My Best 9 of 2020

I rounded up my best 9 photos from 2020 on Instagram—not based on the greatest number of likes received, but the photos that I was the most proud of this past year. Here’s a little more detail about the dishes in the photos I chose.

Gochujang Fried Chicken Bao

You can get ready-made lotus leaf bao at Asian supermarkets. I always have some handy in my freezer, and when I want to use them, I place them on pieces of parchment paper and steam them in my bamboo steamer.

To make the spicy fried chicken, I cut chicken thighs into small pieces and then coated them in a mixture of beaten egg and soy sauce, and then rolled them in corn starch. After deep frying, I tossed the crispy chicken pieces in this bottled sauce*, tucked them into the steamed bao, and garnished with sesame seeds and sliced scallions.

*This was a client’s product but this recipe was not sponsored.

Avocado and Burrata Toast

I made these celebratory toasts to mark the 2-year anniversary of my Instagram account. I used four-grain sourdough from an awesome little local bakery called Fox and Lion Bread. I topped them with:

• sliced avocado

• gobs of burrata

• pickled carrot ribbons (recipe here)

• curly scallions (slice scallions lengthwise and soak in iced water)

• pea shoots

• everything seasoning

• edible flowers from my backyard garden

Viet-Cajun-Inspired Vermicelli Bowl

Frozen shrimp became a stable in my freezer during lockdown, and I always keep rice vermicelli in my pantry. You can tell that I made this when I was really trying to limit my grocery trips and had run out of fresh garlic, because my nước chấm dressing features a last-resort use of bottled fried garlic that really was not the same. To assemble the rest of the bowl:

• Soak rice vermicelli in boiling water for 5 minutes. Rinse in cold water and drain.

• Pat shrimp dry and toss in cajun spices and a bit of brown sugar. Sear in a cast iron skillet on both sides to get that namesake blackened shrimp look.

• Prep your choice of herbs and greens. All of mine were grown in my garden! I used: mint, red shiso, sorrel, chard, mixed microgreens, and scallions.

• Add other produce odds and ends that you have on hand! I used cucumbers and pickled carrot ribbons (recipe here) because I had them.

Vegan Jackfruit Tacos & Homemade Pink Tortillas

To make corn tortillas from scratch, I simply follow the ratios from the tortilla recipe on the bag of Maseca brand masa harina**. For 8 pink tortillas, I combined 1 cup of white masa harina, 2/3 cup hot water, a pinch of salt, and a little bit of beetroot powder; kneaded it together; and rested under a damp towel for 20 minutes before I divided them evenly into 8 balls. I cut open a gallon-sized ziplock bag to use to prevent the dough from sticking to my tortilla press. This is the cast iron tortilla press I use**; I usually press and then rotate the dough a couple of times to get a nicely rounded, thin tortilla. Then I cook them on a super hot griddle pan.

Canned green jackfruit in brine or water is a common item in Asian supermarkets, but lately it has become so popular as a vegan shredded meat substitute that they even have it at Trader Joe’s. I don’t think it tastes like meat, but it does have a nice texture for tacos and holds on to seasonings well. I squeezed out the liquid, simmered with a mole-inspired sauce, and shredded it up.

Make Your Own Fresh Spring Rolls Night

This was one of my ideas for turning dinner into an interactive experience during lockdown. You can get rice paper sheets in various sizes at Asian supermarkets; I like to get the smaller ones so each roll is just a couple of bites. Serve at the table with a big platter of boiled shrimp, fresh veggies and herbs, and rice vermicelli…or whatever you have lying around that is fresh and easy to roll up! Take turns soaking the rice paper briefly to soften it, roll up your fillings, dip, and eat! I found that my leftovers of homemade Korean ssamjang made for an awesome dipping sauce for fresh rolls, even though that’s obviously not a traditional accompaniment to these Vietnamese-inspired rolls. Get the recipe for my ssamjang here.

Easy Semi-Homemade Donuts

My mom taught me how to make these semi-homemade donuts out of canned biscuit dough when I was a kid; I have no idea where she got this brilliant idea because she did not grow up with access to this type of canned product. But all you do is cut or poke a hole in the middle of each raw biscuit, then deep fry. Just keep the oil temperature a little lower than you would for other deep-fried foods because the dough can burn fast! I love that this dough is more on the savory side than normal donut dough, so it balances well with the glaze.

To make the glaze, I used this recipe by my friend Kristina. Then I slowly took my time decorating with chopped pistachios and edible flowers collected from my backyard garden.

Roasted Root Vegetable Roses on Toast

For Halloween, I made this toast and styled the photo inspired by Miss Havisham from Great Expectations (or maybe the “Helena” music video by My Chemical Romance?). The spread is a mix of miso and black sesame tahini and the roses are thinly sliced roasted beets and sweet potatoes. The original idea and recipe for the roses is by Amiee Twigger, and can be found here—I love how realistic and pretty they turned out! The chard leaves came from my garden.

Malaysian Snack Platter

I was given the opportunity to participate in a sponsored campaign where home chefs shared dishes that celebrated their heritage. Getting to partner with a company that encourages bloggers to stay authentic and share stories from diverse cultures is such a big deal, and felt especially significant this past year. I made this platter where I reimagined Malaysian classics in mini, bite-sized form, inspired by nasi lemak and other memories from my visits to the country where my parents were born. I included:

• acar, or Malaysian-style turmeric pickled vegetables

• mini chicken satay on cocktail picks; recipe for my satay marinade here

• peanut sauce; instructions for how to make it using leftover satay marinade here

• coconut rice balls; you can find my coconut rice recipe here, but omit the butterfly pea tea and mold into bite-sized balls

• sliced onion, green beans, and cucumber

• shrimp chips, red skinned peanuts, and salted egg fish skin

• fried anchovies and sambal ikan bilis

• dragonfruit and rambutan

• boiled 6.5-minute egg

Pumpkin-Shaped Pretzel Buns

In 2020, I overcame my intimidation from yeast-based dough recipes and got really into make pretzels of different shapes and sizes. You can find my recipe for these pumpkin-shaped pretzel buns here.

Thank you so much for supporting my content this past year!
What type of content to you want to see more of in 2021?

Downloadable Carby Dream Wallpapers

My Christmas present to you: these wallpapers to capture your most carb-iest of dreams. Mashed (whipped) potatoes with black garlic and truffle oil. Ricotta gnocchi rolled on my sweet little new gnocchi board that I am absolutely in love with, by Facture Goods. Sharing these just for fun—and because they make me hungry looking at them!

Save the images to your phone to use them as your wallpaper (these are sized for the iPhone X).

>> Click to download Mashed Potatoes wallpaper <<

>> Click to download Gnocchi Wallpaper <<

Please note that these are for personal use only and not to be used for any commercial purposes. All copyright of these images is retained by me, Lily Morello.

My 2020 Favorites

I think we can all agree that 2020 was a turd of a year. The kind of thing that we’ll tell future generations about and they’ll partially listen in mostly disbelief, convinced that we are exaggerating about how bad it was. But IYKYK.

To memorialize the positive, though, here are the little things that brought small sparks of joy to my days…through 10 months of lockdown and those 2 normal-ish months at the beginning that seem like a lifetime ago.

Cooking & Food Photography Favorites

5qt Stand Mixer from kitchenaid

I bought this on Black Friday in 2019 and almost returned it after it sat in the box for about 2 months. I’m not big on baking cookies and I was super intimidated by working with yeast, so I began to question why I bought it in the first place other than out of envy. But that changed when I made my first focaccia (a pre-lockdown coincidence!) and boy was I glad to have it in the months that followed. It turned out that I didn’t need (knead?) to be intimidated by working with yeast at all, I just needed to learn to be patient. I never got on the sourdough train, but this was so handy for kneading quicker, simpler doughs for everything from soft pretzels and biang biang noodles. My quality of life was definitely higher in lockdown because of it. Yes, it’s a bit splurgy, so I recommend waiting for a big sale before buying and getting a color that brings happiness to your eyes. Mine is Buttercup colored and I got it for $224 from Bed Bath and Beyond.

TL;DR: Worth the price if you find it hella on sale, and you hate arm workouts.

Beer Can Style Glasses

I got these glasses from Crate and Barrel. This past year, I would try to create a little “home cafe” experience in the middle of the afternoon as much as I could, to help break up the monotony of the workday. Having a distinct set glasses of reserved specifically for making special cafe-inspired drinks seems trivial but any little way to create separation from regular home life made a difference for me. I loved experimenting with making iced matcha lattes, tea sparklers, smoothies, salted cremas, and more, and these chic glasses really brought some extra joy to the experience.

