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Jinmichae bokkeumGlazed dried squid strips

Jinmichae, shredded seasoned dried squid, is one of the most popular banchan in Korean lunchboxes: chewy, sweet and a little spicy, and it keeps for a week. Children across Korea find it in their dosirak and parents make a big tub on Sunday. The common mistake is glazing it over the heat, which turns the squid hard as wire; mix the strips into the warm sauce off the heat. Chef's tip: soak the squid briefly in water first and squeeze it out, so it stays tender even straight from the fridge.

15 min

Korean Fish

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Jitui fanFried chicken leg rice

In every Taiwanese town, the biandang shop at lunchtime sells jitui fan: a whole chicken leg marinated in soy, garlic and five-spice, coated in coarse sweet potato starch and fried crisp, laid over rice with three small vegetable sides and a scoop of minced-pork sauce if you ask. Office workers and students carry the paper boxes back to their desks. The common mistake is frying in oil that is too hot, so the coating browns while the meat by the bone stays raw; fry gently, then crisp it at the end. Chef's tip: let the starch-coated legs sit for 5 minutes until the coating looks damp, so it fries into crunchy little pebbles.

55 min

Taiwanese Chicken

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Frango xadrezChicken and pepper stir-fry

Frango xadrez, "chessboard chicken", was born in São Paulo's Chinese-Brazilian restaurants and named for its neat squares of chicken, pepper and onion. It is now a staple of lunch counters, delivery menus and the home-packed marmita, eaten over white rice. The common mistake is overcrowding the pan, so the chicken stews grey instead of searing; cook it in two batches. Chef's tip: toss the chicken with soy sauce and cornflour 15 minutes ahead; the coating keeps it juicy and thickens the sauce.

30 min

Brazilian Chicken

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Masu zushiPressed trout sushi

Masu zushi is Toyama's famous ekiben, the boxed lunch sold at the station for the train ride: a round, flat cake of vinegared rice pressed under a layer of salted, vinegar-cured trout and wrapped in bright green bamboo leaves, cut into wedges like a pie. The fish is cured but raw, so use only fish sold as safe to eat raw and previously frozen, and keep everything cold; this version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. For a safer version, use hot-smoked trout fillet instead, which is fully cooked. The usual mistake is pressing the rice while it is still warm, which turns it mushy; cool it to body temperature first. Chef's tip: press the cake for a full hour under a heavy weight so it slices cleanly, then cut it with a wet knife.

85 min

Japanese Fish

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DakgangjeongSticky glazed fried chicken

Dakgangjeong is the boxed fried chicken of Sokcho's Jungang market on Korea's east coast, carried home by the tub and packed into lunchboxes the next day, because the double-fried pieces in their sticky glaze stay crunchy even when cold. The common mistake is frying only once; the second fry drives out moisture so the crust holds up to the sauce. Chef's tip: coat with potato starch rather than flour, and let the coated chicken sit for 5 minutes so the starch hydrates into a craggy crust.

55 min

Korean Chicken

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TenmusuPrawn tempura rice balls

Tenmusu, short for tempura musubi, began in Tsu and became a Nagoya speciality: small salted rice balls with a crisp little prawn tempura poking out of the top, wrapped in nori and sold in boxes at Nagoya Station as a travel lunch. The common mistake is wrapping hot, crunchy tempura straight into the rice, so it steams soft; let it cool on a rack first. Use raw prawns that smell of the sea; throw away any that smell of ammonia. Chef's tip: brush the cooled tempura with a quick sweet soy dip before you shape the rice round it, which is the Nagoya secret to its flavour.

45 min

Japanese Fish

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Polvorosa de polloChicken pie

Polvorosa is the pie that comes out for family birthdays and Sunday gatherings in Caracas: a melt-in-the-mouth, slightly sweet shortcrust (polvorosa means 'crumbly') around chicken stewed with leek, peppers, olives, capers and raisins, so each bite is salty, sweet and savoury at once. Serve it warm with a green salad. The common mistake is filling the pastry with hot stew, which melts the butter and makes a soggy, torn crust. Chef's tip: make the filling the day before and fill the pie straight from the fridge.

120 min

Venezuelan Chicken

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Carato de maízChilled corn drink

Out on the hot plains of the Llanos, a jug of carato is kept cold for the afternoon: white corn cooked until soft, blended with its water, strained and sweetened with panela, cinnamon and clove. It is thick, creamy and filling enough to be a snack in a glass. Keep it in the fridge, because left out it starts to ferment. The common mistake is skipping the straining, which leaves it gritty. Chef's tip: strain through a fine sieve and then once more through a clean cloth for the silkiest drink.

