Cooking — and losing myself in the pages of cookbooks that dive into cuisines from around the world — has been the closest I’ve come to traveling this year. Not only has that been a delicious consolation, but the incredible recipes I’ve found will be mine forever: to execute faithfully or to riff on endlessly, making them my own. It’s nearly as much fun reliving them in the retelling as it was to discover them the first time.
Part I of this story ran through five of my new-found faves — dishes that come from China, India, Palestine, France and Savannah, Georgia. The next five dishes criss-cross the globe, with stops in Japan, Vietnam, Mexico, the Levant and the globally expansive mind of chef José Andres.
Okonomiyaki from Sonoko Sakai’s ‘Japanese Home Cooking’
Sonoko Sakai’s wonderful Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors showed us the way to turn out reliably fabulous okonomiyaki — the bespoke, bonito-flake-festooned savory pancake that’s got umami written all over it. We reviewed the book in June.
The crazy pancake begins life as a thin batter of flour, egg, milk, baking soda and salt, to which you add shredded cabbage, bell pepper and scallion. Into a hot, oiled skillet it goes. Let it brown a moment, add shrimp, flip it and finish cooking. Paint with tonkatsu sauce (the recipe supplies that too), shower with katsuobushi (bonito flakes), scatter with scallions and crumbled nori and serve.
Why we love cooking it: It’s eminently riffable; “okonomiyaki” means “as you like it.” Add bacon, swap the shrimp for crab or other seafood, add a squirt of Kewpie mayo. Watching the thick, luscious pancake cook to golden brown then flipping it is terrifically satisfying. The bonito flakes are so thin they seem to come alive on top, waving around from the heat of the pancake, so it’s a show-stopper at the table.
Carne Guisada and Homemade Flour Tortillas from Josef Centeno’s ‘Amá’
When the French person at the table declares, “This is even better than beef bourguignon” and the only other sounds in the room are groans of gustatory pleasure, you know you’ve got a keeper. We’ve got a review of chef Josef Centeno’s Amá: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen in the works (it’ll be published soon); this dish is a preview. If his Carne Guisada doesn’t exactly look modern, that’s because it’s not: It’s straight-ahead San Antonio soul food. Following Centeno’s lead, we wrap it in a home-made flour tortilla (recipe included), and proceed directly to heaven.
Why we love cooking it: It’s a classic braise, super easy to achieve, that slow-cooks for hours and fills the house with a gorgeous aroma. While it’s finishing, making flour tortillas by hand (including mixing the batter without a mixer) is primally satisfying, and easier than expected.
Rice Noodle Salad from Andrea Nguyen’s Vietnamese Food Every Day
Andrea Nguyen’s Rice Noodle Salad Bowl topped with grilled pork skewers
It was love at first nuoc-cham-drenched bite, and we’ve since made the Rice Noodle Salad Bowl from Andrea Nguyen’s Vietnamese Food Every Day four or five times. Partly that’s because it’s more than anything a “blueprint” dish (Nguyen’s description), a base designed to accept skewered grilled meat, chicken or shrimp, marinated grilled tofu, simple sautéed fish — whatever you like, whenever you’re craving that nuoc-cham tang and a pile of fresh herbs. A couple days ago, when we found ourselves with odds and ends of leftover sashimi and crabmeat from a roll-your-own sushi evening the previous night and a gorgeous bouquet of herbs our friends had grown, that all went on top of rice noodles, salad greens, shaved cucumber.
Why we love to cook it: Skewers or grilling aside, it’s really about assembling and arranging, so it’s a lovely chance to show off your food styling skills (which inevitably leads to an Instagram post or Snapchat peek). Dressing it with tangy, salty, chile-hot nuoc cham brings a giant flavor payoff.
Dancing Eggplant from José André’s ‘Vegetables Unleashed’
Eggplant topped with bonito flakes (katsuobushi) that seem to dance, from José Andrés’ Vegetables Unleashed
Katsuobushi (bonito flakes) strikes again — this time dancing on top of ingenious microwaved eggplant brushed with ginger-soy sauce. The effect is so delightful with a Japanese beer or glass of cold sake, it inspired us to turn a prearranged video chat with friends into Zoom Izakaya Hour. We included the recipe in an August review of Vegetables Unleashed by José Andrés.
Why we love cooking it: That sauce, which comes together in 5 minutes. We just want to paint it on everything.
Stuffed Zucchini with Pine Nut Salsa from ‘Ottolenghi Simple’
Seasonal zucchini disorder — that time of year when summer squash invades your immune system and produce bin — sent us looking for the most inspired zucchini recipes. Predictably, we fell into Yotam Ottolenghi’s clutches. Unpredictably, the captive eaters — who had already OD’d on zucchini — went mad for this. Anyone have a bumper crop? Try this.
Why we love cooking it: You get to crush the cherry tomatoes with your hands.