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Mix capsicum peanut salad
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Mix capsicum peanut salad

A crunchy salad of red, yellow and green peppers with roasted peanuts, cucumber, carrots and celery, dressed with lemon, dill, mint and celery leaves. Just before serving, olive oil mixed with sesame seeds is poured over the top. It's colourful, filling and full of protein.

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Pão de queijoCheese bread puffs

Pão de queijo comes from Minas Gerais, where every café and grandmother's kitchen has a tray in the oven for breakfast or afternoon coffee. Made with cassava starch (polvilho) instead of wheat flour, the little rolls are crisp and golden outside and stretchy, cheesy and almost hollow inside. Mineiros use queijo minas meia-cura; a mix of Parmesan-style cheese and mozzarella is the closest match elsewhere. Chef's tip: pour the boiling milk and oil over the starch (escaldar). Scalding cooks part of the starch, and that's what gives the chewy, elastic inside; and use some sour starch (polvilho azedo), which makes them puff up tall.

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Pudim de leite condensadoCondensed milk flan

Pudim de leite condensado is the dessert of Brazilian Sunday lunch, served in every home and por-quilo restaurant from north to south. It's richer and denser than a French crème caramel: condensed milk, milk and eggs baked in a water bath in a ring tin, then turned out under a glossy layer of dark caramel. Chef's tip: bake it gently in a water bath and keep the water just below a simmer. Too much heat makes the bubbles that leave the pudim full of little holes; Brazilians prize a smooth, silky pudim lisinho.

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Curry channa and alooChickpea and potato curry

Curry channa and aloo is a staple of Trinidad's Indo-Caribbean home cooking: chickpeas and potatoes simmered in a turmeric-gold Caribbean curry until the potatoes start to break down and thicken the sauce. It's what fills a dhalpuri or buss-up-shut roti in roti shops from Chaguanas to Penal, and it's at every Hindu wedding and Divali feast. It isn't an Indian chana masala: there's no tomato or garam masala, the curry powder is the Caribbean kind, heavy with turmeric, coriander and fenugreek, and it's finished with shado beni (culantro) and green seasoning. Chef's tip: 'chunkay' the curry. Fry the curry paste in hot oil until it darkens, turns grainy and the oil separates before you add the chickpeas. Raw curry tastes dusty and flat; fried curry tastes rich and round.

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KurmaSweet fried dough sticks

Kurma is a crunchy Indo-Trinidadian sweet made for Divali, weddings and pujas, and sold in bags at roadside parlours in Central Trinidad. A rich dough flavoured with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg is cut into thin sticks, fried until hard and golden, then tossed in a hot ginger sugar syrup until it dries into a frosty white coating. It keeps for weeks in a tin. Chef's tip: keep stirring the kurma in the syrup off the heat until the sugar suddenly turns opaque and sandy. That moment is the whole trick; stop too early and the coating stays sticky, and the 'frost' is what makes kurma kurma.

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DoublesCurried chickpeas in fried bread

Doubles are Trinidad's favourite street food, sold from carts at dawn on corners from Curepe to San Fernando and said to have started in Princes Town in the 1930s. Two pieces of bara, a soft, puffy fried flatbread coloured with turmeric, are piled with soft curried chickpeas (channa), then spooned with sweet tamarind sauce, cool cucumber chutney, shado beni sauce and as much pepper sauce as you dare ('slight' or 'heavy'). They're messy, cheap and wonderful, eaten standing up from a square of paper. These are different from Indian chole bhature: the bara is light and yeasty, the channa is cooked very soft in Caribbean curry, and the toppings are sweet, sour and fiery all at once. Chef's tip: keep the bara dough very soft and wet, and handle it only with oiled hands. Stretch each ball thin over your fingers and slide it straight into the hot oil, so it puffs light and stays soft instead of turning into a crisp puri.

