Category Archives: Asian Recipes

Low-and-Slow Spiced Chicken Legs with Garlic Crunch-Crumbs

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Chicken leg quarters roast in the oven in an unusual method.
Chicken leg quarters roast in the oven in an unusual method.

When it comes to battered, fried foods, I often think the best part is the little bits of golden, crunchy crumbs that fall off, which get eaten with your fingers with no shame, just total abandon.

If you’re with me on that, then you’ll go crazy for “Low-and-Slow Spiced Chicken Legs with Garlic Crunch-Crumbs.”

Because crunch crumbs — galore.

The recipe is from “That Sounds So Good’ (Clarkson Potter, 2021), of which I received a review copy, by Brooklyn’s Carla Lalli Music, former food director of Bon Appetit magazine, and founder of “Carla’s Cooking Show.”

The book includes 100 recipes for weekday and weekend fare, each helpfully complete with suggested ingredient swaps, in case you don’t want to run to the store for something you don’t have on hand or if just want to shake things up a bit.

For instance, “Pasta with Cacio e Walnut” can be made with Pecorino Romano or aged Gouda instead of the original Manchego; or almonds or pistachios can stand in for the walnuts. In “Grilled Squid with Blackened Tomatoes,” sea scallops or large peeled shrimp can be used instead of squid; and fennel seeds can trade places with the original cumin and coriander seeds. If the “Vanilla-Brown Butter Pear Tart” has caught your eye, but it’s not pear season, then use Pink Lady or Granny Smith apples; or peaches, nectarines or plums with a smidge of cornstarch to thicken their juices.

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The Best of Both Worlds In Charred Carrot Soup with Miso

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The oven does most of the work in this easy soup that delivers real bang for the buck.
The oven does most of the work in this easy soup that delivers real bang for the buck.

As much as I love miso soup, I sometimes wish it was more substantial in body.

And as much as I enjoy carrot soup, I often wish it weren’t so one-note.

Now comes “Charred Carrot Soup with Miso” for the win.

It is indeed the marriage of carrot soup and miso soup that results in perfect harmony and happiness.

This superlative soup is from the new Food52 Big Little Recipes: Good Food with Minimal Ingredients and Maximal Flavor” (Ten Speed Press, 2021), of which I received a review copy. It was written by Emma Laperruque, the food editor at Food52.

As the title implies, this collection of recipes is all about making the most of a handful of ingredients to draw out deep, true flavors.

The beauty of this book is that it’s the way most of us want to cook at home, relying on a few staples to get food on the table with little fuss but loads of satisfaction. You’ll find just that in recipes such as “Rigatoni with Corn Sauce and Sizzled Corn,” “Braised Brisket with Forty Cloves of Garlic,” “Pork Tenderloin with Buttery Kimchi & Apples,” and “Low-Maintenance Oatmeal Cookies.”

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Spicy Lamb Dumplings

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Home-made wrappers envelope a filling of cumin-scented lamb.
Home-made wrappers envelope a filling of cumin-scented lamb.

I’ve always had utmost respect for the cooks at Chinese restaurants, who huddle over a counter, rolling out perfectly thin circles of dough, one right after another, before crimping them with mind-blogging precision to turn out handmade dumplings quicker than I can take a breath.

But I have even more appreciation for their mad skills now, having tried my hand at making my own dumpling wrappers for the very first time.

Ever since I was a kid making wonton, gyoza and potstickers alongside my mom, we’d always make the filling from scratch, but buy the pre-made wrappers from an Asian market.

With the start of the Lunar New Year this week in yet another pandemic month, I figured now would be as good a time as any to finally check off that box in the annals of dumpling-making.

“Let’s Make Dumplings!” (Ten Speed Press, 2021), of which I received a review copy, proved a perfect resource for that undertaking.

It’s a comic book cookbook — yes, really — by cookbook writer Hugh Amano and illustrator Sarah Becan.

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The Cutest Ever Hot Dog Flower Buns

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A genius Asian take on pigs in a blanket.
A genius Asian take on pigs in a blanket.

Before my love for B. Patisserie, Arsicault, and other modern-day baking meccas took hold, there was my childhood infatuation with Chinatown bakeries.

I remember the stacks of pink boxes on their counters, and the mesmerizing machine that would automatically wrap candy-cane colored twine around them in a blink of an eye.

I remember the bustle of customers queuing to place orders, as I scurried underfoot to get a closer look at the glass cases of golden custard tarts; glossy double-crust apple pies; squishy steamed sponge cakes; and airy layer cakes covered in ethereal whipped cream, strawberries and mandarin orange segments.

So, when I heard that the Bay Area’s Kristina Cho was writing a cookbook inspired by the sweet and savory creations of Chinese bakeries, I couldn’t have been more excited to see get these wonderful and nostalgic treats finally get their due.

“Mooncakes & Milk Bread” (Harper Horizon), of which I received a review copy, did not disappoint.

Cho, a former architectural designer turned food blogger of Eat Cho Food, recipe developer, and cooking instructor has created a true love letter to these Chinatown bakeries.

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Marinara Pasta with Secret Sauce

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Italian marinara pasta with bread crumbs gets a splash of Vietnamese fish sauce for the win.
Italian marinara pasta with bread crumbs gets a splash of Vietnamese fish sauce for the win.

My dad probably was never aware of the concept of umami.

All he knew was that a splash of soy sauce imparted a magical touch to so many dishes — from homemade steak sauce to a marinade for prime rib to Thanksgiving gravy.

He’d reach for that bottle of soy sauce instinctively, knowing it would add depth of flavor and a boost of savoriness to most anything it touched.

In much the same way, Vietnamese fish sauce is as indispensable in the kitchen.

If you know the fermented condiment made from black anchovies and salt only from its use in the ubiquitous nuoc cham dipping sauce served alongside so many dishes at Vietnamese restaurants, you know merely a fraction of its uses.

Explore just how versatile fish sauce can be in the new cookbook, “The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook: Beloved Recipes from the Family Behind the Purest Fish Sauce” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by the East Bay’s Cuong Pham, the former Apple engineer who founded Red Boat Fish Sauce, the game-changing brand that’s beloved by legions of top chefs and home-cooks.

After immigrating to the United States, he hunted high and low for the ultra fragrant, deeply amber fish sauce of his youth. When he couldn’t find any brands here that met his standards, he created his own in 2011, sourcing wild black anchovies off the coast of Vietnam and combining them with nothing but salt in wooden barrels to ferment the age-old way. In doing so, he created a fish sauce celebrated for its purity of flavor with no additives, enhancers, or preservatives.

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