Skip to content
LoginRegister
WhatToEat.Today
Citron pressé
Featured recipe

Citron pressé

Fresh lemon drink

Order a citron pressé on a Paris terrace in July, or at a café in Nice after the beach, and the waiter brings a tall glass with an inch of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a carafe of iced water, a sugar bowl or a little jug of syrup and a long spoon. You build the drink yourself, as sharp or as sweet as you like, which is half the pleasure; French children learn to drink it with plenty of sugar, grown-ups often with almost none. It is bright, sour and cleansing, nothing like bottled lemonade, and best in the late afternoon heat. The common mistake is stirring granulated sugar straight into cold lemon water: it sinks and never dissolves, so the first sips are sour and the last a sludge. Dissolve the sugar in the juice first, or use a quick syrup. It is ready when the sugar has vanished, the drink tastes balanced to you and the glass is beaded with cold. Unwaxed lemons matter if you add a twist of peel. Chef's tip: pour the water over ice slowly and taste after half the carafe; most people find they need less water than they expect.

Read more 0 views

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Persian

A new country every day, from every cuisine on the site.

Persian

Torshi gol kalam

Cauliflower and carrot pickle 35 minMore from Persian (131) →

This week's collection

Kid-friendly dinners537 recipes · a new collection every Monday

New this week

See all new →

Latest recipes

FrittolaFried veal scraps

The frittularu of Palermo carries a wicker basket covered with a cloth, and when you order he reaches in blind and pulls out a handful of frittola: soft, fatty veal trimmings and cartilage that have been boiled, then fried slowly in pork lard with bay leaves and black pepper. You find him at dawn and mid-morning in the Vucciria and Ballarò markets, serving it on paper or in a soft bun with lemon. This home version uses veal brisket and its cartilage, which most butchers will sell. Chef's tip: let the boiled meat dry well before it goes into the lard, so it fries rather than spits and stews.

180 minItalianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fuki no nimonoSimmered butterbur stalks

Fuki, giant butterbur, is one of the wild spring vegetables Japanese families look forward to each April, especially in the mountain prefectures of Akita and Tohoku, where the stalks grow taller than a child. Simmered lightly in dashi, the pale green stalks keep a gentle crunch and a fresh, slightly bitter flavour, and they are served cold as a small dish with rice and miso soup. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: it is very high in fibre and low in starch. About 35 kcal and 4 g carbohydrate per portion. The sugar is optional, or use a sweetener. The usual mistake is skipping the salt rub and blanch before peeling: unpeeled fuki is stringy and harsh. For a vegetarian version, use kombu dashi. Chef's tip: cool the stalks in the broth in a bowl set over ice; they keep their bright green colour.

30 minJapaneseSides
by KrazyBadal 0 views

GamjatangPork backbone stew

Gamjatang is a late-night favourite in Seoul and Incheon, where restaurants keep huge pots of pork backbone stew bubbling for shift workers and friends after a night out. Pork neck bones are soaked, blanched and simmered with doenjang until the meat pulls away, then finished with potatoes, napa cabbage, perilla leaves and nutty ground perilla seeds in a chilli-red broth. Everyone picks the meat off the bones at the table and ends the meal by frying rice in the leftover broth. The usual mistake is skipping the soaking and blanching, which leaves the broth grey and scummy. A pressure cooker cuts the bone simmering to 45 minutes. Chef's tip: stir the perilla seed powder in only at the end; boiled too long it loses its fragrance.

180 minKoreanMeatSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gangaur guneFried dough shapes in syrup

Gangaur, Rajasthan's spring festival for Gauri, is when women fast and pray for their husbands and married daughters receive a sindhara of sweets from home, and gune are always in it. A ghee-rich dough is rolled thin, pleated or pressed into ribbed shapes and fried crisp, then dipped in sugar syrup or jaggery. They are crunchy, flaky and lightly sweet. The common mistake is under-rubbing the ghee into the flour, which makes them hard rather than short and flaky. Chef's tip: rub until the flour holds a clear fist mark when squeezed; that is when the gune will shatter, not crack.

75 minIndianIndian Sweets
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gevulde koekAlmond-filled cookie

A gevulde koek is two discs of short, buttery dough sandwiching a thick layer of almond paste (spijs), glazed with egg and crowned with half an almond. Every Amsterdam bakery has a stack of them, and they are the classic koffie snack at about eleven in the morning, or something to eat on the bike home from the Noordermarkt. The pastry is crumbly and the middle soft, fragrant and lemony. It contains wheat, egg, milk and almonds. Chef's tip: make the almond paste a day ahead; it firms up and is much easier to shape into neat discs.

60 minDutchBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ka'i ladrilloPeanut molasses bricks

Ka'i ladrillo — 'monkey brick' in Guaraní — is the sweet sold by vendors on Asunción buses and at country fiestas: roasted peanuts bound in boiled cane molasses and set in brick-shaped blocks, crunchy and dark with a slightly smoky toffee taste. It contains peanuts, so keep it away from anyone with a peanut allergy. The common mistake is taking the syrup off too soon, so the bricks stay sticky and never set. Chef's tip: test the syrup by dropping a little into cold water; it is ready when it sets into a brittle thread that snaps.

40 minParaguayanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chhena tarkariFried cheese cube curry

In Odia homes, from Cuttack to Puri, chhena tarkari is the special curry for a Sunday lunch, a guest or a festival day when the household eats no onion or garlic. Fresh chhena, the soft cheese Odisha also turns into rasagola, is pressed, cut into cubes and fried golden, then simmered with potato in a thin gravy of tomato, ginger and roasted cumin. The cubes stay soft and soak up the sauce, and the dish is eaten with rice, puri or paratha. Chhena is made by curdling milk with lemon juice, so it contains no rennet. The usual mistake is boiling the gravy hard after the chhena goes in, which breaks the cubes into crumbs. Chef's tip: fry the chhena cubes until golden on two sides only, then rest them in warm water for five minutes; they swell and turn spongy, just like an Odia grandmother's.

45 minIndianCurriesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Peameal bacon sandwich

The peameal bacon sandwich is Toronto's signature breakfast, served from the stalls of St Lawrence Market since the early 1900s. Peameal bacon is cured but unsmoked pork loin rolled in yellow cornmeal (once ground dried peas, hence the name). Thick slices are griddled until golden and piled into a soft kaiser roll with yellow mustard. It is a Saturday market ritual. A common mistake is slicing too thin, which dries it out; aim for 5 mm. Chef's tip: cook it over a medium heat, not high, so the cornmeal crisps without burning before the pork is cooked.

17 minCanadianFast Food
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Geleia de jabuticabaJabuticaba jelly

Jabuticabas grow in clusters straight on the trunk of the tree, and in the Minas Gerais spring, from September to November, backyards from Sabará to the south of the state are suddenly covered in shiny black berries. The fruit starts to ferment two or three days after picking, so families turn the glut into jelly, liqueur and syrup; Sabará even celebrates the harvest with a festival. Boiling the berries whole draws colour, tannin and pectin out of the thick skins, so the jelly sets with no added pectin. It is deep ruby-purple, sweet and tart like a dark grape, with a faint astringent edge from the skins. Spread it on pão de queijo or toast, or serve it with fresh white cheese. Abroad, use Concord or other dark, slip-skin grapes, or muscadines. Common mistake: boiling past the setting point; the jelly darkens, turns gummy and the tannins taste bitter, so start testing early. It is ready at 104 °C, or when a drop on a frozen saucer wrinkles when pushed. Chef's tip: let the juice drip through the cloth without squeezing; pressing it makes the jelly cloudy.

