recipes

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

12 oz soft or firm tofu

4 dried shiitake mushrooms or use fresh

10 g wood ear mushrooms

1 small carrot, shredded

3 oz bamboo shoots (in chili oil, optionally)

5 oz water chestnuts

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

3 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon mushroom seasoning/powder

6 cups of water (can use water from mushroom soaking) plus more for cornstarch slurry

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons vinegar (white vinegar, rice vinegar or Chiangking black vinegar, or a combination)

Method

Prepare the mushrooms: Place dried shiitake and wood ear mushrooms in separate bowls and soak them in water until soft. If you are using fresh Shiitake mushrooms, skip this step.

Once the mushrooms are soft, squeeze out the water. Keep the mushrooms water for later. Cut the mushrooms into thin strips. For wood ear mushrooms, remove the tough ends before slicing.

Next, heat a 5-quart pan and add a tablespoon of oil. Sauté mushrooms and carrots until the mushrooms release their aroma. Add the wood ear mushrooms and bamboo shoots, then stir-fry for a few seconds over medium-low heat.

Swirl in the soy sauce around the side of the pan and quickly stir the mixture to combine. Mix the mushrooms water in water to make 6 cups of liquid, then add to the pot.

Season with ground white pepper, Shaoxing wine, sugar, and mushroom seasoning. Give the mixture a quick stir and add the tofu and water chestnuts.

Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for another minute or so. Taste and season if needed.

Now, mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of water until well combined. Add this thick slurry into the soup while stirring continuously. The soup should start to thicken by now. If not, add more cornstarch slurry.

Turn off the heat and swirl in the vinegar.

You can top with chopped scallions, chili flakes or oil, sesame oil, or wonton strips.

(Around 35 pães de queijo)

Ingredients

• 250 g sour manioc starch (known in Portuguese as polvilho azedo)
• 150 g regular manioc starch (Bob’s red mill is a good option, but I prefer the Brazilian brands because it’s milled a bit less finely) (this starch is also known as polvilho doce)
• Salt to taste – start with ½ teaspoon
• 20 g salted butter
• 55 ml canola oil (corn oil or sunflower also works)
• 300 ml whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 220 g canastra cheese, or sharp cheddar, or castelo da serra, or a delicious alpine cheese, or comte!! Use some kind of firm, semi-cured or cured, flavorful and not too salty cheese here.
• 110 g parmesan cheese (grated)

Method

Bring the milk, the butter, and the oil to a boil. In parallel, sieve the starches and the salt through a strainer into a mixer bowl (ideally you should use a stand mixer here, but if you want to exercise you can also mix by hand). Pour the hot liquid over the starch mix and, with the paddle attachment, mix the dough on high speed until you get a fondant-like texture. Next, add one egg at a time, making sure to incorporate them well into the “fondant” as you go. You should end up with a cohesive, slightly shiny dough. Add the cheese mix and run the mixer again until everything looks properly combined. Pinch the dough and check for the salt: add a bit more if needed and mix some more. Make little balls (the pães de queijo!) and bake at 350F from 25 to 35 minutes. I like my cheese balls to weigh 33g because Jesus died at 33.

This is more of a method to make compound butters with any fruit paste. Buriti is a Brazilian fruit that is likely impossible to be found in the US, so we recommend that you try it with date or guava paste. Membrillo also works very well.

Ingredients

1lb salted butter

1/2lb fruit paste, cut into mid-sized cubes

2 tbsp powdered milk (optional)

Method

In a saucepan, melt the butter and keep cooking until it gets brown and stops sizzling. If you’re using powdered milk, add it to the brown butter now: it increases the percentage of lactose in the butter, contributing to a more intense “brown butter” flavor. Next, add the fruit paste to the pan and let it melt completely. Transfer the mix to a bowl and let it cool down until it solidifies (use the fridge to speed up this part if you want). With a whisk or in a mixer, whip the fruit butter until it gets fluffy and aerated – don’t overmix otherwise it can melt or break.

(Serves 6)

We hope that this pozole rojo will warm you up during this cold and long winter. While this pozole takes some time and planning, it is well worth it. What is also remarkable is that the “rojo” comes solely from the puree’d peppers and no tomato product whatsoever.

Ingredients

• 3 cans (15 oz) white hominy, drained, rinsed
• 2 ½ quarts vegetable broth
• 5 chile guajillo, dried, stemmed and seeded
• 2 chile ancho, dried, stemmed and seeded
• 5 chile de árbol, dried, stemmed and seeded
• 6 cloves garlic
• ½ onion, white
• 2 cans (20oz/ea) young green jackfruit brine, drained
• 1 zucchini, medium, cut into dice

Method

In a large pot, combine the vegetable broth and hominy and bring to a low simmer.

