I Am... How to Cook Gyoza
Is there anything more perfect than gyoza? A tender, flavorful, juicy meatball wrapped in a noodle-y coat is the best bite in the whole world. I love gyoza. They are one of my go to comfort foods and every time we land in Tokyo, our first meal inevitably is at Gyoza no Fukuho, a chain known for their yaki gyoza (fried gyoza). The gyoza are crisp but not overly oily, extremely flavorful and garlicky. They make me feel like everything is right with the world. Gyoza is one of those foods that can be both high and low end. You can find Michelin starred chef takes on gyoza and you can also find it at convenience stores in little plastic trays. They appeal to everyone: crispy bottoms, tender tops, and juicy insides. Mike and I love gyoza so much that one year we went on a dedicated gyoza hunt in Tokyo. I miss my Tokyo gyoza eating days.
What are gyoza?
Gyoza are Japanese dumplings. They’re based off of Chinese potstickers or jiaozi, adapted and fully incorporated into Japanese cuisine. Gyoza are ground meat filling wrapped up in a piece of thinly rolled out dough. They can be deep-fried, boiled, steamed, and pan-fried. Gyoza are super popular and versatile, you can eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, a late night snack, you name it, and gyoza will be there for you. They are the perfect bite. Gyoza are usually served with soy sauce, vinegar, and Japanese chili oil or rayu. You can find gyoza at most Japanese restaurants, especially izakaya or ramen shops. In Japan they have restaurants dedicated to only serving gyoza. They come frozen in bags at the grocery stores and there are gourmet shops that ship directly to your house so you can make restaurant specialty gyoza right in the comfort of your own home. Unfortunately they don’t ship world wide so the next best thing is making them at home from scratch. Spend some time making a batch or six, freeze the extras. The next time you’re hungry you can eat your bounty of resourcefulness.How to cook gyoza
Crispy bottom dumplings are the best, am I right? The textural contrast between super crispy golden bottoms and tender steamed tops is the best. To get crispy bottoms:- Pan fry them in a bit of oil over medium heat for 2-3 minutes,
- Add a bit of water and cover to steam to 4-5 minutes.
- Lift off the lid and cook until the bottoms turn golden and crisp, and the insides are tender and cooked through.
Dumpling skirts
If you’ve seen fancy gyoza with a skirt all over your instagram, this is how you make it. Skirts are a lacy, crispy pancake-like layer that connects all the dumplings together when you’re cooking. A slurry of water and flour is poured into the pan as the dumplings cook up and crisps. When the water evaporates from the pan, a thin crispy skirt forms.How to make a dumpling skirt
- Heat up a bit of oil in a non-stick pan over medium to medium high heat.
- Add your gyoza, leaving a bit of space between them.
- Crisp up the bottoms, 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk 2 teaspoons of flour with 1/3 cup of water and add to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and steam for 3-4 minutes.
- Remove the lid and continue to cook until the flour slurry starts to evaporate and crisps up golden brown.
- Flip over on to a plate and admire your extra crispy dumpling skirt.
How to make gyoza
- Mix. First off make the filling by mixing everything into a homogeneous paste. The classic filling is pork, cabbage, nira (Chinese chives) or scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake, and toasted sesame oil.
- Wrap. Add a tablespoon of filling to the middle of a round gyoza wrapper, lightly moisten the edges and pleat and press together the edges.
- Fry. Heat up a bit of oil in a non stick frying pan, brown the bottoms, add a bit of water and cover the pan to steam. When all of the water evaporates, lift off the lid, let the bottoms crisp up a bit and you’re done.
- Eat. Enjoy hot and crispy with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil for dipping!
Wrappers
You can go all out and make gyoza wrappers from scratch but most people buy store bought gyoza wrappers for ease and convenience. You can find them, either frozen or in the fridge, at most Japanese or Asian grocery stores. They’re thinner than Chinese potsticker wrappers, but those are the only ones you can find, they make a good substitute. The brand we like is called Myojo.How to make the filling
The key to a good gyoza is a juicy, well seasoned filling. You need a mix of ground meat and vegetables so the insides are tender and juicy.- Prep: Green cabbage is the vegetable of choice for gyoza. Cabbage adds extra moisture, flavor, and texture that compliments the pork. Chop the cabbage very finely, salt it, then squeeze it to remove excess moisture. The other vegetable you’ll usually find is nira, aka Chinese chives. They look like green onions but flat. You can find them at the Asian grocery store but if you can’t get your hands on them, scallions will do.
- Mix: After the cabbage is ready, mix up the meat. Stir together a bit of cornstarch with water then mix it into the ground pork. Cornstarch and water will make the insides super tender. It’s the secret to extra juicy, tender dumplings! When you stir in the water-cornstarch mix everything will come together into a homogenous paste, which is exactly what you want. When the pork is nice and smooth, mix in the squeezed out cabbage and green onions.
- Season: Ginger, garlic, sake, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and salt are your friends. Stir them all in and your filling is ready to go.
How to fold gyoza
There are infinite ways of folding gyoza. My tip to you is: don’t worry about it! If your first batch of dumplings is just folded over and pressed together it’s totally fine! The goal is to make homemade gyoza, not to stress out about different dumpling folds.If you want the classic pleats, here’s how
1. Take a wrapper in your non-dominate hand and place it on your fingers. Dip your other hand’s fingers in a bit of water and moisten the outer edges of the dumpling wrapper. 2. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper. 3. Pinch together one corner of the dumpling wrapper and press. 4. Take one side of the wrapper and pleat it towards the corner that you just sealed. 5. Continue to pleat until you reach the other corner of the dumpling. 6. When you reach the end, press together the pleats to make sure the seals are air tight. 7. And that's it! Now to make a bunch more. Don't worry, it's fun and fast once you have the hang of it.How to freeze
If you’re smart, you’ll make a triple batch and freeze the extras to secret away for a rainy day. To freeze them, space out uncooked, formed dumplings in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Transfer to freezer bags. Cook from frozen.How to serve
Gyoza sets can’t be beat: gyoza with soup, rice, and salad.How to boil gyoza
Sui gyoza (水餃子) or boiled gyoza are super popular in Japan. Every gyoza shop with offer both yaki (grilled) and sui (boiled). Most people will get a combo so they can enjoy both preparations. If you haven’t had boiled gyoza before, you should definitely give it a try, they’re amazing! They’re silky, tender, and juicy little pockets of flavor. To boil gyoza:- Bring a pot of water up to a boil.