70 minBrazilianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bibim dangmyeonSpicy glass noodles

At the crossing of Gukje Market and BIFF Square, near Nampo-dong, women sit behind low tables mixing bibim dangmyeon to order for shoppers perched on plastic stools. Chewy sweet-potato noodles are piled with seasoned spinach, carrot, yellow pickled radish and strips of Busan fish cake, then drenched in a sweet, tangy chilli sauce that you mix with chopsticks. It is a quick, cheap bowl, eaten year round, cold in summer. Chef's tip: rinse the noodles in cold water straight after cooking; it stops them clumping and keeps them bouncy.

25 minKoreanPasta & NoodlesSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sharbat-e zaferan (saffron sherbet)

Big steel urns of golden saffron sherbet are poured for guests at Iranian weddings and engagement parties, and the same drink is handed out on the street as nazri during Muharram and at memorial gatherings, when families offer something sweet and cool in the name of the departed. Saffron from Khorasan is ground with a sugar cube, bloomed in a little water and stirred into syrup with rose water and lemon. The result is honey-sweet and floral, with saffron's faint bitterness and hay-like perfume at the end, and a colour that should be a clear, sunny orange-gold. The usual mistake is dropping whole threads straight into cold water, which gives a pale, patchy drink and wastes expensive saffron; grind it first and let it bloom for at least 10 minutes. You know the bloom is ready when the water is a deep red-orange and smells strongly of saffron. Taste before serving: it should be sweet but finish clean, with the lemon just noticeable. Chef's tip: an ice cube placed on the ground saffron and left to melt slowly gives the deepest colour of all, an old Iranian trick.

20 minPersianDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Indio viejoShredded beef in corn masa sauce

Masaya and Granada both claim indio viejo, a thick, tangy stew of shredded beef cooked into a sauce of corn masa, tomato, sweet pepper and achiote, sharpened with sour orange and scented with mint. It has the texture of a savoury porridge and is eaten for lunch with white rice and fried ripe plantain. The mistake that ruins it is tipping masa straight into the hot pot, where it forms lumps; whisk it into broth first. Chef's tip: add the sour orange juice only in the last few minutes, so it stays bright and fresh rather than flat.

120 minCentral AmericanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Capeletis a la CarusoStuffed pasta in cream sauce

Capeletis a la Caruso were created in a Montevideo restaurant in the 1950s and named after the great tenor, and they are still a Sunday lunch favourite in Uruguayan homes: little stuffed pasta hats in a rich sauce of cream, cooked ham (pork), mushrooms and onion, finished with grated cheese. Buy good fresh capeletis or tortellini; the sauce is what you make. The usual mistake is boiling the cream sauce hard, which makes it oily and grainy. Chef's tip: cook the mushrooms in a dry hot pan first until they squeak and brown, before any butter goes in, for a deeper taste.

35 minParaguayanPasta & Noodles
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Steamed Nendran banana mash

Nendran is the long, golden plantain of Kerala, sold in hands at every market from Palakkad to Thiruvananthapuram, and a steamed ripe Nendran is one of the first fruits a Malayali baby tastes. Raw, it is too firm and starchy for a six-month-old, so it is steamed in its skin until the flesh turns soft and orange-gold, the dark string of seeds in the centre is pulled out, and the rest is mashed smooth. It is naturally sweet, so nothing is added: no sugar, jaggery, honey or salt. It is free of the major allergens. Chef's tip: wait until the skin is fully yellow with black freckles; a green Nendran stays chalky however long you steam it.

15 minIndianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ginataang puso ng sagingBanana blossom in coconut milk

Every banana tree in the Philippine countryside gives a heavy purple flower, and in Bicol, Batangas and the Visayas it is shredded and stewed in coconut milk as an everyday ulam for lunch with rice. The banana blossom has a tender, slightly flaky texture and soaks up the ginger, garlic and chilli. The traditional version includes shrimp or fish; this one is vegan. The usual mistake is skipping the salt rub: unrubbed banana blossom stays bitter and turns the sauce grey, so squeeze out its dark sap first. Chef's tip: keep the shredded blossom in water with a spoon of vinegar while you work, so it stays pale.

35 minFilipinoVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mula ko tarkariRadish curry

In the hills around Kathmandu and Pokhara, long white winter radishes are pulled with their leaves still on, and both go into this simple tarkari served beside dal-bhat. The radish is cut into thin batons and cooked down in mustard oil with a sizzle of fenugreek seed, turmeric and tingly timur pepper until it turns sweet and translucent, while the greens wilt in at the end. The usual mistake is adding too much water: radish releases plenty of its own juice, and extra water turns it into a bland soup. Chef's tip: let the fenugreek seeds turn dark brown, almost black, before the radish goes in; that toasty bitterness is what makes Nepali radish taste right.

30 minNepaliVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Godeulppaegi kimchiBitter wild lettuce kimchi

In Suncheon and the hills of South Jeolla, godeulppaegi is dug up from fields and banks in late autumn and again in early spring, and the kimchi made from it is a point of local pride, eaten through winter beside rice, grilled fish and pork. The plant is a small wild lettuce with a pale, carrot-like root and leaves full of milky, bitter sap. Soaked in salt water for several days, the bitterness softens to a pleasant, coffee-like edge that pairs with the deep anchovy sauce and sweet, sticky chilli dressing. Chewy roots, tender leaves, sweet, savoury and gently bitter all at once. The common mistake is rushing the soak: the kimchi is then too bitter to enjoy. Change the brine every day and taste a leaf; stop when the bitterness is noticeable but no longer harsh, usually day 3 to 5. Outside Korea, look for it frozen or dried in Korean shops, or use young dandelion plants with their roots. The kimchi is ready after about 2 weeks in the fridge, when the dressing turns glossy and the roots taste mellow and sour-sweet. Chef's tip: twist a few plants into small coils so each serving comes out of the jar neatly.

83 minKoreanChutneys & DipsGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

GodrogodroCoconut rice flour sweet

Along the northern coast around Antsiranana, and down to Mahajanga, godrogodro is a festival and family-celebration sweet, cut into diamonds and passed round at weddings, circumcision ceremonies and the New Year. Coconut milk, rice flour and dark sugar are stirred for the best part of an hour until the mixture thickens, darkens and pulls away from the pan, then it sets into a dense, sliceable fudge-like block, fragrant with vanilla and cardamom. It is rich, so small squares with a cup of tea are plenty. Stopping too early is the mistake to avoid: undercooked godrogodro stays sticky and pale and will not hold a clean edge. Chef's tip: use a heavy, non-stick pan and a flat wooden spatula that scrapes the whole base, and keep stirring as it thickens, as the bottom scorches easily.