Tabletop Induction Cooktop

Having one of these really helped turn weekend dinners into fun activities; the ability to cook at the dining table really helped with recreating those interactive restaurant dining experiences at home. We spent many Friday and Saturday nights chowing down on hot pot, budae jjigae, and Korean BBQ. And if you don’t care about aesthetics, you really don’t need special cookware to do these. I make my hot pot in an old secondhand Dutch oven and I sear up my KBBQ meats on a big skillet. Just be careful with heavy-bottomed/cast iron cookware on the induction cooktop because it apparently may scratch the surface (which I have not experienced).

I have this one**, which has worked well but has quite a loud fan. I also would have preferred if the cord was longer. So, while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this one, I do think it is worth it to have some sort of tabletop cooktop to create these experiences at home!

Kitchen Linens from Granit

These are my favorite photography props for filling in space and creating a naturally disheveled look in my photos. I often get questions about these and unfortunately, they are not available in the US. I bought them from a Granit store when I was in Norway last winter. (EU and Scandinavia folks, lucky you!) I have amassed quite a collection of kitchen linens and I have found these to be the softest and easiest to shape of the ones I own; I wish I bought more!

Unsweetened Cold Brew Black Tea Concentrate from Trader Joe’s

This was my overall favorite Trader Joe’s find for 2020, and my favorite thing to use for those home cafe drinks I mentioned before. It was super convenient to have an unsweetened concentrated black tea that I didn’t have to brew myself, on busy days when I knew having a cafe-like beverage would help me focus on my work but I didn’t have time to make anything fancy. I found that mixing this with some hot water and condensed milk made for a great fast Hong Kong style milk tea and it also went really well with Korean citron and ginger tea syrups.

Local Favorites

Ground Domestic Wagyu from The Butcher Shop by Niku

My go-to for when I want to treat myself to an amazing homemade burger. At around ~$10/pound, their reasonably-priced ground domestic wagyu is the best low key luxury meat and I’ve been raving about it all year. While I still like my fast food burger now and again, I don’t think I’ll ever try to order a “nice” burger from a restaurant anymore—that’s how confident I feel about my homemade burgers when I get my meat from here.

Frozen Lobster Tails From New England Lobster Market and Eatery

Despite the name, this awesome seafood market is located in the Bay Area suburb of Burlingame in a random ass area near the airport. (It’s next to one of the major kitchens from which I assume bad airline food is produced.) I used to love eating out on their huge front patio picnic area, but this year most of my visits involved going through their drive-through to order frozen lobster tails to cook with at home (including making the lobster garlic noodles pictured here!). Reasonable prices, friendly staff, succulent lobster meat. What’s not to love? Their lobster corn chowder is also amazing, but it’s just not the same having it at home, so I’m going to wait to have that until I can dine there again.

Fresh Oysters from Sun Fat Seafood Company

This small seafood market in the Mission has a wall lined with buckets of fresh oysters at unbelievably low prices. They always seem to have my favorite varieties too—like Fanny Bays and Miyagis. The staff is always kind enough to check the oysters before bagging them up to make sure they are fresh and in good condition. Get good at shucking at home and you can have yourself a real oyster feast; this was something we treated ourselves to on special occasions a few times this past year.

Honorable mention favorite: Spouse’s shucking skills.

Random Quick-Fire Covid-Life Favorites

Current Favorite YouTube Channel: How to Drink. I don’t make cocktails at home very often, but I aspire to? I don’t know, I just find this dude entertaining and I like his sense of humor.

Current Favorite Bubble Tea Drink: Cookie Butter Hong Kong Milk Tea from Urban Ritual

Favorite Netflix Binge of the Year: The Umbrella Academy, Season2

Favorite Mask: I love the yellow one I got from Lilo & Len on Etsy because it fits me well and I can breath comfortably despite having a tiny nose. Sadly it doesn’t look like they are making masks anymore, but they have some cool Joe & Kamala fan merch (for my favorite president and vice president elect of 2020!)

Thanks for reading! Let me know some of your favorites for 2020 in the comments or DM me on Instagram to let me know what categories you’d like to see in the next Favorites roundup!

Recipe: Apple Streusel Muffins with Maple Glaze

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

I don’t know how many times I have been disappointed in muffins from cafes. I think muffins (and scones for that matter) are baked goods that you are really rolling the dice on when purchased—some are great but there is always the risk of them being chalk dry, or just plain bland. My spouse almost always inevitably chooses poorly because he is trying to be “healthy” by going for the bran raisin muffin or something obviously gross like that.

Well, these muffins are most definitely NOT trying to be healthy. But you can still tell yourself it’s a muffin and not a cupcake, and it’s chock-a-block full of apples…those are healthy, right?

When I was in college I kept a hand-written notebook full of recipes that I still have today. I would go home during breaks and go through my mom’s cookbooks and cooking magazine subscriptions and hand-copy things I wanted to try to make. Eventually I realized this was painfully inefficient and started either typing them up or just finding recipes on the internet! But I would print them out and tuck the papers into that notebook. One of those recipes is the original version of these apple streusel muffins—a printout of a recipe that had been typed into a Word document, from I-don’t-remember where, with extra annotations written in the margins by Past Me. So I thought it was time to immortalize the recipe on the internet.

This time around, I also added some crushed chicharrones into the streusel mixture, because I am a savory-loving weirdo like that. This is not a critical ingredient, and I’d like to put out there that streusel doesn’t need a strict recipe anyway. (You’ll notice my recipe has some unconventional measurements.) I’d encourage you to add your own mix-ins for whatever you want your streusel topping to be; oats, chopped nuts, panko breadcrumbs, and desiccated coconut are just some of the other ideas I had. The recipe presented will produce a softer streusel topping rather than a crunchy one.

For extra luxury and Instagram-worthiness, I also did a maple glaze drizzle adapted from this donut glaze by Sally’s Baking Addiction. If you are into smokey flavors like I am, I highly recommend using Tippleman’s Barrel Smoked Maple Syrup** for this part. It’s quite a splurge, but I have been buying it for years because it is unlike any other maple syrup; it is incredible in this glaze because the smokiness adds a whole other dimension of flavor that takes these far beyond humble fruit muffins.

One last component I want to call out is the type of apple to use. Use whatever you want, really! I personally find that this is a good way to even use up an apple that has gone mealy. In this particular instance though, I used Lucy Glo apples, which are naturally red inside!

I just started noticing these popping up in stores this year; I’ve purchased them from Trader Joe’s and Sprouts. I think they look very cool, but obviously they still taste like regular apples. I love that you can see a little bit of red peaking through the streusel on the tops of some of these muffins, obviously because the apples I used had red flesh. But! A couple days later, the apples inside had a blue tint to them; I learned this was because of a reaction with the baking powder I used and I am not sure if this would have happened with a more neutral colored apple or not. The taste was not affected.

Disclaimer: Not all the apples in these images are Lucy Glo, which has a pale yellow exterior skin. I had quite the apple collection as I was shopping for this shoot, and an eager human and dog waiting for to help eat them.

How to Make Apple Streusel Muffins with Maple Glaze

(Makes 6 muffins)

Ingredients for the muffins

1 cup apples, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 cup + 1 tbsp AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
heaped 1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pumpkin spice or ground cinnamon

Ingredients for the Streusel Topping

2 1/2 tbsp butter
1/6 cup packed brown sugar (eyeball with your 1/3 cup measure)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup AP flour
2 heaped tbsp crushed chicharrones, or some other fine mix-in

Ingredients for the Maple Glaze

1/2 tbsp butter
4 tsp maple syrup
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp AP flour

Procedure

To make the streusel, melt butter in the microwave for 30 seconds or until completely melted. Whisk together brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix in butter. Then add flour and your fine-textured mix-in and use a folding and pressing motion with a spoon or spatula to combine everything together into a big flat disk. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line 6 muffin tins.

To make the muffin batter, start by transferring about 1/4 of your chopped apples into a small bowl and mash with a muddler or pestle.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the muffins: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

In a larger bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and cinnamon. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Fold in the chopped and crushed apples, and any juice released. (Mixture’s consistency will be more like a cookie dough texture than a muffin batter. Do not be alarmed by this.) Divide evenly into the muffin tins.

