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Chipa so'oCheese bread with spiced beef

In Paraguay, families bake chipa in the clay tatakua ovens on Holy Wednesday so there is food for Thursday and Good Friday, when cooking stops. Chipa so'o ('chipa with meat') is a cassava-starch and cheese bread wrapped around a little filling of minced beef cooked with onion and egg, then baked until crisp outside and chewy within. It is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: knead the dough until it no longer cracks at the edges when pressed; dry dough splits around the filling.

90 min

Paraguayan Breads & Parathas

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Dowina (Kurdish yogurt soup)

Dowina, called ash-e doogh in Persian, is warming spring food in Kurdish homes around Newroz, when yogurt is plentiful and the first herbs are cut from the garden. Rice and chickpeas simmer in a tangy, lightly thickened yogurt broth, finished with fresh dill, coriander and a sizzle of dried mint in oil. It is eaten warm, never boiling hot, with flatbread. The common mistake is to heat the yogurt too fast without stirring, which makes it split into grainy curds. Chef's tip: whisk an egg yolk and a spoonful of rice flour into the yogurt before it goes on the heat; it holds the soup smooth all the way to the simmer.

75 minMiddle Eastern Soups

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KaguyjyWhite corn pudding

On the night of 23–24 June, Paraguayans celebrate San Juan with bonfires, games like walking over hot coals and the 'paso de fuego', and a table of traditional foods, and kaguyjy (also mazamorra) is one of them. It is a soft, creamy pudding of cracked white corn (locro) simmered slowly in water and then milk with sugar or honey, sometimes with orange peel. It is eaten warm or cold. It is gluten free. Chef's tip: soak the corn overnight and cook it until each kernel is tender before adding the milk, or it never turns creamy.

130 min

Paraguayan Desserts

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KalanehWild leek stuffed flatbread

In Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Newroz arrives with the first spring greens on the hillsides, and families gather wild leeks to fold into kalaneh, thin griddle breads cooked over a fire or a hot pan and soaked in melted butter. The dough is plain and soft, rolled very thin around a pile of chopped leek or chives with a little salt and pepper, so the greens steam inside as the bread blisters. Eat it hot, torn into strips, with yogurt and tea at a Newroz picnic. The common mistake is wet greens, which turn the dough soggy and make it tear; dry them well after washing. Chef's tip: brush the butter on the moment the bread leaves the pan so it soaks right in.

65 minMiddle Eastern Breads & Parathas

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Boudin blanc aux pommesWhite sausage with apple compote

In Liège and across Wallonia, Christmas Eve supper often begins with boudin blanc: pale, delicate sausages of finely minced pork and milk, sometimes with a little chicken, gently fried in butter until golden and served with warm, chunky apple compote and bread. Butchers make piles of them in December. Buy them fresh from a good butcher, or poached and ready to fry. Chef's tip: prick nothing and cook gently; boudin blanc is fragile, and a hot pan splits the skins.

30 min

Belgian Meat

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Pajagua mascadaBeef and cassava patties

Pajagua mascada is a Paraguayan street-food classic that appears on every table for the San Juan festival on 24 June, when bonfires burn and the night is full of games and traditional food. Minced beef is mixed with mashed cassava, onion, garlic and a little egg and flour, shaped into flat patties and fried until crisp. The name comes from Guaraní and refers to the 'chewing' of old Paraguayan cooks, who made it from leftover meat. Chef's tip: dry the boiled cassava well and remove its woody core, which keeps the patties light and crunchy.

60 min

Paraguayan Meat

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Almond LondonChocolate-dipped almond cookies

Almond London is a Hari Raya favourite in Singapore and Malaysia, a whole roasted almond hidden in buttery cookie dough, baked, dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped nuts. Nobody is sure where the name came from, but every Malay household fills a jar of them for Raya visits, and children hunt for the almond inside. They are crunchy, rich and not too sweet. Chef's tip: let the cookies cool completely before dipping, or the chocolate slides off and turns streaky.