70 minMalagasyDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gondhoraj gholLime-scented yogurt drink

In Kolkata the gondhoraj lime arrives with the monsoon heat, a knobbly green fruit whose peel smells of flowers and pine more than of sour citrus. Bengali households use it to lift dal and fish, but in the sticky months from Boishakh into Srabon it goes into ghol: dahi churned with cold water until frothy, sweetened lightly and scented with the zest, a squeeze of juice and a torn leaf. Cafés along Gariahat and old sweet shops serve it in clay bhaar cups after lunch, and it is just as good mid-afternoon with a plate of muri. It drinks thin, cool and silky, with a soft tang and a perfume that hits the nose before the first sip. The usual mistake is grating too deep or leaving the zest to sit for an hour: the white pith and the oils turn bitter. Take only the green outer layer, add it just before serving, and stop when the ghol smells floral rather than sharp. It is ready when the top is covered in fine foam and a spoon comes out lightly coated. Chef's tip: for the salted version, swap the sugar for black salt and a pinch of roasted cumin, as many Kolkata homes do on the hottest days.

10 minIndianDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

GotoGinger rice porridge with tripe

Goto is the tripe-rich cousin of arroz caldo, sold at dawn and late at night from gotohan stalls across Luzon, especially in Manila and Batangas. Glutinous rice is cooked in a ginger broth with long-simmered beef tripe until thick, then topped with toasted garlic, spring onion, a boiled egg and a squeeze of calamansi. The common mistake is skipping the pre-boil of the tripe, which leaves a strong farmyard smell. Chef's tip: buy cleaned honeycomb tripe and simmer it until a knife slides in easily before it meets the rice; it will not soften further once the porridge thickens.

150 minFilipinoRice & GrainsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kari gros poisButter bean curry

In Mauritius, gros pois (butter beans) are a pantry staple, and kari gros pois is cooked in Creole and Indo-Mauritian homes alike for weekday lunches and Friday meat-free meals. The beans simmer in a curry of onion, tomato, garlic and ginger, flavoured with curry powder, fresh thyme and curry leaves, so it tastes of both India and the island's French side. It is served with rice, farata flatbreads and a tomato or chilli chutney. The usual mistake is frying the curry powder on high heat; it scorches in seconds and turns bitter. Pressure cooker option: cook the soaked beans for 15 minutes at pressure. Chef's tip: crush a few beans into the sauce at the end, which thickens it without any flour.

85 minMauritianCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Grilled marronGrilled crayfish with garlic butter

Marron are large freshwater crayfish native to the rivers of south-western Western Australia and farmed around Margaret River and Manjimup, where restaurants serve them split and grilled with garlic butter. The tail meat is sweet, firm and delicate, finer than most lobster. Buy marron already prepared and halved by the supplier, or frozen raw halves, and cook them the same day. A common mistake is overcooking, which makes the meat stringy. Chef's tip: baste continuously so the flesh stays juicy under the grill.

20 minAustralianFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

GuatitaTripe and potato stew

In Guayaquil, guatita is the dish people seek out on a Sunday morning or after a long night: honeycomb tripe simmered until meltingly tender, then stewed with potatoes in a creamy peanut and milk sauce coloured with achiote. It is served with white rice, avocado, fried ripe plantain and a sharp red-onion curtido. Peanuts are a major allergen. The most common mistake is undercooking the tripe, which stays rubbery; it needs about 2½ hours of simmering (45 minutes in a pressure cooker). Chef's tip: buy cleaned, blanched tripe and still give it a scrub with lime and salt before cooking; it freshens the flavour.

195 minAndeanCurriesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

GuayusaHolly leaf infusion

In Kichwa villages along the Napo river around Tena, families rise before dawn, gather around the fire and share a pot of guayusa: an infusion of the large leaves of an Amazon holly tree, passed round while people talk over dreams and plan the day. It tastes smooth, grassy and faintly sweet, with none of the bitterness of black tea, and it carries a steady lift of caffeine, so it is not one for young children or late evenings. Dried guayusa is sold loose in health-food and tea shops. A common mistake is treating it like delicate green tea and steeping it for just a minute; it needs a gentle simmer to draw out its flavour. Chef's tip: add a strip of lemongrass or a slice of ginger for a fragrant twist, and sweeten, if at all, with a little panela.

14 minAndeanDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guihua jiangOsmanthus syrup

When the osmanthus trees around West Lake in Hangzhou and along the Li River in Guilin bloom in late September and October, the whole town smells of apricots, and families shake the tiny gold flowers onto sheets to preserve them. Guihua jiang, sweet osmanthus sauce, is the result: a loose, amber syrup thick with petals that is drizzled over glutinous rice cakes, sweet lotus-root stuffed with sticky rice, tangyuan in fermented-rice soup and plain congee through the Mid-Autumn Festival and all winter. It tastes floral, honeyed and faintly fruity, with a clean sugar sweetness and a soft, slippery petal texture. The flowers are salted briefly first, which takes away their green bitterness and helps them keep their colour. Common mistake: boiling the petals hard in the syrup, which turns them brown and flattens the perfume; add them only once the syrup is ready and let them barely bubble. It is ready when the syrup coats a spoon and the petals are evenly suspended rather than floating. Chef's tip: dried food-grade osmanthus from a Chinese grocer works well out of season; soak it for 10 minutes and use a third of the weight of fresh.

35 minChineseBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

GüirilaSweet corn tortilla with curd cheese

On the winding road north from Managua to Matagalpa and Jinotega, smoke from roadside griddles means güirilas: thick, sweet tortillas of freshly ground young corn, folded around a slab of salty cuajada and a spoonful of cream. The outside is lightly charred and the middle soft and custardy, a little like a corn pancake. Cuajada is a fresh cheese usually set with animal rennet; a vegetarian halloumi or fresh vegetarian cheese is a good swap. The most common mistake is a batter so runny that it spreads thin and tears when you flip it. Chef's tip: grind the corn in a blender in short bursts so a little texture remains, then stir in masa harina a spoonful at a time until the batter just holds a soft mound.

40 minCentral AmericanSnacks & StartersGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gobi matar (cauliflower and peas)

In Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, winter means cauliflower and fresh peas, and gobi matar is what fills countless school and office dabbas between November and February. It is cooked dry, so the florets brown a little at the edges, sweetened by the peas and sharpened by plenty of ginger. The mistake is cooking the cauliflower covered with water until it is soft and smells of cabbage; steam it briefly in its own moisture, then fry it uncovered. Chef's tip: cut the florets so they have one flat side; that face sits on the pan and browns while the rest steams tender.

30 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tacos de guisado (picadillo and rajas con crema)

From about nine in the morning, guisado stalls set up on corners near offices and markets all over Mexico City, from the famous counters on Calle Ámsterdam in the Condesa to the stands outside the Mercado de Medellín. Clay pots line the counter, each with a different home-style stew: chicharrón in salsa verde, potato with chorizo, mole and many more. You point, and they spoon it into two warm tortillas. This home version makes two of the favourites, a tomatoey beef picadillo with potato and carrot, and smoky poblano strips with corn in cream. Chef's tip: always double the tortillas, as the stalls do; one tortilla tears under a juicy stew.