- Add the gyoza to the pot and simmer, stirring once or twice to make sure the gyoza don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- When the gyoza float to the top, let simmer for 1-2 minute, or until cooked through (you can cut one open to check).
- Use a slotted spoon to pull the gyoza out of the pot and place in a bowl.
- Serve with soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil.
- Enjoy hot!
How to make gyoza wrappers
If you don’t have access to wrappers all you need is flour, water, and a little elbow grease to make your own.Homemade Japanese Gyoza Wrappers Recipe
200 grams all purpose flour, about 1 1/4 cups 100 ml boiling hot water, about 6.5 tbsp 1 tbsp neutral oil- Place the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
- Pour the boiling hot water into the well and mix the flour and water together into a shaggy dough.
- Mix in the oil and turn out onto a work surface and knead until it comes together into a dough.
- Wrap with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
- After the 30 minute rest, knead the dough again so that it is smooth and elastic.
Once your dough is ready
- Cut the dough into two portions, keeping one covered with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out. Roll out one portion into a rough rectangle and lightly dust with flour.
- Roll through a pasta machine on the widest setting, adjusting and decreasing the setting so your gyoza wrapper becomes thinner and thinner. I like to roll it down to setting 4. Alternatively, use a rolling pin to roll it out as thin as you can.
- Use a four inch cookie cutter to cut out round gyoza wrappers, lightly dusting and covering the wrappers with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.
Gyoza dipping sauce
Gyoza just isn’t the same without dipping sauce. Yes, you could dip your dumplings in just soy sauce, but if you’ve gone through the trouble of making gyoza from scratch, I’m sure you want to make a classic Japanese dipping sauce to go with. Typically, at a gyoza-ya you’ll find three condiments on the table: soy sauce, rice vinegar, and rayu (Japanese chili oil). For a classic mix, stir together 2 tsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp rice vinegar. If you like a touch of heat, add 1 tsp rayu. Taste, and adjust accordingly, adding more soy if you need more umami, more vinegar if you need more acidity, and more rayu if you need more spice. Interestingly, dipping sauces are regional – the classic soy and vinegar mix is definitely more Tokyo-leaning. In other parts of Japan, such as Kobe, they serve their gyoza with red miso, sometime spicy and sometimes not. If you want to try a Kobe-style dipping sauce, try mixing together 2 tsp red miso with 1 tbsp rice vinegar and 2 tsp soy. If you want it spicy, add rayu to taste.Where to buy gyoza
You can buy gyoza just about anywhere these days, from Costco to Trader Joe’s. Even better if you have an Asian grocery store in town. Gyoza are always sold frozen so just take a look in the freezer department and try a bag! There are so many brands out there to discover and love.Gyoza vs potstickers
Potsickers, or jiaozi or Chinese dumplings are essentially the same dish with some essential differences. Japanese gyoza tend to be a tiny bit smaller than potstickers and have thinner skins. They’re also seasoned differently, most notably heavier on the garlic.You can also make a huge Japanese feast
Gyoza five-ever! -StephJapanese Gyoza Recipe
How to make gyoza from scratch like an expert
- food processor
- 1.5 cups cabbage (finely chopped)
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp ginger (minced)
- 1 tbsp garlic (minced)
- 1/2 cup nira chives (sliced, also known as chinese chives, sub green onions)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (Japanese preferred)
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1.5 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 40 gyoza wrappers
Toss the cabbage with a pinch of salt in a large bowl and mix well. Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes, the squeeze out and drain as much of the extra water as possible. Mix together 2 tbsp water with the teaspoon of cornstarch and stir into the pork until it forms a paste. Mix in the ginger, garlic, nira/green onions, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, salt, and squeezed out cabbage until incorporated. For best results, optionally pulse in a food processor until smooth (as shown).
Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Lightly moisten the edges with water then fold over into a half moon shape and pinch the edges to seal. Keep wrappers and gyoza covered with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out while you make them.
You can also pleat/fold the dumplings: start by folding the dumpling skin in half and pinching. From the middle, fold over/ pleat one side of the dumpling skin and push against the back to secure. Repeat until you reach the edge, then pleat the other side. See post for more details.
In a nonstick pan, over medium heat, heat up a touch of oil. When hot, lay the gyoza in the pan, in one layer. Cook, until slightly browned, then add 2-4 tablespoons of water and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. When the water has cooked off, lift off the lid and continue cooking until the bottoms are brown and crisp. Enjoy hot, with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Japanese chili oil.
Estimated nutrition based on a yield of 40 gyoza (10 per person).
I Am... The Best Instant Pot Pho
Pho is maybe the world's most beloved soup. My earliest memories of going out to eat were to pho restaurants. As a Vietnamese person, pho is something I've been making for over 20 years and eaten for my whole life. If you want to fill up on some deep pho love and geekery, read on, or if you would like to just make the best, most authentic pho you've ever made at home, feel free to jump to the recipe using these handy links:
- What is pho?
- Pho soup
- Pho noodles
- Meats
- Toppings & garnishes
- Bowls
- How to make pho
- How to pronounce pho
- Pho variations
- Just skip to the recipe
What is pho?
