Category Archives: Asian Recipes

The Oven Does All the Work For Slow-Cooked Beef Ribs in Korean BBQ Sauce

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English-cut beef ribs go Korean-style in this easy recipe in which your oven does all the work.
English-cut beef ribs go Korean-style in this easy recipe in which your oven does all the work.

Consider this devilishly good dish the savory equivalent of a “dump cake.”

Instead of a boxed cake mix dumped over canned fruit in a pan, “Slow-Cooked Beef Ribs in Korean BBQ Sauce” is basically beefy ribs plopped into a pan with a robust mix of minced garlic, ketchup, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, and Korean fermented pepper paste known as gochujang.

There’s no need to sear the beef ribs beforehand, either. Just lay them in the sauce in the pan, slide into the oven, and practically forget about it for the next 6 hours.

The beef will emerge so tender that it falls off the bone, and the meat juices will have melded into the sauce, making it even more delectable.

This super simple recipe is from “RecipeTin Eats Dinner” (Countryman Press, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

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Andrea Nguyen’s Char Siu Roasted Cauliflower

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All the sweet, smoky, familiar taste of Chinese char siu -- but done with cauliflower instead.
The sweet, smoky, familiar taste of Chinese char siu — but done with cauliflower instead.

Admittedly, I’d grown a little weary of cauliflower.

Not that I don’t love this brassica’s crunch and subtle nutty sweetness. But after so many recipes for ricing, pizza crust-making, and roasting whole and every which way, I kinda had my fill.

Then, along comes the spectacular and unbelievably easy “Char Siu Roasted Cauliflower” to make me appreciate it all over again.

This clever vegetarian riff on the classic Chinese barbecue pork comes from my friend and colleague, Santa Cruz’s Andrea Nguyen, of course. It’s one of 125 recipes in her wonderful new “Ever-Green Vietnamese” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy.

As she writes in the book’s forward, she — or rather her body — “hit a wall” as she was turning 50 in 2019. No surprise, the older we get, the more we begin to experience real changes in our bodies. In our 20s, we are lucky to get away with devouring most anything without a second thought. But in our 40s, 50s, and beyond, the digestive system starts to rebel more and the calories make themselves way too much at home.

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Most Excellent Sweet Potato Rolls with Miso

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Sweet potatoes, maple syrup, and white miso make these rolls unforgettable.
Sweet potatoes, maple syrup, and white miso make these rolls unforgettable.

Imagine warm Parker House-like rolls, as soft and yielding as the plushest down pillow — only made anew with the additions of sweet potatoes, a touch of maple syrup, and white miso.

Yes, miso.

Slightly sweet, subtly briny-salty, sensationally savory, and brazenly buttery, they are everything you want in a roll — plus more.

“Sweet Potato Rolls with Miso” is from “Delectable” (Random House, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

It’s the latest cookbook by renowned Pastry Chef Claudia Fleming, a veteran of New York City’s Union Square Cafe, Montrachet, Tribeca Grill, and Gramercy Tavern, as well as Fauchon in Paris. It was written in collaboration with Catherine Young, a former Saveur editor, who has cooked at New York restaurants, including Tribeca Grill, where she and Fleming met.

Fleming is a pastry chef’s pastry chef, revered by those in the industry, but also beloved by home bakers for her straightforward, thoughtful, and do-able recipes.

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Andy Baraghani’s Salt & Pepper Cod with Turmeric Noodles

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A tangle of rice noodles, a mound of tender fish, and a zesty-spicy Asian sauce make this an unforgettable dish.
A tangle of rice noodles, a mound of tender fish, and a zesty-spicy Asian sauce make this an unforgettable dish.

Like cilantro, dill can be one divisive herb.

You either love cherish its distinctive taste or avoid it all costs.

If like me, you’re in the former camp, then you will much enjoy “Salt & Pepper Cod with Turmeric Noodles,” which features more than one cup of the feathery herb with the unmistakable sweet, grassy, anise taste.

The recipe is from the outstanding cookbook, “The Cook You Want to Be” (Lorena Jones Books, 2022) by Andy Baraghani, the food writer, recipe developer, and former Bon Appetit magazine food editor who cooked at Chez Panisse.

Take it from me: The cook you want to be is the one who makes this straightforward Vietnamese noodle dish. It’s a riff on one Baraghani fell for in Hanoi, especially with its liberal use of dill and turmeric, flavorings so familiar to him from his Persian heritage.

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Praise for Braised Winter Melon

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Juicy, cucumber-like chunks of winter melon get braised gently in this easy dish.
Juicy, cucumber-like chunks of winter melon get braised gently in this easy dish.

Some ingredients like caviar and truffles are unabashedly luxe.

Others like celery decidedly relegated — rightly or wrongly — to mundane.

Winter melon, though, is that rarity that falls equally into high- and low-brow camps.

Like tomatoes, these huge green-skinned melons, which can grow as large as 40 pounds, are actually a fruit that’s most often treated as a vegetable.

As a kid, I still have memories of many a Chinese restaurant Lunar New Year banquet at this time of year, where a waiter would gingerly carry a heaving half winter melon to the Lazy Susan on our table. Its skin would be intricately carved with Chinese characters for a grand presentation and its chasm filled to the brim with bubbling soup fortified with ginko nuts, shredded dried scallops, and the melon’s flesh. It was the epitome of special occasion.

In contrast, I also fondly remember my mom regularly making a much simpler version at home, cutting the melon into chunks to simmer in canned chicken broth with slivers of ginger, and sometimes a little bit of pork or chicken. It was not only an economical way to stretch a meal, but her way of trying to ward off colds and flus, as winter melon is high in Vitamin C.

Whether prepared fancifully or frugally, winter melon is a taste of home for me.

Even though it can be prepared many ways, including in candy and poached in a dessert soup, I’ve mostly had it in savory soups. That’s why this recipe for “Braised Winter Melon” immediately caught my eye as a novel method I just had to try.

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