90 minMexicanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guyanese black puddingRice blood sausage

On Saturday mornings in Georgetown and in villages along the East Bank, black pudding sellers cut thick slices from long dark coils and serve them with a sharp, peppery sour made from cucumber or mango. Guyanese black pudding is a soft sausage of rice, fresh herbs, hot pepper and blood, usually beef or pork blood, filled into casings and gently boiled. Buy the blood fresh and chilled from a licensed butcher (ask for it with an anticoagulant already added) and use it the same day, or use dried blood powder made up with water. The commonest mistake is boiling it hard, which bursts the casings. Chef's tip: keep the water barely trembling and prick any air bubbles with a pin as the sausages cook; they are done when a thermometer pushed into the middle reads 71 °C and the filling is firm and dark.

105 minGuyaneseMeatGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guyanese egg ballsFried cassava-coated eggs

Egg balls are the snack you buy in a paper bag at a Georgetown cake shop or from a tray at a cricket match at Bourda, with a generous spoon of mango sour over the top. A whole hard-boiled egg is wrapped in a layer of mashed cassava seasoned with garlic, hot pepper and herbs, then fried until crisp and golden. The usual problem is cassava that is too wet or too thin a layer, so the balls crack in the oil; mash it dry and keep the coat about 1 cm thick. Eggs are the main allergen here. Chef's tip: chill the wrapped balls for 20 minutes before frying so they hold their shape.

60 minGuyaneseSnacks & StartersGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jicaletas (jícama lollipops with chamoy)

At home time outside primary schools in Mexico City's Coyoacán and Narvarte, carts sell jicaletas, thick rounds of jícama pushed onto a stick like a giant lollipop and painted bright red with sweet-sour chamoy. They are crunchy, juicy and cold, with salty, sour and spicy layers on the outside, and make a light afternoon snack on a hot day. Chef's tip: cut the slices at least 1.5 cm thick, otherwise they snap off the stick at the first bite.

10 minMexicanSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guyanese plait breadBraided white loaf

A glossy three-strand plait sits on the table in many Guyanese homes on Christmas morning and for Old Year's Night, next to garlic pork, pepperpot and black cake, and bakeries in Georgetown sell it every day for sandwiches. It is a soft, close-crumbed white bread, just a little sweet, that tears into pillowy pieces and soaks up pepperpot gravy beautifully. The common slip is adding too much flour while kneading: the dough should feel slightly tacky, or the loaf bakes up dry and dense. Chef's tip: let the shaped plait prove until a finger pressed into the side leaves a dent that springs back slowly; that is the moment to bake.

60 minGuyaneseBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ají de arvejasPeas and potatoes in chilli sauce

Ají de arvejas is a homely Bolivian stew from La Paz and Cochabamba, cooked for weekday lunch or on Fridays and in Lent, when many families eat no meat. Green peas and potatoes simmer in a golden sauce of onion, tomato and ají amarillo (yellow chilli), and cubes of fresh white cheese are stirred in at the end so they soften without melting away. It is served with plain white rice and sometimes a boiled egg. Bolivian queso fresco is often made with animal rennet; for vegetarians, use a paneer or a fresh cheese labelled vegetarian. The usual mistake is boiling the cheese, which turns it rubbery. Chef's tip: cook the ají paste with the onion until it darkens slightly, which takes the raw edge off the chilli.

40 minAndeanVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Huanggui shizi bing (Xi'an persimmon cakes)

Every autumn, when Lintong's soft persimmons ripen outside Xi'an, griddles across the Muslim Quarter fill with these orange cakes. The dough is little more than ripe persimmon pulp and flour, so it fries crisp and caramelised outside while staying chewy and sticky inside, and the filling of brown sugar, walnuts, sesame and dried osmanthus melts into a fragrant syrup. They are bought hot in a paper sleeve as an afternoon snack. They contain wheat and walnuts. Chef's tip: use persimmons so ripe they feel like a water balloon; firm ones make the dough taste furry and astringent.

60 minChineseDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thabdi pendaCaramelised milk pendas

Rajkot's sweet shops are famous across Gujarat for thabdi, a crumbly, toffee-brown penda that starts as plain milk and sugar and ends, two hours later, as something close to caramel fudge. The milk is boiled down in a wide iron kadai, a spoon of curd splits it slightly to give the trademark grainy texture, and the sugar browns slowly with it until the whole mass is the colour of milky tea. The usual mistake is rushing on high heat: the milk catches and tastes burnt rather than caramelised. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan and a flat wooden spatula, and keep scraping the bottom and sides every minute once the milk is half reduced.

145 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Dan hong gaoGriddle egg cakes

On Chengdu's back streets, dan hong gao vendors work a row of tiny copper pans, pouring in a sweet egg batter, adding a spoon of filling and folding each cake in half like a soft taco. Breakfast-goers order a few with brown sugar and sesame, and a few with savoury fillings like pickled mustard greens. The mistake is a lid-less pan: the cakes must be covered so the top steams through while the base turns golden. A small 10–12 cm frying pan works at home. Chef's tip: let the batter rest 10 minutes after adding the raising agent so tiny bubbles form; the cakes come out spongy rather than flat.

30 minChineseBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HakusaizukeSalted napa cabbage pickle

In Japanese homes from Hokkaido to Kyushu, hakusaizuke appears when napa cabbage is cheap and sweet, from November through February. Big heads are quartered, dried for half a day on a sunny veranda, then salted in a wooden tub with kombu, dried chilli and slivers of yuzu peel, and pressed under a stone. A few days later the leaves are crisp, juicy, lightly salty and fragrant with citrus, and after a week they turn pleasantly sour. It is the everyday pickle beside breakfast rice and miso soup, or chopped into a hot-pot. Use about 3% salt by weight; less and it can spoil, more and it is too salty to enjoy. The common mistake is too light a weight at the start: the brine must rise over the cabbage within a day, so begin with twice the cabbage's weight and halve it once the liquid appears. It is ready when the white ribs are translucent and bend, the brine is clear to faintly cloudy, and it smells fresh and briny. If you cannot get yuzu, use strips of lemon peel with a little orange peel. Chef's tip: squeeze a slice firmly before serving and add a few drops of tamari and some toasted sesame seeds.

30 minJapaneseChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Halal snack packChips with lamb, cheese and sauces

The halal snack pack, or HSP, was born in the kebab shops of western Sydney suburbs like Auburn and Lakemba and became a late-night legend across Australia: a foil tray of hot chips covered in melted cheese and shaved doner meat, drowned in garlic sauce, chilli sauce and barbecue sauce. This home version uses quickly marinated lamb steaks, grilled and sliced thin, and halal meat if you follow it. A common mistake is soggy chips; make them crisp and get the toppings on just before eating. Chef's tip: the three sauces go on in stripes, garlic first, so every bite gets some of each.

45 minAustralianFast FoodSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HalvasanMilk and cracked wheat sweet

Khambhat, the old port town at the head of the Gulf, is where halvasan comes from, and its sweet shops still sell the chewy, nutmeg-heavy rounds wrapped in paper to visitors from Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Milk is split so it turns grainy, then cooked down with soaked cracked wheat, ghee, sugar and a little puffed edible gum until it is dark gold and chewy, rather like a cross between a halwa and a barfi. The mistake to avoid is undercooking: if it is taken off while still soft and sticky, the rounds never set and turn greasy. Chef's tip: keep cooking until the mass rolls around the pan as one lump and a drop pressed between two fingers feels tacky but not wet.

