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Salsa de chile pasilla oaxaqueño
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Salsa de chile pasilla oaxaqueño

Smoky dried chilli salsa

The pasilla mixe is a small, wrinkled, red-brown chilli smoked in the Sierra Mixe mountains east of Oaxaca City, and it tastes of campfire, tobacco and dried fruit. Ground in a molcajete with roasted tomato and garlic, it becomes the salsa that sits on every table in Oaxacan fondas, spooned over memelas, eggs, beans and grilled vegetables. It keeps a week in the fridge and improves after a day. If you cannot find pasilla mixe, use chipotle mora plus one ancho. Chef's tip: grind the garlic and salt first, then the chillies, then the tomato; working in that order gives a rough, clinging texture rather than a watery purée.

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ShuktoBitter mixed vegetable stew

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Shwe yin aye, roughly 'golden heart cooler', is what Yangon drinks during the scorching weeks of Thingyan, the April water festival, when stalls set up along the streets to hand it out. It's a bowl of sweet, lightly salted coconut milk over crushed ice, filled with chewy sago pearls, cubes of green agar jelly, a scoop of sticky rice and, surprisingly, a few pieces of soft white bread that soak up the coconut. Chef's tip: make the jelly, sago and sticky rice in the morning and chill everything; assembled cold, the bowl stays refreshing to the last spoonful.

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70 minAndeanMeat
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Stacked high on wooden trays and pushed through Istanbul on red carts, simit is the city's breakfast on the move: commuters tear one apart on the ferry across the Bosphorus, throwing the odd piece to the gulls. The ring is twisted, dipped in diluted grape molasses (pekmez) and pressed into sesame, so it bakes up with a crackly, nutty, deep brown crust and a chewy, close crumb. Unlike a bagel it is never boiled. At home, serve warm with tea, white cheese, olives and tomatoes. Chef's tip: toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan before coating; raw seeds stay pale and taste of very little.

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Sinangag is what a Filipino kitchen does with last night's rice: fried in garlicky oil first thing in the morning and heaped on the breakfast plate. It is the 'si' in silog, the breakfast plates served at every silugan (all-day breakfast stall) in Manila, where garlic rice comes with a fried egg and a choice of cured meat. At home it goes with anything, from tortang talong to a fried egg and tomatoes, and a small dish of spiced vinegar for dipping. Each grain should be separate and lightly toasted, with plenty of crunchy, golden garlic on top. Chef's tip: fry the garlic slowly from cold oil; it browns evenly and the oil takes on a deep, sweet garlic flavour.

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Sindhi kadhiSour gram flour and tamarind curry

Sindhi kadhi is the Sunday lunch of families from Sindh, served in Karachi and Hyderabad homes over plain rice with crisp fried potatoes on the side. Unlike the yogurt kadhis of Gujarat and Punjab it uses no dairy at all: gram flour is roasted in oil until it smells like toasted nuts, whisked into water with tamarind and tomato, and simmered with a crowd of vegetables, typically drumsticks, okra, cluster beans, potato and carrot. The result is thin, sour and gently hot, with a deep golden colour. The common mistake is rushing the roasting of the gram flour; pale flour leaves the whole pot tasting raw and pasty. Chef's tip: cook the drumsticks and potatoes first and add the okra only in the last 10 minutes so it stays whole and does not turn slimy.

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Singapore carrot cake (chai tow kway)Fried radish cake with egg

Singapore's carrot cake has no carrot in it: "carrot" is the local word for white radish (daikon). A steamed cake of rice flour and grated radish is cut into cubes and fried with egg and garlic until crisp and golden, either "white" (plain and eggy) or "black" (with sweet dark soy). It's a breakfast and supper favourite at hawker centres like Chinatown Complex. Most stalls add chai poh (preserved radish); this version leaves it out because many brands are made with fish sauce, and spring onions bring the savoury lift instead. Chef's tip: steam the cake a day ahead and chill it overnight; cold, firm cake cuts cleanly and crisps instead of falling apart.

