Mains

Miso Black Beans with Seared Shiitake

Black beans in a glossy miso sauce over seared shiitake — savory, fast, and better than it has any right to be over rice.

Serves: 2

Method

Sear the mushrooms: heat the neutral oil in a skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add the shiitake in a single layer and don't stir — let them sear 5 minutes until golden and slightly crispy on one side. Flip and cook another 2 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Push the mushrooms aside, add the garlic and ginger, and cook 1 minute until fragrant, then stir everything together.
Whisk the miso, soy sauce, and broth in a small bowl until the miso dissolves. Pour into the pan and stir.
Add the beans and white pepper. Simmer 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces and coats the beans in a glossy, savory sauce.
Off the heat, stir in the sesame oil and rice vinegar. Taste and adjust soy or vinegar.
Spoon into bowls, top with scallions and sesame seeds. Serve over steamed rice or with crusty bread.

Note from my kitchen Deeper umami: crumble in a small sheet of nori or a teaspoon of nutritional yeast with the miso. More heat: a teaspoon of chili crisp at the end is excellent. Thicker: mash a quarter of the beans before adding the broth.

Mains

Falafel

From dried chickpeas, never canned. Blitzed with two herbs and shallow-fried in avocado oil.

Base batch: 1 cup dried chickpeas

Method

Soak the dried chickpeas overnight in about 2.5 liters of water.
Roughly chop the onion; loosely chop the parsley and cilantro. Chop more than feels necessary — a big onion chunk will jam the processor.
Drain the chickpeas and add to the food processor with the garlic, onion, parsley, cilantro, cumin, baking soda, coconut flour, lemon juice, potato starch, salt, and pepper.
Blend for about 45 seconds — chunky, not smooth.
Shape and fry in the avocado oil until deep golden brown.

Note from my kitchen Triple this — ideally triple it twice — then combine everything in your biggest mixing bowl and finish mixing by spoon. A food processor holds about 3× the base recipe, but it blends better in two batches. Remember dried chickpeas expand: 1 cup dried is about 2½ cups soaked.

Dips & spreads

Muhammara

Charred red peppers, toasted walnuts, and pomegranate molasses — smoky, sweet, and a little hot. The best thing on any mezze table.

Method

Roast the peppers directly over a gas flame or under a broiler, turning, until charred all over. Cover in a bowl and steam 15 minutes.
Peel off the charred skin, remove stems and seeds, and pat dry. Don't rinse — you want that smoky flavor.
Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until fragrant and lightly golden. Cool.
Add everything except the garnishes to a food processor. Pulse to a thick, slightly chunky texture — don't over-blend. Taste and adjust salt, lemon, or molasses.
Rest at room temperature at least 20 minutes so the flavors meld. Drizzle generously with olive oil, top with pomegranate seeds and parsley.

Dips & spreads

Harissa-Tahini Lentil & Walnut Spread

Red lentils, toasted walnuts, and harissa pulled together with tahini and pomegranate molasses.

Makes: about 2 cups

Method

Add everything except the broth and garnishes to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Add the broth a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the consistency you want. Taste for salt, lemon, and heat.
Serve topped with cilantro and pomegranate seeds.

Dips & spreads

Roasted Red Pepper & White Bean Spread

Deep flavor, minimal effort. With pita bread this is a full meal.

Serves: 2

Method

Add everything except the parsley to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust salt, lemon, and heat.
Serve topped with the parsley and a drizzle of olive oil, with warm pita.

Condiments

Vegan Sambal, My Version

Adapted from WoonHeng's easy vegan sambal — bell pepper stands in for some of the dried chili, which keeps the color and tames the burn.

Ingredients

150 g bell peppers
1 shallot (about 100 g)
70 g dried chilies
20 garlic cloves
a few slices of ginger
a small amount of lemongrass — go easy, too much throws it off
1 cup avocado oil
3 tbsp sugar (added after blending)
1 tsp salt (added after blending)

Method

Place the bell pepper, dried chilies, lemongrass, shallot, garlic, ginger, and ½ cup of the oil in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Heat a tall non-stick pan (or Dutch oven), then add the remaining oil.
Slowly pour in the blended mixture.
Cook, stirring continuously, until the oil starts to separate from the chili — about 20 minutes.
Add the sugar and salt and cook another 2–3 minutes; the mixture will darken.
Turn off the heat and cool completely before jarring.

Note from my kitchen Make this in the Dutch oven. Doubling works, but cook it twice as long and half-cover the pan — it bubbles a lot. To go bigger, blend in double batches: two blender loads fill a wok, and a double batch fits one large storage cube with room to spare.

Condiments

Chilli Lime Drizzle

Sweet, sour, and hot — a pour-on sauce that wakes up rice bowls, greens, and anything grilled.