Pho (properly made) is a deeply spiced and aromatic soup of a clear broth and rice noodles, topped with different cuts and textures of meats and fresh herbs. It doesn't need to be meat, and in fact many Vietnamese have vegan pho, but it's by default beef noodle soup, which is what this recipe is for.Pho soup
A great pho soup is a well made beef broth with charred aromatics, sweetened with sugar, and seasoned with fish sauce. The signature taste of beef pho though comes from the charred aromatics and spices: if you leave those out, you don't have pho, you have generic beef noodle soup.Bones vs Meat
Traditionally pho soup was made with bones, but I prefer a cheap cut of meat. Where we live, bones cost more or less the same as cheap beef because of the popularity of bone broth and marrow. Lately we’ve gravitated towards a cut from the ribs called finger meat (shown below) which I feel has the perfect ratio of connective tissue, fat, and meat to make an incredible pho soup. Using a cut of meat with some connective tissue and fat goes a long way, but any cheap cut of meat, soup bones, or a mix of both will do. I’m a sucker for whatever is on sale. You won't be throwing away the meat once the pho is made either, so there's no wastage if you go the meat route.Charred Spices & Aromatics
Charred aromatics are the most important part of a great pho soup. It's the first thing I learned from my parents when we made pho at home, especially charring the onion. My dad says it's not even pho if you don't do that. The easiest way to char your aromatics is by putting them on a sheet tray and blow torching them all at once. While everyone needs a good blow torch because they're cheap and insanely useful in the kitchen, you can also char over a gas range, on an outdoor grill, in the oven/broiler, or in a cast iron pan. If you're charring over a gas range or even with a blowtorch, just char the larger items: ginger, onions/shallots, cinnamon stick, and star anise. You'll see daikon in the recipe list as well. That's my mom's secret ingredient (it's a lot of people's secret ingredient). You don't need to/can't toast that.Fat content
Every good noodle soup needs fat for the broth to stick to the noodle and pho is no exception. If you prefer to control the fat content of your pho (and can wait a few hours before eating) this is a trick I learned from Ivan Ramen's cookbook:- Leave the pho in the fridge until the fat solidifies (typically 4-6 hours)
- Scoop only the fat out into a small saucepan.
- Melt it over low heat.
- Strain into a small container.
Seasoning
Pho is about balance, but not necessarily subtlety. Personally speaking, I like my pho to be extra. I'll season my pho soup until it's just on the verge of too sweet, then I add enough fish sauce to counter balance the sweetness and create a massive umami bomb. The blandness of the noodles and the brightness of the customary squeeze of lime at the table will temper all the craziness and bring the universe back into balance. The sugar I prefer for pho is rock sugar, which you should be able to get in the Asian aisle of just about any supermarket, and definitely at every Asian supermarket. Some people traditionally use palm sugar. I wouldn't say it's totally worth the extra effort to get special sugar, but if you're in the area already, rock sugar is delicious and very pretty. Regular white sugar is just fine though. On Richness: some commenters complain that this pho doesn't have the richness they're looking for. That richness comes from MSG, which is an essential and authentic, though not traditional ingredient in many bowls of pho around the world. If you think this needs richness, reach for that little red panda shaped bottle.Fish sauce
Not all fish sauces are equal, and you really do get what you pay for, especially when you never pay more than $10 or so. If you aren't shopping at an Asian grocery store, Red Boat is usually your best bet. If you’re at the Asian supermarket though, and see something called mắm nhĩ, go for that: it’s basically the equivalent of first press or extra virgin for fish sauce, and is always a good bet. Never buy mắm nêm unless you are prepared to cook outdoors. Do you even need fish sauce? No. It's traditional, but it's also traditional to use salt or a mix of both depending on how "clean" you want your pho to taste. My mom leaves out the fish sauce in favor of salt these days. I would never consider this. She says I'll change my mind in 30 years.Pho noodles
If you can, get fresh pho noodles, but if you can’t, the dried stuff works too. Sometimes the noodles will be called rice stick or Thai rice stick noodles. Medium thickness is best. Briefly blanch the noodles about halfway to your desired softness, then drain and rinse in cold water so they don't stick too much. Allow them to dry out in a colander for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the other items. Drying out the rice noodles seems counterintuitive since you just cooked them, but it's the secret to flavorful noodles as they suck in the pho broth to rehydrate later.Meats
Pho is beloved not just for its broth but the meaty toppings. Sirloin, well done brisket, flank, tripe, meatballs, the list goes on and on. Anyone who has been eating pho for awhile will tell you that dặc biệt (house special), which is every meat the restaurant has, is the way to go, but at home, you may not want to go that nuts. For me though, a good pho should have 2-3 different meats. If you make this with finger meat, flank, or brisket, you should have some nice well done meat, and to that I’d recommend some meatballs, sirloin that’s been thinly sliced and allowed to cook in the broth (buy sirloin roast to get the nice round pieces), and, for the truly adventurous, tripe/omasum.Sirloin
Sirloin is the star of pho. It's the default inclusion, it's always there. You want it as thinly sliced as possible and cooked only in the soup. Traditionally much of it will be left out of the soup both so you can see how fresh and high quality the meat is, and so that the meat doesn't overcook before it hits your table. It only needs about 30 seconds to cook in the piping hot broth.Meatballs
Vietnamese meatballs are bouncier and denser than what you'd typically think of meatballs as. Their traditional greyish color can be offputting at first, but their deliciousness will quickly retrain your mind to associate them with feelings of fullness and delirious satiety. Because of how dense these are, I like to halve them.Brisket and Flank
Well done brisket or flank's soft fall-apart-in-your-mouth texture is deeply satisfying, but so are the pho-full flavors they pick up in cooking in the pho broth for hours. Properly speaking, they should cook in the pho broth after it's been made and seasoned, but if you are short on time, just cook them at the same time the pho broth is made. They won't have as much flavor, but the texture will still be there. And, will you really notice the flavor as you dip it in your personalized mix of sriracha and hoisin anyway?Tendon
Tendon is chewy, a little crunchy, and so satisfying in a bowl of otherwise very soft things. It can be extremely hard to find unless you go to a butcher or a Vietnamese supermarket. Not even an Asian supermarket typically carries these, but if you see it, you should get it. Tendon should be chopped into bite sized pieces and added along with the bones as it takes hours to properly soften.Tripe
Tripe/Omasum is another slightly crunchy textureful meat that doesn't look as good as it deserves to. It's always been my favorite part of pho. You want it thinly sliced and briefly blanched, 1-2 minutes. I blanch it in the noodle water to keep it white, but again, we can one pot this in the instant pot, it's not that finicky.Toppings & Garnishes
Vietnamese food's claim to fame are the fresh flavors and herbs and pho is no different:- Sliced raw onions and chopped cilantro are basically mandatory in my pho. I realize both are separately polarizing to two different groups of people. They're pretty important to me though.