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SingodiCoconut milk fudge in leaf cones

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Skudahkharis is the pride of Djibouti and is also cooked in Somali homes: lamb on the bone simmered with tomato, onion, garlic and a warm mix of cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, then rice cooked in the pot until it absorbs every drop. It is served for Eid and family gatherings, with banana and a hot green chilli sauce on the side, as is the custom. The mistake is stirring the rice once it is in, which breaks the grains and makes it sticky; stir once, then leave it covered. Chef's tip: soak basmati for 20 minutes before cooking so it cooks evenly in the rich broth.

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Solok ladaFish-stuffed green chillies

Bulky green chillies are the cases for this Kelantan festive dish, cooked for weddings and Raya tables in Kota Bharu. Each one is slit, scraped out and packed with a pale filling of fish, freshly grated coconut, shallots, ginger and black pepper, then simmered gently in coconut milk until the chillies slump and the gravy turns rich and faintly smoky. The filling is soft and sweet; the skins bring gentle heat and a green, grassy bite. Serve two or three per person with rice and a sambal, or with nasi kerabu. Chef's tip: choose large, mild chillies (or long sweet peppers for a gentler version) and tie each with a strip of pandan or a toothpick so the filling stays inside.

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SolteritoBroad bean, corn and cheese salad

Solterito, the 'little bachelor', is a cold salad from Arequipa in southern Peru, so called because it was simple enough for a single man to make. Broad beans, sweet corn, fresh cheese, tomato and red onion are tossed with black olives, parsley and a little rocoto chilli in an oil and vinegar dressing. It is eaten with the spicy dishes of Arequipa's picanterías, or on its own as a light lunch. Rocoto is a fat, fiery red chilli; a red pepper with a little habanero gives a similar crunch and heat. Use queso fresco made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: peel the broad beans after blanching; the pale skins are tough and the bright green beans inside make the salad sweet and tender.

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SolyankaSour mixed-meat soup

Sbornaya myasnaya solyanka is the soup Russian cooks make on 2 January, when the fridge is full of leftover ham and sausage from the New Year table; Moscow restaurants also keep it on the menu all winter as the cure for a heavy night. A beef broth is sharpened with pickled cucumbers and their brine, then loaded with strips of smoked sausage, ham and tender beef, salty olives and capers, and finished in the bowl with a slice of lemon and a spoon of sour cream. It contains pork (ham and smoked sausage). Serve it with rye bread. The usual mistake is salting the broth early: pickles, brine, capers, olives and sausage all bring salt, so season only at the very end. Chef's tip: fry the tomato paste with the pickles until it darkens before it meets the broth; it takes away the raw tinny taste and gives solyanka its deep orange colour.

140 minRussianSoups
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Somlói galuskaHungarian sponge trifle

Somlói galuska was first served at the Gundel restaurant in Budapest in the 1950s and named after the Somló wine hill in western Hungary. Today it is the dessert everyone orders at the end of a Sunday lunch: spoonfuls of three sponges (plain, walnut and cocoa) soaked in rum syrup and layered with vanilla custard, then topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It is assembled the day before and spooned out into rough dumplings, which is where 'galuska' comes from. This version thickens the custard with flour and egg yolk rather than gelatine. Chef's tip: soak the sponge only lightly; it should be moist but still hold a spoon-shaped scoop.

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So'o yosopyGround beef and rice soup

So'o yosopy, "pounded meat" in Guaraní, is a soup Paraguayans make for anyone who is tired or recovering, and on cold days in Asunción's winter: beef is ground very finely and stirred into cold water so it breaks into soft, delicate threads, then simmered with onion, tomato, pepper and a little rice and oregano. The texture is smooth and the broth light. The mistake is adding the beef to boiling water, which makes it clump into meatballs; mix it into cold water first and stir as it heats. Chef's tip: ask the butcher to mince lean beef twice, or pulse it very fine in a food processor.

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Sopa da pedraBean and pork soup

Almeirim, a market town in the Ribatejo, is the capital of this soup; its restaurants serve it every day, and each bowl arrives with a clean stone at the bottom, after the folk tale of a friar who 'made soup from a stone' by talking villagers into giving him everything else. This is a pork soup: red kidney beans simmer with chouriço, morcela blood sausage and a piece of pork belly, then potatoes, carrots and coriander finish it into a thick, hearty bowl. Chef's tip: cook the sausages whole and slice them at the end, so they stay juicy and don't turn the broth greasy.

