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Ikan kuah asamFish in clear sour broth

Across Ambon in Maluku and the coasts of North Sulawesi, ikan kuah asam is the soup families eat almost daily with papeda or rice, made from whatever fish came in that morning. The broth is thin and clear, bright with lime and tomato, warm with chilli and lemongrass, with chunks of fish poached just until they flake. It is light but filling, with about 28 g of protein a portion from the fish. The common mistake is adding the lime juice too early and boiling it: it turns bitter, so squeeze it in at the end. Chef's tip: use a firm, meaty fish such as tuna, mackerel or snapper, cut into large chunks, so it holds together in the broth.

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Oseng tempeStir-fried tempeh with chilli

Oseng tempe is the quick fix of Javanese home cooking, made in Semarang, Surabaya and every student boarding house in between for weekday lunch or dinner with plain rice. Thin matchsticks of tempeh are fried until crisp-edged, then tossed with shallot, garlic, sliced chilli, galangal and bay leaf in sweet soy sauce until sticky, sweet, salty and hot. A portion with about 125 g of tempeh gives roughly 24 g of protein, almost all from the tempeh. The common mistake is adding the sweet soy too early, before the tempeh has browned: it soaks in, burns and turns the strips soft. Chef's tip: fry the tempeh separately first, then build the sauce and return it at the end, so every strip stays a little crunchy.

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Chilcano de pescadoClear fish broth

In the fishermen's terminals of Chorrillos and Callao, chilcano is what you drink on a Sunday morning after a long night: a clear, gingery broth made from the heads and bones left over from cleaning fish for ceviche, with chunks of fish, red onion, chilli and a squeeze of lime in the bowl. It is light and warming, around 160 kcal a bowl, and still gives about 24 g of protein from the fish fillet and the broth. The common mistake is squeezing the lime into the pot while it boils, which turns it bitter; add it to each bowl at the table. Don't boil the bones for more than 30 minutes either, or the broth turns cloudy and harsh. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger for heads and frames from mild white fish like sea bass or cod, and leave out oily fish such as mackerel, which makes the broth strong and fishy.

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Garang asemChicken and starfruit in banana leaf

Garang asem is a dish from Kudus and Demak on the north coast of Central Java, where it is cooked for family lunches and sold at warungs by midday. Bone-in chicken is packed into banana-leaf parcels with sour starfruit, tomato, whole chillies and a little thin coconut milk, then steamed until the juices turn into a light, tangy, peppery broth. It is clean-tasting rather than rich, and a portion has about 32 g of protein from the chicken; serve it with steamed rice. The common mistake is wrapping the parcels loosely so the broth runs out; fold the leaves in two layers and pin them tight. Chef's tip: if you can't find belimbing wuluh (sour starfruit), use green tomatoes and a spoon of tamarind water for the same sharpness.

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Es doger (Bandung pink coconut shaved ice)

Es doger began on the streets of Bandung in West Java, where carts painted with bright patterns still sell it through the afternoon heat. The base is coconut milk and milk, coloured pink with red syrup and frozen or blended with ice into a soft slush, then piled into glasses with whatever the vendor has: cassava, avocado, jackfruit, sticky rice, tapioca pearls, and a ribbon of condensed milk over the top. It is sweet, creamy and cool, more a drink you eat with a spoon. It is naturally egg-free: the coconut milk gives body, the condensed milk binds it into a creamy slush, and the fruit and starchy cassava fill it out. Street versions use fermented cassava, which is lightly alcoholic; this recipe uses plain steamed cassava with sugar instead. Chef's tip: blend the ice in short bursts; the common mistake is running the blender until the slush melts into a milky drink.

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Asinan BetawiPickled vegetable and tofu salad

Asinan Betawi is the cooling salad of old Jakarta, sold from glass-sided carts and eaten mid-afternoon in the heat or brought out at family gatherings in big tubs. Quick-pickled cabbage, cucumber and bean sprouts are piled with cubes of tofu, then soaked in a thin, tangy sauce of chilli, vinegar, palm sugar and ground peanuts. It is crunchy, sour, sweet and spicy all at once. A portion has about 300 kcal and roughly 17 g of protein, from the tofu and peanuts, so it is a light meal rather than a high-protein one. The common mistake is dressing it too early; the vegetables go limp within an hour. Street versions often scatter shrimp crackers on top, so use plain rice or cassava crackers to keep it vegetarian. Chef's tip: chill the sauce well before serving; asinan should be served cold enough to fog the bowl.

