No added sugar was definitely harder, both practically and emotionally, than no alcohol. Sugar is in everything, and monstrously difficult to avoid. James and I were both fully aware that we were doing this experiment due to a lifestyle choice, and not any essential dietary restriction, and so we were fairly flexible around the margins. We examined labels like hawks, but ultimately and mostly due to laziness, stopped short of traipsing to multiple supermarkets to buy no-added-sugar staples. So we still ate some added sugar in the form of wheat bread and mayonnaise. We also didn’t stop eating out. We really only eat out on the weekends anyway, and we tried our best, but we also ate what we wanted. We had one exceptional cheat meal where we got Japanese. I naively thought it would be okay – it was sushi! Raw fish and rice! Then we got a bunch of barbequed meat that came slathered in teriyaki sauce and eel rolls that came drenched in sweet eel sauce. Whoops. Asian food is basically all just a big added sugar no-no. Given all this, in practice we probably ate closer to an average of <5 grams added sugar per day. That’s sort of depressing, considering that we did try hard to adhere to the rules of the game.

I think that it took me a full 28 days before the sugar cravings stopped. I consistently thought of cake throughout the month – chocolate cake, lemon cake, ice cream cake… The cravings sort of ebbed and flowed, but I would say that it was only on the last Monday of January that I woke up and felt absolutely no desire to eat cake or drink a cocktail. It was only on that Monday that I felt that I could continue this no-added-sugar January for awhile longer. And I did! I didn’t eat any dessert for about 6 days in February. Then James and I went out for a celebratory dinner, I had cake, and BOOM – it was all over. I was back to salivating over cake, and it was like this past January never happened.

Okay – that last statement is a bit facetious. 20 days into February, I haven’t eaten any of those crappy supermarket cakes or chocolate candy bars that I love(d) so much. But I’m very aware that I’m just teetering on a sugary precipice, with only a few Reese’s peanut butter cups standing between current restraint and the sugary bonanza of my past life.

On a positive note, I am hoping some changes will stick quite easily. Plain yogurt tastes more palatable to me now than it did at the beginning of the month, especially with fruit. There are no-added sugar, or low-added sugar, versions of a lot of things, if you look hard enough. I found no-added-sugar museli (branded as Swiss museli – perhaps the Swiss don’t each much sugar?) with raisins that tastes a bit like horse food, but which is growing on me. I know which brands of breadcrumbs have more or less added sugar. I know which kinds of chicken broth have sugar and which do not.

In particular, the infamously sugary flavored yogurt world (some versions have 10 grams of added sugar per one serving!) has begun to catch onto the demand for low-added-sugar yogurts. James loves his coconut yogurts, and the transition from flavored to plain yogurt was especially painful for him. Not one to give up without a fight, however, he tried a lot of no-added-sugar yogurt products with gusto. There were the Siggi’s no-added-sugar yogurts, flavored with only fruit, that were good though sorely lacking on variety, with only two flavors – peach and mango and cinnamon and banana. He bought buckets of raspberries and blueberries to adorn plain yogurt. He tried an unsweetened dairy free yogurt made with soy milk that tasted like cardboard paste. He found a yogurt smoothie drink that boasted no added sugar, but still contained concentrated apple and mango puree (which are still added sugars!), and that, despite the fruit concentrate, still managed to taste like powdery vitamin-y liquid chemicals. In the end, the Siggi’s no-added-sugar yogurts have become a good staple, along with Chobani and Fage less-sugar-added yogurts, which have a bit of added sugar, but also a lot more variety of flavors.

This no-added-sugar diet is expensive! James and I have taken to replacing our calories from sugar with calories from nuts, and while this change is a healthy one, it is also a more expensive one. I don’t think I quite realized before how much of my diet consisted of cheap sugar fillers until now. Before, if I was still hungry after dinner, I’d just eat a couple of cookies, or a candy bar. At most expense, I would eat a fancy Magnum ice cream bar. However, even those fancy ice cream bars, which were frequently on sale, were less expensive than nuts, which were never on sale. Eating healthfully is truly a privilege that is unequally distributed among socioeconomic classes.

In conclusion, ascetic January was a success. There are changes which I hope will permanently stick – plain yogurt instead of flavored yogurt, unsweetened or low-sweetened granola. I am hoping to cut down on candy bars and sugary impulse buys.

And now, the dish of the month! A deeply flavorful, herby, fresh spin on chicken and rice that includes absolutely no added sugar! This dish is delicious, and an absolute staple in our household. I make it often, and it never disappoints. It does take a bit of time, unfortunately, but much of it is inactive. The time is worth it, and you can easily scale this recipe up for more leftovers (which just get better with time!). A few notes:

• The recipe calls for chicken thighs, which lend additional flavor and fat to the rice. However, when I made it this time, I actually ran out of thighs and mixed in some boneless skinless chicken breast. The breast worked okay, although it was a bit dry. I would definitely stick with thighs next time, or at least use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. If you’re stuck up a creek and using skinless breasts, be a little more liberal with the olive oil as you’re searing the chicken.
• I pretty much tripled the amount of herbs added at the end, because I love the freshness and lightness they give the dish. I ended up tossing in whole handfuls of parsley, dill, and especially cilantro, which I love. The quantity increases are reflected in the recipe that I’ve provided, but don’t be afraid to taste and add to your liking. The herbs perfectly complement the heartiness and richness of the rest of the dish.
• The raisins are my own substitution, since I’m lazy and have never sourced barberries or currants. If you use them, please let me know what I’m missing! I like the raisins and the slight sweetness they give the dish. You could omit entirely, but I think the raisins add a nice depth of flavor.

So let’s get started! January brings the inevitable new year’s resolutions and new year’s hopes. This year, James and I are embarking on a very public health-spirited exercise! We were in the UK visiting James’s family over the holidays, where we learned that his sister and her husband were planning on doing a dry January. Considering that James and I had practically bathed in mulled wine, gin and tonics, and juicy IPAs during November and December, I heartily signed us both up as well (I think James may have tried to protest at this point??). However, I then upped the ante by musing that I’d always wanted to see what would happen if I cut out all added sugars too. I freaking love baking, and I never met anything with butter and sugar that I didn’t love. I’ve been known to eat cookies for breakfast, and practically daily ice creams in the summer. If I haven’t had sugar in awhile, I crave it, very distinctly, and often in the form of a Mars bar that makes your teeth ache. I was also jealous of the positive reports from people who had cut or reduced added sugar in their diets, and I wanted to similarly recalibrate and reset my taste buds. As I was explaining this, James’s sister’s eyes lit up, and James’s parents decided to join the conversation at exactly the wrong time. And so, it was settled. James’s whole family – his parents, his sister’s family, and us – would be doing a dry, no added sugar January.