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Ital stewPumpkin and sweet potato stew

Ital food is the cooking of the Rastafari, found from the hills of St Andrew to roadside Ital shops in Westmoreland and St Thomas. It is plant-based, close to the earth and traditionally made without added salt, built on fresh 'food' (ground provisions) and greens. This stew is golden and gently sweet, thickened by melting pumpkin and silky okra, with coconut milk, thyme and pimento giving warmth and a whole scotch bonnet giving fruity heat. Serve with rice and peas or boiled green bananas. Chef's tip: cut half the pumpkin very small and the other half in big chunks. The small pieces collapse into the coconut milk and thicken it naturally, while the big ones hold their shape.

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Dhalpuri rotiSplit pea filled flatbread

Dhalpuri is the pride of Trinidad's Indo-Caribbean kitchens and roti shops, from Chaguanas to San Fernando: a large, soft, thin roti with a hidden layer of finely ground, seasoned yellow split peas. It's wrapped around curry channa and aloo, curry pumpkin or curry mango to make a 'roti', or torn and eaten alongside. It came with Indian indentured workers in the 1800s and became something distinctly Trini: thinner and softer than an Indian dal paratha, cooked on a flat iron 'tawa'. Chef's tip: the split peas must be boiled only until just tender, drained, then dried and ground into a fine, dry powder. Any dampness and the roti will burst when you roll it out.

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Cuscuz nordestinoSteamed flaked corn cake

Cuscuz nordestino has nothing to do with North African couscous: it's a soft, fluffy cake of steamed flaked maize (flocão), eaten every morning across the Northeast, from Pernambuco to Bahia. It's served hot in wedges with a melting slab of butter, often with fried egg, cheese or coconut milk poured over. It's traditionally steamed in a cuscuzeira, a two-tier steamer, but a steamer basket lined with a cloth works too. Chef's tip: let the corn soak up the salted water for 10 minutes, then pack it into the steamer loosely. Pressed down, it turns dense and heavy; loose, it steams into a light cake that still holds together.

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Curry mangoGreen mango curry

Curry mango is a Trinidadian favourite on the 'seven-curry' plate at Hindu weddings, pujas and Divali, served on a sohari (water-lily) leaf beside dhal, rice, pumpkin and channa. Hard green or half-ripe mangoes are chopped, skin, seed and all, then cooked in curry with garlic, roasted geera and a little sugar until tender and glossy. It's sour, sweet, salty and hot at once, and a spoonful brightens any rice and curry or a roti. Chef's tip: leave the skin on and add the sugar a little at a time. The skin keeps the pieces whole, and the right balance is when you taste sour first, then sweet, then the heat comes through.

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Couve à mineiraShredded garlic collard greens

Couve à mineira, from Minas Gerais, is the bright green side dish that goes with feijoada, tutu and plain rice and beans all over Brazil. Collard greens are rolled up like a cigar, sliced into fine ribbons and cooked for barely two minutes with garlic, so they stay vivid, tender and slightly crunchy. Chef's tip: the knife work is the whole recipe. Slice the rolled leaves as thinly as you possibly can (Brazilian cooks aim for threads 1–2 mm wide), then cook them fast over high heat with the lid off. Thick strips or a covered pan give you dull, soggy greens.

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Heart of palm coxinhaHeart of palm croquettes

Coxinha is the king of Brazilian salgados, sold in every padaria and served at every birthday party, especially in São Paulo. The teardrop shape copies a chicken thigh, but coxinha de palmito, filled with soft heart of palm, tomato and creamy cheese, is a much-loved meat-free version. The dough is a cooked, savoury choux-like paste, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried until shatteringly crisp. Chef's tip: cook the dough until it comes away from the pan in one smooth ball, then knead it while still warm with oiled hands. Lumpy or under-cooked dough cracks in the fryer and lets the filling leak.