Use your hands to break up the clump of streusel topping and crumble over the muffins. Press it in gently. Bake muffins for 22–25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to sit for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Sift together the confectioners sugar and flour for the maple glaze. Combine the butter and maple syrup in a small sauce pan on very low heat. When the butter is melted, whisk thoroughly and remove from heat. Whisk in the flour and confectioners sugar and immediately drizzle on the muffins. (I used by mini whisk as my drizzling wand.) You may need to return the glaze to the heat and keep whisking after each muffin to return the glaze to a thinner consistency for drizzling. (A little tricky, but worth it!)

Recipe: Gochujang Hot Cocoa Cookies

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

It has been a great ambition of mine to develop a savory cookie recipe. Even though I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I love the IDEA of cookies…especially chewy ones. When Chris Morocco’s miso almond butter cookie recipe blew up during quarantine, I thought that the work had already been done for me and I could peacefully retire that goal. I made his recipe, but it was way too salty for my liking. Still very tasty but, like, needed to drink half a gallon of water after. In fairness, I probably used the wrong kind of miso, but I think it is problematic that the recipe doesn’t specify; there are a lot of miso varieties out there and they can be super different from one another! Anyway, the quest for good savory cookie was back on.

And then I had to develop a holiday recipe for a client using their gochujang-based sweet and spicy condiment, and I thought—here’s my chance to work on that savory cookie recipe. I was really happy with how that recipe turned out, and when I shared it in my Instagram stories, I got a lot of intrigued members of Team Savory wanting to know more! I was certainly pleased to know that 1) people did not think I was out of my mind for making a cookie with gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste) and 2) there are other people who like the idea of a cookie that teeters into the realm of savory!

That recipe revolves around having a very specific product from that particular client, but I decided to also make a spinoff that uses more generic ingredients, since the product isn’t available everywhere. This time, I also worked in a little bit of cocoa powder, because I love that combination of chili and chocolate! The result is a soft, almost cake-like cookie that hits a little salty upon first bite, then evolves into sweetness with a quiet chili burn, and leaves a faint cocoa-y memory thereafter. Appearance-wise, I like to think of them as a distant sassy Korean relative to the Pfeffernüsse cookies that popular in Germany at Christmastime, but the flavors are VERY different.

I will confess I only tested this with one tub of gochujang: this one. Other than the spiciness (which can be selected to your taste) there is less variation among these rectangular tubs of gochujang from the Korean market than there are types of miso but I will caution that if the gochujang you have is super salty you may want to dial back on adding salt to the dough. Also, I find that the texture and moisture content of gochujang changes the longer the tub sits in your fridge, so I would recommend making sure your gochujang is somewhat fresh, or whisking it together with a small splash of water if it’s been a while since the last time the tub saw the light of day.

Eager to buy mooncake molds to be extra prepared for the next Mid-Autumn festival but also very against kitchen uni-taskers, I was happy to learn that this cookie dough is great for taking on pressed designs. (This is the mooncake set I have.) After portioning out the dough for the cookies and rolling them into balls, I simply pressed the dough down using the plates from my mooncake mold set to shape and flatten them. The dough sticks to the mold but is strong/firm enough to then be gently peeled off without losing its shape or pressed pattern. The almond butter in this recipe is more of a structural component than a flavor contributor, but you can always to the classic peanut butter cross hatch design on these if you don’t have a mooncake mold. I obviously loved how they turned out with the mooncake molds, though, because I took a ton of photos!

How to Make Gochujang Hot Cocoa Cookies

(Makes about 18 cookies)

Ingredients

7 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup raw creamy almond butter, stirred
1/4 cup gochujang (like this one), at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Sparkling sugar

Procedure

Place butter in a large mixing bowl and melt in the microwave for 30 seconds, and then for additional 10-second increments until completely melted. Working quickly while the butter is still hot, drizzle in almond butter and whisk thoroughly to combine. Then add gochujang and whisk thoroughly again to combine.

Whisking vigorously after each additional ingredient, add the brown sugar, egg, then cocoa powder to the mixture. (All this whisking is what will help give the cookies their airy yet cakey texture.)

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, using a spoon or spatula to incorporate everything together into a thick dough.

Roll dough into 1- to 1 1/4-inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Chill them in the refrigerator for 10–15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.

Use plates from a 100-gram mooncake mold to press designs into the cookies while flattening them. (I found that it worked best to place the ball in the center of the mooncake plate, and then carefully turn them both over onto the baking tray, and press down on the plate until the edges of the cookie dough are almost spread to the edges of the plate.) If necessary, tap the molds in some flour to prevent sticking in between cookies, but make sure there are no clumps of flour on the mold. If you do not have mooncake molds, press a crosshatch pattern into the dough balls with a fork. After pressing all the cookies, sprinkle some sparkling sugar on the tops.

Bake for 9–10 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Remove from the oven and allow to set for 3 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Recipe: My 90-Second Chocolate Mug Cake

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

My disclaimer (or testament) for this recipe is that I don’t like chocolate cake—most of the time. But like any breathing human, I do get a craving for them now and again. In times like those, it can perhaps be argued that the taste of instant gratification is the sweetest of them all. I sometimes wonder if the reason I like mug cakes so much has less to do with the quality of the cake and more to do with my fascination for the microwave’s awesome and terrifying power to transform basic pantry ingredients into the semblance of a baked confection in 90 seconds.

And yet my spouse—a professed great lover of chocolate cakes—can attest that this chocolate cake sure does tick a lot of the boxes: moist, fudgy, not too cloyingly sweet, yummy. The things I’d want in a chocolate cake, somehow achievable in a mug in less than 3 minutes if you include the time it takes for me to dig the ingredients out. I’m not trying to win any pâtisserie awards any time soon, but I am trying to win over my spouse’s heart (again) and perhaps yours, too.

Some things to note about this recipe:

• Trust me on the amount of sugar. It seems like a lot for such a small amount of other ingredients, but I tried it a few times with less sugar and it just didn’t taste right. I hate overly sweet things, and this doesn’t turn out overly sweet. I’d say it turns out more like an Asian style dessert, that strives to not be cloying or sugary tasting.

• Use a big mug. The mixture will puff up in the microwave and you don’t want spillage.

• The images with the stenciled sugar were done with the ‘gram in mind. I didn’t do the last step of adding extra chocolate chunks, and instead, I dusted powdered sugar on top. Here is a photo of what the mug cake will look like if you follow my usual recipe, as presented below:

If you want to make the powdered sugar version, skip the step about adding chocolate chunks on top, and just microwave the cake batter for the full 90 seconds. I used a laser-cut wood snowflake ornament from Cost Plus World Market as a stencil. I placed the ornament on top of the cake, dusted the powdered sugar through a fine mesh sieve, and then carefully lifted off the ornament.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe by user safinabakes1231 on Allrecipes.

One last stray comment, for those who got lured here from my Instagram post—yes, the green on the mugs in those images was Photoshopped! #doitforthegram

How I Make a Chocolate Mug Cake

Ingredients

1/4 cup AP flour
scant 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp* unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp table salt
4 tbsp oat milk
3 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
~ 1 tsp date syrup
~ 1 tsp raw almond butter
a few chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or marshmallows (optional)

(* I know, a half-tablespoon is not a very standard measurement, but just eyeball it! 2 teaspoons (2/3 tablespoon) would be too much though.)

Procedure

Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt to a large microwave-safe mug and whisk to combine.

Stir in oat milk and olive oil.

Add date syrup and almond butter to the top of the cake batter and use a butter knife or toothpick to create a marbled swirl on the top (this sometimes turns out pretty after cooking, and other times it gets lost, but I do it every time).

Microwave mug for 1 minute.

Add chocolate or marshmallows on top, if desired. Microwave for 30 more seconds. Allow to cool a bit (if you can wait!) before eating out of the mug with a spoon. (Would be amazing with vanilla ice cream!)

Recipe: Spicy Almond Butter Cookies

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

For this recipe, I partnered with Bibigo USA to use their Bibigo Hot & Sweet Go-Chu-Jang Sauce to make a giftable holiday treat. Cookies may be the classic homemade gift for the holidays but when working with savory Korean sauces and marinades, transforming them into cookies may not be the first idea that comes to mind. These cookies are pretty out there—but in my opinion, in a good way. If you’ve read my other blog posts, you will know by now that I am a diehard lover of savory over sweet, so I thought this would be a cool opportunity to develop a cookie recipe that teetered between the two taste realms.

