I once had stewed chicken at a Caribbean restaurant, and was blown away. I asked the waiter how it was made, and he said that the key was browning the chicken in brown sugar, and then stewing it in a coconut milk and tomato sauce. Well yeah, of course that’s going to be good. I’ve…
Category: Guessipes
Spicy Asian Pickles
My mom made these spicy Asian pickles a lot when I was a kid. They are really quick to make, and go great with Asian food. It’s great to have a jar of them in the fridge. My mom says in a pinch, these pickles are good even if they’ve only been marinating for an…
Rosemary Sea Salt Shortbread
I like to think of shortbread as a means to get as much butter as possible into my face. When I was a kid, I loved the buttery shortbread cookies we’d occasionally have. So I was pretty pleased to discover that shortbread is super easy to make yourself. This recipe is especially great because while…
Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg
Steamed pork just sounds blah. But it is actually one of my favorite childhood dishes, which I think just needs a more exciting name. Like being named after a general, or maybe a province. As it stands, steamed pork tends to be a dish of Chinese home cooking. It’s rarely found in restaurants (I posit…
Salted Black Bean Spareribs
Salted Black Bean Spareribs were one of my childhood favorites. The spareribs are cut Chinese-style into bite size pieces, which lets the marrow free to seep into the sauce. My grandma made these often. She stewed the spareribs until the marrow, cartilage, and connective tissue broke down into unctuous saucy goodness and the meat was…
Creamy Pea Salad
When I was a kid, there was a restaurant my family would go to for occasions like birthday celebrations. The rest of the food was good, but we really went there for the pea salad. Normally a salad would not be the big draw in our restaurant choices, but there was something about this pea…
Mango Lassi
I was introduced to Mango Lassi five years ago by my friend Seena. She throws an Indian Independence Day party every summer – complete with catered Indian food, dancers, henna tattoo artist, photo booth, bindis for all the women, and everyone required to wear Indian dress. Best. Party. Ever. Beer and wine is abundant, but…
Wonton
One of the first cooking memories I have is making Wonton with my family. I think it was the origin of my ongoing search for more opportunities to build community around food. My mom would make a big bowl of the filling, and then we would all sit around the table wrapping up little pockets…