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Kaeng khae with tofu and mushroomsHerb curry with tofu and mushrooms

Kaeng khae comes from the hills around Chiang Mai and Lampang, where it is cooked through the rainy season with whatever the garden and forest give: pea aubergines, long beans, pumpkin tips, acacia shoots and handfuls of leaves, in a brothy, coconut-free curry scented with lemongrass and the peppery prickly ash called makhwaen. In northern homes it is a lunch dish eaten with sticky rice. It is normally cooked with chicken, frog or fish and seasoned with fermented fish; this vegetarian version uses firm tofu, oyster mushrooms, soy sauce and a little salted soybean paste. With the tofu a portion has about 11 g of protein, so it is light rather than high protein. The common mistake is adding all the vegetables at once: the leaves are done in a minute while the beans and aubergines need five. Chef's tip: dry-fry the curry paste in a spoon of oil until it smells toasty before adding water; it gives the broth its depth without any fish.

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Fak thong kaeng buat (Thai pumpkin in coconut milk)

When the rains end and pumpkins pile up in the markets of central Thailand, kaeng buat is what cooks make with them: chunks of dense kabocha simmered in coconut milk sweetened with palm sugar and sharpened with a pinch of salt. It is a homely, everyday dessert, sold warm from big pots at markets in the afternoon and also cooked at Ok Phansa, the end of Buddhist Lent. The pumpkin turns velvety but keeps its shape, and the thin, creamy, caramel-scented broth is meant to be drunk from the spoon. Eat it warm or at room temperature, in small bowls. There is no egg in it and never was: nothing needs setting or binding, as the pumpkin's own starch gives the coconut milk a light body as it cooks. Chef's tip: pick a dry, orange-fleshed kabocha and keep the coconut milk at a bare simmer; letting it boil hard is the common mistake that splits the milk and breaks the pumpkin into mush.

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ซาหริ่ม (Sarim, mung bean noodles in coconut syrup)

Sarim is an old dessert of central Thailand, served at temple fairs and in market dessert shops on sweltering afternoons: thin, slippery strands in pastel green, blue and white, floating in a pale coconut syrup over a mound of crushed ice. The strands are almost flavourless and very soft, so the syrup does the work; in Thailand it is scented with jasmine flowers or the smoke of a scented candle, and here with pandan and optional fresh jasmine. It is naturally egg-free: the strands are pure mung bean starch cooked with water into a clear, thick paste, which sets into a soft gel the moment it hits ice water. Pandan juice and butterfly pea flowers give the colours, so there is no need for dyes. Serve it straight away, as a light end to a spicy meal. Chef's tip: cook the paste until it turns fully glossy and see-through; the common mistake is stopping while it is still milky, which gives strands that break and taste floury.

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ParihuelaSpicy seafood soup

Parihuela is the big weekend seafood soup of Callao and the Peruvian coast, eaten at long Sunday lunches in cevicherías and praised as a cure for tiredness and late nights. A deep red broth of ají panca, ají amarillo, tomato and fish stock is loaded with chunks of fish, prawns, squid and mussels. A portion gives about 30 g of protein, from the fish and shellfish, for roughly 300 kcal. Some cooks add chicha de jora or beer; this version has none. The common mistake is adding all the seafood at once: squid and prawns turn rubbery while the fish cooks, so they go in last. Before cooking, discard any mussels that stay open when tapped, and after cooking discard any that stay shut. Chef's tip: fry the chilli pastes in the oil until they darken and smell sweet; that toasted ají is what gives parihuela its depth.

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Bubur sumsum (Javanese rice-flour pudding with palm-sugar syrup)

Bubur sumsum, named after bone marrow for its colour and softness, is one of Java's best-loved jajan pasar, sold from carts in the morning and in the late afternoon as a sweet bite. In Javanese custom it is also cooked after a wedding or a big celebration to thank those who helped, as a gentle food for tired bodies. The pudding is pure white, silky and barely salty, and it comes drenched in kinca, a warm syrup of palm sugar and pandan. Serve it warm or at room temperature in small bowls, on a banana leaf if you have one. It is naturally egg-free: rice flour cooked in coconut milk swells and sets it to a soft, spoonable pudding, the way cornflour sets a blancmange. Chef's tip: whisk the rice flour into cold coconut milk before it goes on the heat; adding it to hot liquid is the common mistake that leaves lumps you can't whisk out.

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Artichauts à la barigouleBraised artichokes

In Provence, artichauts à la barigoule is cooked in spring when the small violet artichokes come into the markets of Aix, Avignon and Marseille, and it is served warm as a starter or as a light main with bread. The trimmed artichokes are braised in olive oil with carrot, onion, garlic and herbs until tender in a fragrant, slightly tart liquor. The traditional braise uses white wine; this version is alcohol-free, using vegetable stock sharpened with white wine vinegar and lemon. It is vegan, with about 5 g of protein per portion, from the artichokes. The common mistake is trimming too timidly: any dark green leaf left on stays tough and stringy, so keep going until only the pale, tender leaves remain. Chef's tip: rub each artichoke with lemon as you trim and drop it straight into lemon water, or it will go brown within minutes.