When you look at Christmas cookies, spiced confections seem to be pretty rooted in the flavors of the season but this typically means cinnamon, nutmeg, and the like. Well, these cookies are spiced all right—as in spicy! Bibigo Hot & Sweet Go-Chu-Jang Sauce is a sweeter, lighter take on gochujang, a Korean red chili pepper paste. I was so pleased with how that flavor came across after getting baked into a cookie. These cookies are slightly sweet and a touch salty; instead of spicy kick, I’d describe the spice of these as a mellow burn. If you love gifting cookies but you’ve got someone in your life who is always looking for unusual spicy things, I hope you will consider giving this recipe a try.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe by Katiebird Bakes.

How to Make Spicy Almond Butter Cookies

(Makes about 15 cookies)

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup raw creamy almond butter, stirred
1/4 cup Bibigo Hot & Sweet Go-Chu-Jang Sauce
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Sparkling sugar, optional

Procedure

In a large mixing bowl, melt butter in the microwave for 30 seconds, and then for additional 10-second increments until completely melted. While butter is still hot, slowly drizzle in almond butter and Bibigo Hot & Sweet Go-Chu-Jang Sauce while whisking. Whisk together vigorously until completely homogenous. 

Add brown sugar and egg to the mixing bowl and whisk mixture together until completely homogenous. 

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients gradually to wet ingredients, mixing together with a spoon or spatula until thoroughly combined and a firm dough is formed.

Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Chill cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.

Use a fork to press a crosshatch pattern into the dough balls and slightly flatten them. Sprinkle sparkling sugar on top of each, if desired.

Bake for 9–10 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Remove from the oven and allow to set for 3 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Thank you so much to Bibigo USA for sponsoring this recipe! For more recipe ideas and to learn more about their products, visit their website!

Easy 5-Ingredient (ish) Festive Yogurt Dip

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

The truth is, I have no idea how many ingredients constitutes a 5-ingredient recipe. It can obviously mean literally 5 ingredients, but I have also seen “5-ingredient” recipes with way more than that because it’s 5 plus “pantry ingredients you’ll always have on hand.” Sure, everyone who cooks is probably going to have salt, pepper, and some kind of cooking oil, but I’ve seen ones where random vinegars aren’t getting counted, and that’s where it starts to get dicey—each type of cuisine has it’s own go-to vinegar, and each has such a distinctly different flavor.

So, this yogurt dip recipe has literally just 5 ingredients…but in a kind of cheating way because one of them is the “everything but the bagel” seasoning blend. And to be honest, it wouldn’t be that much harder to add a few more ingredients if say, you prefer things more heavily salted, or you want to introduce more complexity by chopping up 3 different herbs at the same time instead of 1. Personally, I don’t know why dips require recipes in the first place, since you can always taste as you go and keep adding stuff until you get something you like—but I wrote this recipe for another site where I am a contributor, so I thought I might as well post it here. Think of it as a guideline.

I think the takeaway is that if you have a ton of mint growing all crazily in your backyard like I do, then combining it with pomegranate seeds is a quick and easy way to throw together a festive looking topping for anything.

How to Make a Festive Yogurt Dip

Ingredients

~ 2 cups full-fat Greek yogurt
big handful of fresh mint leaves
~ 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
extra virgin olive oil
everything seasoning

Procedure

Reserve a few mint leaves for garnish and roughly chop the rest.

Mix half of the chopped mint with the Greek yogurt (and salt, if desired) and transfer to a serving bowl. Use the back of the spoon to create swirls and texture on the surface.

Top with the remaining chopped mint, pomegranate seeds, and a generous sprinkle of everything seasoning. Drizzle olive oil over the top and add the final reserved mint leaves as garnish.

Serve with your favorite crackers or crudités.

Recipe: Poached Salmon Inari Sushi

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

After eating a big, heavy Thanksgiving feast, I like to balance things out a bit by eating something lighter and healthier in the days that follow. Sushi is usually my go-to, and lately I have been loving making inari sushi at home.

Inari sushi is comprised of stuffed pouches made of bean curd/tofu skin that have been fried and then marinated (abura-age). You can find the marinated abura-age pouches at Asian grocery stores and they come either in a shelf-stable can or in the refrigerated section next to other tofu products. Inari sushi usually refers to the abura-age pouches being stuffed with just rice, and I often see this classic form served with the pouch upside-down and the rice hidden underneath. However, I love the look of these little flavorsome pouches being presented as little stuffed boats where you can see the various fillings inside.

For this recipe, poached salmon seasoned with Spice Tribe’s Kissed by Binchotan spice blend is the star filling. I wanted to make something that was easy and approachable, even for those who don’t like raw fish or maybe just don’t have a trusted place to buy it. Although I topped mine with some salmon roe (ikura), that is a totally optional garnish because the spicy salmon on top of the rice is really all you need for these satisfyingly tasty bites. A salmon filet is gently poached to avoid overcooking and the seasoning is kept simple and classic by using Spice Tribe’s version of the Japanese shichi-mi tōgarashi spice blend. I love that Spice Tribe’s seasoning blends do not contain any salt, so the cook (i.e. me) stays in control of how salty the dish will be. I hope that with this recipe, you feel encouraged to step out of your cooking comfort zone and have fun making your spicy poached salmon pouches as simple or elaborate as you’d like them to be!

How to Make Poached Salmon Inari Sushi

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet, about 6–7 ounces
1 stalk of scallion, cut into chunks
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 cups water
2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise 
3/4 tsp Spice Tribe Kissed by Binchotan seasoning
1 cup cooked rice, at room temperature
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
Salt, to taste
8 seasoned bean curd pouches/abura-age
1 cocktail cucumber, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
Extra Spice Tribe Kissed by Binchotan seasoning, for finishing
Ikura/salmon roe, for garnish (optional)
Microgreens, for garnish (optional)

Procedure

In an 8-inch skillet, combine scallion pieces, mirin, soy sauce, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and add salmon, skin side up. Simmer covered for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep covered for 3 minutes, or until salmon is just cooked through. Peel away the skin, place salmon in a medium mixing bowl, and break up into flakes.

Add Japanese mayo and Spice Tribe Kissed by Binchotan seasoning, plus 1 teaspoon of the poaching liquid. Add salt to taste and mix gently until combined, then set aside.

Combine cooked rice with rice vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of the poaching liquid. Set aside.

Gently open one of the bean curd pouches. Fold the cut edge inward into the pouch, so the fold becomes the new rim for the pouch. Wet hands in cold water to prevent sticking, then scoop about 2 tablespoons of the rice mixture into one palm. Shape the rice into a small oval, then place the rice into the bean curd pouch and press rice down to fill the inside of the pouch, forming a stable base so the pouch sits upright. Repeat with the remaining bean curd pouches and rice.

Divide the salmon mixture evenly among the pouches. Garnish with cucumber slices and chives. Sprinkle extra Spice Tribe Kissed by Binchotan seasoning on top, to taste. Then top with salmon roe and microgreens, if desired.

Thank you so much to Spice Tribe for sponsoring this recipe! Check them out on Instagram here or visit their website to purchase high quality spices and unique small-batch spice blends.

Shortcut Mala Cumin Lamb for Biang Biang Noodles

JUMP TO "RECIPE" >>

To be clear, these are not your traditional or typical Xi’an cumin lamb noodles. If you are looking for a recipe for those, I am afraid you have come to the wrong place (especially since this is not really a recipe at all). I love those noodles too, and have very fond, special memories of trying them for the first time at Xi’an Famous Foods during a solo trip to New York, being blown away about how they somehow exceeded the hype.

But while this recipe is obviously inspired by those flavors, I personally don’t like the idea of trying to replicate a specific restaurant dish at home. Maybe that’s just me. Restaurant cookbooks are gorgeous to look at, but I never buy them. I am happy to accept the reality that the force of my home gas range is never going to replicate that of a restaurants, my 0 days of professional culinary training is not going to produce the same outcome as those who have studied and devoted their lives to the culinary arts. And anyway, I like (liked—before Covid) the idea of going to a restaurant to eat dishes that are wholly different from what I can cook myself at home.

So I am calling this my Cumin Lamb Noodles, but they are very different cumin lamb noodles from what you’ve likely to experienced in a restaurant before. They are a sort of hybrid of a Xi’an-inspired dish and the texture of bolognese but also heavy on the mala (numbing spicy) associated with Szechuan cuisine. Using ground lamb means not worrying about sliced meat getting tough and overcooked, and it almost becomes a part of the sauce—something that can cling to those wide swaths of noodles. I use this storebought mala hot pot mix (link) for the base of the sauce because I am not an expert at Chinese spice blends in the slightest and this is a shortcut recipe, after all.