75 min

Singaporean Baking

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Sopa teólogaTurkey broth with bread and cheese

Sopa teóloga ('the theologian's soup') goes back to colonial convents in Lima and Arequipa, where it was cooked for feast days, and it is still served at Holy Week and family celebrations. A rich turkey (or chicken) broth is thickened with soaked bread, milk and fresh cheese, with yellow potatoes and shreds of turkey, and finished with a little ají amarillo and chopped huacatay or parsley. It is thick, comforting and filling. Chef's tip: blend part of the soaked bread with broth before adding it, which gives the soup its creamy body without lumps.

115 min

Peruvian Soups

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Bánh thuẫn (Tết sponge cakes)

In Huế and across the south, bánh thuẫn are baked in small flower-shaped moulds for the Tết table and ancestor offerings; the top splits open like a blossom as it bakes, and a well-cracked cake is said to bring a year that blooms. They are dairy-free, made only of eggs, sugar and flour, so the texture is springy inside with a golden, crisp rim, a little like a madeleine but airier. Children love them, and they keep in a tin for days, ready for visitors with tea. Chef's tip: heat the oiled moulds in the oven before filling; the batter hitting hot metal is what makes the tops crack into petals.

45 min

Vietnamese Baking

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Hae bee hiam rolls (spicy prawn rolls)

Lift the lid of the cookie jars in a Singapore or Malaysian home at Chinese New Year and among the pineapple tarts you will find these tiny, fiery hae bee hiam rolls. Hae bee hiam is a sambal of dried shrimp fried slowly with chilli, shallots and lemongrass until it is dry, crumbly and fragrant, and rolled into thin spring-roll pastry it makes a crunchy, salty-sweet, spicy snack that disappears by the handful; the golden rolls look like gold bars for a prosperous year. Serve them with tea or a cold drink. Chef's tip: cook the sambal until it is completely dry and floss-like; any moisture left will make the rolls soft within a day.

120 min

Singaporean Snacks & Starters

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Bánh tổ (Hội An New Year cake)

In Hội An and the rest of Quảng Nam, families steam bánh tổ for Tết and place it on the ancestors' altar; its name echoes 'tổ', the ancestors, and its slow-cooked sweetness is a wish for a smooth, sweet year. The cake is like a darker, ginger-scented cousin of Chinese nian gao: dense, chewy and glossy, with toasted sesame on top. Eat it in thin slices at room temperature, or fry slices until crisp outside and molten within, and serve with tea or sandwiched in rice crackers as locals do. Chef's tip: keep the water at a steady simmer and top it up with boiling water; a steamer that boils dry is the only real way to ruin this cake.

300 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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Mứt sen (candied lotus seeds)

No Tết candy tray in Hanoi or Huế looks complete without a mound of mứt sen, the ivory lotus seeds that stand for purity and, because a lotus pod holds so many seeds, for a family blessed with many descendants. Done well, each seed is soft and floury inside, almost like chestnut, under a dry, sparkling shell of sugar. Guests nibble them with a pot of hot green or lotus tea while they swap New Year wishes. Fresh seeds are best; dried ones from Asian grocers work if soaked overnight first. Chef's tip: pull out every green germ in the centre, because a single bitter heart spoils the sweet mouthful.

90 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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Thịt heo ngâm mắm (fish-sauce cured pork)

In southern Vietnam a jar of thịt heo ngâm mắm is prepared a week before Tết so that hosts always have something ready when relatives drop by; the jar full of pork is a sign of a well-stocked home in the new year. Pork belly is boiled until fully cooked, then submerged in a boiled and cooled brine of fish sauce, sugar, garlic and chilli, where it turns amber, savoury-sweet and firm enough to slice paper thin. Serve it with steamed rice, pickled mustard greens or củ kiệu, and fresh herbs. Chef's tip: make sure the belly and the brine are both completely cold before they meet, and keep the jar in the fridge throughout.

