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19 Articles

As a kid, I had a reputation at restaurants for grabbing one of those foil-wrapped butter packets, opening it like a present, and eating it straight in two bites. My parents didn’t love this behavior, but I sure did. At the time, I couldn’t imagine a more delicious food, and today I’d still list butter among my favorite things to eat. I’m in good company. I remember watching acclaimed food writer Jeffery Steingarten many years ago as a judge on Iron Chef America. The first dish from one of the competing chefs was good bread and salted butter. You might have expected Steingarten to ding the chef for lack of creativity or skill. Instead, he said it was unfair to serve bread and butter. After all, what can beat it? If…

Simple Single-Serve Coffee Sometimes, Christy Rentmeester of Chicago, Ill., wants to make a cup of coffee without having to turn on her drip coffee machine. She’s found that she can make a good single serving by setting small funnel in a glass measuring cup, lining the funnel with a coffee filter, placing the ground coffee in the filter, and then slowly pouring boiling water over the coffee. A DIY Twine Dispenser Joe Mobilia of Brooklyn, N.Y., doesn’t have counter space for a standing twine dispenser, but he’s devised a version that can fit in a drawer. He cut a hole in a zipper lock bag and taped a washer to the hole for reinforcement. After putting the twine in the bag and threading it through the hole, he taped the bag to the…

The Art of Rendang

Rendang is an nth-degree art form. The Indonesian word refers to both the dish and the technique where food is taken to the farthest possible point of concentration, to a stage of cooking that defies categorization. To make it, cooks in and around the province of West Sumatra simmer beef (or other proteins including buffalo, chicken, tempeh, seafood, or eggs) with coconut milk; spices; and a fragrant paste of alliums, chiles, and citrusy herbs for hours. As the pot bubbles, the beef softens, the luscious milk evaporates, and the aromatics sizzle in the flavorsome fat left behind. What distinguishes rendang from related Southeast Asian preparations such as curries is that you keep cooking it. You cook it so much that the pot’s contents not only concentrate but undergo Maillardization and caramelization, resulting…

The Art of Rendang

Bright, Rich Enchiladas Suizas

Gloriously creamy, cheesy, and tomatillo-bright, enchiladas suizas are easy to love. The Mexico City specialty, whose name nods to the dairy-rich culture of Switzerland, features delicately seasoned shreds of chicken tidily rolled into subtly savory corn tortillas, topped with cheese, and bathed in a sauce spiked with Mexican crema, each distinct component shining through in every bite. As I worked up my own recipe, I aimed to do justice to each of these elements, but I also wanted to address some classic enchilada pitfalls along the way. Making enchiladas is a project, and results can be mixed: Oftentimes, the tortillas crack, the filling pokes through the rolls, or the sauce sogs out the whole dish, resulting in a collapsed, mushy mess. I’d need to employ some strategy to ensure my recipe…

Bright, Rich Enchiladas Suizas

Chickpeas Do It All

It’s not just their chubby profile, nutty flavor, and velvety flesh that set chickpeas apart. The tawny pulses are also higher in fat than most other beans and legumes, which gives them an exceptionally creamy eating quality. Add to their resume that chickpeas are nutritious, protein-rich, and inexpensive, and you’ll want to keep your pantry stocked with a few cans for easy meals like the trio I offer here. My recipe for a hearty, chickpea-forward chopped salad begins with zapping the chickpeas in the microwave to dry out their plump interiors and rupture their exteriors. Then, as you pan-fry the slightly dehydrated legumes, their papery skins blister and crackle while their insides puff and crisp. Toss the crunchy chickpeas with a zippy spice mix and set them aside to cool before…

Chickpeas Do It All

The Power of Dau Si

Umami-boosters have always played a key role in my cooking. These glutamic acid–rich ingredients—from dried mushrooms to tomato paste to seaweed—are supremely handy, adding complexity to food for little to no extra effort. It’s even better when they’re shelf-stable, because you can keep a wide selection on hand to enhance any meal. Among my collection of umamienhancers, Chinese fermented black beans are a favorite. Known as dau si in Cantonese (or dou chi in Mandarin), this ancient ingredient is saline, savory, and shelf-stable thanks to a lengthy cure in salt. The beans boast an aged intensity that is often compared to mature cheeses such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, but the flavor of these wrinkly onyx gems is singular—toss even just a few into a quick stir-fry, and the dish assumes a rich depth…

The Power of Dau Si

Magic Butter Sauce

Years ago, I cooked at Craigie on Main, a French-inspired bistro in the heart of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Like any good line cook, I purged my station of all nonessentials; the few mise en place that I kept on hand included salt and pepper, vegetable stock, a squeeze bottle of lemon juice, minced chives, and beurre monté. That last one, emulsified melted butter, has long been the lifeblood of many professional French kitchens. Mine sat at the edge of the French top, where it was just warm enough for the butter to remain creamy and fluid. Throughout service, I’d ladle a splash into the various pans I was shuffling. Suddenly, the food would glow: Turnips and radishes would turn glossy. A broken pasta sauce would pull together. Meat and vegetable juices would…

