18 Reasons Beetroot Apple soup that I garnished with a little parsley.
Ilona Kossoff was running a commercial real estate company with her husband, when she decided to enroll in the Cornell University healthy living nutrition certification program, a move that would change the trajectory of her life.
As someone who suffered from digestive issues and followed a mostly plant-based diet, she decided to combine her new-found knowledge with her love of cooking soups.
Chances are this will be the most unique lasagna you’ve ever sunk your teeth into.
That’s because in this version, the classic Italian dish veers Chinese — big-time.
The expected wide, frilly noodles with tomato sauce, abundant ground pork, and loads of stretchy cheese are there. But so are numbing Sichuan peppercorns, spicy chili oil, fragrant five-spice powder, and salty, funky preserved mustard greens.
Meet you new bestie, “Dan Dan Lasagna.”
This inventive recipe is from “Kung Food” (Clarkson Potter, 2023), of which I received a review copy. It was written by culinary content creator, and TikTok, YouTube and Instagram sensation, Jon Kung.
Born in Los Angeles, raised in Hong Kong and Toronto, and now living in Detroit, he pivoted from hosting pop-ups during the pandemic to growing a social media presence. His food emanates from what he calls his third-culture kitchen, seasoned and flavored by his personal experience as the child of immigrants who grew up in a new culture adopted by his parents. Feeling neither wholly American or Chinese, Kung considers his cooking American Chinese, or Third-Culture Chinese, a blend unique to his own upbringing.
The result is a collection of 100 recipes that tantalize with fun and flair, such as “SELT (Spam, Egg, Lettuce, and Tomato)” sandwich, “Spaghetti and Lion’s Head Meatballs,” “A Clay Pot Inspired By Jollof Rice,” “Hong Kong Chicken and Waffles,” and “Chile Chipotle Mango Pudding.”
London-based Fuchsia Dunlop has long been one of my favorite writers — and speakers. The first Westerner to train as a chef at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine, she is fluent in speaking, writing, and reading Chinese. Her knowledge of the foods of every region in China is bar none.
In her newest book, of which I received a review copy, the four-time James Beard Award-winning cookbook author explores the historical, philosophical, and technical aspects of the vast range of Chinese food by presenting a literary banquet of 30 dishes. Each chapter hones in on one particular regional dish, serving up not only its origins and the importance of its ingredients, but the food producers, farmers, chefs, and home cooks who have put their indelible stamp on it.
Chile relleno stuffed with basmati rice and lamb at Movida.
There is Mexican food.
And there is Persian food.
Thanks to the new Movida Lounge in San Francisco’s South of Market District, there is now Persian-Mexican cuisine, too.
At first thought, you might think this a puzzling head scratcher. But reflect further, and you’ll realize that over the past decade, all manner of cuisines have been folded up and tucked into tacos and burritos, most notably Korean fare at Los Angeles’ ground-breaking Kogi Korean BBQ truck. So, smoky kebabs and Middle Eastern dips enveloped in tortillas, especially ones that also incorporate rice like they do here, aren’t so farfetched after all.
Especially when you learn that after Co-Owner Bobby Marhamat’s parents immigrated from Iran to Nebraska, they ended up buying a Mexican restaurant to operate. And naturally, the two cuisines started to meld at home.
The dining room has a lounge-like feel.
Movida is an outgrowth of that. Or as his wife and Co-Owner Shima Marhamat explains, “We took A and B — and created C.”
Chicken stew with fluffy dumplings made with rye flour.
It may be Lunar New Year, when all eyes and stomachs turn to devouring dumplings for their pouch-like shape that signifies fortune and prosperity.
Me? As someone who considers themself inclusive, I endorse broadening that range, After all, I don’t think I’ve ever met a dumpling of any origin that I didn’t like.
That’s especially true when it comes to “Chicken & Rye Dumplings.”
This is a seriously comforting dish, one with a soulful poultry taste, substantial amounts of veggies like homemade “Chunky Soup,” and a raft of fluffy, nutty tasting dumplings galore.
You’ll find more than 450 recipes for beans and grains, those economical, nutritious, and versatile staples that do a body good, especially when combined together for a punch of protein-packed carbs.