We are 13 days in, and this experiment has been FASCINATING. I have become obsessed with labels and the multiple, insidious ways that sugar sneaks in and lurks in our foods. Sugar is truly everywhere. Besides the obvious culprits (flavored yogurt, pasta sauce, ketchup, granola), there is also added sugar in Italian sausage, panko breadcrumbs, soy sauce, and most brands of mayonnaise. Dried fruit can contain added sugar. There is dextrose in packaged turkey lunchmeat. There is honey in beef broth. It’s become a game, going to the supermarket and seeing which is the most outlandish thing we can find that has added sugar.

Which is why, I am happy to report, this recipe for delicious, buttery, garlicky swordfish has absolutely no added sugar! Swordfish is not something I’ve ever cooked before, and I’ve probably eaten it a total of 5 times in my entire life. So when James suggested it at the supermarket, I thought he was being very adventurous, and I was more than a little apprehensive (also because it’s quite an expensive experiment!). But I must say – after one bite of the swordfish cooked in this easy, no-fuss recipe, I have become an ardent fan. Swordfish is a dense, meaty fish with a mild, sweet flavor. It’s been referred to as the chicken of the sea, and is accordingly versatile.

This recipe is simple, super easy, and I think really highlights the sweetness of the fish (or is that just my sugar-starved taste buds talking?!). It’s a versatile recipe as well, and I imagine you can substitute other kinds of meaty fish such as tuna, mahi-mahi, or even salmon. If you’ve never cooked swordfish before, I really recommend trying it! Look for white fillets that may be tinged pink or orange. Avoid gray looking fish. Thicker steaks are much more resistant to overcooking, so try to buy fillets that are at least one inch thick. I think swordfish has become a great addition to our seafood repertoire – it’s easy, really delicious, light, and best of all, requires no added sugar for maximum flavor!

We served the swordfish with some leftover asparagus risotto and sauteed broccoli. You could also serve this with some pesto pasta, roast potatoes, or roasted vegetables, and have dinner on the table in 30 minutes to an hour!

Print

Pan-Roasted Swordfish with Garlic Peppercorn Butter

Source: Epicurious

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground peppercorns of your choice, plus more for sprinkling (I used a mix of black peppercorns and Szechuan peppercorns)
• 1/2 teaspoon (packed) grated lemon peel
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 1-inch thick swordfish fillets (about 6 ounces each)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Mash butter, parsley, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon ground peppercorns, and lemon peel together in small bowl.
• Heat oil in a heavy large ovenproof skillet (I used a cast-iron skillet) over medium-high heat. Sprinkle swordfish with salt and ground peppercorns on both sides.
• Add swordfish to skillet. Cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Flip swordfish over and transfer to oven. Roast until just cooked through and fish flakes easily, about 10 minutes longer.
• Transfer swordfish to plates and add butter mixture to same skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, scraping up browned bits, until mixture is melted and bubbling. Pour butter sauce over swordfish and serve.

Last week, I mentioned that I was on a family holiday with the in-laws, frolicking among fluffy sheep on the fields of England. Here are some nice pictures of us with baby animals and baby humans:

The other thing that happened was that we went to the Dartmoor Diner in Plymouth, a cozy, quaint little restaurant by the side of the road that leads into Dartmoor National Park, a windswept expanse of rolling hills, heather, and grazing farm animals. The Dartmoor Diner is amazing. It has big windows overlooking the moors, wooden tables and chairs, and, like all diners worth their muster, a counter full of desserts as big as your head by the entrance. Their desserts are no joke, and if anything are even bigger, more decadent versions of classic dinner sweet fare. As we walked past, I ogled a sky-high lemon meringue tart, a dark, thick wedge of fudgy chocolate cake, and a Maltesers pavlova brimming with candy, chocolate, and caramel. As good as the desserts looked, however, nobody even managed to get one, as we were stuffed after our meal. The Dartmoor Diner food is hearty, filling, comfort British food – full of casseroles, pies, and roast meats. Being near the ocean, there was also a substantial seafood section with fish cakes and fried shrimp. 

I went for the classic fish and chips. There are foods that I absolutely must get when in certain countries, and fish and chips in Britain is one such example. This past trip, I had fish and chips twice! Now – you are thinking – the title and the pictures of this post are for moussaka. Why is this crazy lady babbling on about fish and chips?! Well, the answer is that while I was very happy with my meal, and very delicious and fresh that it was, I nevertheless suffer hopelessly from food envy, and my mother-in-law’s moussaka was singing a siren song. As good as fresh fried fish is, it is nevertheless not an ooey, gooey meat casserole. There is something endlessly comforting about a casserole in any form, with its bubbling, oozing cheese and its layers of hot, steaming, multifaceted goodness, its browned top crust and squishy interiors. It may sound crazy, but the way that my mind works is that I could not stop thinking about that moussaka! And so, as soon as I got home, as soon as I could, I made one all for myself.

Moussaka is fairly labor intensive, and requires a lot of prep and simmering. I would definitely save it for a lazy Sunday! But you can also make an incredible amount of it to eat through the week. In all my obsession about moussaka, I might have gone overboard – I made enough for four (FOUR!) meals for both James and me, and we ate it for dinner straight through from Monday to Thursday. I may have gotten my moussaka fix for the next six months. Anyway, I’m not sure that this moussaka is the most authentic, but it is a flavorful, comforting, warm blend of meat, spices, eggplant, and potato that comes out of the oven with bubbling juices and crisp, cheesy edges.

Some Notes:

• Eggplant skin on or off? I don’t mind the skin, and I like the texture in moussaka, as it provides some chew against the mushiness of the rest of the dish. However, some find that the skin can make the moussaka too bitter. It’s really a matter of preference whether you peel the eggplant or not; you can also peel off some skin and leave some on for compromise.
• I used lamb, but if you don’t like the flavor, you could use a mix of lamb and beef, or even all beef.
• I don’t know if potato is traditionally used, but I like it; feel free to skip the potato if you prefer.
• I added zucchini because the Dartmoor Diner version did; I think this addition is rather frivolous and not authentic at all; feel free to skip it.

Print

Moussaka

Source: Bobby Flay and BBC Food

Ingredients

Meat Sauce:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced and quartered (optional)
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 (28-ounce) can chopped or pureed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves

Bechamel Sauce:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 bay leaf
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 lemon, zested

The Rest of the Moussaka:

• 2 pounds eggplant (about 2 medium globe eggplants)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound Yukon gold or Russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick)
• 1 cup grated Romano cheese

Instructions

For the meat sauce:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan (at least 5 quarts) over medium-high heat. Add lamb, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cayenne, cumin, and salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring to break up the meat, until browned, about 5 minutes. It's ok if the meat is still slightly pink inside; you just want to brown the outside for now. Transfer lamb to a strainer and drain the juices; also discard any liquid left in the pan. Return the pan to the heat, add remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add onions and zucchini, season with lots of salt and black pepper, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
• Return the lamb to the pan, add the wine, and cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is almost completely evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, and bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Remove from heat.