While the hominy is simmering, remove stems and seeds from the chile ancho, arbol, and guajillo. Rinse and place in a medium pot with water. Bring pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 min.

Drain chiles, but reserve 1 ½ cups of the chile water. Place chiles, garlic and onion in the blender, add the chile water and blend until smooth. Strain.

To prepare the jackfruit, drain the jackfruit, rinse, and pat with paper towels. Cut out the core of the jackfruit, and cut pieces in half. Heat oil in a large sauté pan set to medium heat. Add the jackfruit and cook for 3 -4 minutes on each side or until it begins to brown. Pour the chile sauce over the jackfruit and reduce heat to low-medium. Simmer for 10 minutes or until jackfruit begins to break down and the sauce has thickened slightly. Use a fork to shred the jackfruit as it cooks down. Season with salt and pepper.

Your hominy should still be simmering very slowly. Scoop out one cup of the hominy-vegetable stock mixture and blend until smooth. Pour this back into the pot with the hominy.

Raise heat to medium-low, and add the zucchini and shredded jackfruit with sauce. Let simmer for 8- 10 minutes or until the zucchini is tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Serve your pozole with optional toppings, such as radishes, oregano, green cabbage, lime juice, or tortilla strips.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• One 28-ounce can Italian tomatoes, chopped, 1 cup juice reserved
• 1 pound swiss chard or spinach (we used chard), thick stems discarded
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method

In a medium saucepan, cover the chickpeas with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chickpeas are tender, about 2 hours; add more water as necessary to maintain the level. Alternatively, you can pressure cook the soaked chickpeas (we did and do!). Drain the chickpeas and reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. In a medium casserole, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, rosemary and bay leaf and cook over moderate heat until the onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook over moderately high heat until sizzling, about 4 minutes. Add the cooked chickpeas, their reserved cooking water, and the tomato juice and bring to a simmer. Stir in half of the swiss chard/spinach and cook until wilted, then stir in the remaining spinach. Simmer over moderately low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Puchero tastes better if you serve it one day later. Reheat gently.

(Serves 16)

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried adzuki beans
• 8 cups water
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon orange zest
• 2-3 tablespoons tapioca pearls

Method

Rinse the beans under cold water. Then, soak the beans in water for at least 8 hours (overnight). Drain the beans and transfer to a medium-sized pot. Add 6 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 1 hour. Over the course of the hour, add an additional 2 cups of water as needed. When the beans look soft and broken down, use an immersion blender to blend until the beans are just broken up–it shouldn’t be completely smooth (unless that’s your preference–you’re the cook here!). You can also transfer to a blender and pulse a few times until you achieve your desired consistency.

Transfer the blended mixture back to the pot. If you like a soupier consistency, feel free to add additional water at this stage until you reach your desired consistency. Add the sugar and orange zest. Stir over medium to medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar. The mixture should bubble very gently.

Next, add the tapioca. Cook for 20 minutes until the tapioca pearls become translucent. Some recipes recommend cooking the tapioca separately, but it works just fine to add them directly to the soup. When the tapioca pearls are totally translucent, it’s ready to serve.

(8-10 servings)

Ingredients

• 1 gallon oat milk
• 1 quart cold brew coffee or espresso*
• 1 pint sweet and sour roasted cherry syrup**

Method

Mix all the ingredients with a lot of ice. Drink it before it gets too watery as the ice melts.

* More than that masks the cherry flavor, but if you need more caffeine go for it.

** The star of the show is this syrup. Combine 1 pint of sour cherries and 1 pint of sweet cherries with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a sauce pan. If you have mahlab at home, throw in two tbsps (we used it). Bring this mix to a boil and then down to a gentle simmer until the cherries are falling apart. Let it cool down a little, strain it well, and add 1/2 tsp of almond extract to it: more than that masks the cherry flavor and errs towards marzipan territory too much. We roasted the cherries first but frankly it makes no noticeable difference. Save gas and go with the sauce pan.

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked white rice
• ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
• ¼ cup gochujang
• ¼ cup napa cabbage kimchi juice, plus 16 ounces kimchi, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)*
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 large onion, cut into medium dice
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 20 grams roasted seaweed, crushed

Method

Make your rice; we used a rice cooker.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, gochujang, kimchi juice, soy sauce and sugar. Season generously with salt, then stir in the chopped kimchi and onion. Add the cooked rice, butter and seaweed and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt.

Transfer the rice mixture to a large rimmed sheet pan and spread out loosely. Bake until the top of the rice is crispy and chewy but not burned, 25 to 30 minutes, opening the oven door halfway through to check on it.

*We made our own kimchi by following this Maangchi recipe for vegetarian/vegan kimchi.