Magic Butter Sauce

Cold-Start Chicken Breasts

In 2020, my former colleague Andrew Janjigian delighted carnivores with his cold‑start searing technique: Place a pair of rib eyes in a dry, unheated skillet; set it over high heat; and flip the steaks regularly as they sizzle in their own fat. The meat stays exceptionally juicy, a rich crust develops, and there’s no smoke or splatter. Would a much leaner cut—boneless, skinless chicken breasts—also benefit from the game-changing technique? My first attempt in an unoiled skillet produced uneven, lackluster browning, so for the next go-round, I brushed the raw cutlets with oil in hopes that the scant amount of fat would facilitate the transfer of heat from the pan to the chicken. I placed the glistening breasts in a skillet, set them over high heat, and cooked them for 2 minutes…

Cold-Start Chicken Breasts

Britain’s Toad in the Hole

They may not look it, but toads are cozy creatures. Every winter, the amphibians sojourn underground, digging snug earthen burrows in which they can hibernate until spring. No wonder the toad gives its name to one of the homiest dishes of the British canon: toad in the hole, a cluster of crisp-skinned sausages nestled in a puff of Yorkshire pudding and topped with onion gravy. Some say the moniker came to be because the sausages resemble toads peeking out from their winter retreats, but I think the name is a better match for the dish’s spirit—digging into those deeply savory sausages and their accompanying custardy, herb-scented pudding is as comforting as a warm burrow on a snowy day. Toad in the hole (not to be confused with the American egg-and-toast breakfast…

Britain’s Toad in the Hole

The Superpowers of Salt

You might think that after cooking with salt for thousands of years, we wouldn’t have much left to learn. We’ve made simple-pleasure revelations, such as how sprinkling salt on a tomato makes it taste exponentially more like itself, and life-changing ones such as how salt can preserve food. Salt is the force behind foundational techniques such as curing, pickling, and brining, and when used adroitly, it has the ability to not only amplify good tastes but also suppress less desirable ones. And yet the more we tinker with salt, the more we stumble on its seemingly boundless potential. Some of its powers impress like culinary wizardry: colder ice water! Greener green beans! Others are simply clever and handy, such as salt’s ability to smooth out coffee’s bitter edge. Here’s a growing…

The Superpowers of Salt

Onion Soup, by Way of Tuscany

You’ve probably never had carabaccia. Neither had I until recently, nor have most Italians even though Tuscan cooks have been making it since at least as far back as the 15th century. The understated red onion soup is a point of pride in and around Certaldo, a hilly town just south of Florence known for its eponymous wine-colored bulb, but for most of the world, the pleasures of its sweet savoriness and nourishing comfort have been kept under wraps. Until now, I hope. Besides the implicit virtues of soup (belly warming, hydrating, economical), there’s something compelling about a dish such as carabaccia that conjures depth of flavor from almost nothing. Early versions consisted of little more than softened onions simmered in water with ground almonds (a thickener and a source of…

Onion Soup, by Way of Tuscany

South Asia’s Everyday Bread

The varied cuisines of the Indian subcontinent boast an impressive array of glamorous flatbreads—pillowy naans, layered and flaky parathas, and crisp-edged dosas, to name a few—but it’s always been wholesome, everyday rotis (also known as chapatis) that I’ve been keenest to make for myself. Little more than whole-wheat flour and water, the griddled, unleavened rounds are soft and pliable, so they make handy scoops for stews and saucy curries. I dreamed of eating freshly cooked rotis alongside steaming bowls of fragrant spiced dal and then using the leftovers the next day to wrap anything from scrambled eggs to butter and jam. But I was getting ahead of myself because, after several attempts, my rotis were still rubbish. The recipes were simple—just mix flour (traditionally the South Asian whole-wheat flour chakki atta),…

South Asia’s Everyday Bread

Many Hands Shape Ma’amoul

Years ago, as Laila Daoud recalls, the women in her neighborhood would spend the days leading up to Easter in their salons (the biggest room in the home), immersed in ma’amoul production. Daoud, a Jordanian home cook, remembers aunts, mothers, and daughters seated on a floor covered with blankets, dividing hills of orange blossom water– and rose water–scented semolina dough into walnut-size pieces. As the golden portions were passed from one pair of hands to another, they were shaped into disks, wrapped around a spiced date or nut filling, rolled until smooth, and gently pressed into an intricately carved wooden mold called a qalab. The woman at the end of the line would tap the qalab against a low table, releasing the imprinted treasure into her palm. When there was…