65 min

Vietnamese Meat

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Bánh phồng tôm (prawn crackers)

In the Mekong Delta, and above all in Sa Đéc, whole streets lay out trays of prawn crackers to dry in the sun before Tết; a cracker that puffs big in the hot oil is a cheerful sign that the family's fortunes will grow too. Home-made ones taste far more of prawn than packet crackers: light, airy, crisp and a little sweet, perfect for guests with drinks or beside a salad. The dough is steamed, chilled, sliced thin and dried for a day in the sun or a few hours in a very low oven, so plan ahead; if you buy dried crackers, just do the frying step. Chef's tip: slice the chilled logs as thin as a coin; thick slices stay hard in the middle instead of puffing.

90 min

Vietnamese Snacks & Starters

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Xôi vò (mung bean coated sticky rice)

Xôi vò is a Hanoi sticky rice offered at the altar for Vu Lan, the Buddhist full moon of the seventh lunar month when people honour their parents and ancestors, and again on the first days of Tết. Unlike most xôi, it is not a sticky mass: 'vò' means rubbed, and the soaked rice is rubbed with crumbled mung bean so each grain steams up separate, glossy and pale gold. It tastes mild, nutty and lightly salty, and is eaten with chè (sweet soup), a little sugar, or toasted sesame salt. Chef's tip: crumble the warm mung bean paste through a coarse sieve; fine, dry crumbs are what keep the grains apart.

90 min

Vietnamese Rice & Grains

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Mứt bí (candied winter melon)

Pale as rice paper and crunchy at the edge, mứt bí is one of the cheapest and best-loved sweets on the Tết candy tray all over Vietnam; its white colour stands for a clean, bright start to the year. The melon is first firmed in clear lime water made with food-grade slaked lime (vôi ăn, calcium hydroxide, sold for pickling), which sets the outside so the batons stay crisp while the sugar soaks in. If you would rather not use lime, a quick blanch and longer drying gives a softer but still delicious result. Serve with green tea, or with candied ginger and coconut. Chef's tip: choose an old, heavy winter melon with a dusty white skin; young ones are watery and collapse in the syrup.

240 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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Canh bóng (Hanoi puffed pork skin soup)

Canh bóng is the showpiece soup of the Hanoi Tết feast tray: a clear pork bone broth full of colour, with carrot flowers, cauliflower, snow peas and mushrooms floating beside pork meatballs, prawns and bóng bì, the puffed dried pork skin that soaks up broth like a sponge. Its many ingredients stand for abundance, and its clarity for a clean start to the year. It is light yet deeply savoury, served with rice and the rest of the feast. Buy bóng bì ready-puffed in packets from Vietnamese grocers. Chef's tip: soak and squeeze the pork skin in warm ginger water twice; it removes the frying oil so the broth stays sparkling.

90 min

Vietnamese Soups

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Mứt tắc (candied kumquats)

In the south, potted kumquat trees heavy with fruit stand at the door for Tết, because their round gold fruit promises plenty; mứt tắc brings that same luck to the candy tray. Each fruit is slit, gently pressed to push out the seeds and juice, firmed briefly in clear water made with food-grade slaked lime (vôi ăn), then candied until glossy and amber, with a chewy skin and a pleasant bitter-sweet edge. A no-lime method is given too. Serve with strong tea, or drop a fruit into hot water with honey for a soothing drink. Chef's tip: blanch the fruit twice in fresh water before candying; it tames the bitterness without losing the perfume.

240 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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Chè kho (mung bean fudge pudding)

On New Year's Eve and the last days of Tết, Hanoi families place a plate of chè kho on the ancestors' altar: a smooth, golden mung bean fudge whose sweetness asks for a gentle, prosperous year. 'Kho' means cooked down dry, and that is the whole technique, stirring the bean purée with sugar until it becomes a thick, glossy paste that can be cut. It tastes nutty and delicately floral from grapefruit-blossom water, with a crunch of sesame on top. Serve small slices with lotus or green tea. Chef's tip: use a heavy non-stick pan and a wooden spoon, and never leave it; the paste catches in seconds once it thickens.