70 min

Venezuelan Drinks

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Brazo de reinaSponge roll with dulce de leche

The 'queen's arm' sits in the glass cabinet of every Chilean bakery: a light sponge rolled around a thick layer of manjar (Chilean dulce de leche) and dusted with icing sugar. At home it is the cake for a birthday tea or an unexpected visitor, because it bakes in 10 minutes. The common mistake is overbaking: a dry sponge cracks as you roll it. Take it out the moment it springs back. Chef's tip: roll the sponge up in a sugared tea towel while it is still hot and let it cool that way; it remembers the shape and won't crack when you fill it.

35 min

Chilean Baking

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Roti sardinSardine-filled bread rolls

Roti sardin is a Malaysian school-bag and teatime favourite: tinned sardines in tomato sauce mashed with onion, chilli and lime, rolled inside flattened white bread and pan-fried until golden. Mothers across Malaysia make them for bekal and they are sold at Ramadan bazaars. The common mistake is leaving the sardine filling wet, which soaks through the bread; cook it down until it is thick. Chef's tip: seal the rolls with a little beaten egg, then fry seam side down first so they hold together.

20 min

Malaysian Fish

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Chikuwa isobe-ageSeaweed-battered fish cake

Isobe-age, "fried in the style of the rocky shore", means anything coated in a batter speckled with green aonori seaweed, and chikuwa isobe-age is the one every Japanese parent tucks into a bento: tubes of chikuwa fish cake fried until puffed and crisp. It is just as good cold and takes ten minutes. The common mistake is a thick batter, which turns bready; it should be like single cream. Chef's tip: dust the chikuwa with a little flour before dipping, so the batter clings and does not slide off in the oil.

15 min

Japanese Fish

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Beijing douzhiFermented mung bean drink

Douzhi is the most famous acquired taste in Beijing: a hot, grey-green, sour drink made from the liquid left when mung beans are ground for starch, then fermented. Old Beijingers sip it at breakfast with crisp jiaoquan rings and shredded salted mustard pickles, and visitors either love it or never try it twice. At home you make a small batch by blending mung beans, settling out the starch and fermenting the cloudy water for a day. The mistake is letting it boil hard: it separates into watery and thick layers, so keep it at a gentle bubble. It must smell cleanly sour like yogurt; throw it away if it smells rotten, has mould, or turns pink or slimy. Chef's tip: stir it continuously as it heats and add a splash of the thinner liquid at the end, which keeps the classic smooth, slightly thick texture.

1440 min

Chinese Drinks

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Tarta de zapallitosCourgette and cheese tart

In Buenos Aires every rotisería sells tartas by the slice, and at home a tarta de zapallitos is baked on Sunday evening so that a wedge can go into the vianda (packed lunch) for school and work all week. Zapallitos are round green courgettes; ordinary courgettes work just as well. The common mistake is adding the courgette raw, which floods the pastry; sauté it until the liquid has cooked away. Argentine queso rallado and many hard cheeses are made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese. Chef's tip: bake the tart on a preheated baking tray so the base crisps before the filling soaks in.

70 min

Argentinian Baking

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TsukuneChicken meatball skewers

Tsukune are the minced chicken patties of yakitori bars all over Japan, and squashed into small ovals they are one of the most loved bento fillers, eaten cold at school or the office. Ginger and spring onion keep them fresh, and a glossy soy tare makes them sticky and sweet. The tare uses mirin, a sweet rice wine; most of its alcohol cooks off as it bubbles, and for an alcohol-free glaze use 1 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp water instead. The common mistake is a loose mix that falls apart in the pan; knead it until sticky. Chef's tip: add a spoon of grated tofu or potato starch to the mince, which keeps the patties juicy even the next day.

30 min

Japanese Chicken

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Misa mach pooraPrawns grilled in banana leaf

Misa mach poora is a simple Mizo way with river prawns: rubbed with ginger, garlic, chilli and salt, wrapped in banana leaf and cooked over embers until the leaf chars and the prawns steam in their own juices. It is made at riverside picnics and family cookouts and eaten with rice and a chilli relish. The common mistake is overcooking, which makes prawns tough; they are done the moment they turn opaque and pink all through. Chef's tip: keep the marinated parcels in the fridge until the grill is hot.

27 min

Indian Fish

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MoshOat and milk drink

In Guatemalan homes, mosh is what a mother hands a child on a chilly highland morning in Quetzaltenango or Huehuetenango: rolled oats cooked long and thin with water, milk, cinnamon and sugar, so it's drunk from a mug rather than eaten with a spoon. The common mistake is making it too thick like porridge; it should pour easily, so keep adding hot milk or water as the oats swell. Chef's tip: whisk it hard for a minute at the end; it breaks up the oats and makes the drink smooth and frothy.