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Es pisang ijo (Makassar green banana dessert)

Es pisang ijo, green banana ice, is the pride of Makassar in South Sulawesi. It is everywhere during Ramadan as the sweet that breaks the fast at sunset, and sold year-round from stalls by the Losari waterfront. A whole steamed banana is wrapped in a thin, soft jacket of pandan-green rice-flour dough, sliced, laid on a pool of warm salty coconut porridge sauce, then buried under shaved ice and a sharp pink syrup. Cold, warm, salty, sweet and fragrant, all in one bowl. It is naturally egg-free: rice flour cooked with coconut milk and pandan juice makes a smooth, pliable dough that binds without any egg, and a little more rice flour thickens the sauce. Chef's tip: use firm but ripe bananas with a few freckles; the common mistake is very soft ones, which turn to mush inside the dough while steaming.

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Pepes tahuTofu and basil in banana leaf

In Bandung and the hills of West Java, pepes means anything wrapped in banana leaf, steamed and then charred over coals, and pepes tahu is the everyday meat-free one, eaten at lunch with rice, raw vegetables and sambal. Mashed tofu is bound with egg, shallot, chilli, lemon basil and lime leaf, so it sets into a soft, fragrant, smoky cake inside its leaf. Each portion has about 150 g of tofu and most of an egg, giving roughly 24 g of protein, from the tofu and eggs. The common mistake is skipping the steaming and going straight to the grill: the outside burns while the egg in the middle stays raw. Chef's tip: steam first until the filling is firm right through, then grill only to scorch the leaf and add smoke.

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Salade d'endives aux noixChicory, walnut and apple salad

Across Picardy and the Nord, and over the border in Belgium, Belgian endive (chicory) is the winter salad, and this one appears after the main course at Sunday lunch or as a light supper from November to March. The pale, crisp leaves are cut into rings and tossed with sweet apple, toasted walnuts and a sharp mustard vinaigrette, so you get bitter, sweet and nutty in every mouthful. Many bistros add Roquefort; this version is vegan, and if you add cheese, note that Roquefort is made with animal rennet. A portion gives about 4 g of protein from the walnuts, so it is a side or starter. The most common mistake is slicing the endive too early: it browns at the cut edges, so dress it within 10 minutes of cutting. Chef's tip: cut out the small cone of core at the base of each endive; it holds most of the bitterness.

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Salade de pissenlitsDandelion salad with warm vinaigrette

In Lorraine and around Lyon, the first tender dandelion leaves of March and April are gathered from meadows (or bought in bunches at the market) for a salad that marks the end of winter. The leaves are pleasantly bitter, and a hot vinaigrette poured over them wilts them slightly, with soft eggs to make it a light supper. The traditional version has crisp lardons; this vegetarian version uses toasted walnuts and a little of their oil for the same richness. A plate gives about 15 g of protein from the eggs and walnuts, so it is not a high-protein dish. The yolks stay runny, so use pasteurised eggs for anyone pregnant, very young, older or vulnerable, or boil the eggs for 10 minutes instead. The mistake to avoid is using big, old leaves from flowering plants; they are tough and harshly bitter. Chef's tip: soak the leaves in cold water for 30 minutes before drying them; it crisps them and tames some of the bitterness.

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BohémienneAubergine and tomato stew

Bohémienne is the older, simpler cousin of ratatouille, cooked in Avignon and the Vaucluse villages at the end of summer when aubergines and tomatoes are cheap and ripe. Just those two vegetables, with onion, garlic and plenty of olive oil, are stewed slowly until they melt into a soft, jammy confit that is eaten warm with bread, cold on toast, or beside an omelette. It is vegan and light, with about 3 g of protein per portion. The common mistake is hurrying it over a high heat: the aubergine catches before it softens, so keep the heat low and stir gently. Chef's tip: salt the aubergine cubes for 20 minutes and pat them dry; they then take up less oil and keep a silky texture.

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Fontainebleau (fromage blanc and whipped cream mousse)

Fontainebleau takes its name from the town south of Paris, whose cheese shops sold it in little muslin-wrapped pots for the weekend. It is a fresh-cheese dessert for late spring and summer, best when the first strawberries and raspberries arrive. Fromage blanc and whipped cream are folded together and left to drain in muslin, so the mousse firms up into a light, cloud-soft mound that tastes of fresh milk with a gentle tang. Serve it chilled with berries or a spoonful of red-fruit coulis, and a little extra sugar on the side. Some recipes fold in whisked whites; this one leaves them out entirely, because firmly whipped cream alone holds the air, and draining away the whey gives the mousse its shape. Chef's tip: drain the fromage blanc before you start; the common mistake is folding in a wet, runny cheese, which collapses the cream and leaves a puddle in the dish.

