy texture.

60 min

Chinese Chicken

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Chana jor garamSpiced flattened chickpea snack

Chana jor garam is sold from a tin box slung round a vendor's neck on the Kolkata Maidan, at Babughat and along Esplanade, with a sing-song call to match its name. Chickpeas are soaked, pressed flat, and fried or roasted until crunchy, then tossed to order with raw onion, tomato, green chilli, coriander, lime and a spice mix, and handed over in a paper cone. It is lighter than jhalmuri and much crunchier. The same snack is sold on Mumbai beaches; this is the Kolkata cart version. Chef's tip: flatten the soaked chickpeas while still damp, with a rolling pin between two cloths, so they split into thin discs.

35 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Wensi tofu soupShredded tofu soup

This Yangzhou soup is a test of knife skill: a block of soft tofu is sliced and shredded so finely that the threads drift apart like silk in the bowl. It is credited to a Buddhist monk named Wensi, who served it at a temple in Yangzhou during the Qing dynasty, so a meat-free broth is true to its roots. Huaiyang banquets still serve it as a quiet, delicate course. Chef's tip: wet the knife and slice in one smooth stroke without lifting; the tofu then stays together until you fan it into water.

40 min

Chinese Soups

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Punjene paprikeStuffed peppers

When late-summer markets in Novi Sad and Belgrade fill up with pale yellow and light green peppers, Serbian kitchens make big pots of punjene paprike to eat for several days. The peppers are packed with seasoned beef and pork mince and rice, stood upright and simmered slowly in a light tomato sauce until meltingly soft. They are served with a dollop of sour cream and bread to mop up the sauce. This recipe contains pork. The easy mistake is stuffing the peppers too tightly: the rice swells and splits them, so leave the top 2 cm empty. Chef's tip: plug each pepper with a slice of potato or tomato before simmering, so the filling stays inside.

105 minBalkan Meat

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Tire d'érableMaple taffy

Tire d'érable (maple taffy, or 'tire sur la neige') is the highlight of a spring visit to a Québec or eastern Ontario sugar shack: hot boiled maple syrup is poured in ribbons over clean packed snow, where it firms into a chewy, amber toffee that you roll up onto a wooden stick. It's sold at winter carnivals in Québec City and made at home on a tray of snow or crushed ice. Chef's tip: use a sugar thermometer and stop at 112–114 °C; a few degrees under and it stays runny, a few over and it turns hard as candy.

25 min

Canadian Desserts

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TirokafteriSpicy whipped feta

Tirokafteri means 'hot cheese', and in Thessaloniki and across northern Greece it's the dip you order with ouzo or tsipouro: feta whipped with chilli, a roasted red pepper and olive oil into something creamy, salty and properly fiery. Every ouzeri makes it slightly differently; some keep it chunky, some silky, some add yogurt to soften the heat. Scoop it up with toasted bread, or spoon it beside grilled vegetables and fritters. Use feta labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: add the fresh chilli a little at a time and taste; chillies vary a lot, and adding the whole lot at once is the usual mistake that makes it too hot to eat.

10 min

Greek Chutneys & Dips

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Punjabi lassiSweet yogurt drink with cream

In Amritsar and on the highways across Punjab, lassi comes in a tall steel or brass glass, churned so thick a spoon nearly stands up in it, with a raft of malai (clotted cream) floating on top. It is a summer drink, but Punjabis drink it all year with a stuffed paratha breakfast or after a heavy lunch. This is the plain sweet kind, with no fruit, so the tang of good full-fat yogurt is the whole point. Chef's tip: chill the yogurt, milk and glasses beforehand; cold lassi stays thicker.

5 min

Indian Drinks

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TiropitaFeta cheese pie

Tiropita is the cheese pie Greek children grow up on: bought hot from the neighbourhood fourno on the way to school, baked in big trays for birthday parties, and cut into squares for a quick lunch with a glass of ayran-style yogurt drink. The filling is softer and milder than spanakopita's, a creamy custard of feta, a fresh white cheese and eggs set between crisp, buttery fillo. It is good warm from the oven and still good cold in a lunch box. Use a feta labelled vegetarian, as many are made with animal rennet. Chef's tip: crumple the middle sheets of fillo loosely instead of laying them flat; the air pockets keep the pie light, and pressing them flat (the usual mistake) gives a dense, doughy middle.

60 min

Greek Baking

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ShuktoBitter mixed vegetable stew

Shukto opens a traditional Bengali meal: a mild, slightly bitter stew of bitter gourd, raw banana, sweet potato, drumsticks and aubergine, eaten with the first mouthfuls of rice to wake up the palate. The vegetables are fried, then simmered with a paste of mustard and poppy seeds and finished with milk and a spoonful of ghee, so the bitterness is balanced by a creamy, faintly sweet sauce. It is a dish of West Bengal's home kitchens, cooked especially in spring. Chef's tip: fry the bitter gourd separately until well browned and add it at the end; this keeps its bitterness pleasant and stops it spreading through the whole pot.

45 min

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Tisryo sukheDry clam coconut masala

When the clam beds of the Zuari and Mandovi rivers are full after the monsoon, Goan kitchens cook tisryo (clams) as sukhe, meaning dry: no gravy, just shells coated in a coarse, spiced coconut masala. It is a Saturday-lunch side dish with fish curry and rice, eaten with the fingers, picking each clam out of its half-shell. Chef's tip: grind the coconut masala without water and only briefly, so it stays coarse and clings to the shells.

60 min

Indian Fish

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Shui zhu fishFish in chilli broth

'Water-boiled fish' is Sichuan humour at its driest, because what arrives at the table in Chongqing and Chengdu restaurants is a great basin of silky fish slices half hidden under a red sea of chillies and Sichuan pepper, still crackling from a ladle of smoking oil poured over at the last moment. Underneath is a savoury broth of chilli bean paste with soft bean sprouts and celery. It is a dish for sharing with friends over beer or tea: you fish out the slices with chopsticks and leave the oil behind, as everyone does. Plain rice is essential, and something cooling such as smacked cucumber helps. Chef's tip: coat the fish in egg white and cornflour and give it no more than three minutes in the broth; the coating keeps each slice tender and stops it breaking up.

45 min