95 minIndianIndian Sweets
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HariharizukeDried daikon pickle

Hariharizuke takes its name from the sound it makes, 'hari-hari', as you chew. It starts with kiriboshi daikon, the radish strips dried in the cold winter sun across Miyazaki and much of rural Japan, which are rehydrated and steeped in a sharp, slightly sweet soy-vinegar with ribbons of kombu and a little chilli. It is a year-round side dish, but home cooks lean on it in late winter and early spring when fresh vegetables are fewer, packing it into bento boxes or setting it beside grilled fish and rice. The taste is sweet-sour and savoury, with a concentrated, almost caramel daikon flavour, and the texture is springy and crunchy. The common mistake is soaking the dried daikon too long: after 10–15 minutes it is pliable, and beyond that it turns soft and loses its crunch. It is ready when the strips are glossy, tan and taste seasoned right through, about an hour after mixing, and even better the next day. Look for dried daikon in Japanese or Korean shops (Korean mumallaengi is the same thing). Chef's tip: add the carrot in very fine matchsticks and a few drops of sesame oil just before serving for colour and aroma.

28 minJapaneseChutneys & DipsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Harusame saladGlass noodle salad

Harusame, "spring rain" noodles, are fine glass noodles made from mung bean or potato starch, and this tangy salad of them with cucumber, carrot and ribbons of thin omelette is a supermarket deli favourite and a regular bento side across Japan. Ham is usually added; this version keeps it vegetarian. The common mistake is leaving the noodles long, which makes the salad impossible to eat from a bento with chopsticks; cut them with scissors after cooking. Chef's tip: dress the noodles while they are still slightly warm, because they drink up the dressing then and stay flavourful cold.

23 minJapaneseSalads
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Daging masak hitamBlack braised beef

Daging masak hitam, 'black-cooked beef', is a centrepiece of Hari Raya open houses and kenduri feasts across Malaysia, and it is just as good on an ordinary weekday with rice and cucumber. Beef is braised slowly with blended shallots, garlic, ginger and dried chillies, whole spices, tamarind and both sweet and dark soy sauce until the gravy reduces to a sticky, almost black glaze. It tastes better the next day, which is why cooks make it ahead for festivals. The usual mistake is reducing too fast over a high heat: the sugar in the sweet soy scorches and turns bitter. Chef's tip: once the gravy starts to thicken, stir from the bottom every few minutes and lower the heat.

130 minMalaysianMeatSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

DhansakMutton and lentil curry

Dhansak is the Parsi Sunday lunch in Mumbai and the old Gujarat towns of Navsari and Surat, traditionally the first meat dish cooked when the meatless days after a death are over, and a weekend favourite the rest of the time, always with brown rice (rice browned in caramelised sugar and onion) and kachumber. Mutton is cooked together with toor, masoor, moong and chana dal, pumpkin, aubergine, tomato and fenugreek leaves, then the dal and vegetables are pureed into a thick, gently spiced sauce with dhansak masala. Veg version: leave out the mutton and cook the same dal and vegetables with vegetable stock. The usual mistake is not pureeing the dal finely; it should be smooth and velvety around the meat. Slow-cooker option: everything except the tempering on low for 8 hours, then blend. Chef's tip: fry the dhansak masala in ghee at the end and pour it over; it gives the dish its aroma.

130 minIndianCurries
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sev tameta nu shaakSev and tomato curry

Sev tameta nu shaak is roadside-dhaba and home food from Kathiyawad in Saurashtra, cooked when the vegetable basket is nearly empty but there are tomatoes and a tin of sev. Ripe tomatoes simmer with garlic, red chilli and a little jaggery into a thin, sweet-sour-hot gravy, and a handful of crisp gram-flour sev goes on top at the very last moment, so it is half-crunchy, half-soft when you eat it with bajra rotla, thepla or rotli. The usual mistake is stirring the sev in too early, which turns the curry into a paste. Most sev is made from gram flour, but check the packet if you avoid gluten. Chef's tip: use thick sev (ratlami or bhavnagari), which holds its crunch far longer than nylon sev.

25 minIndianVegetarianVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Melting momentsLemon buttercream sandwich biscuits

Melting moments are the soft, crumbly biscuits found in Australian and New Zealand bakery jars and grandmother's tins, two rounds made with custard powder and icing sugar sandwiched with a lemon butter icing. The custard powder gives them their yellow colour and tender, short texture that melts in the mouth, hence the name. A common mistake is overbaking; they should be pale, not golden. Chef's tip: press each ball with a floured fork for the classic stripes.

40 minAustralianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kefir

Kefir is the sour, lightly fizzy fermented milk that families across Russia, Georgia and the North Caucasus drink plain from a glass at breakfast, as an evening snack or alongside a meal, and also use in pancakes and cold soups. It is made by leaving milk with kefir grains, a living culture of yeasts and bacteria, at room temperature for a day until it thickens. Nothing is added: no salt and no sugar. About 0.25 g salt per 250 ml glass, all from the milk itself. Always use pasteurised milk. The usual mistake is leaving it too long, until it separates into curds and whey; check after 18 hours and stop when it is just thick and pourable. Chef's tip: a second ferment of 6 hours in the fridge in a closed bottle makes it smoother and a little fizzier.

1445 minRussianDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Heukimja-jukBlack sesame rice porridge

This charcoal-grey porridge of roasted black sesame and rice is one of Korea's gentlest breakfasts, often made for elders, for people getting over a cold, or simply on a slow weekend morning. It is nutty, lightly sweet and smooth as cream. The mistake is burning the sesame: the seeds are already black, so you cannot judge by colour; toast them only until they crackle and smell nutty, or the porridge turns bitter. Chef's tip: grind the toasted seeds with a little of the soaked rice and water rather than on their own, which turns them into a smooth paste instead of an oily clump.

40 minKoreanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Higos con quesoFigs in syrup with cheese

Across the Ecuadorian highlands, from Ambato to Loja, families make a big pot of figs in dark panela syrup around Christmas and for Sunday lunch, then serve the glossy, near-black fruit with a cool slice of salty fresh cheese. The figs turn tender and jammy, the syrup tastes of cinnamon and cloves, and the cheese cuts the sweetness. Use firm, slightly underripe green figs: ripe ones collapse. The usual mistake is rushing the syrup on a high boil, which leaves it thin and the figs pale instead of deep and shiny. Traditional queso fresco is often set with animal rennet; choose a cheese labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. Chef's tip: make them a day ahead; the figs soak up the syrup overnight and taste even better.

120 minAndeanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hinger kochuriUrad dal stuffed puffed bread

In Kolkata's sweetshops, Sunday breakfast often means hinger kochuri: soft, white-flour puris stuffed with a smear of urad dal paste perfumed strongly with hing, fried puffy and served with aloo dum or a sweet-sour pumpkin chhokka. They are smaller and softer than North Indian kachoris, closer to a stuffed luchi. The hing must be generous; it is the point of the dish. The common mistake is a wet filling, which steams the dough from inside and stops it puffing; cook the dal paste until it leaves the pan dry. Chef's tip: roll gently from the centre outwards so the thin filling layer stays even and the kochuri puffs all over.