I really do recommend that you make your own wide biang biang noodles for this (recipe here) but if you are too lazy or don’t have time, I totally get it. Due to their short-lived nature, I have never seen biang biang noodles sold at the Asian grocery store before, so if you are looking for a storebought alternative to use with this sauce, I recommend buying fresh pappardelle.

The recipe below is awkwardly vague because I really don’t believe in measuring when it comes to sauces for noodles. Let it guide you in your interest in making a Xi’an x Szechuan x bolognese hybrid, but be sure to adjust the seasoning to your taste.

Awkwardly Vague instructions for Ground Lamb Cumin Noodles

Ingredients

3/4 lb ground lamb
1/2 small onion, sliced
lots of chopped garlic
lots of cumin
salt
a squeeze of tomato paste
~ 1 oz Szechuan mala hot pot base (like this one)
a heaping tablespoon of gochugaru
avocado oil
cilantro, for garnish
raw hand pulled noodles

Procedure

In a wok, heat oil and stirfry onions. Add lamb and garlic. Season with pinch of salt, lots of cumin. Squeeze in some tomato paste and mix everything together.

Heat some oil (1/6 cup-ish) in separate pot until almost smoking.

At the same time, turn down wok to low heat and cook biang biang noodles in pot of boiling water as described in the noodle recipe.

Add cooked noodles on top of lamb.

Add Szechuan hot pot sauce and gochugaru. Pour hot oil on top of gochugaru.

Toss to combine. Garnish with cilantro.

Recipe: Biang Biang Noodles (Hand-Pulled Noodles)

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

If you are here, you probably already know something about biang biang mian—delicious hand-pulled, hand-torn wide noodles that are delightfully chewy and a wonderful blank canvas to capture spicy mala flavors. Legend has it that the Chinese character for biang is the most complicated to write, and that it will break any kind of Chinese input method if you try to type it.

To be honest I am not an expert on biang biang noodles; all I know is how I personally like them, and I wanted to figure out a way to go about making them that was easy for me. For example, I wanted to be able to use my stand mixer for the kneading, especially since the dough is a little tougher compared to, say, a simple bread dough. I also wanted to produce a method that allowed me to have fun actually stretching the noodles by hand and banging (or bianging?) them against the counter. So I tested and tested until I got something I was happy with.

My version is adapted from Woks of Life and Strictly Dumpling, so I want to make sure to give them credit. And the image above was inspired by this photo by My Homestyle Life.

If you are looking for a sauce to accompany these noodles, might I recommend something with loads of chili oil and fragrant ground lamb? You can find out how to make that here.

How to Make Biang Biang Noodles

This recipe makes 2 large servings.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup bread flour*
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup hot water
neutral oil

* I tested various combinations of bread flour + AP flour for this and found these ratios to produce my ideal texture for the noodles. Can you do all AP flour? Probably! But the noodles will not have the same chew that I like.

Procedure

Whisk together flours and salt in your stand mixer bowl. Fit the stand mixer with the dough hook. Turn on to the lowest speed and slowly add the water.

Knead dough on medium-high for 10 minutes, then check the texture. If the dough is very sticky, add 1/2–1 teaspoon AP flour. Continue kneading on medium-high for 10 more minutes. At this point, the dough should feel firm and should not be sticky at all. Try to pinch and pull away a small amount (see photo above). Dough should not snap right away, but should not feel totally stretchy either.

Knead a few times by hand to form a smooth ball. Return to the mixing bowl and cover bowl with a damp cloth (no greasing necessary yet). Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 6 portions. Avoid handling each portion too much but shape it into a small log, about 4 inches long. Place logs on your largest baking sheet and pour some neutral cooking oil over them. Make sure each log is thoroughly coated in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and rest for 1 hour or until the dough feels soft and pliable.

(After one hour, I place a large pot of water on the stove to bring to a boil while I am stretching the noodles. If there is other prep work I need to do for the sauce, I do it all in this time too, so everything is ready to go the moment the noodles are cooked. Click here for the sauce recipe that you see in the photos.)

Work one log at a time, and keep the others covered. On a lightly floured surface, roll the log into a rectangle that is about 3 inches tall and 2 inches longer than a chopstick. Use a chopstick to press two perforations into the rectangle, dividing it into 3 even sections (see photo above). Grab each end and gently stretch the dough, occasionally whacking it into compliance against the counter top. The perforations made by the chopstick will begin to form tears in the dough as you stretch. When the dough is thin enough or you feel you can’t stretch any further, tear along these lines to make one long noodle. Drape the noodle over the oiled baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap while you make the other noodles.

Lower the noodles carefully into the water and then immediately start agitating them with extra long chopsticks to avoid them clumping together. Keep them moving in the water for 90 seconds (2 minutes if they feel on the thicker side) and then immediately transfer them to the sauce, and toss to combine.

If you want to make the noodles in advance, I recommend keeping the rested dough in log form, coated in oil and tightly covered. Store in the fridge and bring up to room temp before stretching. Once the noodles are formed, you don’t want them to sit for long, and they need to be served immediately after boiling.

Recipe: Pimento Club Sandwich with Gochujang-Glazed Bacon

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

I’m not sure if this is really humble or really basic, but turkey sandwiches are one of my favorite ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers. It might be because growing up, my parents (not knowing any better since they did not grow up with American school lunches) only ever bought the crappiest, grossest of sandwich meat for my school lunchbox lunches. Like, not the fancy deli-sliced stuff but more like the pre-sliced overly-sweet and overly-salty stuff in plastic hard-to-peel-open containers in the refrigerator case next to the Lunchables. I also remember getting a lot of sandwiches that consisted of sliced white bread (not toasted), margarine, and Kraft Singles.

Literally the only reprieve from this in terms of sandwiches was after Thanksgiving. I can still remember how incredible the combination of toasted bread, mayo, and REAL turkey meat tasted to me as a kid.

This club sandwich recipe was developed in partnership with Bibigo USA. They asked me to come up with an idea for Thanksgiving leftovers that also incorporated something left over from my Korean-inspired nibble board recipe, which you can find here. I thought a club sandwich, using the Gochujang Pimento Spread from the previous recipe, leftover turkey, and a spicy glazed bacon could not be more perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers with a Korean-inspired twist. Never in my wildest dreams as a kid could I have imagined a sandwich this legit.

How to Make a Pimento Club Sandwich with Gochujang-Glazed Bacon

Ingredients

3 slices of bacon
3 slices of white bread
3 tbsp Bibigo Hot & Sweet Go-Chu-Jang Sauce
3–4 tbsp leftover Gochujang Pimento Spread, softened
2 slices of leftover turkey breast meat
2 slices of tomato
2 leaves of lettuce
Salt to taste

Procedure

To make the glazed bacon, preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking tray with foil or parchment paper. Brush a thin layer of Bibigo Hot & Sweet Go-Chu-Jang Sauce on both sides. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip bacon and brush top with more sauce. Bake until color starts to darken, about 5 minutes. Brush with one more coat of sauce and bake to desired crispness, about 3–5 minutes. Remove and transfer to a plate. (Note: Bacon will get more crisp as it cools.)

Toast slices of bread as desired. 

Apply an even layer of Gochujang Pimento Spread onto one of the bread slices. Top with lettuce and tomato. Break apart bacon as necessary and layer on top of sandwich. Apply Gochujang Pimento Spread onto another slice of bread and place face-down over bacon. Add more Gochujang Pimento Spread evenly on top. Top with turkey. On the remaining slice of bread, apply an even layer of Gochujang Pimento Spread and place on top of turkey. (Alternatively, you could layer these ingredients however you like! This is just what I did to get what you see in the photos.)

Cut into triangles and hold together with long sandwich picks.

Thank you so much to Bibigo USA for sponsoring this recipe! For more recipe ideas and to learn more about their products, visit their website!

Recipe: Herby Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Croutons

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

I’m going to state the obvious here: There are many ways to roast a chicken. This is the way that works best for me, fitting my personal circumstances—which are mostly that I am too cheap to buy a meat thermometer. I feel this is not a particularly niche circumstance, so my hope is that this recipe may be of use to some of you too. This recipe is based on a couple of YouTube videos: this one by Jamie Oliver, and the “pro chef level” from this Epicurious video. I admit that even armed with my recipe below, it is worth watching the Jamie Oliver one, as much of my bird prepping technique comes from there, and without the budget for even a meat thermometer it goes without saying that my video budget does not compare to his. However, following his technique directly did NOT work for me. It resulted in medium-done chicken legs, which is just not a good look. That’s why I am here, writing this recipe that DOES work for me!