Many Hands Shape Ma’amoul

The Best Multipurpose Spray Cleaners

As their name suggests, multipurpose spray cleaners (also labeled “all-purpose” or “multi-surface” cleaning sprays) are intended to be versatile. They’re designed to work on a variety of surfaces in your home, from kitchen counters to stovetops to bathroom sinks. To accomplish this goal, they use chemicals from three main categories: surfactants, solvents, and buffering agents. Surfactants alter the tension at the surfaces where water and grease or soil meet, allowing solvents (usu-ally water) to penetrate and loosen stains. Buffering agents (also called pH adjusters) help stabilize the cleaning product. They balance out the pH of the spray’s components to a level that will be effective at fighting grease and soils. By stabilizing pH, these ingredients help the sprays clean a variety of messes. We talked to industrial chemists, laboratory scientists, and public…

The Best Multipurpose Spray Cleaners

All About Hoisin Sauce

Hoisin sauce (haixianjiang) was one of the first Chinese pantry staples to make a foray into mainstream American cooking. It’s fruity, tangy, and savory with a hint of spice. Its name means “seafood sauce” in Chinese, but today’s hoisin sauce doesn’t contain any seafood nor is it explicitly used for cooking seafood. How did hoisin sauce become such a versatile and iconic ingredient, and what should you know when you shop for it? “Because hoisin was one of the first Chinese sauces to become widely available in America, it has stood in for other ingredients over the years.” The History of Hoisin Sauce It’s believed hoisin sauce originated in Guangdong (also known as Canton) Province, China. People from older generations in Guangdong Province recall buying hoisin sauce from street vendors selling it in…

All About Hoisin Sauce

OUR HOISIN SAUCE LINEUP

OUR FAVORITES SUPERMARKET STANDOUT 1 KIKKOMAN Hoisin Sauce PRICE: $6.86 for 9.4 oz ($0.92 per oz) COMMENTS: This “bright and tangy” sauce struck “the right balance of sweet and savory” and reminded some tasters of “roasted fruit.” It was “thick” and “the slightest bit grainy” when sampled plain but whisked easily into a marinade and glaze. We could taste “five spice” on the char siu and loved that it was “pleasantly sweet but not cloying.” The meat was “perfectly caramelized.” MAIL-ORDER FAVORITE 2 GUANGWEI YUAN Hoisin Sauce PRICE: $12.00 for 9 oz ($1.33 per oz) COMMENTS: This extra-nuanced sauce had some interesting ingredients, including tomato and red yeast rice. The former gave the sauce “fruity” notes that reminded a few tasters of plums, and the latter made char siu a touch more red and vibrant. It…

OUR HOISIN SAUCE LINEUP

INGREDIENT NOTES

What Is Savoy Cabbage? Savoy cabbage (named for France’s Savoy region) is a mild member of the Brassica genus composed of slightly elastic dark to light green, lacy leaves. Savoy is a relatively dry cabbage—it is about 88 percent water, while red and green cabbages are about 93 percent water—so it stands up well in moist heat applications such as soups and stews. The resilient leaves are also ideal for stuffing and braising. If you’re swapping Savoy in for red or green cabbage in a recipe such as coleslaw, we recommend adding more liquid to account for the cabbage’s lack of moisture. And we’d advise staying away from applications such as roasting, as the leaves can become tough and chewy in dry heat. –E.H. Turn Fermented Black Beans into an Umami-Rich All-Purpose…

INGREDIENT NOTES

Five Twists on a Dirty Martini A splash of olive brine is one way to “dirty” a martini with tantalizing salinity, but what about the other brines you might have in the fridge? We mixed up martinis with brines from capers, feta cheese, cornichons, and preserved lemons as well as pickled onions, banana peppers, and jalapeños. We rejected the caper brine, which added unexpected fruity flavors we didn’t like, along with the pickled onion brine, which was too acidic without enough salinity. But the other brines found enthusiastic fans. The feta brine’s lactic acid added appealing smoothness; the preserved lemon brine contributed deep lemony flavor without the harshness of fresh citrus; and the cornichon brine brought pleasant herbal notes. The standouts, though, were the banana pepper and jalapeño brines, which added…

EQUIPMENT CORNER

Personal Blenders The best personal blenders are intuitive to use, make great smoothies, and allow for easy transport. Our winning personal blender was discontinued, so we tested a few new models. Our new winner is the Beast Health Blender. While pricey, this sleek blender wowed us with its ability to quickly turn kale and frozen pineapple into luscious smoothies and effortlessly incorporate chopped herbs into a smooth dressing. It’s relatively quiet and comes with three leakproof lids for various occasions: a travel lid that was easy to drink from, a lid with a handle loop for easy carrying, and a closed lid that felt secure when jostled in a backpack. We had to stir milkshakes halfway through for the ingredients to fully incorporate. Its jar took a little more attention to…

EQUIPMENT CORNER

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