Prepare the eggplant and potatoes:

• While the meat sauce is simmering, prepare the eggplant. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut the eggplant into 1/4-inch slices. Brush each side with olive oil and season liberally with salt. Roast on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes, flipping the disks halfway through, until eggplant is softened and golden brown.
• Put a large pot of water on to boil. When water has boiled, add the potato slices and cook for about 5 minutes. You want the potatoes to be softened on the outside, but still undercooked in the middle - they will finish cooking when the assembled dish is baking. Drain potatoes in a colander under cold running water.

Make the bechamel:

• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is pale and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Still whisking constantly, pour in milk slowly. The mixture will appear to seize up and thicken dramatically at first, but keep adding milk and stirring, and the sauce will loosen. Add bay leaf and cook until thickened, 4-5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and discard the bay leaf. Let sauce cool for 5 minutes.
• Whisk together egg yolks and lemon zest in a small bowl. After the bechamel has cooled for 5 minutes, whisk egg and lemon zest mixture into the bechamel sauce until smooth.

Assembly:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread about one-third of the meat sauce in a 3-quart casserole dish, then top with half of the eggplant slices and half the potato slices. Repeat the layers with another third of meat sauce and the remainder of eggplant and potato slices. Top with the remainder of meat sauce. Pour the bechamel over the top and spread evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the Romano evenly over the top. Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake until browned and bubbly, about 45 minutes.
• If you can (I couldn't), let cool for about 20 minutes before serving - this will help the juices reabsorb into the dish and result in a less watery moussaka when you cut into it.

I was just in the U.K. for a fabulous family holiday, and it was one of the most relaxing and peaceful vacations I’d taken in a long time! I suffer from a bit of FOMO, and on vacations tend to want to see, do, eat, play, touch, and experience everything. I sometimes forget that it’s also really nice to just while away the hours reading a book in the unseasonably warm fall sunshine and take leisurely walks to the pub down the road. And on this vacation, that was exactly what we did! We were in Devon, in the beautiful English countryside, staying in cabins in Dartmoor National Park. If you, like me, got confused and realized that you didn’t actually know what a moor is, I got you – it’s an expanse of open uncultivated land or rolling infertile land, characterized by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. The Merriam-Webster dictionary notes that the term “moor” is “chiefly British.” Anyway, what it looks like is soft, undulating hills dotted with shrubs, heather, cows, horses, and sheep. The whole family had a taxing daily schedule of pool time in the morning, tennis before lunch, and an afternoon excursion either to the pub or one of the nearby towns, all the while stopping to say hello to the animals along the way. What an idyll!

Anyway. Back to food. If there’s one thing I love about the U.K., it’s the potatoes. I am a big potato fan. Roasted, mashed, boiled, au gratin-ed, chipped, cheese-and-onion crisped. All of it. The first time I went to the U.K. with James, I went a little overboard and actually got sick of potatoes. I know, rookie mistake. Not this time, though. And so, in honor, I bring  you a recipe for herby, brothy, buttery roasted potatoes. These potatoes roast in ungodly amounts of butter, then simmer in a fragrant herb broth. They come out crisp and browned on the outside, but beautifully soft, pillowy, and – yes – melty on the inside. They are a must for every potato aficionado.

Now, these potatoes are not exactly a fast weeknight side, as they take about 45 minutes total to roast, and you have to flip and fuss with them not once, but twice over that time. They definitely aren’t a I’m-starving-and-I’m-lazy-and-I-want-to-eat-dinner-NOW kind of potato, but they are a ooh-I’m-liking-these-so-much-I’ve-almost-forgotten-how-much-time-I’ve-spent-on-them kind of potato. Besides, potatoes do take notoriously long to roast, so don’t think that you can get those delicious crispy outsides and soft, fluffy insides in 10 minutes! If you’re cooking some easy seared steak and steamed vegetables, perhaps, or if you’re looking for an alternative to french fries for a juicy burger, spend a little extra time on these potatoes – you won’t regret it! 

Notes:

• Yes, 500 degrees Fahrenheit! Yes, this is crazy hot. The basic gist of the process goes: roast 15 minutes, flip and roast 15 minutes, add broth and roast 15 minutes. I’ve made this keeping the temperature at 500°F for all three of the fifteen minute intervals. I’ve also turned down the heat to 450°F in the middle of the second interval, because I wanted to roast some other veggies in the oven at the same time (weeknight dinner = compromises, y’all). I didn’t notice any discernible difference after turning the heat down, so I suspect that keeping the temperature anywhere between 450 and 500°F will work. Deb also concurs.
• The potatoes can roast very deeply brown, but the addition of the broth will mellow the browning and the potatoes will not taste burnt. I did have some problems with the broth evaporating too quickly, however, leaving me with no tasty juices at the end. If you’d like some more broth at the end, using a smaller pan that just fits the potatoes in one layer will help cut down on the evaporation.

Servings	Fuss Factor	Total Time	Prep Time	Cook Time
4-6	3	55 minutes	10 minutes	45 minutes

Print

Melting Potatoes

Source: Smitten Kitchen, where it was adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons (or more, to taste) chopped fresh thyme or rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds Yukon gold or Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch slices
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock or low-sodium broth
• 4-5 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed, and chopped coarsely

Instructions

• Heat oven to 500°F. See note above regarding oven temps.
• Melt butter in a small bowl. Stir in herbs, salt, and pepper. Pile the potatoes in a 9×13 (quarter-sheet) metal baking pan (a glass baking dish shouldn’t be used at this high of a temperature). Drizzle the butter mixture over the potatoes and mix with your hands to coat the potatoes evenly. If your potatoes, like mine, came straight from the fridge, the cool temperature will re-solidify the butter. Don’t worry – the butter will still be spreadable, so just smear it all around until the potatoes are coated, like in my pictures.
• Roast potatoes for 15 minutes. Use a thin spatula to loosen potatoes and turn them over. Roast for another 15 minutes. Then, carefully pour stock or broth into pan and add the garlic. Roast for 15 minutes more, until potatoes are fully tender.

We have been eating a lot of pork lately! The way I decide what to make usually goes like this… Jackie procrastinates by perusing food blogs and food magazines… Jackie is sucked in by some yummy looking food photos or tasty food description… Jackie obsesses over this recipe for the rest of the day/week until Jackie can procure the ingredients and get to cookin’… And that’s how I found myself salivating over these crispy, fatty carnitas tacos topped with spicy slaw and fresh avocado! I’ve actually made these tacos before, about three years ago, right when James and I first met. He was away in London visiting family when I made them, and I remember sending him a picture of my finished product, extraordinarily proud of the flavor and tenderness I’d coaxed from the pork meat. He sent back a sad face emoji, and some complaint along the lines of “why you making such delicious food without me?!” and I knew it was true love, because he knew that the way to my heart was endless praise of my cooking.

Now, I’ve finally gotten around to making these again, this time with James in the country, and they were every bit as good as I remember. The pork simmers down flavorful and succulent, with the citrus adding a bright, zesty zing to complement the richness of the meat. The slaw is crunchy, fresh, and spicy from the onions and serrano peppers. It’s a refreshing topping for the tacos, but I also add another scoopful as a side and eat it all on its own.