Ingredients

1½ tsp garlic powder
1½ tsp onion powder
1½ tbsp chili flakes (or 3 Thai chilies)
1½ tsp salt
6 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp lime juice
375 ml hot water

Method

Combine the garlic powder, onion powder, chili flakes, and salt in a jar and stir.
Pour in the maple syrup, lime juice, and hot water. Stir or shake until fully dissolved and combined.

Note from my kitchen Garlic powder subs at roughly ¼ teaspoon per clove; the onion powder replaces the savory depth fresh garlic and onion would bring. Adjust the chili flakes to taste — this is already 3× the original batch.

Experimental

Spicy Moon Copycat Chili Oil (Spicy Girl version)

My attempt to reverse-engineer the chili oil at Spicy Moon in New York: a whole-spice infusion strained clear, then poured sizzling over Sichuan chili powder and a small army of allium powders.

Method

Infuse the oil: gently heat the avocado oil in a small pot over medium-low. Add the Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, white cardamom, tsaoko, and fennel seeds, and let them infuse 15–20 minutes until fragrant. Don't let them burn.
Prepare the chili mix: in a heatproof bowl, combine the Sichuan chili powder, ginger powder, onion powder, leek powder, scallion powder, celery powder, coriander, and sesame seeds.
Strain and pour: strain the whole spices out of the oil, then immediately pour the hot oil over the chili mix. You should hear a sizzle — that's the point.
Stir well, cool to room temperature, and jar airtight.

Note from my kitchen Ultra-spicy version: bump the Sichuan chili powder to 15 g, and drop 1–2 dried Thai bird's-eye chilies into the infusion. Still experimental — the powder ratios are a work in progress.

Condiments

Chilli Oil #4

Fourth iteration and the keeper: whole spices toasted and jarred with Sichuan pepper flakes, an oil infused with aromatics and fermented soy beans, and a seasoned finish poured over the top. It needs half a day to come together. Worth it.

Method

Toast the star anise, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, and lime leaves in a dry frying pan over medium heat, 2–3 minutes. Set aside.
Add the Sichuan pepper flakes to a heatproof jar, followed by the sesame seeds, salt, and the toasted spices.
Blend the avocado oil with half the fermented soy beans until thoroughly combined. Roughly chop the garlic, ginger, and green onions.
Pour the oil blend into a small saucepan and add the garlic, ginger, and green onions.
Heat on medium; when it starts to bubble, turn down to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes.
Carefully strain the oil through a sieve, removing the aromatics.
Stir in the remaining fermented soy beans, mirin, white vinegar, MSG, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and a splash of black rice vinegar. Simmer 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture into the jar with the pepper flakes and toasted spices. Stir, and let it infuse for half a day before using.

Note from my kitchen Keeps in the fridge for a few months — or in the pantry, if you go through it as fast as I do.

Ramen

Simple Miso Ramen

The workhorse broth — four ingredients and it tastes like it took all day.

Ingredients

8 cups vegetable broth
3 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp MSG
— to assemble —
brown rice noodles
mixed vegetables
baked tofu

Method

Whisk the seasonings into the broth in a pot until the miso fully dissolves, and bring to a gentle simmer.
Cook the noodles separately, and prepare the vegetables and tofu however you like them.
Noodles in the bowl, broth over, toppings on. Chili oil is not optional in this house.

Note from my kitchen Smaller batch: 5 cups broth, 2 tablespoons miso, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon MSG.

Ramen

Garlic & Onion Ramen

The allium-forward broth: equal heavy hands of miso, garlic powder, onion powder, and MSG.

Ingredients

5 cups vegetable broth
3 tbsp miso paste
3 tbsp garlic powder
3 tbsp onion powder
3 tbsp MSG
— to assemble —
noodles, vegetables, and tofu of choice

Method

Whisk the seasonings into the broth in a pot until the miso fully dissolves, and bring to a gentle simmer.
Cook the noodles separately, and prepare the vegetables and tofu however you like them.
Noodles in the bowl, broth over, toppings on. Chili oil is not optional in this house.

Note from my kitchen The 2-cup version: 1.2 tablespoons each of miso, garlic powder, onion powder, and MSG (about 1 tbsp + ¾ tsp each), plus 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons soy sauce.

Ramen

Golden Dragon Ramen

The signature: the simple miso broth, sent somewhere else entirely by curry powder, Sichuan chili flakes, and half a cup of fresh orange juice.

Method

Whisk the seasonings into the broth in a pot until the miso fully dissolves, and bring to a gentle simmer.
Cook the noodles separately, and prepare the vegetables and tofu however you like them.
Noodles in the bowl, broth over, toppings on. Chili oil is not optional in this house.

Falafel

Muhammara

Harissa-Tahini Lentil & Walnut Spread

Roasted Red Pepper & White Bean Spread

Cooked on repeat — recommended

Simple Miso Ramen

Garlic & Onion Ramen

Golden Dragon Ramen

Cooked on repeat — recommended