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Vegetable pattiesSpiced vegetable pastry pockets

The patty is Jamaica's favourite grab-and-go food, sold hot from glass cases in patty shops and school canteens across the island, from Half Way Tree in Kingston to Montego Bay. Its signature is the pastry: short, flaky and bright yellow from turmeric, wrapped around a spicy filling and crimped with a fork. This vegetarian version is filled with callaloo, potato, carrot and peas seasoned with curry, thyme and scotch bonnet. Eat them warm, on their own or squeezed inside soft coco bread. Chef's tip: use half butter and half solid vegetable shortening in the pastry, and keep everything cold. The shortening gives the patty its crumbly, flaky snap and the butter gives the flavour.

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Vegetable pelauRice and pigeon pea one-pot

Pelau is the dish of the Trinidad beach lime and family gathering: rice and pigeon peas cooked in one big pot, coloured a deep brown by sugar caramelised in oil until almost burnt, then simmered with coconut milk, green seasoning and a whole hot pepper. It's usually made with chicken; here deeply browned mushrooms and chunks of pumpkin carry the savoury depth, so it's still rich, smoky-sweet and moreish. Serve with coleslaw, sliced cucumber and pepper sauce. Chef's tip: let the sugar go further than feels safe: it should melt, froth and turn the colour of dark chocolate, just starting to smoke, before anything goes in. Too pale and the pelau tastes sweet; too black and it's bitter.

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BrigadeiroChocolate condensed milk truffles

Brigadeiro is Brazil's favourite sweet: no birthday party anywhere in the country is complete without trays of them in little paper cases. Condensed milk, cocoa and butter are stirred in a pan until thick, then rolled into soft, fudgy balls and coated in chocolate sprinkles. It's said to be named after Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes, an air force officer who ran for president in 1945. Chef's tip: learn the ponto (the doneness point). Tilt the pan and drag your spatula through the mixture: when it slides as one mass and you can see the pan base for 2–3 seconds before it closes up, it's ready. Undercooked brigadeiros won't hold a shape; overcooked ones turn chewy.

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Coconut bakeCoconut bread

Coconut bake is a breakfast bread from Trinidad and especially Tobago, where it's baked on Sunday mornings in homes and village bakeries. It's a quick, unyeasted bread, rich with grated coconut and coconut milk and rubbed with butter, shaped into a round and baked until golden. It's split and buttered, and usually eaten with saltfish buljol; for a vegetarian breakfast, fill it with tomato choka, fried ripe plantain, sautéed bodi (long beans) or cheese. Chef's tip: rub the butter well into the flour and knead only briefly until the dough comes together. Overworking makes bake heavy and tight instead of soft and crumbly.

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Bolo de cenoura com cobertura de chocolateCarrot cake with chocolate topping

Bolo de cenoura is the most loved homemade cake in Brazil, served with coffee at the afternoon lanche all over the country. It's nothing like the spiced, nutty carrot cake of the UK and US: raw carrots are blended smooth with eggs and oil, giving a bright orange, light and moist sponge, finished with a thick chocolate topping that sets with a thin crust. Chef's tip: blend the carrots with the eggs and oil until completely smooth, with no visible bits, and pour the chocolate topping over while the cake is still warm. The topping soaks in a little and sets with the shiny, crackly casquinha (crust) Brazilians love.

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Cheese and heart of palm pastelFried cheese and palm heart pastries

Pastel is the taste of the São Paulo street market: big rectangles of thin dough fried to order until they blister and puff, eaten hot from paper with a glass of caldo de cana (sugar-cane juice). Cheese and palmito (heart of palm) are two of the most popular meat-free fillings. Chef's tip: add a spoon of cachaça (or vodka) to the dough and fry in properly hot oil. The alcohol evaporates fast and makes the crust puff into the light, bubbly blisters that market pastel is famous for.