These carnitas focus on a few, quality ingredients. Use fresh everything (don’t even think about bottled lime juice), and let them cook slowly. The meat braises in the water bath to tenderize, and then, once the water cooks off, it fries in its own rendered fat, resulting in crisp, browned edges. The carnitas need a long time to cook, but other than the time factor, they are relatively hands off. The slaw is fairly easy as well (if requiring a blender or food processor), so you can easily get other Sunday jobs done while checking in on the kitchen every once in a while. You could, conceivably, even make these on a weeknight if you can get off early from work, are somehow incredibly masochistic, and don’t mind eating dinner after 8 PM. How do I know? Confession – I did exactly that. I meant to make these on Sunday, but was having too much fun, or napping too much, or went out to watch BlacKkKlansman (YES!! Please watch this movie – it’s amazing!), or… something, and didn’t manage to make any dinner that day. Oops. Anyway, this is a roundabout way of saying that I made these on a weeknight (because I could not stop my obsession – see above), but no sane person should.

However, for the chilly fall Sunday that will inevitably pop up, when the sky outside is grey and dark, these tacos will bring all the color and cheer of the tropics into your kitchen. This recipe is also great for a dinner party, as it makes a ton of tacos with relatively minimal effort from you. I’d say the carnitas recipe would make enough for at least 12 tacos, as written; I see no reason why you couldn’t also scale the recipe up. The slaw recipe will definitely provide enough slaw to dress 12 tacos, with likely also a scoop for everyone on the side. Warm some tortillas, add some avocado slices, chopped cilantro, onion, and tada! Taco parties are the best parties.

Print

Carnitas Tacos

Source: Smitten Kitchen, where it was adapted from The Homesick Texan Cookbook

Ingredients

• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 2 to 3 limes)
• 4+ cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (I think I used maybe 7?)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• For serving: Green onion cabbage slaw (recipe below), corn tortillas, avocado slices, chopped cilantro, or other fixings of your choice

Instructions

• Place the pork in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and enough water to just barely cover the meat. Most of the meat should be covered, but it's okay if the tips stick out - they will still cook in the steam. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for two hours. Don’t touch the meat.
• After two hours, increase the heat to medium-high. Occasionally stirring and turning the pieces of meat, continue to cook for about 45 minutes, or until all of the liquid has evaporated, leaving only the rendered pork fat. Let the meat sizzle in this fat until it browns at the edges, turning pieces gently (to prevent them from falling apart) to brown the other side.
• When pork has browned on both sides, it’s done. Add seasonings to taste, if necessary. Serve on warmed tortillas with a scoop of slaw and desired fixings.

Print

Green Onion Cabbage Slaw

Source: Smitten Kitchen, where it was adapted from Bobby Flay

Ingredients

• 1 cup green onions, coarsely chopped (I used about 1 1/2 bunches)
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 serrano chiles
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 head purple cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves (I upped the cilantro because I love cilantro; for less cilantro flavor, use 1/4 cup)

Instructions

• Blend green onions, vinegar, chiles, mayonnaise, oil, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor until emulsified. Place cabbage and red onions in a bowl, add the dressing, and toss until combined. Fold in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

The purple cabbage is hardy, and thus holds up fairly well to the dressing. We ate slaw that had already been dressed the second day as leftovers, and it wasn't too watery or soggy. However, the flavor and crunch is always best if you mix the cabbage/onions and dressing together just before serving, and mix just enough for the meal of that day.

I lived in Italy for six months when I was 23 years old, because, well, Italy. I was out of college with not that many employable skills (having majored in English), and I basically decided that Italy was as good a place as any to plunk down and think about the rest of my life. I taught English in middle schools, evening classes, and corporate offices. I was in love with the country, the language, the Mediterranean sunshine, and the mountains. But of course, what I most loved was the food. I basically ate my way through Italy. I never met a pizza or a pasta I didn’t immediately scarf down. I hunted down regional specialties with eagle-eyed precision, sampling pesto in Genoa, bolognese in Bologna, granita in Sicily, and prosciutto in Parma. Probably every other day, I treated myself to a gelato – pistachio and strawberry (fragola) were my go-to’s. I dunked Mulino Bianco cookies in cappuccinos for breakfast and bought focaccia studded with salty olives and sweet onions for lunch. I discovered buffalo mozzarella and new food trends that tickled me to the core with delight – apparently, the Sicilians started the trend of eating brioche con gelato (which is basically a brioche bun stuffed with gelato) for breakfast, and I never wanted anything else with my cappuccino.

The food is ridiculous in Italy. Honestly, every trip to the supermarket felt like a culinary adventure. I would buy the pre-made, prepackaged Barilla brand raviolis in the refrigerated section, and they would taste better than any of the pastas I could remember eating in the States. Sometimes I went to people’s houses for English lessons, and sometimes they would offer me lunch – I still remember a pasta dish with soft, wilted zucchini and charred potatoes that was so simple, yet so addictive. The last time I was in Italy was probably over 10 years ago, and I am way overdue for a food tour.

The thing I love about Italian cooking is that it often focuses on only a few ingredients, and prizes quality of those ingredients above elaborate preparation or technique. What this translates to is straightforward, simple weeknight cooking! I really love this spaghetti carbonara because it is easy, yet creamy, rich, and delicious. It’s also fairly foolproof – the worse that will happen is that you might cook the eggs instead of coating the pasta with them, but apparently scrambled eggs and pasta are also a thing in Italy, and it sounds delicious to me, so I don’t think I would even mind if this happened. So go ahead – find the most gourmet pancetta, cheese, and butter you can, pour some wine, and get an Italian feast together in under 30 minutes.

We personally ate this with sautéed leeks and roasted brussels sprouts, and one of James’s old fashioneds. Time to dinner, including all sides: about 45 minutes.

Servings	Fuss Factor	Total Time	Prep Time	Cook Time
4	1	30 minutes	10-15 minutes	15 minutes

Print

Spaghetti Carbonara

Source: BBC Good Food

Ingredients

• 4 ounces pancetta
• 3 large eggs
• 1 3/4 ounces grated pecorino cheese (about 1/2 packed cup)
• 1 3/4 ounces grated parmesan cheese (about 1/2 packed cup)
• 12 ounces spaghetti
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (sometimes I use half butter, half olive oil to make the dish a bit lighter)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• Salt and lots of freshly grated black pepper

Instructions

• Put a large pot of water on to boil. If the pancetta isn’t chopped already, remove any rind and chop into small cubes about 1/4-inch across. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the two cheeses to the eggs, season with lots of freshly grated black pepper, and stir to combine. Set aside.
  