While most of my recipes are intended to show that cooking need not be mysterious or intimidating, this recipe in particular does require having at least a touch of confidence in the kitchen. It involves heaving a big, heavy cast iron vessel in and out of an almost-500-degree oven, flipping a big chicken, and having calloused enough hands from prior kitchen wear and tear to not be afraid to truss the legs mid-roast. On the other hand, though, it may be less intimidating than, say, spatchcocking a chicken for those who are not confident about their kitchen shearing skills. Every cooking task involves at least a little bit of danger, so please just be smart and careful.

Not only is this THE recipe that allows me to get flavorful crispy skin and perfectly cooked juicy chicken each time, it makes full good use of one of the best outcomes of a roast chicken: the schmaltz! Schmaltz is the chicken fat that gets rendered out of the chicken as it roasts. In this recipe, that wonderfully flavorful greasy goodness, along with those chicken pan juices that also get expressed from the roasting chicken, get their proper treatment as a feature of the dish—rather than just an extraneous side effect. Adding torn pieces of bread into the pan partway through the roasting gives them time to really soak up these precious liquids, pulling them away from interfering with the crisping of the chicken skin and transforming the bread into something outrageous: schmaltzy croutons. Here’s what the whole dish looks like right out of the oven before garnishing:

(The time that I made this for the photos, I forgot to tuck the wingtips and then had a failed attempted at correcting partway through…nothing that can’t be resolved later with garnishing magic.)

I’m using the term “croutons” here because I don’t know what else to call them; they are toasty on the top and soaked with chicken juice and fat on the bottom. After all is said and done with the chicken, these heavenly morsels can be used in a few different ways:

• Stuffing/Dressing: While the chicken is roasting, sauté some chopped celery and chop up some rosemary and sage on standby. When the chicken is resting on the carving board, remove the garlic halves from the chicken cavity and scoop out the flesh; add those back into the pan of croutons. Remove the onion skins and mash the garlic and onion in the pan with a fork or potato masher. Add the sautéed celery and fresh herbs. Add other stuffing components to your liking. Beat together an egg and some boxed broth, pour it over the pan mixture, and fold everything together. Press it all gently into an even layer then put the pan back in the oven (turned down to 400°F) and bake until the egg is cooked through. (This is what I’ll be doing this year for my mini roast chicken Thanksgiving for two.)

• Panzanella: Toss the croutons with some baby arugula, microgreens, and beautiful tomato chunks. Roughly chop the roasted onion and add that too. Remove the lemon that is stuffed inside the chicken cavity, squeeze it over the whole mess, and give everything another toss. Now you have a bread salad that perfectly complements your roast chicken.

• You can also just straight up eat your chicken fat toasted bread cubes out of the pan as you wait for your chicken to rest. Sharing optional. Call it the chef’s special!

How to Make Herby Roast Chicken (with Schmaltzy Croutons)

Ingredients

1 chicken (about 4.5 lbs*), cleaned and giblets removed
2 tbsp butter
handful of fresh herbs
1 small red onion
1 head of garlic
1 lemon
lots of kosher salt
olive oil
1 tbsp wagyu fat or butter
1/2 loaf crusty bread, sourdough recommended
pomegranates, fresh herbs, lemons for garnish (optional)

* A 4.5-pound chicken requires 1 hour total bake time. For chickens ±0.5 lb, go with the formula (# of pounds) x 10 + 15 minutes to calculate the bake time, and adjust the following times proportionally. Chickens of sizes outside of this range, have not been tested with this recipe.

Procedure

The night before: Thoroughly rub the chicken dry, inside and out, with paper towels. You want it to be as dry as possible to produce crispy skin. Season generously with salt (but keep in mind you are not trying to salt-cure the thing; season as you would if you were cooking something right away). Place uncovered in the fridge overnight.

The next day, wipe off any excess salt or extracted moisture. With the chicken placed breasts-up, insert a small spatula or the back of a spoon from the bottom to carefully separate the skin from the meat. Remove the endcaps off the drumsticks, if desired. Then, on each drumstick, make the following 3 deep slits: in the thickest part of the drumstick, in between the leg and thigh, and in the thickest part of the underside of the thigh. (This is what will help cook the bird evenly.)

Place a shallow, large cast iron brasier or skillet on the middle rack of your oven, and preheat to 475°F. (Your vessel should be much larger than the chicken, to accomadate the bread and allow for airflow.)

Roughly chop a mixture of fresh herbs. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top and season with a couple pinches of salt. Mix together with your fingers then stuff the herb mixture under the skin of the chicken, in both the breast area and through the slits you made in the drumsticks. Rub the residue from your hands onto the outside of the chicken. Stuff 1 tablespoon of butter under the skin over each breast. Tuck the wing tips under the torso of the chicken.

Cut the head of garlic in half and stuff into the cavity. Stab the lemon all over with a paring knife, then microwave for 30 seconds. Stuff into the cavity. Cut the onion (skin on) in half and set aside.

When the oven is ready, carefully add 1 tablespoon of wagyu fat or butter into the preheated cast iron pan and coat the bottom of the pan. Add the onion halves then place the chicken, breast-side-down, in the pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, flip the chicken over and tie the ends of the drumsticks together with kitchen twine. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes.

In the meantime, tear up the bread into about 1-inch chunks. Add the bread evenly around the chicken, then bake for another 15 minutes (or until juices run out clear when you stab the thigh with a toothpick).

Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a cutting board to rest. Cut off the twine and remove the lemon and garlic. Allow the chicken to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. See notes above for what to do with the bread…or simply trust your instincts ;)

Recipe: Pumpkin-Shaped Pretzel Buns

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

These photos of my finished and styled pumpkin-shaped pretzel buns are my favorite fall photos I have ever taken, so I really hope you like them too.

Having made pretzels several times now, I am still completely fascinated by them. I am awestruck and terrified by their traditional lye baths, and both relieved and amazed by how a baking soda bath can get the same brown look. I am mesmerized by the contrast in colors, and simply adore how such a relatively quick dough recipe can produce something so satisfying.

When fall rolled around and I started obsessing over pumpkin-shaped everything, I knew in my heart of hearts that pumpkin-shaped pretzels absolutely needed to exist. So, I decided to turn my go-to pretzel recipe into pumpkin-shaped pretzel buns. To be completely clear, this recipe will not produce the texture of a firm, chewy, traditional German pretzel. This is much more like the texture you’d find at a pretzel stand in an American mall (which I’ll shamefully admit I much prefer). Another disclaimer: I’ve made my soft pretzel recipe (adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction) a few times, but unfortunately I only had a chance to try this pumpkin-shaped version once so far. So there are some caveats and learnings I want to share with you that won’t match the photos.

Some important notes:

• Take a look at this photo below of the buns fresh out of the oven. This will show you the correct type of bakers twine to use. Do NOT use the coarse, textured brown twine seen in the beauty shots! That is clearly just there for the rustic aesthetic.

• Also note that I tied the twine rather snugly around my dough balls. By the time I took the dough out of the water bath, I could already tell that I had made a mistake, as the dough does expand quite a bit with the boiling and baking processes. Keep your twine wrapped loosely to start, to avoid the twine getting so deeply embedded into your buns.

• I went for rather irregular segments with my twine wrapping. Maybe go for a more symmetrical look so you don’t end up with heirloom-tomato-shaped pretzel buns.

• UPDATE: I now have a step-by-step tutorial, with photos, for getting more symmetrical pumpkin-shaped buns. Check it out here!

But whether you do a better job than I did, or just the same regretful job as me, you’ll be able to enjoy them the same way. Tear those buns into wedges along those perforations, catch the smell of freshly baked pretzel rising out the middle, then dunk segment by segment into coarse mustard or cheese sauce. You certainly won’t regret that.

How to Make Pumpkin-Shaped Pretzel Buns

Ingredients

3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp (slightly heaped) active dry yeast
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups AP flour, plus more for dusting
nonstick cooking spray
coarse salt, for sprinkling
6 pepitas/hulled pumpkin seeds

For the Water Bath

9 cups water
1/2 cup baking soda

Procedure

Combine warm water, yeast, and honey in the bowl of your stand mixer and stir gently. Allow yeast to bloom and foam up for 5 minutes.