- Thai basil is a must, but if you can't get any, sweet basil is a sad-but-passable substitute.
- Limes add brightness and offset the salty-sweet-umami-bomb in your mouth.
- Vietnamese food is spicy, but pho isn't, some say that's because it originated in the less-spicy north. Regardless, Jalapeños or Thai chilies are always supplied to fix that issue for the people who love spice.
- Bean sprouts add an earthiness and sometimes crunch to your soup. Many people like to blanch their sprouts and judge a pho place based on whether they took the time to blanch the sprouts first. Other pho restaurants ask you if you want them blanched or not. For me, I don't like them at all and skip them.
- Sriracha and hoisin sauce has been a fixture at pho restaurants since forever, even in Vietnam. Always feel welcome to add them to your soup and especially to make a dip out of them for your meats. They are 100% authentic, despite what Bon Appétit said about that (I still can't believe they didn't delete the tweet).
Bowls
Over the years, I've come to realize that unless you grew up eating noodle soups, you probably don't have the right bowl for pho at home. Serving pho in mixing bowls is pretty sad after you've slaved away for hours on a beautiful pho broth. You need large bowls that can comfortably fit 2 cups of soup as well as noodles and meats, my rule is about 9" wide and 3.5" high. You should also warm your bowls before serving. We just fill them up with hot tap water for 3-4 minutes.How to make pho
Do you really need hours to make pho? Traditionally this is the way it was done at large restaurants, but Vietnamese people embraced the pressure cooker basically the moment it became available, so there is zero shame to making a one hour Instant Pot pho. Bonus, it traps the smells, aka flavor, inside the soup instead of in your house. If you don't own an Instant Pot though, making it the traditional stovetop way or even the crockpot way is easy.How to make pho in an Instant Pot
- Char your spices and aromatics. Ideally with a blowtorch so you can char all the spices at once, but if you have a grill, broiler, or cast iron pan, just char the onion/shallots, ginger, and cinnamon.
- Load everything up in the instant pot along with 4 quarts of water. If you want to do this the easy one pot super fast way, just throw it all in. If you have a little more time, leave out the sugar and topping meats to braise slowly later.
- Cook. Cook the broth on high pressure for 35 minutes. Do a quick release once done. If you intend to eat right away, prepare the rice noodles, meats, and garnishes while the broth is cooking.
- Season. Add sugar (if you didn't add it in the prior steps) and fish sauce (or salt) until the broth is just about overseasoned. It'll balance out once you add the noodles.
- Build. Add rice noodles and sirloin in your bowl, then fill the bowl up with about 2 cups (or more) of pho soup. Top with onion and cilantro, then at the table, let everyone add thai basil, bean sprouts, chilies, hoisin, and sriracha to their liking.
- Enjoy!
How to make pho on the stove
- Char your spices and aromatics. Ideally with a blowtorch so you can char all the spices at once, but if you have a grill, broiler, or cast iron pan, just char the onion/shallots, ginger, and cinnamon.
- Boil the bones and meats for 5 minutes to remove most of the scum, then drain. Ideally, wash the pot again too.
- Fill up the pot with the parboiled bones or finger meat, tendons if using, aromatics, and spices along with enough water to cover. Bring to a very gentle simmer and hold it there for 4-6 hours. If you have flank or brisket, add it in 2 hours before the broth is finished cooking.
- Prepare. Just before you intend to eat, prepare the rice noodles, meats, and garnishes while the broth is cooking.
- Season. Add sugar and fish sauce (or salt) until the broth is just about overseasoned. It'll balance out once you add the noodles.
- Build. Add rice noodles and sirloin in your bowl, then fill the bowl up with about 2 cups (or more) of pho soup. Top with onion and cilantro, then at the table, let everyone add thai basil, bean sprouts, chilies, hoisin, and sriracha to their liking.
- Enjoy!
How to pronounce pho
By now everyone knows to pronounce pho as fuh. But you can be a little closer to the tonal Vietnamese if you pronouce it as if you are asking a question. I think it's closest if you always pronounce the single word as it sounds at the end of this sentence: "Really?! You want to eat pho?!"Other phos to make
- Authentic Instant Pot Chicken Pho Recipe
- The Best Instant Pot Vegan Pho Recipe
- Turkey Pho Recipe
- Pho-strami: A Pho-Forward Take on Pastrami
Authentic Pho Recipe
A pho recipe developed over decades from our Vietnamese family to yours.
- instant pot
Pho spices and aromatics
- 5 star anise pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp peppercorns (white preferred, black if not)
- 1 tsp fennel (optional)
- 5 cardamom pods (optional)
- 1/2 medium onion (peeled)
- 2 inches ginger (halved lengthwise)
- 1 shallot (peeled and halved)
For the pho soup
- 2 lbs beef for soup (see notes)
- 3 inch daikon (1" slices, optional)
- 4 qt water
- 2 oz rock sugar (~1/4 cup white sugar, or to taste)
- 1/4 cup fish sauce (or to taste)
- 24 oz dried pho noodles (or fresh, see notes)
- 8 Vietnamese meatballs (or more, cut in halves)
- 1 lb sirloin roast (thinly sliced)
- 1 lb brisket (or flank steak)
- 1/2 lb tendon (optional)
- 1/2 lb omasum (optional)
To serve the pho
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro (roughly chopped)
- 1/2 medium onion (sliced)
- 3 cups bean sprouts (blanched if desired)
- 1 lime (cut into wedges)
- 1 bunch Thai basil
- 1 jalapeño (sliced)
- sriracha
- hoisin sauce
Arrange the larger aromatics on a heat proof baking sheet and blow torch until fragrant. Alternately, toast all aromatics in a cast iron pan on the stove or in the oven broiler for a few minutes until fragrant.