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GizzadaCoconut tarts

Gizzada (also called 'pinch-me-round') is a little Jamaican tart with a crisp, crimped crust and a chewy filling of grated coconut cooked with brown sugar, nutmeg and ginger. It's sold in bakeries and roadside stalls across Jamaica; the name is thought to come from the Portuguese 'queijada', brought by Portuguese Jewish settlers. Eat it with a cup of tea or as an afternoon treat. Chef's tip: cook the coconut filling until it's sticky and almost dry, with no syrup pooling in the pan. A wet filling soaks into the pastry and the crust goes soft instead of crisp.

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VinagreteTomato and onion salsa

Vinagrete, also called molho à campanha in the South, is the fresh, tangy salsa that goes on every Brazilian barbecue table and next to feijoada, acarajé and grilled cheese. Finely diced tomato, onion and green pepper are bathed in vinegar, olive oil and a little water, so it's halfway between a salad and a sauce. Chef's tip: soak the chopped onion in cold water for 5 minutes and drain. It takes away the harsh bite while keeping the crunch, so the salsa tastes clean and bright instead of raw.

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FestivalSweet fried cornmeal dumplings

Festival is a slightly sweet fried dumpling made with flour and cornmeal, and it's the classic partner to everything sold from the beach shacks at Hellshire in St Catherine, just outside Kingston. Each one is shaped like a little tapered log, fried until golden and crackly outside and soft and fluffy inside, with a hint of vanilla. Here they're served with escovitch-style pickled vegetables, steamed callaloo or jerk tofu instead of fried fish. Chef's tip: fry at a steady medium heat, around 170°C. If the oil is too hot, festival browns in a minute and stays raw and doughy in the middle.

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FarofaToasted manioc meal

Farofa is on the table at almost every Brazilian meal, from feijoada to Sunday barbecue: coarse manioc (cassava) meal toasted in butter or olive oil with onion and garlic until golden, sandy and nutty. Sprinkle it over beans, stews and moqueca to soak up the juices and add crunch. Bacon is common in the South-East; this butter version is the classic everyday one (use olive oil for a vegan farofa). Chef's tip: toast the manioc over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly, and go by smell and sound. It's ready when it smells like toasted hazelnuts and sounds dry and sandy against the spoon; high heat scorches it in seconds.

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Trini callaloo soupDasheen leaf and okra soup

Callaloo is Trinidad and Tobago's national dish and part of the classic Sunday lunch, served beside rice, macaroni pie and stewed peas. Dasheen bush (young taro leaves) is simmered with okra, pumpkin, coconut milk, onion, garlic, chives and thyme, then beaten smooth with a wooden swizzle stick into a thick, velvety green soup. It's usually cooked with crab or salt pork; this vegetarian version leaves them out and adds a pinch of smoked paprika for depth. Spinach and Swiss chard can replace dasheen. Chef's tip: cook the dasheen leaves for at least 25–30 minutes. They must be very soft, both to swizzle silky smooth and because undercooked dasheen leaves make your throat itch.

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TotoCoconut cake

Toto is an old-time Jamaican country cake, the kind baked in a 'dutchie' over coals in rural St Mary and St Ann and sold in squares at bakeries and school tuck shops. It's dense and moist rather than light, packed with grated coconut, darkened with brown sugar and fragrant with nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Lovely with a cup of tea, still slightly warm. Chef's tip: use fresh grated coconut if you can, or soak desiccated coconut in the warm coconut milk for 15 minutes first. Dry coconut steals moisture from the batter and leaves the cake crumbly instead of chewy.

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Tapioca crêpeCassava starch crêpe

Tapioca is the Northeast's favourite breakfast, cooked on griddles at beach stalls from Recife to Fortaleza and now loved all over Brazil. Damp cassava starch (goma) is sieved into a hot dry pan, where it fuses into a thin white disc that's soft, chewy and slightly crisp. This recipe gives two classic fillings: melting cheese with butter, and coconut with condensed milk. Chef's tip: hydrate the starch until it feels like damp sand that holds when squeezed, then sieve it into the pan and never press it down. A loose, even layer is what makes the starch melt into one lacy, flexible sheet.