Add butter, brown sugar, and salt, and stir together. Fit stand mixer with the dough hook and turn on to the lowest setting. Begin adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a dough starts to come together. Use a rubber spatula to scrape everything together. If the dough is sticky, add a little bit more flour.

Turn the mixer to medium high and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it feels smooth and bouncy. Turn the dough onto a clean worksurface and roll into a smooth ball. Grease the inside of the mixing bowl, and place the ball of dough back inside. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rest in a warm place for 20 minutes.

On a lightly floured worksurface, divide the rested dough into 6 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.

In a large pot, combine water and baking soda for water bath and bring to a boil. Preheat oven to 425°F.

While waiting for the water to boil, wrap cotton baking twine around the balls of dough to form the ridges of a pumpkin shape (see notes above) and tie together loose ends or follow the typing steps shown here.

Place buns in boiling water bath for 10 seconds on each side, then place on a parchment-lined baking tray. (I find it is easiest to do this one at a time, placing the pumpkin upside down into the water first, then flipping in the water, then scooping onto the tray.)

Sprinkle coarse salt onto the buns. Brush with additional water from the water bath if necessary for more salt adhesion.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until the buns are a rich brown color.

Allow buns to cool slightly before cutting and removing the twine. Stick 1 pepita into the top-center of each to form a leaf/stem.

Recipe: Spiced Honeynut Squash Toasts

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

Note: This is not your #basic fall squash recipe!

As a diehard member of Team Savory, as much as I love the smell of pumpkin spice and everything nice come autumn season, my stomach never really craves baked sweets. So I am always trying to come up with ideas to capture fall flavors in ways that are appealing to my own tastes. I realized that pairing honeynut squash with Spice Tribe’s Masa Mole spice blend would be a lovely foundation for a savory fall-themed toast; it contains cinnamon—one of the usual fall suspects—but beyond that, it brings those warm vibes through toasted Mexican chilies.

It was at that point that I decided I was declaring honeynut squash mash toast a thing—the yummiest autumn-iest alternative to avocado mash toast!

If you haven’t heard of honeynut squash before, it’s like a smaller, super adorable, deeper-colored version of butternut squash. Just look at how it is barely bigger than spice bottle. Freakin’ cute!

If you take anything away from this recipe, I hope it is this combo of mashed squash and this spice blend. Much like avocado toast, and toast in general, it feels a little silly to me to set a strict recipe for a toast, so top that spiced honeynut sqaush with whatever you like! In this example, I opted for fried halloumi and crispy sage, followed by a drizzle of good-quality maple syrup because, admittedly, that little bit of sweet does really bring out the natural sweetness of the squash even in a savory dish. I sometimes find halloumi to be too salty though, so if you don’t have a halloumi brand you love but still want that fried cheese goodness on top of your toast, firm queso fresco is a great mild option that you can fry up the exact same way.

Are you ready to swap your avocado toast routine for THIS?:

How to Make Spiced Honeynut Squash Toast

Ingredients

1 honeynut squash; peeled, deseeded, and cut into small cubes
4 slices of sourdough bread
12 sage leaves
5–6 oz halloumi cheese*, cut into 8 slices
3/4 tsp Spice Tribe Masa Mole blend
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
4 tbsp maple syrup
Olive oil
Kosher salt
1 sprig of tarragon (optional)
Sprinkle of Spice Tribe Maras Chile Flakes (optional)

* If you find halloumi to be too salty, queso fresco is a great alternative that fries the same way.

Procedure

Preheat oven to 425°F. **

Line a baking tray with parchment paper or foil. Add honeynut squash cubes and toss in some olive oil and salt to taste. Roast in oven until fork-tender, about 20–30 minutes.

In the meantime, toast bread slices to preference and set aside. (I like to heat some olive oil in a skillet, toast one side of the bread in the oil, flip, and then turn off the heat and let it sit in the pan while I prep everything else. This makes one side crusty and soggy-resistant for toppings without making the overall toast too hard.)

In a small skillet, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom in a thin layer, and heat the oil on medium. Carefully add sage leaves, trying to make them land flat in the oil. Remove the leaves when they start to crisp and look fully soaked with oil; they will continue to crisp up after being removed from the heat. Transfer to a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Using the same skillet and now sage-infused oil, fry slices of halloumi until golden brown on both sides. Transfer fried halloumi to a separate plate.

Sprinkle the Spice Tribe Masa Mole seasoning over the cooked squash, and mash squash with a fork until homogenous. 

Spread the ricotta equally on the toasts, followed by the spiced honeynut squash mash. Top with fried halloumi and crispy sage. Drizzle maple syrup over the top of each toast. Optionally, garnish with tarragon and Spice Tribe Maras Chile Flakes. Serve immediately.

**Shortcut version: Alternatively, you could steam the honeynut squash in the microwave until soft. Place cubes in a shallow bowl and cover completely with a wet paper towel. Microwave until fork-tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste before following the same directions as above for the cooked squash.

Thank you so much to Spice Tribe for sponsoring this recipe! Check them out on Instagram here or visit their website to purchase high quality spices and unique small-batch spice blends.

How to Make a Korean-Inspired Snack Board

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

I have been really into themed nibble boards lately. Part of the appeal lies in them being another avenue for traveling the world at home through food, which has become the theme of my coping mechanism for staying home during the global pandemic. But I think I like nibble boards specifically because it takes the concept of eating meals family style—something I grew up with—and extends it to delicious snacks just being out all day for the taking.

I made this Korean-inspired board in partnership with Bibigo USA. In addition to using their super snackable mini wontons and putting a spin on pimento cheese spread by incorporating their gochujang sauce, I also tried to include crunchy snacks that I thought were really popular or iconic to South Korea. If you don’t live in Korea but you’d like to give this themed board a try, I recommend seeking out a local Korean grocery store if you have access to one, and seeing what snacks appeal to you there. (For my SF Bay Area friends, I got all the snacks, as well as the chestnuts and Bibigo mini wontons at The K Market.) If you don’t have access to a Korean shop, perhaps look into what other ethnic markets are available in your area, and try making a nibble board as a way to explore a cuisine that is new to you.

How to Make a Korean-Inspired Snack Board and Gochujang Pimento Spread

Ingredients For the Gochujang Pimento Spread

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz sharp cheddar, grated
2–3 tbsp Bibigo Hot & Sweet Go-Chu-Jang Sauce
2 tbsp mayonnaise 
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp diced pimentos, drained
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients Requiring Prep

12 chestnuts
12 Bibigo Pork & Vegetable Mini Wontons
Oil for frying

Ingredients for Assembling the Board

Asian pear, sliced
Grapes
Honey butter chips
Honey butter almonds
Korean seaweed crisps
Sesame crackers
Sage, for garnish

Procedure

To make cheese spread: Combine cream cheese, cheddar, Bibigo Hot & Sweet Go-Chu-Jang Sauce, mayonnaise, and garlic powder in a food processor and process until homogenous. Transfer to a bowl and stir in diced pimentos. Salt to taste, if needed. (Can be made 1–2 days ahead; keep covered in refrigerator until ready to assemble board.)

To roast chestnuts: Preheat oven to 400°F. Using a sharp paring knife, carefully cut an X into each chestnut. Place cut-side up on a baking sheet and bake for 10–15 minutes until fragrant and cut part of shell curls back.

To fry the mini wontons: Fill a small pot about 1.5 inches deep with oil. Heat the oil and deep fry mini wontons in batches. Allow excess oil to drain on paper towels.

Assembling the board: Transfer cheese spread to a serving dish. Arrange cheese spread, chestnuts, and mini wontons on serving board. Fill in the remaining space with the other ingredients. Garnish with sprigs of sage. Allow cheese spread to soften slightly at room temperature before serving.

Thank you so much to Bibigo USA for sponsoring this recipe! For more recipe ideas and to learn more about their products, visit their website!

Recipe: Candied Sweet Potatoes & Mini Wontons

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

One thing that I find really lacking in the States (or at least in the San Francisco area) during the holiday season is the lack of festive markets and street food vendors. Traveling to other countries during the festive season, I absolutely love taking advantage of the charming activities that make holiday cheer and coziness spill into the streets; even when it’s cold and snowy, there’s a feeling of warmth as everyone is happily shopping for tasty treats. I also love when street foods double as hand warmers. In South Korea, piping hot sweet potatoes are the perfect street snack for this dual purpose of reviving numb fingers and filling bellies.

