Recipes

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

Quick and flavorful, mazemen is a brothless ramen that was created in Japan as a quick bite that is both easy to eat and satisfying. This homemade version is simple and easy, thanks to fast-cooking ground chicken and some everyday pantry ingredients that effortlessly create a rich sauce. Swirling tahini into the noodles at the end creates the silky texture. Fresh ramen noodles give a more authentic texture to the dish, but dried ramen also works nicely. A fresh topping of bean sprouts and grated radishes wakes up the dish; chopped cucumbers would be great, too. Enjoy the mazemen warm or at room temperature.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

Inspired by the flavors of piccata, these chicken meatballs are seasoned with capers, garlic and oregano and pan-roasted until golden. The pan drippings are used to create a quick and tangy lemon-butter pan sauce. The secret to these plump, tender meatballs is the panade, bread crumbs soaked in milk until softened and folded into the meat mixture. Serve the meatballs with pasta and any simply roasted vegetable, like broccoli, green beans or bell peppers.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

Seaweed salad is traditionally enjoyed as an appetizer or side dish in Japanese cooking and can easily be prepared at home. Made most commonly with wakame, which is mildly briny with a soft and chewy texture, the seaweed is typically dressed in a sesame soy sauce, with some versions that add ponzu, garlic, ginger, scallions or grated carrots. This classic version is the perfect versatile accompaniment for roasted proteins like fish and chicken, and pairs particularly well with tofu and rice dishes. With just a handful of basic condiments, the salad comes together quickly and can be made a few hours ahead.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

This vegan variation of Korean rice porridge is soothing and superearthy, thanks to a mix of fresh and dried mushrooms. Fragrant garlic, ginger and scallions infuse the porridge, while a spoonful of caramelized miso layers deeper flavor into the dish. The customizable toppings dress up the humble porridge into a festive meal; choose from any combination of mixed herbs, cubed tofu, bean sprouts, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, chile crisp and chile oil.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

This cozy creamy baked pasta has a unique miso-laden béchamel base and a buttery, crushed Ritz cracker and scallion topping. The triple-cheese sauce combines sharp Cheddar, tangy Gruyère and nutty Parmesan, but feel free to use all Cheddar, if preferred. The mac and cheese gets a kick from spicy Dijon mustard, which cuts through the rich sauce. Pasta shells have great pockets for catching the cheesy sauce, but classic macaroni will also work great. Serve the full-bodied dish with a crisp bitter green salad on the side.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

This lively salad is inspired by laab, a Thai minced meat salad seasoned with fish sauce and served with fresh lettuce leaves and rice. Here, a caramelized ground-beef topping is layered over crisp veggies and cool rice noodles, all drizzled with a tart and spicy vinaigrette. Green beans are nicely charred first in a hot skillet, adding lovely smoky notes to the garlicky beef mixture. Fresh cilantro (or basil) ties the salad together with bright citrusy bites. Leftovers make a terrific filling for fresh summer rolls the next day.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

This cheater version of biryani allows you to enjoy the wonderfully fragrant and complex dish on a busy weeknight. The shortcut method here gives the rice a head start in a Dutch oven, while a ground beef mixture comes together quickly in a skillet. Don’t be deterred by the long ingredient list, as most of the ingredients are dried spices that don’t require any prep work. Aromatic garlic, ginger and spices are bloomed in ghee to extract as much flavor as possible, and there’s a nice hit of heat from the chile powder (so use half the amount if a milder dish is desired). A tangy cumin raita is a lovely finishing drizzle that brightens the meal.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

The fragrant, dill-scented rice in this quick, one-pot meal is the perfect pairing for salmon, a rich, fatty fish that’s lightened by the vibrant grassy herb. As with any one-pot meal, stagger your cooking based on how long it takes each ingredient to cook. Give the rice a head start, then add the salmon and peas halfway through the cooking, perched directly over the rice for flaky and tender steamed fish. A light coating of citrusy coriander seeds brightens up the buttery salmon. While your pot simmers, whip up a simple cucumber yogurt sauce; drizzle it on top for a cool and tangy balance to the dish.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