60 minIndianBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HinkejvuTaro and mustard leaf stew

Hinkejvu is a light Sumi Naga everyday dish from Nagaland's Zunheboto district, where colocasia, cabbage, mustard leaves and beans are simmered together with only ginger, chilli and salt. It is eaten with plain rice and a smoky chutney, often after a heavier meat dish the day before. The common mistake is adding oil or spices, which hides the clean vegetable flavour; Naga home cooking relies on the produce. Chef's tip: cook the colocasia until it starts to break and thicken the broth slightly.

35 minIndianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Variyali sharbat (fennel cooler)

On May afternoons in Ahmedabad and Surat, when the loo wind blows and nobody wants a hot drink, Gujarati homes keep a bottle of variyali sharbat concentrate in the fridge. Fennel seeds are soaked, ground with rock sugar, strained and mixed with lemon and a little black pepper, then diluted with iced water for guests, after lunch, or to break a fast, since nothing in it is off-limits on upvas days if you use rock salt. It is pale green and cloudy, with a sweet aniseed taste, a sharp lemon finish and a faint peppery tingle. The common mistake is grinding dry fennel straight away: it stays gritty and the flavour is harsh. Soak the seeds for at least two hours so they swell and grind into a smooth paste. It is ready when the strained concentrate is silky, smells clearly of fennel and tastes very sweet, as it will be diluted three or four times. The concentrate keeps 5 days in the fridge in a clean bottle. Chef's tip: add a few mint leaves or a pinch of cardamom when grinding for a more rounded cooler.

23 minIndianDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HoenderpasteiChicken pie

Church bazaars from Paarl to Graaff-Reinet sell hoenderpastei by the slab, and a family-sized dish turns up at Christmas lunch and funerals alike. Under its puff pastry lid sits shredded chicken in a pale, silky sauce scented with allspice, cloves and a little nutmeg, with slices of boiled egg tucked through it. Sago is the old trick here: soaked and cooked in the stock, the little pearls swell into a glossy thickener that sets as the pie cools, so slices hold their shape. Serve it with geelrys, buttered green beans and a sharp beetroot salad. Chef's tip: let the filling cool before the pastry goes on; a hot filling melts the butter in the pastry and the lid bakes flat instead of rising into flaky layers.

120 minSouth AfricanChicken
by KrazyBadal 0 views

DiziLamb and chickpea stew

Dizi, also called abgoosht, is Tehran's working lunch, served at old teahouses and bazaar canteens in individual stone pots, and cooked at home on cold Fridays. Lamb on the bone, chickpeas, white beans, potatoes, tomato and dried lime cook gently for hours. At the table you pour off the broth and soak torn sangak or lavash bread in it (tilit), then pound the meat, beans and potato into a coarse paste (goosht kubideh) to eat with herbs, raw onion and pickles. The usual mistake is adding the potatoes at the start: they collapse and cloud the broth. Slow-cooker: after the beans' hard boil, cook everything except the potatoes on low for 10 hours, adding them for the last 2. Chef's tip: pierce the dried limes so they flavour the broth without turning it bitter, and lift them out before pounding.

245 minPersianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Homemade doenjangFermented soybean paste

Doenjang starts in late autumn, after the soybean harvest, when Korean households used to boil beans in a cauldron, pound them into bricks and hang the meju from the rafters on straw ropes to grow a white, sweet-smelling bloom over the winter. In early spring, on a clear dry day, the bricks are dropped into salt brine in an onggi jar with dried chillies, jujubes and a red-hot piece of charcoal. Some six to eight weeks later the dark liquid is drawn off and boiled into soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang), and the softened bricks are mashed into doenjang, which ripens through the summer. It is chunkier, saltier and funkier than miso, with a nutty, almost smoky depth: the backbone of doenjang-jjigae, ssamjang and spinach namul. Common mistake: making the brick too thick or drying it in a warm, still room, so the centre rots before it dries; keep it about 6 cm thick and hang it where air moves. The paste is ready when it is mid-brown, smells of toasted nuts and soy, and tastes salty-sweet rather than sharp. Chef's tip: you can buy dried meju blocks from Korean grocers and start at the brining step.

300 minKoreanBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ipoh white coffee

Ipoh's old town kopitiams, with their marble tables and morning crowds queueing for kai si hor fun and egg tarts, gave Malaysia its 'white coffee'. The name comes not from milk but from the roast: beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine, lighter than the dark, sugar-roasted kopi of the rest of the country, then brewed and served with condensed milk. It is smoother and less bitter than ordinary kopi, nutty and buttery, pale caramel in the cup, drunk hot at breakfast or iced in the afternoon heat. At home, buy ground Ipoh-style white coffee from an Asian grocer; you cannot easily reproduce the margarine roast in a kitchen. The common mistake is brewing it like espresso: forced extraction makes it bitter and kills the soft, toasty flavour. Steep it in a cloth sock or a coffee filter with water just off the boil. It is ready when the brew is reddish-brown and clear, not inky. This is a strong coffee with real caffeine, not for children. Chef's tip: warm the cups with hot water first; white coffee cools fast and loses its aroma.

10 minMalaysianDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Neer mor (spiced buttermilk)

From April to June, when Chennai and Madurai bake at forty degrees, temples, shops and political parties set up 'thaneer pandhal' sheds by the roadside, offering free neer mor to every passer-by from great clay pots. At home it comes after a rice meal of sambar and rasam, or in the middle of the afternoon. The curd is churned and thinned with water until barely white, then seasoned with green chilli, ginger, curry leaves, coriander and a pinch of asafoetida, sometimes finished with a tempering of mustard seeds. It should be very thin, salty, tangy and herby, with a little chilli heat and a lingering savoury scent. The common mistake is using too little water: it then drinks like a heavy lassi rather than a thirst-quencher. Aim for about one part curd to four parts water. It is ready when the buttermilk is smooth, cold and pale green-flecked, and smells of curry leaf. It keeps a day in the fridge. Chef's tip: crush the ginger, chilli and curry leaves rather than chopping them; bruising releases far more flavour into the thin liquid.

12 minIndianDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Limau asam boi (lime with sour plum)

Order 'limau ais asam boi' at a kopitiam in Penang or a hawker centre in Kuala Lumpur at the hottest part of the afternoon and it arrives in a tall, sweating glass: freshly squeezed calamansi or small green limes, a little syrup, ice and one wrinkled, salted dried plum. The plum slowly leaches salt and fruity sourness into the drink, so every sip changes, starting bright and sweet and ending salty and tangy; you squash the plum with your straw halfway through for a stronger hit. It goes with char kway teow, nasi lemak or anything fried. The usual mistake is using bottled lime juice, which tastes flat and bitter against the plum. Squeeze fresh limes, and add the syrup gradually because asam boi is already salty-sweet. It is ready when the glass is frosted and the plum has started to plump up. Asam boi is sold in jars in Chinese and Southeast Asian groceries; Japanese umeboshi is saltier but works if you halve the amount. Chef's tip: make the lime-syrup base ahead and keep it cold, then pour over fresh ice only when you serve.