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ไอติมกะทิ (Itim kathi, Thai coconut ice cream)

Itim kathi is the ice cream of Bangkok's pushcarts: a vendor lifts the lid of an insulated drum, scrapes up a scoop of snow-white coconut ice cream and piles it into a small cup over sticky rice, then adds whatever the customer points at, from roasted peanuts and sweet corn to chewy palm seeds. It is sold all afternoon in the hot months, outside schools and temples and in markets. Some vendors tuck the scoop into a soft bread roll; serve it in cups as here and it stays gluten free. It is naturally egg-free and dairy-free. Coconut milk carries the fat that makes it creamy, and a little cornflour cooked into it binds the water so crystals stay fine and the texture stays smooth without any custard, while a pinch of salt sharpens the coconut. Chef's tip: use full-fat coconut milk with no added water; the common mistake is using a light one, which freezes hard and icy.

300 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
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Kluay chuam (Thai bananas in palm-sugar syrup)

Kluay chuam is a market dessert of central Thailand, cooked in big brass pans and sold by the bag year round, and it is a common sweet to offer monks at merit-making. Small, starchy nam wa bananas are simmered slowly in palm-sugar syrup until they turn translucent and amber, soft and chewy rather than mushy, then served with thick, salty coconut cream poured over. The flavour is deep caramel and banana, cut by the salt. Serve at room temperature in small bowls. Being egg-free by nature, it relies on the long simmer in syrup firms the bananas and a little rice flour thickens the coconut topping. Chef's tip: keep the syrup at the gentlest simmer and don't stir; the common mistake is a fast boil and a spoon, which break the bananas before they have time to turn glassy.

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Potage cultivateurFarmer's vegetable soup

Potage cultivateur is the farmhouse soup of France, made in kitchens from Normandy to the Auvergne on cold evenings and eaten as a light supper with bread. The vegetables are cut into small, thin squares (the 'paysanne' cut), sweated slowly in butter, then simmered in water, so the broth stays clear and every spoonful has carrot, turnip, leek and potato. The old versions add bacon; this one is vegetarian. It is light, with about 4 g of protein per bowl; add a handful of white beans or serve with cheese on toast for more (choose a vegetarian cheese if you avoid animal rennet). The most common mistake is browning the vegetables: they should sweat gently until soft and shiny, never coloured. Chef's tip: cut every vegetable the same size, about 1 cm square and 3 mm thick, so they all cook in the same time.

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Aguadito de polloCoriander chicken rice soup

Aguadito is the soup Lima serves in the small hours: at the end of a wedding, after New Year's Eve and at weekend family lunches, it is ladled out thick and steaming to revive everyone. Rice simmers in chicken broth coloured deep green with blended coriander and warmed with yellow ají amarillo, along with peas, carrot, pepper, sweetcorn and potato. A portion gives about 24 g of protein, from the chicken with a little from the rice and peas, for around 480 kcal. The common mistake is adding the coriander purée too early: cooked for long it turns khaki and loses its fresh taste, so stir it in for the last 10 minutes. The chicken must reach 74 °C at the bone. Chef's tip: blend a handful of spinach with the coriander; it keeps the colour vivid green without changing the flavour.

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TtoroBasque fish soup

Ttoro was the meal Basque fishermen in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Ciboure made from the part of the catch they couldn't sell, and the town still holds a ttoro festival every autumn. A deep red broth of peppers, tomato and Espelette pepper is poured over pieces of hake and monkfish, mussels and prawns, with garlic toast on the side for dunking (use gluten-free bread if needed). A portion gives about 32 g of protein, from the fish and shellfish, for around 360 kcal. The common mistake is boiling the fish in the broth: it breaks into flakes, so the pieces are seared first and then only poached gently on top for a few minutes. Discard any mussel that stays open when tapped before cooking or stays shut after. Chef's tip: dust the fish in rice flour before searing; the light crust protects the fish in the broth and thickens it slightly.

70 minFrenchFishGluten free
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Tempe bacemSweet braised tempeh

Every warung in Yogyakarta and Solo has a tray of tempe bacem on the counter, dark, sticky and sweet, eaten at lunch with rice, sambal and a few raw cucumber slices, or packed for journeys because it keeps so well. The tempeh is simmered slowly in coconut water with palm sugar, galangal, coriander seed and bay leaf until the liquid has gone and every slab is glazed, then seared briefly so the edges caramelise. A portion of about 150 g of tempeh gives roughly 28 g of protein, nearly all from the fermented soybeans. The common mistake is turning the heat up to hurry the braise: the sugar catches and turns bitter before the tempeh has soaked anything up. Chef's tip: make it a day ahead; bacem tastes deeper after a night in the fridge and sears better cold.

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