This warm, veggie-packed salad gets its rich flavor from buttery salmon and hearty canned lentils but eats bright, thanks to citrusy dill and punchy lemon juice. The fish is seared before building the salad right in the pot; as you cook the dish, the salmon naturally flakes apart and disperses throughout, so you’ll wind up with some fish in every bite. The salmon oil combines with aromatic garlic, scallions and herbs to create a vibrant dressing. Easily transportable for potlucks and picnics, this salad can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

Cabbage and salmon are a wonderful pairing, united here by a zippy buttery piccata sauce. This cabbage is roughly chopped, seasoned simply with salt and pepper, and lightly caramelized in a skillet, allowing its natural sweetness to shine through. Salmon is steamed right on top of the cabbage until tender and flaky for an effortless and elegant one-skillet meal. Spiked with English mustard for extra heat (Dijon is a good alternative), the bright and tangy sauce complements both the fish and cabbage and emboldens the entire dish.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

Vindaloo, a popular Indian curry layered with heady spices, vinegar and aromatics, is the inspiration behind this vibrant beef chili. Dried chiles and whole spices are lightly toasted then puréed with garlic, ginger and vinegar to create a vindaloo paste that’s both spicy and tangy. (Whole spices yield the best flavor, but using ground will still achieve great results.) Sour cream and avocado — classic chili toppings — finish the dish with creamy texture and cooling contrast to balance the richly spiced sauce. Dried Kashmiri chiles can be found in Indian markets or online and give the most authentic flavor, but dried New Mexico and guajillo chiles are good alternatives.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

These dumplings are inspired by my mom’s comforting cabbage-potato soup and other classic cabbage and potato dishes, like pierogi and knishes. The savory filling combines creamy mashed potatoes and caramelized cabbage, seasoned with tangy sauerkraut, fragrant caraway, Parmesan and fresh dill. These dumplings are equally delicious boiled and tender or pan-fried and crisp. Leftovers can be cooked with veggies in broth for a quick and satisfying soup.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

This versatile salad sings with bright zesty ginger and lemon and is fantastic warm, cold or in between. Blanched broccoli florets are tossed in the vibrant dressing while warm, which helps the vegetable soak up all of the dressing’s tangy flavor. The most important step in this recipe is simple: You’ve got to drain the broccoli well in order to prevent excess water from thinning out and diluting the dressing. Serve the salad alongside roasted chicken, salmon or pan-fried tofu. Chop up any leftovers and toss them with beans, pasta, olive oil and grated Parmesan for a gratifying and fast lunch the next day.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

Cabbage, butter and miso are a terrific trio; the butter and miso creates a savory silky sauce that enhances the mild vegetable. The cabbage is quickly steamed until softened, then finished over high heat to encourage caramelization for deeper sweeter flavor. Fresh lemon juice and dill instantly brighten the dish, balancing out the rich butter sauce. This fast-cooking dish is a wonderful side dish for mains like pan-roasted chicken, fish and steak, as well as all sorts of rice and noodle dishes.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

This comforting vegetarian pasta is loaded with fresh spinach, peas and carrots in a light garlicky broth. Creamy protein-dense black-eyed peas provide meaty texture and enthusiastic stirring at the end of cooking helps the starches in the pasta lightly thicken the sauce. A finish of butter and grated Parmesan enriches the broth, while fresh grassy dill adds brightness to the dish. Serve with crusty bread to mop everything up.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

This quick stir-fry combines ground beef with crumbled tofu for a meal that feels lighter but still tastes rich, thanks to deeply savory oyster sauce spiked with garlic and ginger. High-heat cooking helps develop flavor by caramelizing tofu in the beef drippings and grassy asparagus adds crisp fresh bites. Turn leftovers into a fast meal by tossing with cooked noodles (like soba or udon) and chopped cucumbers for crunch.