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Sopa de fideoToasted noodle soup

Sopa de fideo is the soup almost every Mexican grew up on, served at home from Monterrey to Mérida as the first course of the midday meal. Thin fideo noodles (short broken vermicelli) are fried in oil until golden before the tomato broth goes in, which gives them a toasty, nutty flavour and stops them turning to mush. This version uses a vegetable stock, so it is vegan and very kind to small children. Serve it with lime, a little dried chilli for the grown-ups and bread or tortillas. Chef's tip: fry the noodles over a medium heat and keep stirring; they go from pale to golden to burnt in seconds, and you want the colour of a digestive biscuit.

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Sopa de maníPeanut soup

Sopa de maní is a pride of Cochabamba, Bolivia's food capital, where it starts the big midday meal in homes and market comedores. Raw peanuts are blended into a pale, creamy broth with vegetables and peas, and every bowl is topped with a tangle of thin, crisp fried potatoes and chopped parsley. It's usually made with beef broth; vegetable stock and a little more garlic keep it full-flavoured. Chef's tip: use raw (unroasted) peanuts and blend them very finely with water; that's what gives the soup its milky colour and silkiness.

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Sopa de quinuaQuinoa and vegetable soup

Sopa de quinua is everyday food in the Andes, from Puno on Lake Titicaca to Cusco and Huancayo, where quinoa has been grown for thousands of years. Quinoa, potato, carrot and corn simmer in a light broth seasoned with garlic, cumin, oregano and a little ají amarillo, and the potato breaks down slightly to give body. It is light yet filling, the soup families eat at midday to warm up in cold mountain air. In Peru it is finished with huacatay, the black mint of the Andes; a mix of mint and coriander stands in well. Chef's tip: rinse the quinoa in a sieve under running water, rubbing it, until the water stops foaming; the natural saponin coating tastes bitter and soapy.

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Sopa de tortillaTortilla soup

Sopa de tortilla, also called sopa azteca, is one of the best-loved soups of Mexico City's fondas: a brick-red broth of charred tomato, onion, garlic and dried pasilla chilli poured over crisp strips of fried corn tortilla. The strips soften at the edges and stay crunchy in the middle, and the toppings of avocado, fresh cheese, cream and fried chilli rings make each spoonful different. It is a starter in a comida corrida (set lunch) and a cure-all on a cold evening. We use a well-flavoured vegetable stock in place of chicken broth. Chef's tip: fry the blended tomato purée in hot oil until it darkens and smells sweet before adding the stock; this "seasoning" of the sauce is what makes Mexican soups taste deep rather than thin.

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SopaipillasFried pumpkin flatbreads

When it rains in Santiago, Chileans make sopaipillas. These round, pricked discs of dough are made with mashed pumpkin, which gives them a soft orange crumb, and are fried until puffed. Street carts sell them with pebre, mustard or ketchup; at home on wet winter afternoons they're 'pasadas', simmered briefly in a spiced chancaca (raw cane sugar) syrup with orange peel and cinnamon. Chef's tip: prick each disc several times with a fork before frying, so they puff evenly and don't balloon into one big bubble.

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SopesThick masa cakes with toppings

Sopes are a classic antojito of central Mexico: small, thick discs of corn masa cooked on a comal, pinched up at the edge while hot to make a little rim, then crisped in a film of oil and piled with refried beans, salsa, lettuce, crema and crumbled cheese. The base is crisp underneath and soft and steamy inside, with the sweet, earthy taste of nixtamalised corn. Serve two or three per person as a starter or a light supper. Use masa harina for tortillas, made from nixtamalised corn; cornmeal or polenta will not hold together. Choose queso fresco made with vegetarian rennet, or use a mild feta. Chef's tip: pinch the rims as soon as the sopes come off the comal; once they cool the masa sets and cracks.