To make the pho soup
Transfer charred aromatics along with sugar and all meats except the sirloin to Instant Pot/Pressure cooker. Fill to the max fill line with water, about 4 quarts. Set pressure to high and cook time to 35 minutes and cook. Quick release the pressure when cooking time is completed. See notes for stovetop instructions.
Once cool enough to taste, add fish sauce 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s just about overseasoned. Add extra sugar if needed. If you go too far, just add water. You may optionally strain the pho at this point to get as clear of a broth as possible.
To serve
Warm your bowls with hot tap water, then drain. Bring a pot of water to a boil and briefly blanch the noodles, then rinse with cold water and drain well. Divide noodles evenly into each of the warmed bowls. Thinly slice the sirloin (if needed) and top each bowl. Thickly chop all the other meats and divide evenly.
Cover with about 2 cups of hot broth per bowl and sprinkle chopped cilantro and sliced onions over top. Serve with a plate of bean sprouts, limes, Thai basil, and chilies. Have small dipping plates of sriracha and hoisin sauces for each person.
We used finger meat in this recipe but the choice of beef or bones is up to you. See the section on meats for more details.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, bring the beef to a boil along with enough water to cover for 5 mins, then drain and wash the pot. Add clean cold water and gently simmer the beef, tendons if using, aromatics, and daikon for 4-6 hours. You can do this part in a crockpot as well. Try to maintain the same level of water during the cooking process, checking back every 30 minutes or so. 2 hours before the soup is finished, add the brisket. 20 minutes before serving, add meatballs and tripe.
While the nutrition information is as accurate as possible, it is only representative if you consume all of the broth. It includes 1/2 of meat per bowl, which may be a lot more than you have if you didn't go for the optional meats, and includes 1 tbsp of fat per bowl. If you go with 1 tsp of fat, it is 806 calories, and if you go with no fat, it is 773 calories per bowl.
I Am... Korean Corn Dog
Is there anything more delicious or incredibly fun than a Korean corn dog?! The sweet and savory combination of the crispy outer batter and the stretchy cheese pulls - I'm addicted! If you’ve watched any K-drama or are remotely interested in Korean culture, you’ve seen Korean corn dogs: beautifully fried, golden battered hot dogs with mozzarella on a stick, dusted with a sparkling sprinkle of sugar. It's normally a yummy street snack you buy when you're out but you can make them at home super easily and with no lineups!
What is a Korean corn dog?
Korean corn dogs are hot dogs, rice cakes, fish cakes, or mozzarella cheese coated in a batter (and sometimes panko, french fry pieces, or ramen) and deep fried. They’re finished with sugar and a signature squirt of your condiment of choice: ketchup, mayo, mustard, or all three. They’re sweet and salty and completely delicious. Some Korean hotdogs are made with a yeasted batter and some are made with a rice flour batter. There are a lot of variations.What makes Korean corn dogs different?
There are a couple of differences between the corn dogs you know and Korean corn dogs. The main difference between corn dogs and Korean corn dogs lies in the batter. American corn dogs are battered in a cornmeal batter and Korean corn dogs are battered in a yeasted dough or a rice flour batter. Korean corn dogs are also finished with a sprinkling of sugar. And last of all, Korean corn dogs don’t actually have to have hot dogs in them. There are plenty of Korean corn dogs that are just mozzarella cheese, fish cake, or rice cakes.How to make a Korean corn dog
- Assemble. Start by cutting the hot dogs in half. Cut the block of mozzarella cheese into sticks roughly the size of the halved hot dogs. Use a stick and skewer, hot dog, then cheese. Place in the fridge to keep them cold.
- Make the batter. In a bowl, mix together flour, milk, an egg, baking powder, sugar, and a pinch of salt until thick and smooth. Pour the batter into a tall cup so it’s easier to dip the hot dogs. Like the hot dogs and cheese, it’s best to keep this in the fridge so it stays cold.
- Dip. Hold on to the stick and dip the hot dogs, coating completely, making sure that the batter is clinging to the hot dog and cheese.
- Coat. Immediately take the battered hot dog and coat it in panko, being sure to press on the panko gently, ensuring that it’s completely coated in panko.
- Fry. Heat up the oil over medium high heat. You want the oil temperature to be between 350°F and 375°F. When you add your corn dogs, the oil temp will drop, so aim for 375°F to start with. I use an instant read thermometer to make sure I’m in the right range. Fry the coated corn dogs, without crowding until golden and crispy. Use a pair or tongs or a slotted spoon to carefully scoop them out and let them drain on wire rack.
- Enjoy. Sprinkle or roll the golden corn dog in sugar and finish with a squiggle of ketchup, mustard, or both.
Air fried Korean corn dogs
You can air fry Korean corn dogs that have already been deep fried to reheat them. To air fry, put the frozen corn dogs in the air fryer and fry at 350°F for 8-10 minutes, flipping occasionally, until crisp, golden, and warmed through.How to make Korean french fry corn dogs
Gamja-hot dogs are super popular and because of frozen fries, they’re really easy to make. Buy frozen crinkle cut fries and let them thaw on the counter. When they’re soft enough, cut the fries into small 1/2 inch pieces and place them in a shallow bowl or on a plate. You want enough fry pieces to completely cover the bottom of the plate or bowl. Follow the recipe below, but instead of dipping in panko before frying, dip the battered corn dog in chopped up french fries, gently pressing to make them stick to the batter. Lightly coat with panko (if desired) then fry for 3-5 minutes or until golden and crispy. Enjoy!Korean corn dog ingredients
- hot dogs - grab your favorite brand of hot dog and cut it into two. I go for standard all-beef hot dogs.