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Buss-up-shutTorn paratha roti

Buss-up-shut is the paratha roti of Trinidad, so called because the torn, flaky pieces look like a 'burst-up shirt'. A soft dough is spread with butter and oil, rolled into a coil to build layers, cooked on a hot tawa, then clapped and beaten with wooden paddles until it breaks into soft, buttery, flaky shreds. It's served in roti shops across Trinidad for scooping up curries, and is always at Hindu weddings and Divali feasts. Chef's tip: beat the roti while it's still scalding hot. The steam inside is what separates the layers, so the moment it leaves the tawa, clap it between your hands (in clean oven gloves) or bash it with two wooden spatulas until it shreds.

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Stew peas with spinnersKidney bean stew with dumplings

Stew peas is a thick, comforting Jamaican one-pot of red kidney beans simmered in coconut milk until creamy, studded with 'spinners', small hand-rolled dumplings. It's a classic Wednesday or Saturday dinner across the island, usually cooked with pig's tail and salt beef. Here mushrooms browned hard and a little smoked paprika bring the savoury depth instead, so nothing is missing. Serve over plain white rice. Chef's tip: when the beans are soft, crush a ladleful against the side of the pot. Stew peas should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, and the crushed beans give that body without any flour.

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Sorrel drinkHibiscus drink

Sorrel is the drink of a Jamaican Christmas: in December the markets fill with the red flowers (the calyces of a hibiscus), and every home brews a big batch to share. They're steeped with lots of fresh ginger, pimento and cloves, then sweetened, giving a deep ruby drink that's tart, spicy and refreshing over ice. Many families add a splash of white or dark rum for the adults. Chef's tip: be generous with the ginger and let it steep overnight. A long, cool steep pulls out the colour and a fiery ginger bite without the bitterness of over-boiling.

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Tutu de feijãoBean purée with toasted manioc meal

Tutu de feijão is everyday comfort food from Minas Gerais, made from yesterday's beans: they're blended smooth, fried with onion and garlic, then thickened with manioc meal into a soft, spoonable mash. In Minas it comes with pork crackling and sausage; here smoked paprika and a crisp onion topping bring the savoury, smoky edge. Serve with rice, couve à mineira and a fried egg if you eat them. Chef's tip: rain in the manioc meal slowly while stirring, as you would polenta, and stop while it's still a little looser than you want. Tutu firms up as it stands, and too much farinha makes it stodgy.

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Mushroom and cassava escondidinhoMushroom and cassava bake

Escondidinho ('little hidden one') is a homely baked dish from the Northeast: a savoury filling hidden under a layer of creamy mashed cassava (mandioca or aipim), topped with cheese and baked until golden. The classic is made with carne de sol, the Northeast's sun-dried beef; this vegetarian escondidinho uses mushrooms browned hard with onion, tomato and smoked paprika for the same savoury depth. Serve it with a green salad or couve à mineira. Chef's tip: mash the cassava while it's piping hot and remove the woody core first. Cold cassava turns gluey, and the stringy core spoils the silky texture.

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Mango chowSpiced green mango

Chow is what Trinidadians eat on a hot afternoon: fruit, most often half-ripe mango, sliced and tossed with lime juice, salt, garlic, chopped shado beni and plenty of hot pepper. It's sold in little bags at roadside stands, beach stalls and outside schools all over the island. It's crunchy, sour, salty, garlicky and fiery all at once. Pineapple, cucumber and pommecythere (golden apple) are made the same way. Chef's tip: let the chow sit for 10 minutes before eating. The salt and lime draw out the mango's juice into a tangy, peppery 'pickle' liquid, and that juice is the best part.