75 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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Kẹo cu đơ (Hà Tĩnh peanut and ginger candy)

Kẹo cu đơ belongs to Hà Tĩnh province in north-central Vietnam, where it is chewed slowly with a cup of strong green tea, especially on cold mornings and during Tết visits. Roasted peanuts are folded into a dark, sticky toffee of sugarcane molasses and malt syrup, sharpened with fresh ginger, and the hot mass is sandwiched between two crisp, toasted sesame rice papers. Every bite gives a crackle of rice paper, then a chewy, slightly smoky sweetness and a warm ginger finish. Cut it into wedges and serve it with tea rather than as a pudding. It is naturally egg-free: the molasses and malt syrup are cooked to the hard-ball stage, which is what sets the candy and binds the nuts. Chef's tip: toast the rice papers until they are completely puffed and blistered; the common mistake is under-toasting them, which leaves them leathery once the hot toffee goes on.

45 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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Giò thủ (pressed pork roll)

Giò thủ is a northern Tết classic, a mosaic roll made from pork ear, pork tongue and boneless pork cheek meat with crunchy wood ear mushrooms and plenty of black pepper. Using these cuts is an old way of honouring the whole animal at the year's biggest feast, and the roll's neat round slices are a wish for a complete, well-ordered year. The pieces are boiled, sliced, stir-fried with fish sauce and packed hot into banana leaf, where their natural gelatine binds them as they cool. Every slice is crunchy, chewy and peppery; serve with pickled shallots, fish sauce with lime and chilli, and bánh chưng. Chef's tip: pack and press the filling while it is still very hot; once it cools the gelatine sets and the roll will not hold together.

240 min

Vietnamese Meat

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Bakwan kepiting (crab and pork meatball soup)

Bakwan kepiting is the Peranakan soup that Nyonya families in Singapore serve at the Chinese New Year reunion dinner; the round meatballs stand for a family gathered whole and complete. The balls are minced pork and sweet crab meat, bound with egg and bulked with shredded bamboo shoot, and they simmer in a clear, gently garlicky pork broth until tender and springy. This home version uses pasteurised cooked crab meat instead of live crabs, so it is easier and kinder. Serve it in small bowls with fried garlic and rice, before the richer curries. Chef's tip: keep the broth at a lazy simmer once the balls go in; a rolling boil clouds the soup and breaks them apart.

90 min

Singaporean Soups

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Yusheng (lo hei prosperity salad)

In Singapore and Malaysia, Chinese New Year meals often begin with lo hei: everyone stands round a platter of yusheng and tosses it high with chopsticks, calling out wishes, because the higher the toss, the better the year. Yu sounds like 'abundance' and each topping added has its own blessing, from the oil (money flowing in) to the golden crackers (a floor of gold). The traditional version uses raw fish; this home version uses smoked salmon, or salmon bought frozen as sashimi-grade and kept below 5 °C, and raw fish is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. For them, use smoked salmon or poached salmon, or leave the fish out for a vegetarian toss. Expect a crunchy, sweet-sour, nutty salad with a sticky plum dressing. Chef's tip: squeeze the shredded vegetables dry in a cloth; wet radish drowns the dressing and goes limp.

50 min

Singaporean Salads

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Hee peow soup (Nyonya fish maw soup)

Hee peow th'ng is a Peranakan soup that turns up at the Chinese New Year reunion dinner in Singapore, a clear, gentle bowl that sits beside the spicy dishes; fish maw is a luxury food and stands for plenty, and the round balls for a family that is whole. The fish maw is bought ready dried and fried in packets from Chinese grocers, then soaked until it is spongy and soaks up the savoury broth. With it go homemade pork meatballs, bought fish balls, napa cabbage and carrot, all in a broth made from pork bones and chicken. Serve it with rice and a little sambal on the side. Chef's tip: squeeze the soaked maw hard in several changes of water; it rinses out the old frying oil so the soup stays clean.

120 min

Singaporean Soups

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