• Salt the pasta water liberally. When the water has boiled, add the spaghetti and stir so that the noodles don’t stick together. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until done.
• While the pasta is cooking, start the pancetta. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the pancetta and garlic. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the pancetta is golden and crisp. You can now discard the garlic, or, if you’re like me and enjoy eating large garlic cloves drenched in butter, feel free to leave them in. (I sometimes chop the garlic coarsely, and then just leave the pieces in. The butter really mellows their flavor, and they become quite flavorful)
• After the pancetta has browned, turn the heat to low. Drain the pasta when it’s cooked, but reserve 1 cup or so of the pasta water. Add the pasta to the pancetta in the skillet. Alternatively, you can transfer the pasta straight from the pot to the skillet with a pasta fork or tongs. Either way, don’t worry if pasta water drops in the pan as well (you want this to happen).
• Remove the skillet of spaghetti and pancetta from the heat. Pour in the egg and cheese mixture, and, moving quickly, use tongs or a long fork to toss the spaghetti and pancetta with the egg mixture. You’ll want to move and toss the pasta around quickly so that the egg mixture doesn’t cook and scramble. Add some splashes of the pasta water to thin out the cheese sauce to your desired consistency. I would start with about 1/4 cup and add more if needed – I usually end up using about 1/2 cup. The pasta should look silky, smooth, and glossy, and the noodles should slide about fairly freely. If the dish looks dry and stiff, just add more pasta water and mix. Season with a little salt, if needed, and lots of freshly grated black pepper. Toss until everything is combined.
• Serve immediately (in warmed bowls, if you're being fancy; spaghetti carbonara cools quite rapidly), topped with more freshly grated black pepper and grated cheese, if you prefer.

Over the last few months, three sets of friends have moved – two have bought their own places (hooray!), and one has moved to a new apartment. Moving is of course a huge hassle, but at least at the end of it it can be celebrated with housewarming parties and housewarming gifts! I am not great at housewarming gifts. I’m a huge believer in minimalism and scaling down (okay, fine, everywhere except the kitchen), and I hate extra stuff and extra clutter. Add to that my uncertain sense of other people’s styles, and I become paralyzed about choosing for someone a vase or a picture frame that they’ll never use. However, throw in my ginormously outsized confidence in my own cooking, and then it becomes only natural that I resort to food gifts! I’ve become obsessed with anything that can be jarred, bottled, or frozen and given as a gift. Y’all already know that a frozen batch of cottage pie can be a great surprise for any occasion or celebration. And while fresh food is always welcome, sometimes something that can keep, that allows the new owners to use at their own speed and their own inclination, can bring happiness for weeks or months to come.

Enter, then, this amazing, fragrant, spicy, numbing, salty, crunchy, garlicky chili crisp! I became obsessed with it the moment I saw the recipe, and it did not disappoint. The name chili crisp is important, as I don’t really know how else to describe this concoction. It’s definitely not chili oil, as the amount of delicious solid things in it is mind-boggling, and the amount of oil it calls for is actually quite minimal. It’s not a paste, and it’s not really a sauce. Maybe the closest description would be sort of an East Asian chili chutney or chili relish? It’s chock-a-block with bright red chilies, a pile of spices, and a mountain of fried shallots and garlic, all held together by a deeply flavorful oil.

This chili crisp is unbelievably delicious. I adore spicy food, and I have been eating the chili crisp with everything. I stir it into rice (plain white and fried), all sorts of noodles, pasta, couscous. I’ve eaten it on top of pizza. I’ll dollop a bit on top of plain steamed vegetables. I’ve read of commenters spreading it on bread. I might spoon it into a sandwich some day. It’s only been a week or so since I’ve made this so I haven’t even fathomed all of the possibilities.

It’s also beautifully giftable. Who doesn’t like a pretty glass jar filled with bright red chilies?

And now, an abundance of notes:

The original recipe calls for dried árbol chilies, chiles japones, and Kashmiri red chilies. I couldn’t find the latter two, so I made some substitutions. It’s totally fine to substitute whatever chilies you have or prefer. The Serious Eats website has this note about chilies and substitutions: “These chilies are all very spicy. If you’re interested in a milder condiment that’s still packed with flavor, swap in an equal amount by weight of less fiery chilies. Good options are guajillo, Aleppo, or Maras chilies.” I wanted to stay true to the original recipe, so I tried to swap in similar peppers. Essentially, the mix of chilies starts with the árbol chile, a relatively common Mexican chili pepper of medium heat that can be found dried in many supermarkets. Then, add a hotter pepper (I substituted tien tsin chile peppers for the chiles japones), and a milder, fruitier pepper (I substituted guajillo chilies for the Kashmiri chilies).

I don’t have a spice grinder (see reluctance to accumulate stuff above), and thought I could muddle through with what I had. That was… not the smartest decision. My food processor cut up the smaller, more brittle árbol chilies and tien tsin chiles okay, but it really struggled with the thicker, leathery skin of the guajillo chilies. I ended up picking out large pieces of guajillo chilie and snipping them into smaller bits by hand with scissors. Not the best use of my time.

Relatedly, I somehow didn’t see how much ground Szechuan peppecorn the recipe called for (spoiler alert: it’s a lot. It’s also what gives the chili crisp a wonderful, numbing flavor, so it should be a lot). I only had whole peppercorns, but I figured I could get by with grinding them in my manually-operated pepper grinder. Well, I filled up my entire pepper grinder and that was still not enough peppercorns. I ended up spending maybe 20 minutes hand cranking Szechuan peppecorn, and then giving up and “grinding” the rest of the peppercorns in the food processor (which actually did okay, and maybe what I should have just done with all of the peppercorns in hindsight). NOT the most pleasant use of my time.

Moral of the story: use thin-skinned, easily pulverized peppers and preground Szechuan peppecorns, or invest in a spice grinder. I will definitely do one of the two the next time I make this.

About deseeding the chilies: the seeds can be tough and leathery, so can create an unpleasant texture for the chili crisp. I found that the easiest way of deseeding them was to use kitchen shears to cut them in half the long way, from the stem to the tip. Cutting them should cause the seeds to bounce and sprinkle out. I cut all the chilies, then picked them up by the handful and gave them a collective shake, spot checking a few chilies to see whether seeds remained. You don’t have to get rid of every seed, just enough so that it doesn’t feel like you’re just eating spicy chili seeds!

I increased the amount of oil since I really love chili oil. However, even so, there was barely any oil after all the chilies, shallots, and garlic had been stuffed in. Such is the nature of this chili relish. Still, I think the next time I might up the oil content even more, just to loosen up the condiment a bit.

Recently I bought a scale for measuring ingredients. I’m going to devote a whole post to this scale soon because I. LOVE. IT., but consider this my first volley – if you cook or bake a lot, get a scale. It’s so much easier. If you see yourself making this chili crisp over and over again (as you should), get a scale. It is beyond a pain to try and measure cups of chilies, shallots, or garlic. Get a scale.

The recipe’s author, Sohla El-Waylly, recommends slicing the shallots and garlic with a mandoline. This is definitely too much for me. It’s fairly easy to just slice the shallots with a knife. Try to cut them thinly, and to be as consistent as you can, as it will result in more even frying. For the garlic, I just minced them, and while the end result was not as aesthetically pleasing as nice crisp chips of garlic, this was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

As I mentioned, the Szechuan peppercorns give the chili crisp that addictive numbing spice. The other spices (ginger, black pepper, cumin, red cardamom, star anise) give more depth of flavor and complexity. I used them all, but I think you can experiment with which ones you like, or add others to suit your tastes.