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Limonada suíçaCreamy lime drink

Limonada suíça is the creamy, frothy limeade served in juice bars and lunch counters all over Brazil. Despite the name ('Swiss lemonade'), nobody knows of any Swiss link, and it's made with whole Tahiti limes, blended briefly, skin and all, then strained and sweetened with condensed milk. It's cold, zingy and pale green, perfect with a hot lunch. Chef's tip: blend for no more than 10–15 seconds. Lime peel gives the drink its wonderful perfume, but blended too long it releases bitterness from the pith; serve it straight away for the same reason.

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HotteokFilled sweet fried pancakes

Hotteok (호떡) are chewy, yeasted pancakes filled with brown sugar and cinnamon that melt into a hot syrup as they fry. They are a winter street snack all over Korea, but Busan is known for ssiat hotteok (씨앗호떡), where the fried pancake is slit open and stuffed with a handful of toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Glutinous rice flour in the dough makes it soft and stretchy. Be careful with the first bite, as the filling is very hot. This dough uses milk, so it is vegetarian; use water instead for a dairy-free version. Chef's tip: rest the dough until it has properly doubled and is full of bubbles, and keep your hands oiled. A sticky, well-risen dough gives the chewy, stretchy texture.

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Hiroshima okonomiyakiLayered cabbage and noodle pancake

Hiroshima okonomiyaki (広島風お好み焼き) is built in layers rather than mixed: a thin crêpe, a tall heap of cabbage and bean sprouts, a layer of fried noodles and a fried egg, all pressed together on the griddle. It's the city's signature dish, and Hiroshima has hundreds of small okonomiyaki counters. Pork belly is the usual layer; this vegetarian version leaves it out and adds mushrooms. Take your time with the layering; it's worth it. Chef's tip: shred the cabbage as finely as you can and pile it high; it looks far too much, but it steams down by half under the crêpe, and that sweet, soft cabbage is the heart of the Hiroshima style.

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Hiyashi chukaChilled ramen noodles with toppings

Hiyashi chuka (冷やし中華) is Japan's summer noodle dish: shops all over the country hang up a 'hiyashi chuka hajimemashita' (we've started serving it) sign when the hot weather arrives. Cold, springy ramen noodles are topped with neat strips of thin omelette, cucumber, tomato and other vegetables, then dressed with a tangy soy, vinegar and sesame sauce. This vegetarian version uses sweetcorn and seasoned tofu in place of the usual ham. Fresh, light and ready in under half an hour. Chef's tip: rinse the noodles until they squeak and are truly cold, then shake them dry; any warmth or water left on them makes the dressing taste flat.

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Vegetable onigiriRice balls with vegetables

Onigiri (おにぎり) are Japan's everyday lunchbox and picnic food, sold in every convenience store from Tokyo to Kyushu. Warm rice is pressed around a salty or savoury filling and wrapped in a strip of crisp nori. This recipe gives three vegetarian fillings: sour umeboshi (pickled plum), sweet-salty simmered kombu, and a soy-glazed mushroom and carrot mix. Children love helping to shape them, and they keep well for a packed lunch. Chef's tip: use freshly cooked, still-warm rice and salt your hands, not the rice. The grains stick together only while warm, and the salt on the outside seasons every bite the way a Japanese mother would.

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Doenjang jjigaeSoybean paste stew with tofu

Doenjang jjigae (된장찌개) is the stew Korean families all over the country eat most often: a bubbling pot of fermented soybean paste broth with tofu, potato, courgette, mushrooms and chilli, served with rice and banchan. Doenjang is deeper and funkier than Japanese miso, and it gives the broth a rich, earthy savouriness. It is usually made with anchovy stock; here a quick kelp and shiitake stock does the same job, so the stew is vegan. Serve it in the pot it was cooked in, still bubbling. Chef's tip: add the doenjang early and let it simmer. Its earthy depth comes out with a few minutes of bubbling, and it is better a little thick and salty than thin, as it is eaten with plenty of rice.

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