- mozzarella cheese - it’s better to get a block of low moisture mozzarella cheese and cut it into sticks for this recipe, the cheese holds up better when deep frying and gives you a better cheese pull. If you only have cheese string snacks, that will work too.
- batter - I went with a thick batter made from flour, eggs, milk, sugar, and a bit of salt. Some Korean corn dogs are made with a yeasted or a rice batter but I found this recipe on youtube and it looked pretty darn good. The batter worked like a charm!
- panko - Most Korean corn dogs are coated in panko, a fluffy Japanese breadcrumb. Panko is larger and more irregularly shaped compared to standard breadcrumbs. It’s the secret to light and crispy breading. It’s worth it to buy a bag of panko, especially if you love crunch. Panko is sold in most grocery stores in the Asian aisle but it’s cheaper to buy it at an Asian grocery store.
- oil - You need about 2-4 cups of oil to deep fry your Korean corn dogs. Go for a high smoke point oil as you want the oil temperature to be between 350°-375°F. The best oils for frying are, in order of highest to lowest smoke point: safflower, rice bran, soybean, corn, sunflower, canola, or grapeseed. You want a neutral oil that has no flavor. We usually buy safflower because I think it’s cute, but go for what’s affordable.
- sugar - a roll in sugar adds a bit of sweetness and crunch.
- ketchup and mustard - this is up to you, a cute squiggle of one or both is iconic.
Tips
- Skewers. The skewers you use matter. If they’re too skinny they won’t hold up your Korean corn dog. It’s best to use a thick wooden skewer (I used these ones) or a disposable wooden chopstick. I prefer the wooden skewers because they have a pointy tip.
- Cold cheese, hot dogs, and batter. It’s important to keep your mozzarella, hot dogs, and batter cold. If they’re at room temp too long or they warm up, the cheese has the tendency to ooze out when you’re deep frying. It’s best if you keep the dogs and cheese chilled for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
- The right mozzarella. Speaking of cheese, using low moisture mozzarella blocks is key. String cheese will work but block mozzarella cut into sticks will be far more stretchy and melty.
- Hot oil. The best temp to fry these corn dogs is 350°F. See the section below to find your perfect deep fry temp.
- One or two at a time. If this is your first time, coat and fry the corn dogs one or two at a time. This makes sure that the cheese and batter stays cold in the fridge. The colder the cheese and batter, the less it will leak when you’re frying. Leaky cheese in hot oil is a mess!
- Don’t skip out on the sugar. The sugar coating might seem extra but it’s that sweet and salty combo that makes Korean corn dogs so good!
- Potatoes. Chopped up fries are another popular coating for Korean corn dogs. They’re called gamja hotdogs and they’re a delicious mashup of corn dogs and fries. Instead of coating in panko, roll your battered hot dog in chopped up frozen french fries and panko then fry as usual.
How to check your oil temperature
I really recommend getting an instant read thermometer so you get perfect corn dogs. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can check if your oil is ready with the thick wooden skewer or disposable chopstick. Place the skewer into the oil.- No bubbles: the oil isn’t hot enough.
- Oil starts bubbling around the chopstick lightly but steadily: you’re ready to fry.
- It looks like it’s boiling around your chopstick: your oil is too hot.
Where to buy a Korean corn dog
If you don’t want to make these Korean corn dogs at home, don’t worry, I’ve gotchu! They sell frozen Korean corn dogs at Korean grocery stores - especially H-Mart. Just pop them in your air fryer for a couple of minutes and you’re good to go. You can also try Korean corn dogs at popular Korean corn dog chains like: Chung Chun Rice Hot Dog or Myungrang Hot Dog.Korean corn dog variations
There are about a thousand different kinds of Korean corn dog coatings that you can get in Korea. Here are some ideas for you if you’ve tried the original and want to expand your corn dog world!
- Gamja-hot dog - Gamja hot dogs are french fry hot dogs. Gamja is potato in Korean and what they do is either chopped up french fries to coat instead of panko. The fries are crispy and salty and are amazing with hot dogs and cheese.
- Cornflake dogs - Instead of panko, use crushed up cornflakes for a true play on corn dogs. The toasty corn-y flavor of cornflakes pairs exceptionally well.
- Ramen dogs - Crushed up instant ramen packets add immense crunch. You can also sprinkle on the seasoning packet for extra instant ramen vibes.
- Crispy rice - Crispy rice puffs are a nice addition - you can either crush up rice crackers or search out Korean rice puffs and roll your corn dog in rice instead of panko.
- Hot cheetos - Hot cheetos add crunch and spice. Drizzle some lime and mayo on and it’s AMAZING, especially if you do a mozzarella dog.
FAQ
- Can you make Korean corn dogs and freeze them? Deep fry the corn dogs until they are cooked through and then cool completely before freezing individually on a tray then putting them in freezer bags. You can reheat them in the air fryer or oven bake them.
- Can you bake Korean corn dogs? If you want to reheat Korean corn dogs in the oven, you can place already deep fried frozen corn dogs on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes, flipping occasionally until heated through and crisp.
- Can you pan fry Korean corn dogs in a skillet? You can but it takes a bit more skill and heat management. Your corn dog may end up uneven looking and deep frying is superior. To shallow fry, place at lease 1/2 inch of oil in frying pan and heat it up until the tip of a wooden chopstick bubbles around it. Gently place the corndogs in the hot oil and fry, turning as needed until all the batter cooks through and all the sides turn golden brown.
- Can I omit the sugar in Korean corn dogs? Yes, if you want, you can leave out the sugar in the batter and as a topping, but one of the delicious parts of Korean corn dogs is the mix between sweet and salty.
- Cheese only Korean corn dogs Some people have asked if you can make cheese only corn dogs and the answer is of course! Just slice your cheese into longer hot dog shaped skewers.