You should be able to find mushroom powder at specialty spice shops, or on Amazon. It gives a bit of extra umami and natural MSG flavoring to the chili crisp. Alternatively, you can buy dried mushrooms and grind them up yourself in a food processor (the powder doesn’t have to be super fine).

Print

Chili Crisp

Source: Serious Eats

Makes 1 quart (900ml). I bought these 10.75-ounce jars, and had exactly enough for three jars.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (27 grams) dried árbol chilies, stems removed
• 3/4 cup (20 grams) dried chiles japones, stems removed (I used tien tsin chilies)
• 3/4 cup (25 grams) dried Kashmiri red chilies, stems removed (I used guajillo chilies)
• 1/2 cup (50 grams) roasted, salted peanuts, chopped
• 2-inch piece (30 grams) fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into thin matchsticks
• 3/4 teaspoon (2 grams) freshly ground black pepper
• 3 pieces whole star anise
• 2 red or black cardamom pods, split in half
• 2 teaspoons (6 grams) ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons (28 grams) ground Szechuan peppercorn
• 3 tablespoons (12 grams) porcini or shiitake mushroom powder
• 5 teaspoons (30 grams) kosher salt (for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same by weight)
• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) MSG (optional - I did not use any)
• 2 tablespoons (20 grams) sugar
• 2 3/4 cups (550 grams) peanut oil, or other neutral oil
• 2 cups (200 grams) thinly sliced shallots (about 1mm thick)
• 3/4 cup (65 grams) thinly sliced or finely minced garlic

Instructions

• Put on disposable latex gloves if you have sensitive skin. I didn't use gloves and my hands were okay; just make sure to wash them before touching your eyes or lips.
• Deseed the chilies. Place a wire rack on top of a baking tray. Using kitchen shears, cut down the middle of the chilies, from the stem to the tip. Most of the seeds should bounce and fall out after being cut. After cutting all the chilies, shake the wire rack over the tray so that the seeds fall through the holes of the rack onto the tray. Don't worry about removing every seed, but spot check a few chilies to see that most seeds are removed. Transfer chilies to a bowl and discard seeds.
• Using a spice grinder (or a food processor, but this won't work as well), process chilies until they are ground to a size just larger than standard chili flakes. Place processed chilies into a heatproof bowl or pot large enough to accommodate bubbling oil (at least 4 quarts in size). Add the peanuts, ginger, black pepper, star anise, cardamom, cumin, Szechuan peppercorn, mushroom powder, salt, MSG (if using), and sugar. Set aside.
• Set a strainer over a 2-quart heatproof bowl. In a 4-quart saucepan, combine oil and shallots. Cook over high heat while constantly stirring. When shallots are light golden brown, strain them through the sieve. The residual heat will crisp them up and darken their color to a deeper golden brown.
• Pour oil back into pot and add garlic (if bits of shallot have fallen through the strainer into the oil, just fish them out before adding garlic). Cook over medium-low heat, constantly stirring, until light golden brown. This takes only about a minute or two, depending on how hot the oil is. Watch carefully and get ready to strain when garlic is just barely browned. Garlic can quickly become bitter, so make sure to stop cooking before it turns golden brown. Strain the garlic, then return oil to pot once more. Set aside fried shallots and garlic.
  
• Heat oil to 375°F (190°C). Pour hot oil over chilies, spices, and other seasonings. Stir well to distribute hot oil, then let fully cool, about 30 minutes or until the bowl is cool to the touch.
• Once chili-and-oil mixture has cooled, remove star anise and cardamom pods. Mix in shallots and garlic. Pour finished chili crisp into jars. It can be served immediately, but for best flavor, eat the next day. Stir well before serving. The chili crisp will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months.

I know I’ve bit a rambly lately, so back to discussions only on FOOD!!! And by food, I mean the most decadent, buttery, crumbly, intensely chocolatey cookies you can imagine. This recipe is also sort of a cheat, as it’s fairly famous and has been around for ages. But hey, things are a classic for a reason! I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for years, and finally got around to making them. I’m happy to report that they fulfilled all my expectations! They were fairly easy to make, although not super quick, time-wise, since the recipe does recommend that you chill the dough for a minimum of 2 hours. I ended up making the cookies over the course of two days, refrigerating the dough overnight. If you have enough foresight to do this, or even to make a batch to freeze for later, getting them in and out of the oven is supremely easy and fast, as the cookies take absolutely no time to prep and bake.

I must also apologize for my lack of pictures. I made these while my mom was visiting, and was too busy chatting instead of shot composing. However, the beauty of a universally lauded cookie is that you can ogle the vastly superior pictures here, here, and here. They are as delicious as they look. They are sort of a cross between a sable, a shortbread, and a chocolate chip cookie. For my part, here are some tips I’ve gathered about making the cookies:

• In the words of Dorie Greenspan: “This is an unpredictable dough. Sometimes it’s crumbly and sometimes it comes together and cleans the sides of the bowl. Happily, no matter what, the cookies are always great.” My dough personally came out rather moist and sticky, and I had no trouble rolling it into solid logs that held together. From reading Dorie’s blog and the comments, it seems that it’s best to keep mixing the dough until big, moist curds form. Then, continue kneading by hand if necessary to get the dough to moisten evenly and to hold together when pressed. If you don’t manage to roll the dough into a solid log on the first try, continue kneading and try again. The consensus seems to be that as long as you can push the dough together into a solid piece to bake, the cookies come out fine.
• Another note from Food52 about the dough: “If measuring flour and cocoa by volume, it’s important to measure them lightly, as follows: stir briefly in the container or bag, spoon into the measuring cup until it’s heaped above the rim, then level it with a straight-edged knife or spatula. If you dip the measuring cup into the container, you’ll have more flour and cocoa and a drier, crumblier, more difficult dough.” Personally, I’ve now graduated to using a scale and measuring all ingredients by weight, so maybe this is partly why I ended up with a moist dough.
• Relatedly, when I cut the cookies, they definitely cracked, and bits broke off. However, I just squished the pieces back together, and everything was fine.
• You really want to pay close attention to baking times and temperatures here. The lower third of my oven runs hot, and when I baked my first batch, the cookies on the lower rack were just on the edge of burnt. I rescued them just in the nick of time, but I raised both of my oven racks after that, and the second batch of cookies came out with a distinctly crumblier, more delicate consistency. So pay attention to hot spots in your oven and adjust accordingly.
• I used Endangered Species 72% dark chocolate, on the recommendation of Stella Parks. Use the best quality dark chocolate for extra luscious cookies.
• The recipe calls for light brown sugar, but I used dark brown sugar because that’s what I had, and it seemed to be okay.

