Why This Recipe Works? Using skin-on chicken thighs ensures the meat stays nice and juicy. Rubbing a flavorful garlic and curry paste onto the meat side infuses a ton of spicy flavor into the chicken. Using mango chutney to glaze the chicken makes this dish insanely easy to prepare, and it can be put together in about 10 minutes. Ingredients Chicken - I highly recommend using skin-on boneless chicken thighs for this....

It’s Cinco de Mayo and you’re probably wondering why I’m sharing a Chinese dish with you on this day that General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín led a ragtag band of Mexicans to victory against a French force double it’s size. Well, I don’t have a good excuse, but I can tell you that this Twice Cooked Pork is AMAZING stuffed into a fresh corn tortilla Huí Guō Ròu (回锅肉), which literally means “meat returned to pot” is a Sichuan dish....

Here’s a fun experiment: hold your nose and take a sip of chicken broth. That lingering good taste? That’s umami in action. It’s often described as “savory” or “meaty,” but those words don’t exactly capture its essence; they don’t quite define umami. Just like you can’t really describe “salty” without using the word salt, umami is its own unique sensation, and unique taste buds are responsible for detecting this umami flavor....

This chocolate pudding is one of the fastest ways to douse those fiery cravings (though you could get there even faster with my molten chocolate omelette) and comes together in about fifteen minutes. For those of you who are thinking that that’s fifteen minutes too long, let me describe for you the reward for your pittance of patience. The moment the thick chocolate pudding hits your tongue, it liquefies into a silky pool of rich chocolate bliss....

One of the first things I learned how to cook as a kid was a basic tomato sauce (a.k.a. marinara sauce). It’s the basis for so many dishes and sauces from lasagna to eggplant parmesan to pasta and meatballs, and despite its apparent simplicity, it’s actually quite complex. What you add to the sauce and how you treat each addition can create wildly different variations of the same sauce. Now that I teach cooking, it’s one of the first dishes I teach my students....

It may sound a bit weird at first, but there’s nothing new about savory granola, and by adding enough cheese, it not only gives these a blissfully cheesy flavor, but it also holds them together. They’re as cheesy as Cheez-Its but with a texture that has multiple layers of crunch. The first layer comes as you bite into a piece and the crisp cheese gives way, crumbling into the constituent components....

Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve haggling; we’re not buying a car here after all. Just plan to arrive about 15-20 minutes before the market closes down. The timing can be a bit tricky. Arrive too early, and you’ll be hanging out in the sweltering heat, waiting for the discount placards to come out. Get there a few minutes too late, and all you’ll get is a lung-full of diesel fumes as the vendors drive off....

Why This Recipe Works? Japanese curry is defined by the sweetness imparted by caramelized aromatics like onions and garlic. Pureeing them and adding baking soda cuts the caramelization time down from an hour to just 10 minutes. Japanese cuisine uses small quantities of flavorful ingredients to add Kakushiaji (literally “hidden flavor”) to food. In this dish, I add cocoa powder, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, which add umami and depth to the curry without being obviously present....

In just fifteen minutes, you can create this heavenly weeknight meal that delights the senses while satisfying the soul. The luxurious nori cream sauce is tossed with perfectly cooked strands of spaghetti, making a vibrant and umami-rich dish that’s like a kiss from a clean ocean breeze while the pop of freshness from the watercress keeps the richness in check. Why This Recipe Works? Marinating the shrimp with garlic and soy sauce before pan-frying them ensures they become a well-seasoned contrast to the creamy pasta....

Before I get into the process of making Mentsuyu, let me take a moment to explain the difference between Kansai and Kantō-style noodle soup broths. Technically speaking, Kansai refers to an region of Japan that includes Mie, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara and Wakayama prefectures, while Kantō is comprised of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures. But Kansai vs Kanto isn’t just about regional designations, it’s an epic rivalry akin to Pepsi vs Coke, Red Sox vs....

iriko, myulchi, dried baby sardines, dried baby anchovies. Description Niboshi are baby sardines (anchovies by some translations) that have been boiled once then dried. They vary in size from about 1.5" (pictured below right) to over 3"(pictured below left) long with the smaller ones having a milder flavour. They’re used in both Korean and Japanese cooking as a flavouring for stock or cooked as a snack. What’s it taste like?...