15 minCentral American Drinks

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Chipotles en adoboSmoked jalapenos in adobo sauce

Chipotles are ripe jalapeños smoked slowly over wood until leathery; in Puebla and Veracruz the reddish, plump mora type is the everyday one, and the tan, leathery meco is prized for its deeper smoke. Simmered in a sweet-sour adobo of tomato, onion, garlic, vinegar and piloncillo, they become the soft, glossy chillies that go into tinga poblana, albóndigas en chipotle, bean soups and a quick chipotle mayonnaise. Homemade, they are smokier and less sugary than the tinned kind, with sauce that is brick red, tangy and thick enough to coat a spoon. Common mistake: toasting the dried chillies too long; a few seconds a side is enough, because scorched chillies make the whole jar bitter. This is a low-acid chilli preserve, so it is kept in the fridge or freezer, never canned in a water bath. It is ready when the chipotles are plump and soft enough to crush with a spoon and the adobo has reduced to a glossy sauce. Chef's tip: blend one or two chillies with their sauce and freeze it in an ice-cube tray, so you can add a single cube to a pot.

70 min

Mexican Basics

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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 min

Australian Fish

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BozaFermented millet drink

In Bulgaria boza is a breakfast habit: a plastic bottle of it from the corner pastry shop and a slice of hot, flaky banitsa, bought on the way to work or school, especially from autumn through to spring. Towns such as Radomir, Plovdiv and Sofia argue over whose is best. It is the colour of milky coffee, thick enough to coat the glass, sweet up front with a sour, bready finish and a faint prickle. Like every fermented grain drink it makes a trace of alcohol, well under 1% when drunk young. The base is millet flour, toasted for flavour, cooked into a thin porridge, then fermented for about a day before being strained and sweetened. The common mistake is adding the yeast while the porridge is still hot, which kills it and leaves you with sweet gruel; wait until it feels only just warm on your wrist. It is ready when the surface is covered in small bubbles, it smells like fresh bread with a sour edge and tastes pleasantly tangy. Chef's tip: keep back a glass of each batch in the fridge and use it instead of yeast next time; boza made from an old starter is rounder and more sour.

70 min

Bulgarian Drinks

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RosinbollerCardamom raisin buns

In Norway, rosinboller are what a parent bakes on Sunday so the week's lunch boxes have something sweet, and what fills the tables at every school dugnad and bake sale. The dough is enriched with milk and butter and scented with freshly ground cardamom, and the buns are pulled apart soft and golden. The common mistake is using hot milk: anything above blood heat kills the yeast and the buns stay flat. Chef's tip: crush the cardamom seeds yourself just before mixing; the pre-ground powder loses most of its perfume.

42 minScandinavian Baking

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Dousha bao (red bean buns)

All over China, from Beijing breakfast stalls to Shanghai school bags, dousha bao are the sweet buns people grab in the morning and tuck into a lunch box for later: fluffy white yeasted dough wrapped around smooth red bean paste and steamed until springy. They freeze beautifully, so families make a big batch on Sunday. The mistake is opening the steamer lid as soon as the timer goes; the sudden cold makes the buns wrinkle and collapse. Turn off the heat and wait five minutes before lifting the lid. Chef's tip: chill the bean paste and roll it into balls before wrapping; a firm filling is much easier to seal neatly.

55 min

Chinese Baking

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KneippbrødWholemeal loaf

Open almost any Norwegian matpakke (the packed lunch wrapped in paper) and you will find slices of kneippbrød, a soft, lightly sweet loaf of sammalt hvete (wholemeal wheat) baked in a tin. Its fine crumb slices thin without crumbling, perfect for brown cheese, jam or cucumber at the school desk. The common mistake is adding too much flour while kneading because wholemeal dough feels sticky; the loaf then bakes dense and dry. Chef's tip: let the dough rest for 20 minutes after mixing, before kneading, so the bran softens and the dough turns smooth on its own.

70 minScandinavian Baking

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Huangmen jimifanBraised chicken rice

Huangmen jimifan began in Jinan, in Shandong, and spread to thousands of little clay-pot shops across China where office workers queue at noon for a bubbling pot of chicken braised dark and glossy with shiitake, ginger and green pepper, eaten over plain rice. It reheats perfectly in a work microwave. The common mistake is using breast, which goes dry and stringy in the braise; bone-in thigh stays juicy. Chef's tip: caramelise the rock sugar in the oil before the chicken goes in, which gives the sauce its amber colour without extra dark soy.

45 min

Chinese Chicken

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Ave paltaChicken and avocado roll

In Santiago's fuentes de soda and school kiosks, the ave palta is the lunch everyone orders: a soft hallulla or crusty marraqueta roll filled with shredded chicken in mayonnaise (ave mayo) and a thick layer of mashed avocado, palta. Chileans pack it for the office and for long bus journeys. The common mistake is mixing warm chicken with mayonnaise, which turns oily and is a food-safety risk; cool the chicken first. Pack it with an ice pack. Chef's tip: mash the avocado with lemon and salt just before assembling, so it stays green until lunch.

25 min

Chilean Chicken

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