- Do I need baking powder for Korean corn dogs? In this recipe the baking powder is essential to help the batter puff up and become light and crispy. If you leave the baking powder out, the outside of the corn dog will be dense and tough.
What to serve with Korean corn dogs
Korean corn dogs are a street food and usually just eaten on their own as a snack or with fries. If you want to make a little Korean feast, here are some suggestions:- Korean fried chicken: sweet and spicy and super crunchy
- Potato balls: potato balls stuffed with cheese for matching cheese pulls
- Spicy soft tofu kimchi stew: the perfect spicy comfort food
Korean Corn Dog
Is there anything more delicious than the sweet and savory combination of the crispy outer batter and the stretchy cheese pulls Korean corn dog?
- 3 hot dogs (cut in half)
- 6 sticks low moisture fresh mozzarella cheese
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar (plus extra to finish)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cups milk
- 2 cups panko
- High heat oil for deep frying
- mustard (as needed, optional)
- ketchup (as needed, optional)
Skewer the hot dogs and cheese on sticks, hot dogs on the bottom and cheese on top. Place in the fridge to keep cold.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Mix in the egg and milk until thick and smooth. Pour into a tall cup and place into the fridge. Pour the panko onto a shallow plate that you will be able to roll the corn dog in.
In a deep fryer or a deep wide pot, heat up the oil (enough so that the hot dog will float) over medium high to medium heat, until it reaches 350°F. When the oil is almost at temp, take the skewered dogs from the fridge and dip into the batter, making sure it is completely coated.
Roll the coated corn dog in panko, making sure that the panko coats all of the batter, using your hands to gently press it on if needed.
Carefully add the coated corn dog to the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden and crispy, turning as needed. Remove from the oil and let rest on a wire rack.
Roll or sprinkle the corn dog with sugar and drizzle on mustard and ketchup. Enjoy hot!
I Am... Lo Mein
Give me a huge bowl of lo mein and I will be the happiest person in the room. I haven’t eaten in a mall food court in ages, but when I did, I would always order the biggest container of lo mein. It could be beef or chicken lo mein, heck, it could be plain with only sauce. I’m just all about the noodles.
What is lo mein?
Lo mein is a super popular noodle dish that you’ll find both at restaurants and made at home. In Cantonese, lo mein means “mixed noodles”. In Mandarin, it’s pronounced “lao mian” and translates exactly the same. Essentially, it's egg noodles mixed with sauce - somewhat similar to chow mein, but not quite. In truth, it can mean a variety of different kind of noodle dishes, much like how you can order spaghetti in a variety of ways. In North America, we tend to associate lo mein with the American Chinese take out style of noodles: somewhat thick egg noodles stir fried and tossed with a soy based sauce, vegetables, and proteins. Technically there are two kinds of lo mein, Cantonese Hong Kong style and American Chinese take out style. Both are a mixed stir fried noodle dish.- Cantonese lo mein is a kind of deconstructed soup noodle: thin and chewy egg noodles served on a plate with toppings and a bowl of soup on the side. The sauce for the noodles isn’t mixed in. Instead, you’re supposed to stir it into the noodles yourself. “Lo” means to mix or stir. Mein, of course, means noodles.
- American Chinese lo mein is a stir fry noodle dish: thick noodles mixed with a soy sauce based sauce and toppings like beef, pork, chicken, or vegetables.
Chow mein vs lo mein
The main difference between lo mein and chow mein are the noodles used. Lo mein noodles are thicker and chewier and chow mein noodles are thinner and crisper. Chow mein is cooked longer in the pan so the noodles become crispy and lo mein is simply tossed so the noodles stay soft. Pictured below: soy sauce chow mein. Both kinds of noodles are made with flour, water, eggs, and kansui (which is what makes the noodles yellow and chewy). They differ mostly in hydration and shape. Lo mein noodles have a higher hydration and are thicker which makes them chewier and more plush. Chow mein noodles are thinner, drier, and crisp up more because they have a lower hydration. After cooking, lo mein noodles are soft and supple and chow mein noodles are springy and chewy. Once you have dark soy sauce, you should definitely try this chow mein recipe.How to make lo mein
This is probably the easiest take out dish you can make. All you need to do is make a quick sauce, cook the noodles, add some veggies, and toss:- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, mix together light and dark soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sugar, and ground ginger.
- Cook the noodles. Cook the noodles according to the package, drain, and set aside.
- Fry the aromatics. Heat up a bit of oil and lightly fry some garlic until it smells amazing.
- Add the mix-ins. I kept this simple with veggies, but you can add protein too, more on that later.
- Toss. Add the noodles and sauce into the pan and toss everything until it’s evenly coated.
- Enjoy. That’s it! Slurp away.
Lo mein noodles
For lo mein you need lo mein noodles. You can find them at your local Asian grocery store or you can substitute spaghetti or any long pasta.- Fresh pre-cooked lo mein noodles. In an ideal world, you’ll find cooked lo mein noodles in the refrigerated section of your local Asian grocery store. Sometimes they’re called oil noodles. They keep them with the fresh noodles and dumpling wrappers. Since they’re already cooked, you don’t need to boil them. Open up the package, place the noodles in a colander, and give them a rinse with hot tap water, loosening them with your hands. Drain well.
- Fresh uncooked lo mein noodles. You’ll also find fresh uncooked noodles in the same section. Cook them according to the package and drain thoroughly.
- Spaghetti. If you can’t find lo mein noodles, you can easily substitute spaghetti. Dried spaghetti is ideal, and you can even use any other long pasta of your choice.
Lo mein sauce
The sauce is what makes this dish so addictive. It’s a simple umami filled mix of light and dark soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sugar, and a hint of ginger. It’s super easy to make a batch of lo mein sauce and keep it in the fridge so you can easily make lo mein whenever the craving hits. In a large measuring cup, mix together:- 1/2 cup light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp ground ginger
What is dark soy sauce?