In Korea it’s made with young chickens, but I’ve found that cornish game hens work perfectly and makes a serving big enough for one very hungry person. Aside from the chicken, rice, and ginseng, I’ve seen many variations of Samgyetang, including one very memorable one I had in the mountains of Gangwon-do that included pine mushrooms. In my version, I’ve opted for a fairly standard spread, including pine nuts, chestnuts, garlic, ginseng, and jujubes, all held together by sticky rice....

It’s SPRING!!! Well… technically, it’s been spring for over a month, but the markets are still flush with young greens, and this pasta was so good I couldn’t wait another year to share it with you. Aside from being a visual stunner, it’s loaded with a medley of flavors, textures, and tastes that evoke spring whether you eat it with your eyes open or closed. History of Pasta Primavera If you lived anywhere in the US during the 80’s you probably remember Pasta Primavera, along with leg warmers, Queen, and Trapper Keepers....

Because youmian (lit. thin noodles) is so thin, if they sit in the broth too long, they get soggy. That’s why wonton noodles are served in small bowls with the wontons underneath the noodles. This keeps the noodles afloat, insuring you have very al dente noodles that border on crunchy (in a good way) If you’ve ever had shrimp in an authentic chinese restaurant, you’ve probably noticed that the shrimp are extremely supple....

Why This Recipe Works? Using a well-marbled cut of beef sliced very thinly allows you to cook it until it’s tender in about 15 minutes. By dividing the scallion stems from the greens, you can cook the stems with the beef until they’re creamy and sweet, while the greens get added at the end to add a pop of color and fresh flavor. The udon soup is just lightly seasoned dashi, but by serving the beef on top of the noodles and stirring it in, the meat imparts a rich beefy flavor and mild sweetness to the broth....

On the flavor side, it’s all about the ingredients that you use. The tomatoes should be ripe, but not so ripe that they turn into mush when you cut them. When you’re slicing the tomatoes, it’s important to use a very sharp knife so that you don’t need to use any pressure to cut through the skin. If you don’t have a sharp knife, a knife with a serrated edge such as a bread knife or a steak knife will do....

While I’ve done a traditional Ahi Poke in the past (which is pretty amazing by the way), the best part about Poke is that it’s an open platform that can be made in about as many ways as there are people who make it. This time around, I started with a base of salmon and avocado marinated with sesame oil, sriracha, and soy sauce. Then, some earthy black sesame seeds, salty tobiko, and crisp, sweet onions add layers of contrasting textures and tastes that keep each bite interesting....

Although it’s a simple dish, there are a few key techniques that can make the difference between a perfectly sauced stir-fry with moist tender meat, and a soggy mess with pork that has the texture of wet cardboard. The first point is that you want to marinate the pork with sake, add then add some potato starch. This not only infuses the pork with umami, the starch gels the juices in the meat that naturally come out during cooking, locking them in place so that they don’t spill out all over the pan as the meat cooks....

Traditionally, it was made by mixing pounded mochi rice with sugar and butter, but these days it’s more commonly made using mochiko, or glutinous rice flour. Soft and sticky, the sweet bites of buttery mochi make for a satisfying snack that delicious for both kids and grownups alike. Because it’s so easy to prepare, this is also the perfect recipe to dive into the sweet world of Wagashi. Why This Butter Mochi Recipe Works?...

The result was better than I could have imagined, and it’s now become a regular part of our lunch rotation here in Tokyo. To get an umami-rich soup that tastes authentically Japanese, I’ve come up with a few tricks. Why This Recipe Works? Using both store-bought chicken stock and fresh chicken makes this an easy fix that doesn’t require much time to prepare, and yet you get the flavor of homemade chicken stock from the chicken thighs....