And, that’s it! I brought these to a park BBQ, and they were lauded as “brownie cookies.” Whatever you call them, they taste amazing!

Print

World Peace Cookies

Source: Everyday Dorie, or Dorie's Cookies (by Dorie Greenspan)

Makes about 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups (170 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (28 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch cocoa; you can also use regular)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons; 5 1/2 ounces; 155 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (134 grams) packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 ounces (142 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into irregular sized bits

Instructions

• Sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
  
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium speed until fluffy, light, and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the salt and vanilla and beat to combine. Turn off the mixer, add all the dry ingredients and start mixing on the lowest setting to prevent flour from flying everywhere. Turn the mixer up a few notches, and mix until the dough forms big, moist curds. Add the chopped chocolate pieces and mix to incorporate. 
• Turn the dough out onto a work surface (I turned it out directly onto a sheet of plastic wrap) and gather it together, kneading it if necessary to bring it together. Divide the dough in half. Shape the dough into logs that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter by 9 inches in length. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and freeze them for at least 2 hours or refrigerate them for at least 3 hours.

  Note: The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you don't need to defrost it before baking; just bake the cookies 1 minute longer.
• To Bake: Preheat oven to 325°F and place racks in center of oven or away from any known hot spots. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• Using a long, sharp knife, slice each log of dough into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. If the rounds crack as you’re cutting them, just squeeze the broken pieces back together. Place the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between them. If you need to bake in two batches, refrigerate the remaining cookies until you're ready to bake.
• Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. Don’t open the oven, just let them bake. When time is up, the cookies won’t look done, and will still be soft. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minute until they've firmed up slightly, then use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Eat the cookies warm, or at room temperature (the texture is arguably more interesting at room temperature).

I finally, finally saw Crazy Rich Asians this past weekend, and it was a wild and delicious ride.

I know this is a food blog, but I have so many thoughts about the movie, I have to share them! However, SPOILER ALERT – minor plot points and my very strong opinions follow, so if you don’t care to read those or haven’t seen the movie yet, just scroll to where it says “END.”

If you’ve been living under a rock, Crazy Rich Asians is a movie based on a book of the same name, written by Kevin Kwan. Directed by Jon M. Chu, it’s the first Hollywood studio production in 25 years to have an all-Asian cast, since The Joy Luck Club in 1993. Since its release, the movie has broken all sorts of records, dominating the U.S. box office and becoming most successful studio rom-com in nine years, since 2009’s The Proposal. Being Taiwanese American, I cannot overstate how happy this movie made me – to see people who looked like me on the biggest screen, recounting experiences that were my experiences. Overall, I loved it. As a rom-com, it was not my favorite – I thought Rachel Chu’s character was underdeveloped and mostly given awful dialogue until the final scene. Sometimes, it felt like Rachel’s supposedly successful career as an NYU economics professor was treated just as a convenient plot device instead of a real characterization of her identity. I mean, let’s be honest – Nick Young is basically an actual buffoon who has: 1) essentially lied by omission to his girlfriend for one whole year, and 2) contributes 50% to the decision to marry Rachel, yet seems to bear 0% of the responsibility, at least to his mother. Why exactly is Rachel moping around after him in Singapore when she probably has like five million deadlines waiting for her back in New York??

I realize that this is not the point of the movie, but to me, it feels like the movie sort of just glossed over the fact that “sacrifice” for East Asian families is often synonymous with “women sacrificing.” It’s often the Asian daughters that draw the shortest stick. Whatever Westernization relinquished in terms of family cohesion and loyalty, it at least partly gained in opportunity and independence for women. It’s not for me to say which is necessarily better or worse, but I think this intersection between Asianness, Asian Americanness, and feminism is a complex and tangled topic for a future story. Jon M. Chu did a phenomenal job, but I would love to see how this story would unfold in the hands of a female director.

Which brings me to a related point. Some criticisms of the movie have centered on its narrow focus on one specific, privileged section of Singapore society, and how it doesn’t include a wider Asian experience. While this is a legitimate point about representation, and also how our language often conflates “Asian” with “East Asian,” this is ultimately a fruitless argument, because no one movie can purport, or claim, to do all that. We just need more movies. More stories with more diverse perspectives. Over the years, we have seen Asians on screen as comedic relief, kung-fu warriors, sensual lovers, overachieving students, scrappy underdogs, immigrant women, immigrant families, now even zombie killers. But there are so many more voices to be heard. And I, for one, am loving the fact that this particular historic, groundbreaking movie is one that shows Asians as unabashedly and unapologetically bursting with wealth, privilege, and power. For all our collective obsession with the Kardashians, for all this year’s spectacle with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, it is about darn time we got a close look at Singapore’s luxurious, resplendent, glittering (albeit fictional) one-percent.

*******************END OF STRONG OPINIONS*******************

Okay, this all still has to do with food, I promise! One of my favorite scenes in this movie (not a spoiler) is one where the main characters are eating in a loud, bustling open air night market. This scene is so iconic of life in many cities in East Asia, where night markets are places of socialization and entertainment, where people go to eat, drink, shop, and win stuffed animals at carnival games. They’re bustling, chaotic, frenetic places that take your breath away. One of the iconic things to eat in a Taiwanese night market is popcorn chicken. It’s lightly breaded chicken laced with white pepper, salt, and other fragrant spices. It can come in the form of a huge cutlet, but it’s more commonly found as nuggets, fried with basil leaves, and served in a paper sack with long wooden skewers for poking and munching. It is delicious, and something I have to eat whenever I go back to Taiwan.

I’ve had a recipe for popcorn chicken bookmarked for years to make at home, but never got around to it. It sounded fairly easy, but marinading and frying are always intimidating on a weeknight. And… the recipe lived up to its feared fussiness for a weeknight! It was crispy and delicious, but involved more time and cleanup than I’d like. Also, the one thing I would definitely do differently would be to fry the chicken in larger chunks. I cut the chicken into small bite-sized nuggets because I liked the look of them, but the breading and frying then took foreeeeevver. The next time, I would cut the thighs into long strips, at least, or maybe even just fry them whole. Other tips:

• Chinese five spice powder is a spice mix that is popular in Asian cooking for marinades and stir fries. Different variants exist, but it is usually a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and Szechwan peppercorns, plus possibly salt and MSG. It can be found in any Asian supermarket and some specialty spice shops and large American supermarkets. Read the ingredients before buying, though, as I’ve seen some cheap knockoffs will pass off a mix of just white pepper and salt as “five spice powder.” I’ve also seen some brands will dilute their spices with flour. So, read the ingredients before you buy.
• Make sure the chicken is at room temperature before you fry it – marinading it at room temperature will achieve this. Frying room temperature chicken will ensure a crispier crust.
• I made enough for leftovers, and they reconstituted magnificently the next night – that is the beauty of dark chicken meat. I just baked them at 375°F for about 10 minutes, and they were hot and crunchy, and only slightly less moist. However, if you’re not into leftovers and just want to make enough for 2, halve the ingredients and marinade.