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Soto ayamTurmeric chicken soup

From Lamongan to Semarang, Java's soto carts start ladling before the morning commute, and a bowl of soto ayam is how many people begin a working day. The broth is light but bright yellow with fresh turmeric, scented with lemongrass and lime leaf, and poured over slippery glass noodles, shredded chicken, crunchy bean sprouts and half a boiled egg. Squeeze in lime, stir in as much sambal as you dare and eat it with plain rice or rice cakes on the side. In East Java vendors finish it with koya, a sandy powder of prawn crackers and fried garlic that thickens the broth as you eat. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a lazy simmer the whole time; a hard boil turns the golden broth cloudy and greasy.

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Soto BanjarSpiced chicken soup

Along the rivers of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, breakfast often means soto Banjar eaten at a wooden riverside warung, sometimes after a dawn trip to the floating market. Unlike the turmeric sotos of Java, this broth is pale and clear, perfumed with the sweet spices that traders brought up the river centuries ago: cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cardamom and nutmeg. Shredded chicken, glass noodles, carrot and a boiled egg go into the bowl with rice cakes, and lime and a little chilli sharpen it at the table. Chef's tip: toast the whole spices in the pan for a minute before the paste goes in; it brings out their sweetness without the dusty edge of ground spice.

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Soto BetawiBeef and coconut milk soup

Jakarta's original Betawi community gave the capital this rich, pale-gold soup, and on a Sunday the soto Betawi stalls along the city's side streets are packed with families. Beef brisket (and, for many, tripe) simmers until tender, then goes into a gently spiced broth made creamy with coconut milk and a splash of fresh milk, scented with lemongrass, cinnamon and cloves. Each bowl is loaded with fried potato, raw tomato and spring onion and comes with rice, lime, sambal and bitter-crisp emping crackers. It's comforting and mellow rather than fiery. Chef's tip: for a dairy-free bowl, swap the milk for more coconut milk; the soup will be a little heavier but just as good.

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Soufflé au fromageCheese soufflé

The cheese soufflé is a French bistro classic and a favourite family starter or light supper all over France, often served with a green salad and a glass of white wine. A thick cheese sauce is lightened with whisked egg whites and baked until it rises tall above the dish, golden and crusty outside and soft, almost creamy in the middle. It sounds hard but it's mostly about timing. We thicken the sauce with cornflour so it's gluten free (classic recipes use plain flour). Comté and Gruyère are made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian alternative. Chef's tip: fold the whites in gently with a big spoon, in three goes; stirring hard is the common mistake that knocks out the air so it never rises.

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Soupe au pistouBean and vegetable soup with basil

Soupe au pistou is Provence's summer minestrone, eaten from July to September when basil grows thick in the gardens around Marseille and Avignon. Beans, courgettes, green beans, carrots, potato and small pasta simmer in a light broth, then each bowl gets a spoonful of pistou, a pounded paste of basil, garlic, olive oil and hard cheese with no pine nuts. Stirred in at the table, it turns the broth fragrant and green. It is a whole meal with bread. The traditional cheese is Parmesan or aged Gouda, so use a vegetarian hard cheese. Chef's tip: never boil the pistou; adding it to the pot is the common mistake that turns the basil dark and kills its smell.

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Spaghetti alle vongoleSpaghetti with clams

Naples cooks this on Christmas Eve, when the feast is meatless, and all summer long in seaside trattorie along the bay. The clams open in a hot pan of garlicky oil and white wine and release their sea-salty juice, which the half-cooked spaghetti then drinks up as it finishes cooking, so every strand tastes of the shore. Neapolitans keep it in bianco, without tomato, with just a little chilli warmth and a heap of parsley. Most clams in shops are sold already purged of sand; if yours are not, soak them in cold salted water in the fridge for 30 minutes first. Serve with a glass of something cold and bread for the juices. Chef's tip: drain the spaghetti 2 minutes early and finish it in the clam liquor, tossing hard with a little extra oil, so the juices turn into a light, clinging sauce rather than a puddle in the bowl.

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Spaghetti with sukumawikiSpaghetti with collard greens

A Kenyan twist on pasta: spaghetti tossed with sukumawiki (collard greens) cooked down with onions, garlic, fresh tomato, tomato paste, green chillies and lots of coriander. It's quick, green and full of flavour. Serve hot with garlic bread.

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