True to my Asian roots, I regularly rustle up a stir-fry from a fridge raid of leftovers when I want a quick bite; using cauliflower as a rice substitute makes the dish even healthier.
I have one back-pocket recipe that can save any breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Popovers.
I was constantly missing the pasta dishes I grew up with in Italy, so I’d go to the general store, buy the ingredients, and make this over the two little hotplates in our communal room.
Bibimbap is vitality in a bowl, from your very own kitchen.
With two eggs on hand, you can make a fried egg banh mi (banh mi trung) -- breakfast for many people and my own favorite anytime food.
Grate 2 sweet potatoes (I don't bother peeling).
This tart is made for those of us who love the palate-puckering acidic punch of lemon.
Make up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate. Have the sauce at room temperature before using.
The word omelet originally derives from the Latin for "little plate," and omelets are usually made individually. You quickly cook one or two eggs while stirring rapidly and continuously to make the curds very fine, then stop the stirring to let the eggs set in the pan. When the omelet is just barely cooked, you grip the handle of the pan, palm up, and roll the egg from the handle side of the pan out of the pan and over the opposite edge in, one hopes, a lovely long oval of delicately pale, perfectly smooth, uniformly yellow egg. It takes practice -- mistakes are delicious and successes are high-five-worthy.
Omu raisu (rice omelet) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan, both at home and in restaurants. To Western ears it doesn't sound immediately compelling -- lightly fried rice laced with ketchup and covered with a sheet of runny eggs. It's slathered with more ketchup to finish, which is probably why I jumped on the bandwagon almost immediately and have never looked back. My childhood recollections don't include any warm and fuzzy comfort dishes, so when I feel down and out or just need some food love, this is the dish I invariably turn to.