The basic recipe of this omits the last three ingredients, but most chefs use their own [secret] variation of umami-boosting ingredients.  This version was what we used for Fiber:

Ingredients

• 1 large head green cabbage (approx. 1300g)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (possibly more to taste)
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup toasted white sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Yuzu Kosho
• 1 package Shio Kombu, diced into tiny pieces (We used the Ume flavored package, which doesn’t have bonito flakes)
• 1 jar Kizami Beni Shoga, drained

Method

– Cut the cabbage into small, postage-stamp-sized pieces.

– With a mortar and pestle grind the garlic with the salt, then add the sesame seeds and grind up as well.  It doesn’t have to be a puree.

– Combine this mixture with the rest of the ingredients to make the dressing, then add to cabbage and toss.

– Can be eaten right away or within a couple of days, otherwise it may start to ferment!

(Serves 8 cups)

This is a great dairy-free base recipe for horchata; you can adjust the spices and flavors accordingly or add whatever else you want. For Fiber, we added oat milk to increase the volume, but you can go without.

Ingredients

• 8 cups water, divided
• 1 cup long grain rice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3/4 cup simple syrup – boil 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water and let cool
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Soak the rice and cinnamon sticks in 4 cups of water overnight or for at least 8 hours.

After soaking, pour everything into a blender. If it is large enough, add 4 more cups of water. If your blender isn’t large enough, you can add the additional water after straining.

Blend on high for 2-3 minutes, or until the rice has pulverized into a fine powder.

Strain the horchata using a fine mesh strainer and cheese cloth. Discard the rice and cinnamon. Add the additional 4 cups of water at this time, if you didn’t already add it to your blender.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Add the simple syrup and mix thoroughly.

Pour over ice and enjoy!

(2 cups)

Uses up a shit ton of zucchini and melts it all down into a little jar. You can eat this on literally anything, or just straight with a spoon.

Ingredients

• ~2 pounds zucchini
• 1/4 cup olive oil or butter
• 2 minced shallots
• 2 minced garlic gloves
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper

Method

Coarsely grate the zucchini. Let it drain in a colander for a few min. Then, squeeze or press out the excess water.

In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil/butter. Sauté the shallots and garlic on medium heat until deeply browned. Add the brown sugar and allow to melt.

Add the zucchini and toss. Cook and stir over medium to medium-high heat until the zucchini reaches a spreadable consistency. The zucchini will hold its bright green color and slowly caramelize into a nice vegetable jam.

Add salt, pepper, and juice from 1 lemon to taste.

(for 1 1/2 quarts)

Since it’s peach season for awhile, get the ripest, most local peaches you can.

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled and sliced peaches, about 5-6 peaches
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• Juice of 1 large lemon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cardamom extract
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tsp salt

Method

In a large bowl, combine the sliced peaches, sugars, lemon juice and extracts. Stir to combine and allow to sit for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sugars have dissolved and the peaches are juicy.

Place peach mixture in a blender or food processor and pulse until the peaches are broken down but not totally pureed – some small chunks of peaches are ok. Add in the heavy cream and mix to combine.

Pour the mixture into an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or even overnight.

When base is chilled, follow manufacturer’s directions for churning in your ice cream maker. Once churned, place in an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze for a few hours to harden before serving.

(for one 9×13 inch baking pan)

This Torta de Abobrinha is like baking 101, so don’t fear.  This is real Brazilian home cooking from the 1970s-1990s, which you’d probably eat for lunch after coming home from school and before you did your homework.  

Ingredients

• 2 grated medium zucchinis, squeezed to remove excess water
• 1 chopped medium onion
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup minced parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped black olives
• 1 chopped medium tomato (seeds and excess juice removed)
• 3 lightly beaten eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• Oil and flour for greasing and flouring the pan

Method

Preheat oven to 400F.

Prep the pan by rubbing with vegetable shortening and a fine layer of flour, shaking out excess.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, adding baking powder last, then pour into the pan and bake for 30 minutes or until it sets. It should be solid, but still creamy.

(4-6 servings)

Here’s Angee’s beloved Takeout-Style Sesame Noodles. It’s simple, delicious, easy to tweak to your preference, and easy to scale up for a crowd. You just blitz the sauce in a blender and pour it over some cooked noodles, and that’s it. Chef’s tip, you can quadruple this if you need to feed ravers!

Ingredients

• 1 pound noodles – you can use dried spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sesame paste
• 1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons chile-garlic paste, chile crisp or chile oil
• Half a cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into matchsticks
• ¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts
• Cilantro to garnish/to taste

Method

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until barely tender, about 5 minutes. They should retain a hint of chewiness. Drain noodles, rinse with cold water, drain again and toss with a splash of sesame oil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons sesame oil, the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame paste, peanut butter, sugar, ginger, garlic and chile-garlic paste. Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss.

Transfer to a serving bowl, and garnish with cucumber, peanuts, and cilantro.