7 minMalaysianDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gremolata

Gremolata is the Milanese finishing touch spooned over ossobuco on Sunday tables across Lombardy, and it brightens any slow-cooked stew, roast vegetables, beans or grilled fish. Flat-leaf parsley, lemon zest and raw garlic are chopped together so finely that they become a fragrant green confetti; the fresh, sharp flavour wakes up a dish so much that you need far less salt. About 0.0 g salt per portion. The usual mistake is grating the white pith with the zest, which makes it bitter; take only the yellow skin. Make it no more than an hour ahead, as the garlic gets harsh and the parsley darkens. Chef's tip: chop the garlic first with a few parsley leaves, so the juice soaks into the herbs instead of sticking to the knife.

5 minItalianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Moreton Bay bugsSlipper lobster with garlic butter

Moreton Bay bugs are the flat, shovel-nosed slipper lobsters caught off the Queensland coast around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and for Queenslanders they are a summer treat, split and grilled at the beach house. The tail meat is sweet and rich, somewhere between lobster and prawn. Buy them raw, frozen or fresh, from a fishmonger and ask them to halve them if you like. A common mistake is overcooking, which makes the meat rubbery; it is ready the moment it turns white. Chef's tip: grill flesh side down first to mark it, then turn and baste in the shell.

18 minAustralianFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 2 views

Mugicha (roasted barley tea)

From the rainy season in June until the cicadas fall quiet in September, almost every Japanese household keeps a tall jug of mugicha in the fridge. It is poured for children coming in from summer club practice, for grandparents after an afternoon nap, and alongside cold sōmen at lunch, because it carries no caffeine and can be drunk all day. Whole barley grains roasted until deep brown give a cup that tastes of toast, a little of coffee and a little of popcorn, with a clean, dry finish and no sweetness at all. Supermarkets sell it in tea bags, but loose roasted grains simmered in a pan make a rounder, darker brew. The usual mistake is leaving the grains in the jug or letting the hot tea sit out on the counter for hours: it turns bitter and, being a grain infusion, it sours quickly in summer heat. Strain it, cool it fast in a sink of cold water, and drink it within two days. It is ready when the liquid is a clear amber-brown and smells like freshly toasted bread. Chef's tip: dry-toast the grains for two minutes before brewing to wake up a bag that has been open a while.

20 minJapaneseDrinksVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kuzuyu (hot kudzu drink)

Kuzuyu is what Japanese mothers make when someone has a chill or an upset stomach, and what many people sip on a frosty winter evening, especially in Nara, whose Yoshino mountains have produced the finest hon-kuzu starch for centuries. Kudzu root starch is stirred into water with a little sugar and cooked until the milky liquid suddenly turns clear, glossy and gently thick, somewhere between a hot drink and a soft pudding you drink from the cup. Grated ginger warms it; some families add a spoon of matcha or a squeeze of yuzu. It tastes clean, mildly sweet and comforting, and it is traditionally given to people recovering from colds. The mistake almost everyone makes once is sprinkling kudzu into hot water, where it forms rubbery lumps at once. Always crush it and dissolve it completely in cold water first, then heat it while stirring without stopping. It is ready when there are no white streaks left, the drink is translucent and it coats the back of a spoon. Chef's tip: real hon-kuzu comes in chalky lumps; crush them with the back of a spoon in the cold water and they dissolve in seconds.

8 minJapaneseDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Maesil-cha (green plum tea)

In early June the hillsides of Gwangyang are picked clean of hard green maesil, and Korean kitchens across the country fill with jars of plums buried in sugar. Over about a hundred days the sugar draws out the fruit's juice and becomes maesil-cheong, a golden syrup that is both a cooking ingredient and a drink. Iced, it is the summer cooler; hot, it is traditionally drunk after a heavy meal for digestion. It tastes bright and tart, like green apple and apricot, rounded by the sugar. The common mistake is putting damp plums or plums with stalks into the jar: water and stalk ends invite mould and unwanted fermentation. Pick out each stalk with a toothpick and dry the fruit completely. The syrup is ready when the plums have shrivelled and float in clear amber liquid. A little foaming early on is normal, but if it smells strongly of alcohol, grows fuzzy mould or turns slimy, discard it. Remove the plums at 100 days, because their stones contain natural compounds best kept out of a long-stored syrup. Chef's tip: use half white and half light brown sugar for a rounder, toffee-edged syrup.

40 minKoreanDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Dongbei luan dunMixed vegetable stew

Luan dun, the 'chaotic stew', is everyday harvest cooking from Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, made in autumn when the garden gives everything at once and a big pot feeds the whole household through the cold evenings. Potato, aubergine, green beans, corn on the cob, peppers and tomato are cooked together in a soy-scented broth until soft and saucy, with the potato thickening it naturally. Serve it with steamed rice or mantou buns. The usual mistake is putting everything in together, so the beans stay squeaky while the aubergine turns to mush; add the vegetables in order of how long they take. A pressure cooker works too: 4 minutes on high after the beans and potato go in. Chef's tip: crush the potato pieces lightly against the pot near the end to give the stew body.

50 minChineseVegetarianVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nước sấu (sấu fruit drink)

When Hanoi's tamarind-like sấu trees drop their small green fruit in May and June, street vendors start selling glasses of nước sấu: a few candied fruits, a ladle of ginger syrup, cold water and crushed ice. Families make big jars to last until the season ends in August. It is sipped with a spoon so you can bite into the crunchy-soft fruit at the bottom. It tastes sour and sweet at once, with a clean ginger warmth and a flavour a little like green mango and plum. Traditional cooks soak the peeled fruit in limewater to keep it crisp; a salt soak works well at home. The common mistake is skipping the blanch and slow syrup: raw fruit stays acrid and the syrup clouds. Blanch the fruit briefly, then cook it gently in sugar until it turns translucent yellow-green and the syrup is clear and glossy. Store it in a sterilised jar in the fridge for up to 2 months with a clean spoon; discard if it fizzes, smells fermented or shows mould. Fresh sấu is rare abroad; look for frozen sấu in Vietnamese shops, or use firm green ambarella. Chef's tip: slash each fruit a few times so the syrup soaks all the way in.

55 minVietnameseDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Teh halia (ginger milk tea)

Sit down at any mamak stall in Kuala Lumpur, Penang or Johor Bahru, from breakfast roti canai to the after-football supper at 1 a.m., and someone at the table will order teh halia. It is teh tarik's spicier cousin: dust-fine black tea is boiled with plenty of crushed ginger, mixed with condensed and evaporated milk, then 'pulled' between two mugs from arm's length until a thick froth forms. The result is sweet, creamy and malty, with a ginger heat that catches your throat, most loved on wet monsoon evenings. The common mistake is adding ginger to tea at the end; it then tastes raw and thin. Boil the ginger in the water first for several minutes so the heat goes into the liquid. It is ready when the tea is the colour of milky caramel and a dense froth a few centimetres high sits on top. This contains caffeine, so it is not for children. Chef's tip: practise pulling with water over the sink first, then start low and raise the mug slowly as you pour.