Another popular Korean way to have sweet potatoes at this time of year is goguma mattang—candied sweet potatoes. Chunks of sweet potatoes are deep-fried and then tossed in caramelized sugar, resulting in pieces that have the finest crackly sugar coating on the outside and are fluffy on the inside. When Bibigo USA asked me to incorporate one of their products into a Korean fall/winter snack, I realized that their mini wontons would go perfectly with that same candied coating as the sweet potatoes in goguma mattang.

This is admittedly not the easiest recipe. There were many fails in the test kitchen (a.k.a. my home kitchen) before I got an outcome that was happy with. So, I have to say that this recipe is definitely for those who are more quick-handed and quick-footed in the kitchen. I found that the key was keeping the mini wontons and sweet potato chunks hot after frying, so that the sugar mixture doesn’t get a cold shock and immediately harden before it has time to coat them. If you get it right, though, you will be rewarded with a sweet-savory texture medley that is sure to be belly-warming.

How to Make Candied Sweet Potatoes & Mini Wontons

Ingredients

1 medium Korean sweet potato, peeled
12–14 Bibigo Chicken & Vegetable Mini Wontons
1 tbsp neutral oil, plus more for frying
3 tbsp raw sugar
1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

Procedure

Use the rangiri technique to cut the sweet potato into random, multi-faceted 1-inch pieces. Begin by cutting off a small piece from one end at an angle. Roll the sweet potato 90 degrees (or a quarter of the way) and make another diagonal cut in the middle of the previously-cut surface. Continue rolling and cutting the rest of the sweet potato.

Soak the sweet potato pieces in cold water for 10 minutes to remove excess starchiness. Drain, pat dry, and allow to dry completely, for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, fill a small pot about 1.5 inches deep with oil. Fry the mini wontons, in batches if necessary, until golden. Drain on paper towels.

Then deep fry sweet potato pieces the same way. Drain on paper towels.

Place fried mini wontons and sweet potatoes in the oven on the warm setting, or at 180–200°F to keep warm. (This is important to help the sugar coating spread evenly on their surface without hardening too quickly.)

Prepare a large tray lined with parchment paper.

To a large, shallow pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl to distribute. Turn on heat to medium and scatter sugar over oil. (I found that it was better to not stir or agitate the mixture too much at this point.) Once sugar begins to melt, reduce heat to low. Once sugar is all melted, add the fried mini wontons and sweet potatoes and use a rubber spatula to gently mix together. Keep mixing for 1–2 minutes until everything is coated.

Pour contents onto the prepared parchment paper and quickly make sure none of the pieces are touching. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and allow sugar coating to harden before transferring to a bowl to serve.

Thank you so much to Bibigo USA for sponsoring this recipe! For more recipe ideas and to learn more about their products, visit their website!

Recipe: Chicken Jook with Ginger-Scallion Oil

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

Rice porridge is known by many different names—I learned the term “congee” in America, but grew up calling it the Cantonese term “jook”. But I think something that all Asian kids and former kids can agree upon is that it is THE dish for Asian parents to make as a cure for any and all under-the-weather situations. I’ve had several people tell me they don’t like jook because it reminds them of the one thing they ate while being sick as a kid…but I personally love jook in sickness and in health!

That being said, as an adult there are times when that cure-all feels desperately needed, and parents are no longer around to stand over the stove to slowly simmer that rice into a tummy- and soul-warming porridge. In those times, shortcuts are a necessity! So when Bibigo USA asked me to develop a jook recipe for flu season, I wanted to make sure the recipe was super easy and ready to provide comfort in 30 minutes.

The ginger-scallion oil was inspired by the kind that my mom used to make to go with Hainanese chicken rice, but I also included garlic to help boost immunity and ward off vampires. Not only is it awesome on jook, chicken, and rice, but I have been using it on biang biang noodles, roast duck, and pretty much anything.

How to Make Chicken Jook with Ginger-Scallion Oil

Ingredients

1 Bibigo Cooked Sticky White Rice
2 cups bone broth or chicken stock
1 tbsp + 1 tsp ginger, grated and divided
1–2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 small clove garlic, minced
Coarse Kosher salt, to taste
2 tbsp avocado oil*
1/3 cup rotisserie chicken, shredded

*Can be substituted with other neutral, high smoke point cooking oils, but not olive or sesame oil

Procedure

Microwave Bibigo Cooked Sticky White Rice according to instructions on packaging for 90 seconds.

Combine the broth, microwaved rice, and 1 teaspoon ginger in a small pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium and allow to boil for 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the jook becomes homogeneous, about 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

While jook is boiling, prepare the ginger-garlic-scallion oil. Gently blot excess moisture from the remaining ginger. In a small heat-safe bowl, combine ginger, scallions, and garlic, plus a generous pinch of salt. Heat oil in a small saucepan until it just starts to smoke (or test by throwing in a small piece of scallion to see if it sizzles). Carefully pour oil over aromatics and mix well. 

When jook is the desired consistency, transfer to a bowl and top with shredded chicken. Top with ginger-scallion oil and serve.

Thank you so much to Bibigo USA for sponsoring this recipe! For more recipe ideas and to learn more about their products, visit their website!

Recipe: Mandu Jeongol

JUMP TO RECIPE >>

I can’t wait for hot pot season. Despite usually preferring sunshine, I do have a deep appreciation for gloomy weather that is motivated mostly by my stomach.

I think budae jjigae has gotten some spotlight in recent years—a trendy dish among younger adults in South Korea but a dish borne out of a deep and sad history. (I learned a lot from this article on Food52 and this video from Munchies). So for those who already know and love budae jjigae in its modern revival, the easiest way I describe mandu jeongol to you is a healthier, more veggie-forward version. While budae jjigae night feels like going all in on processed, salty favorites (no sarcasm here; I LOVE Spam), mandu jeongol night feels like a nice cozy night in, eating lots of fresh veggies and loving it. It can definitely still involve lots and lots of soju though, too!

For me, the most key ingredients to a good mandu jeongol are the crown daisy greens (also known as chrysanthemum greens, I find these at Asian markets); gray squash (I get this from my neighborhood Mexican market), and of course ready-made mandu/dumplings. While even the first two can be improvised if you do not have access to less mainstream produce, do not skimp on the mandu! As I have said many times before on my blog, Bibigo Beef & Vegetable Mandu are my absolute fave when it comes to frozen dumplings. They are so juicy and flavorful! So, obviously that is what I used here. Veggies are great and all, but obviously these mandu were the best part of the hot pot.

As with any hot pot, the ingredients and amounts are just guidelines. Eat things as they get cooked to your liking, and adding more ingredients as you go!

How to Make Mandu Jeongol

Ingredients for soup base

4 tbsp coarse gochugaru
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
5–6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Korean plum extract or Chinese plum sauce
32 oz bone broth or chicken stock
Salt to taste

Ingredients for Hot Pot

1/2 medium onion, sliced
3 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 block firm tofu, sliced
1 gray squash, sliced
1 carrot, sliced*
6 cremini or shitake mushrooms
3 ounces enoki mushrooms
12 ounces napa cabbage, cut into chunks
2 cups crown daisy leaves
8+ Bibigo Beef & Vegetable Mandu
1/2 cup kimchi (optional)
1/2–1 cup tteok/fresh rice cakes (optional)

* I used mini bento vegetable cutters to cut my carrot slices and give them that scalloped edge.

Procedure

Make soup base by combining gochugaru, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, and plum extract/plum sauce. Mix together and set aside.

In a wide, shallow pot, evenly distribute the onions and white parts of scallions. Add kimchi, if using. Stir together sauce mixture with a splash of broth and pour evenly over onions.

Arrange remaining vegetables and tofu (and rice cakes, if using) in the pot as desired. Top with frozen mandu. Fill the pot using the remaining broth. Cover, and place on a portable cooktop/burner at the table. Bring to a boil, remove the lid, and enjoy eating the ingredients with your table companions as they get cooked.

Thank you so much to Bibigo USA for sponsoring this recipe! For more recipe ideas and to learn more about their products, visit their website!

Photoshoots for La Playa Carmel and Brophy's Tavern

Last month, I went down to Carmel and shot some photos for a returning client, Classic Hotels & Resorts; they have two lovely properties in Carmel-by-the-Sea: La Playa Carmel and Hotel Carmel. When I shoot at a restaurant, I always try to capture their unique vibe and I love it when this results in a look and feel that is a bit different from what can be seen on my own Instagram account or blog. I am really happy with how the photos from these shoots came out, so I thought I would share some of my favorites here.