Servings	Fuss Factor	Total Time	Prep Time	Cook Time
4	4	1 1/2 hours	1 hour (includes 30 mins marinading)	30 minutes

We served this with white rice, sauteed spinach, and roasted cauliflower. Total time to dinner, including sides: about 1 hour 30 minutes (I prepped the rice and vegetables while the chicken was marinading).

Print

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

Adapted from Kirbie's Cravings and Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces, long strips, or left whole (the bigger the piece, the lower the fuss down the line)
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves (optional)
• 2 cups cornstarch
• Extra salt and white pepper, for dusting finished chicken
• Neutral oil for frying (canola, peanut, grapeseed)

For the marinade:

• 4 garlic cloves, crushed and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (a combination of regular and dark, or all regular)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, combine the chicken with all of the marinade ingredients and mix together well. Marinade at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Pour oil into a wok or cast iron skillet to the depth of at least one inch. Heat over medium-high heat until oil is about 350°F (you can also test the temperature by putting in a small cornstarch-coated chicken piece - it should sizzle vigorously). Put the cornstarch in a large bowl. Shake any excess marinade and seasonings off chicken pieces, and coat each chicken piece evenly with cornstarch. When the oil is hot, shake off excess cornstarch on chicken pieces, and place into oil.
• Fry chicken on both sides until it turns golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side. Fry a few pieces of chicken at a time, but don't crowd the pan too much, or the chicken won't turn out as crispy. When chicken is done, remove and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Sprinkle chicken immediately with extra salt and white pepper while still hot, if desired, and toss to coat evenly (you can taste test one piece to gauge the flavor level).
• After frying all the chicken, drop the basil leaves in the hot oil. The leaves cook quite fast, so you only need to fry them for a few seconds. Be careful as they will make a popping sound and may cause hot oil to sputter up. Sprinkle basil on top of chicken and serve immediately.
  

I’m back!! Sorry for the extended absence, August was a flurry of vacations, friends, and animal sightings! James and I had our one-year anniversary of marital bliss (bliss sometimes; general tolerance the rest of the time), and celebrated by going back to Boston, where we met, and traipsing with some friends to Cape Cod, where we first vacationed. Then we went hiking, camping, and swimming in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (side note – did you know that the Smokies is THE TOP MOST visited national park in the U.S.? I was floored – I thought for sure it would be Yellowstone or Yosemite! #westcoastbias). The trips were great. Unfortunately, there was a not insignificant amount of rain in both places, but we made do. The Cape was stunning, as usual, and the Smokies were woody, forested peaks threaded through with rocky streams. Very picturesque, but definitely lacking the grandeur and scale of the West Coast national parks (#westcoastbias). James and I have a halfhearted goal of visiting all of the national parks, though, so that was a big one off the list! We also saw four black bears, which was really cool! All of the sightings were in very touristy locations, however, where we saw the crowds of people with cameras before we saw the bears, so it wasn’t too scary. It did prompt us to buy this amazing book, Bear in the Backseat, which I highly recommend, and which has taught me a wealth of information about bear behavior.

Also, FOOOOOOODDDD. Except when we were camping, James and I have eaten our way through the fried chicken restaurants of Tennessee. One place in particular, the Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge, TN, was AMAZING – James and I both got the fried chicken dinner, which consisted of six fried chicken legs, a side salad, corn chowder, corn fritters, green beans, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, and choice of dessert, all for $18.99 each! We ate ourselves silly, then took home leftovers for lunch the next day, which we lugged up to Andrews Bald for a sun-splattered, dozy picnic. We also sampled moonshine in Gatlinburg, TN, which tastes probably about how you’d imagine. There are a lot of different flavors, of which we got to taste 12, ranging from apple pie to strawberry mango margarita to seasonal peach. The tasting made us a bit more tiddly than expected, and we had to park our butts on some rocking chairs to take advantage of the free outdoor bluegrass concert before driving on to dinner! Gatlinburg, located right on the doorstep of the Smokies, is a thing of wonder – think the Las Vegas of Tennessee!

After we got back from the Smokies, we then immediately sauntered off to St. Paul, where my good friend Kate had graciously scheduled her baby shower to be at the same time at the Minnesota State Fair, which she loves. We went to the fair with her, and saw the most beautiful farm animals – baby donkeys, sleek horses, impressive cows, the state’s biggest boar, and tiny little 4-hour old piglets. We also ate a Scotch egg on a stick, the sweetest corn I’d ever tasted, and a bucket of ice cream. All in all, a very successful trip to Minnesota.

Okay, onto the recipe of this week. This recipe is a bit of a cheat, because I think probably 90% of my readers (read, friends) already know about it. However, IF YOU DO NOT, YOU SHOULD. It is an amazingly easy, no frills, set-it-and-forget-it pasta sauce that nevertheless tastes luxurious, rich, velvety, flavorful, and so much better than just the sum of its parts. We made it after coming back from the Smokies, when we were craving homemade (and not fried) food, but with hardly anything in the fridge and little time to go grocery shopping. With just five ingredients (canned tomatoes, onion, butter, pasta, zucchini), plus some olive oil, salt, and pepper, you can have a vegetable-forward, healthy, delicious dinner on the table with very minimal effort.

Marcella Hazan is widely considered to be the Julia Child of Italian cooking. Her cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, is fantastic, with recipes ranging from the foolproof (like this popular recipe) to the elaborate. I’ve made several things from it, and they have always been great. This sauce is not only easy, but also endlessly customizable. Feel free to toss in herbs, vegetables, even a little crumbled sausage. You can also do what my friend Kristin does, and make this sauce to go with some pre-made, fancy fresh pasta or ravioli, thus elevating your weeknight dinner game even more. The only limiting factor is your imagination!

Final Notes – this sauce gets better the more it’s simmered. The recipe tells you to simmer for 45 minutes, which is kind of a pain, but you don’t do anything while simmering, except give it a stir every now and then. So I’ve still classified this recipe as Fuss Factor 1, but just note it won’t be super quick. Also, Marcella tells you to throw the onion away at the end, but I don’t know why you would – it’s delicious, so I normally quarter the onion, then just serve the pieces with the pasta. Top with some Parmesan, and you have a pasta fit to be served in any trattoria off the coast of Italy!

We topped the pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and served it with a mountain of roasted zucchini, and it was just what we wanted after a week of fried chicken. Total time to dinner, including sides: 50 minutes

Servings	Fuss Factor	Total Time	Prep Time	Cook Time
4-6	1	50 minutes	5 minutes	45 minutes

Print

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce

Source: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan

Also available on the New York Times

Ingredients

• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, no salt or herbs added
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, peeled and cut in half or quarters
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper and Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions

• Combine the tomatoes, their juices, butter and onion in a saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt.
• Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing any large tomato pieces with a spoon. Taste, and season with more salt if needed.
• Toss the sauce with pasta, discarding the onion before tossing if you wish. Top with freshly ground black pepper and freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired. This recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of pasta.