Kay Chun · NYT Cooking

Aromatic leeks, garlic, clam juice and sweet zucchini create a flavorful base in this brothy shrimp stew. The shrimp gets poached directly in the broth, infusing the liquid with its briny liquor; the canned beans add heft and a pat of butter transforms the juices into a luscious sauce brightened by fresh chives and lemon juice. Serve with warm crusty bread on the side for sopping everything up. Leftovers also make a fantastic pasta salad the next day, tossed with any short pasta, olive oil and grated Parmesan.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This soup is simultaneously comforting, fresh and nasal-clearing — as good for sick days as for those crisp days of spring. The key is a spicy bright-green slurry made by blending a bunch of raw spinach, miso, lime juice, fresh chiles and ginger. Because it’s poured into the soup pot of tender lentils and rice right at the end, its color and flavor stays vibrant. For pops of savory nuttiness, top your bowls with slivers of shiitake mushrooms that have been browned in sesame oil. They make this soup especially satisfying, but you could also top bowls with stir-fried or roasted vegetables like asparagus and winter squash.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This no-cook recipe loosely follows the Chinese traditions of liangban tofu and bang bang sauce by topping cold, silken tofu with a fiery, tangy peanut sauce and raw celery. Eaten together, it is creamy and crunchy, hot and cold, intense and mild all at once. (The combination of peanut butter and celery might happily remind you of ants on a log, the childhood snack.) Eat with hot, steamed rice alongside, if you like.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

In this straightforward slow cooker recipe inspired by dakdori tang, you’ll be rewarded with a tomato-braised chicken that’s light enough for summer but hearty enough for winter. The balance comes from the interplay of cherry tomatoes and gochujang: The tomatoes burst into a tart, light broth that’s deepened with warming heat and fermented savoriness from the chile paste. Serve the chicken with plenty of the sauce and tomatoes over rice, rice cakes, udon or ramen noodles, roasted sweet potatoes or grits. Garnish with any combination of toasted sesame seeds, lime wedges, cilantro or thinly sliced scallions or serrano chiles.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This warm-weather dinner channels steak tartare's signature combination of rare meat and sharp accoutrements: The steak is charred on the outside and medium-rare within, then topped with a mixture of chopped tomatoes, shallots, capers and chives. But unlike classic tartare, the embellishments are left in larger pieces for bigger, bolder punches. The steak and tomato juices combine to form a bright and briny sauce that you can sop with grilled bread or drizzle over a tuft of arugula, watercress or Little Gem lettuces.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

Soothing yet bright, this soup tastes like something that took careful attention, but really just requires throwing five ingredients into a slow cooker and letting it cook for hours. Dried chickpeas and cauliflower soften in the gentle heat, and the coconut milk thickens as the mixture cooks, seasoned with earthy turmeric and sweet lemon peel. While a little lemon juice balances the richness, the predominant lemon flavor here isn’t tangy but rather floral from the peels releasing their oils into the stew. Reminiscent of curries throughout South and Southeast Asia, it can be eaten over rice, or with sliced almonds or cilantro on top, but it can just as well stand alone.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

You could throw some shrimp and vegetables on the grill and call it dinner, but a sauce makes the whole thing sing. Here, a pantry-friendly miso-honey sauce does double duty: It coats the shrimp before grilling, helping the exterior caramelize before the delicate meat toughens. Then, once everything’s off the grill, dunk the shrimp, corn and shishito peppers into more sauce. (You get to eat this dinner with your hands!) Leave the tails on the shrimp so they don’t fall through the grates, and also because a crispy, crackly shrimp tail is a treat to eat.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This easy breakfast isn’t too sweet or too savory, and that’s what makes it enticing to eat. Combine strawberries with vinegar, honey, basil, salt, and pepper, then let them sit for 15 minutes or up to 1 day. The berries become sweeter, tarter and slightly spicy from the black pepper, and their released juices develop into a pink syrup that you spoon over cottage cheese. Accentuate the savoriness by adding arugula, watercress or prosciutto; or lean into sweet by adding a spoonful of jam or granola.