11 minMalaysianDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Paneer soda (rose soda)

Every Tamil town once had a soda shop with crates of Codd-neck bottles sealed by a glass marble, and the pop of the marble being pushed down was the sound of a hot afternoon. Paneer here means rose water, not cheese, and paneer soda is rose syrup topped with that sharp local fizz, sold in Madurai, Tiruchi and Coimbatore by the bus stand and at temple festival stalls in Chithirai and Vaikasi, the hottest months. It is sweet and floral at first, then the bubbles and a touch of lime cut through and leave the mouth clean. The mistake most people make is boiling the rose water with the sugar: the scent cooks away and you are left with plain syrup. Make the syrup first, let it cool, and only then stir in the rose water. The syrup is ready when it is clear and slightly thickened, like thin honey, and the finished drink should be rosy pink and still foaming as you hand it over. Chef's tip: chill the syrup, the soda and the glasses well; warm soda loses its fizz the moment it meets the syrup.

15 minIndianDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Suanmeitang (sour plum drink)

Old Beijing sold suanmeitang from brass bowls at street corners in summer, chilled with blocks of river ice, and the Qing court drank a version as a cooler. Today it comes in big jugs at copper-pot hotpot restaurants, where its sourness cuts through mutton and sesame sauce; families brew a pot every few days all summer. Smoked wumei plums give a deep, almost bacon-like smokiness, hawthorn adds fruity acid, licorice softens the edges and rock sugar rounds everything off, with dried osmanthus on top for a honeyed scent. It should be dark ruby, clear and refreshing, tart first and sweet after. The common mistake is boiling it hard for hours: the plum stones and hawthorn seeds release bitterness and the brew turns muddy. Simmer gently, strain early and chill fast. It is ready when the plums have collapsed and the liquid tastes clearly sour-sweet with a smoky finish. Licorice root is traditionally used in small amounts; people with high blood pressure, heart or kidney problems, or who are pregnant should keep the licorice out or check with a doctor. Chef's tip: add the osmanthus only after the heat is off, or its perfume vanishes.

70 minChineseDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Douzhi (fermented mung bean drink)

Douzhi is the breakfast that divides Beijing. It is the sour liquid left over when mung beans are ground and their starch settles out to make noodles and jelly; left to ferment for a day or two, the grey-green whey turns tangy, a little cheesy and sulphurous. Old Beijingers drink it piping hot at dawn in hutong shops around Qianmen and Huguosi, with a dish of finely shredded salty pickle dressed in chilli oil and crisp fried dough rings (jiaoquan) from the bakery. First-timers often say it smells like stale socks; regulars say it tastes like home. The texture is thin and slightly creamy, the flavour sour, a little bitter and savoury. The common mistake is boiling the soured starch hard: it separates into grey water and sludge. Bring it up slowly, stirring, and take it off as soon as it froths. The ferment makes only a trace of alcohol, well under 1%. Ferment at 20–25 °C; normal signs are fine bubbles, a sour, yogurt-like smell and a grey colour. Discard it if you see fuzzy mould, pink or black patches, a slimy texture or a putrid smell. Chef's tip: save 100 ml of a good batch to start the next one, as Beijing workshops do.

50 minChineseDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nam lamyai (longan drink)

Longan orchards cover the valleys of Chiang Mai and Lamphun, and every August the harvest is smoked and dried in big brick ovens so the fruit lasts all year. That dried lamyai is the base of nam lamyai, sold in plastic bags with a straw at Warorot Market, at roadside stalls on the way to Doi Suthep and in school canteens across the north, especially in the hot season from March to May. It tastes like toffee and smoked honey with a light floral note, and each glass comes with a few plump, chewy longans at the bottom to fish out. The common mistake is boiling the fruit too long with all the sugar at the start: the drink turns syrupy and the longans go mushy. Simmer the fruit first, sweeten at the end and taste before adding everything. It is ready when the liquid is clear amber-brown, the longans have swollen back to roughly their fresh size and the kitchen smells of caramel. It keeps 4 days in a closed jug in the fridge. Chef's tip: a tiny pinch of salt is the street-vendor trick that makes the sweetness taste rounder and brings out the smoky edge.

30 minThaiDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Juhua cha (chrysanthemum tea)

The small white hangbaiju flowers grown around Tongxiang, near Hangzhou, are picked in November, steamed and dried, and they end up in teapots all over China. Families brew them after a rich dinner, through the dry autumn, and iced in summer; dim sum houses in the south offer them as a caffeine-free choice, often mixed with pu-erh. The tea is pale gold, lightly floral with a faint bitterness like chamomile, softened by a little rock sugar and a few goji berries that turn plump and red in the pot. The common mistake is pouring boiling water straight onto the flowers and leaving them for twenty minutes; the tea turns brownish and bitter. Water just off the boil, around 90 °C, and a short steep keep it clear and sweet. It is ready when the flowers have opened like little daisies, the colour is light amber and the smell is honey-like. You can top up the pot two or three times. If you are allergic to ragweed, daisies or marigolds, try a small cup first or skip it, as chrysanthemum belongs to the same family. Chef's tip: for iced juhua cha, brew it double strength and pour it straight over a glass full of ice so it does not taste watery.

10 minChineseDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thambili (king coconut water)

All along Sri Lanka's roads, from Galle Road in Colombo to the highways into Kandy and the beaches of the south coast, vendors stack bright orange king coconuts in pyramids under umbrellas. The thambili is a variety grown on the island for drinking: smaller than a green coconut and sweeter, with a faint saltiness that makes it more refreshing than any bottled drink. It is drunk any time of day in the heat, after a long bus ride, after a cricket match, and given to people recovering from a fever because it is gentle on the stomach. The water is clear, lightly sweet and nutty, and the soft jelly inside is eaten with a spoon made from a slice of the husk. The common mistake is hacking at the side of the nut; the blade glances off and the water spills. Trim the pointed top with downward strokes until a pale circle shows, then pierce it. It is ready to drink when a small hole opens straight into the water without husk fibres. Outside Sri Lanka, young green or Thai coconuts are the nearest substitute. Chef's tip: chill the coconuts for a few hours before opening; the water tastes sweeter cold, and use a heavy knife and a towel, keeping fingers well clear.

5 minSri LankanDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kadle manoliBlack chickpea and coconut curry

Kadle manoli is a Konkani dish from Mangaluru and Udupi, cooked for festive meals, Saturday temple days and family gatherings, where it sits beside rice, dalitoy and papad. Black chickpeas and quartered ivy gourd are cooked together, then tossed in a coarse, roasted masala of coconut, byadgi chillies and coriander, a little tamarind and a coconut-oil tempering. It is dry-ish, coating each piece rather than swimming in gravy. The usual mistake is cutting the ivy gourd into rounds; slice it lengthwise into quarters so it stays crunchy-tender. Slow-cooker: cook the soaked chana and gourd with 500 ml water on low for 7 hours, then stir in the masala and heat through. Chef's tip: grind the masala coarse, with very little water, so it clings to the chickpeas and stays fragrant.

70 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 72 of 7,762 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 92 of 863