SOUP BASE
When I first saw references to this all-in-one method of making pasta, I was sceptical. Surely it couldn’t be possible to cook the sauce and the pasta all at once in the same pan? It seemed to violate every rule in Italian cooking. But then I realized that the method is not really so far from a risotto. The bonus of this technique—aside from incredible speed and ease and minimal washing up—is that the pasta is seasoned by the sauce as it cooks and becomes deeply flavored with wine, aromatics, stock—whatever you choose to add. It works with any shape of pasta—but a good quality brand makes a big difference here—and almost any combination of vegetables and other flavorings such as anchovies or cured meats. You just have to be careful to measure the ratio of pasta to water accurately, use a wide shallow frying pan or sauté pan (it won’t work in a tall narrow saucepan) and be generous with your seasoning.
This recipe is inspired by fond memories of shrimp toast, a treat from childhood lunches at my uncle’s Sydney restaurant, Lee’s Fortuna Court. This beloved Cantonese snack features small triangles of bread, which are smeared with a paste made from minced shrimp, then dipped in sesame seeds and deep-fried. This mushroom version satiates my hunger, thanks to the rich, bold mushroom pâté, which I use as the paste for the bread. This “fried bread” is pure comfort food. If you’re short on time, use store-bought mushroom pâté.
Buckwheat is the most popular grain in Slavic cuisine. When a crisis hits any Slavic country, buckwheat is usually the first thing that disappears from grocery store shelves. That’s how much people rely on it in their diet. I was never crazy about buckwheat when I was a kid. But when mom made me this soup, everything changed. It has the most alluring deep flavor of buckwheat and mushrooms with the right balance of sweetness and earthiness. It’s just like being wrapped in a cozy blanket and taking an autumn walk in a forest. I love eating this soup piping hot with the darkest rye bread I can find.
This hot and fiery soup is seen only in the Indo-Chinese restaurants of India. When the weather is cold or I’m feeling unwell, I often make this soup. To boost the protein, you can add bits of leftover rotisserie chicken or tofu. Serve this with rice wine vinegar, Chilli-Soy Vinegar Sauce, or Indo-Sichuan Sauce on the side.
Mapo tofu has been on the menu since back when Mission Chinese Food first popped up in San Francisco. Over the years, we’ve tweaked the recipe approximately one hundred times, and this vegan version is the best yet, not to mention the easiest for the home cook. What used to take days to make is ready in less than an hour.
Note: This recipe calls for doubanjiang, a coarse reddish paste of fermented soybeans, broad beans, and chilies common in Sichuan cooking. Look for “Pixian” on the label, which means it hails from a town in Sichuan province known for making the product.
One of the countless ways Korean food excites me is that it employs extreme temperature—whether it’s serving food in the ripping- hot stone pots called dolsot or frozen bowls. I remember the chef world—myself included—nerding out when Noma served squid with broccoli in a vessel made entirely of ice, only to find myself, a few weeks later, eating naengmyeon out of one in Flushing, Queens.
There’s no ice bowl required for this dish, though I do take a page from a restaurant I went to in Seoul where they put the chilled broth into a slushy machine. My at- home version uses a savory- sweet granita to top the cold, super-chewy buckwheat noodles in a spicy dressing. The addition of dragon fruit powder is 100-percent not traditional and 95-percent optional, but it does add a little sweetness and an absolutely spectacular neon pink color. Got that trick from Starbucks.
As an anthropologist, I travel a lot both for fieldwork and conferences, and everywhere I go, I keep my antennae up for new recipes. I had this dish while I was visiting Lake Prespa, at the shared border of Greece, Albania, and North Macedonia. It was served in the village of Psarades, which sits right on the lake. The lake teems with life—from fish , turtles, and birds to water chestnuts, which can be harvested easily by just wading in the shallows. When I asked for the recipe, I was told that there wasn’t one: you just put everything together in the oven. After I returned in New York , I tried to replicate the dish. This version is just like the one I had in Greece. It’s best to make this dish in an earthenware pan. Otherwise, use a baking pan about 9 by 12 inches that will hold the mushrooms snugly.
Fatteh, derived from an old Arabic verb meaning “to break bread and steep in liquid,” is a common dish across the Middle East. The base is bread, but the toppings vary from eggplants (aubergines) and chickpeas, to rice and a variety of meats. The sauces are just as varied with some yogurt-based, others tahini-based, and others broth- or lemon-based. Moona, a restaurant in Boston serving up creative Middle Eastern dishes based on pantry ingredients (moona means “pantry” in Arabic), has a version made with mushrooms. The first time I tried the dish, I was skeptical. “Mushrooms?!” I thought. But I was blown away by the flavors and textures. Mushrooms have an earthy, meaty taste that is superbly complemented by the sweet tartness of pomegranate molasses, the crunchiness of the toasted bread and nuts, and the brightness of the yogurt-tahini dressing. Just another example of how pushing boundaries can lead to delicious surprises.
Fresh Chinese noodles are found in the refrigerator section of most Asian food markets. The best noodles for lo mein are about 1/4-inch thick and are sold in 1-pound packages. You can use 8 to 10 ounces of dry spaghetti in place of the fresh noodles. For the Lunar New Year noodles are often served because they symbolize longevity. In addition, shiitake mushrooms symbolize prosperity and scallions bestows intelligence.