Dark soy sauce is a thick, dark soy sauce that’s slightly less salty then regular soy sauce. It’s extra dark from a longer fermentation of soy beans. You might be tempted to skip dark soy sauce, but if you have the chance to buy a bottle, do it because it’ll last you a long time and bring a lot of joy into your life! Dark soy sauce adds a beautiful glossy brown to Chinese dishes and also adds caramel sweetness and depth. You can find it online or at your local Asian grocery store.Toasted sesame oil
Don’t sleep on toasted sesame oil. It’s pure nutty, toasty aromatic umami. The toasted stuff is completely different from regular sesame oil. Our favorite is Kadoya, which comes in an iconic yellow topped bottle. It’s available online and in most grocery stores.Mix ins
The beauty of lo mein is that you can add virtually anything to it and it will taste amazing. Any and all proteins and vegetables are welcome to the party. Just make sure to cut everything into bite size pieces.How to velvet meat
This recipe is completely vegan, but we often make it with either chicken, pork, or beef. The secret to super tender, juicy meat in lo mein (or all Chinese stir fries) is velveting. Velveting is the classic Chinese technique of marinating meat with cornstarch, oil, and seasonings. This helps tenderize and season the meat. The cornstarch gives the meat a small barrier against heat so it stays extra juicy when you’re cooking it.Chicken lo mein
Slice 1/2 lb chicken breast or thighs into 1 inch pieces and toss in a quick marinade: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp oil, and 1 tsp cornstarch. Add to the pan after the garlic is fried and cook, stirring occasionally until cooked through. Proceed with the rest of the recipe.Beef
Slice 1/2 lb sirloin, flank, or tri-tip steak into 1 inch pieces and toss in a quick marinade: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp oil, and 1 tsp cornstarch. Add to the pan after the garlic is fried and cook, stirring occasionally until cooked through. Proceed with the rest of the recipe.Pork
Slice 1/2 lb pork chop or pork shoulder into 1 inch pieces and toss in a quick marinade: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp oil, and 1 tsp cornstarch. Add to the pan after the garlic is fried and cook, stirring occasionally until cooked through. Proceed with the rest of the recipe.Shrimp
Peel and devein 1/2 lb shrimp and toss in a quick marinade: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp oil, and 1 tsp cornstarch. Add to the pan after the garlic is fried and cook, stirring occasionally until cooked through. Proceed with the rest of the recipe.Spicy lo mein
To make these noodles spicy, stir in 1-2 tsp of your favorite hot sauce into lo mein sauce. I like using chili oil or chili crisp - my favorite is Lao Gan Ma.
Why you should make lo mein at home
- It’s fast. Making lo mein is not some complicated affair, it comes together in one pan and it’s fast! Faster even than ordering takeout. Plus it’ll be fresher and hotter.
- It doesn’t need any fancy ingredients, just one good bottle of soy sauce (two if you’re feeling fancy), toasted sesame oil, and fresh or ground ginger. Super easy!
- You can add anything you want to it. Think clean out your fridge style, add all and any veggies that are languishing in the crisper. Veggies for health, noodles for fun!
- The sauce is delicious on EVERYTHING. The sauce is what makes these noodles delicious and super addictive. You can even make up a big batch, keep it in a squeeze bottle in the fridge, shake it up and then just squeeze it into the pan.
FAQ
- What kind of noodles Oil noodles are my noodle of choice (see above in the noodles section) but you can definitely use spaghetti or buy dried noodles on amazon. Wu Mu brand dry noodles, from Taiwan are egg free and really popular.
- Are lo mein noodles gluten free? Lo mein noodles aren’t gluten free but if you like, you can make this recipe with rice noodles, which are gluten free. You need to make sure to rinse off the rice noodles after cooking in cool water because they have a tendency to stick together. After you rinse them off, follow the recipe as usual.
- Why do you need two types of soy sauce The mix of dark and light soy sauce is what makes this recipe shine! The light soy sauce adds saltiness and umami and the dark soy sauce adds a beautiful glossy color, a touch of caramel sweetness, and depth. If you don’t have dark soy sauce, you can skip it, but it’s what really makes this recipe a winner.
Fresh lo mein noodles
You can find fresh noodles in one of the refrigerated fresh noodle section of your local Asian grocery store. If you live in America, a popular brand is Twin Marquis. They have several packages of lo mein noodles, ones that are uncooked and ones that are cooked. The cooked ones are called “cooked noodle” or oil noodles. For the uncooked noodles, make sure to follow the package directions for boiling and draining before using in this recipe.What to serve with lo mein
- Sesame chicken
- Potstickers
- Garlicky gai lan
- Spicy wonton
- Honey garlic pork ribs
- General Tso’s chicken
Lo Mein
Way better than takeout
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 lb lo mein noodles or spaghetti (prepared, see notes)
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 cup mushrooms (sliced, crimini preferred)
- 1 small carrot (julienned)
- 1 cup snow peas
- 2-3 cup spinach (baby spinach preferred)
- green onions (thinly sliced, to finish, as needed)
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the soy sauces, sesame oil, sugar and ground ginger. Set aside.
Heat the oil over medium heat and add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until slighly golden.
Turn up the heat to medium high and add the mushrooms, cooking and tossing occasionally, until soft.
Add the carrots and snow peas and toss for 1-2 minutes, until tender crisp.
Mix in the noodles, spinach, and sauce. Toss until well combined. Taste and season with salt, if desired. Sprinkle on the green onions and enjoy immediately.
Cook the lo mein or spaghetti according to the package. If you are using precooked lo mein noodles, loosen gently under hot tap water. Drain well.
I Am... Beef Teriyaki
If we’re looking for a quick and easy dinner that’s super satisfying, it’s got to be beef teriyaki. It’s the ultimate Japanese comfort food! This recipe is a riff of the oh-so-delicious Japanese beef bowl known as gyudon, but with more sauce for comfort. Super tender, thinly sliced beef with onions in a sweet and tangy teriyaki sauce over rice that's a match made in heaven. And it only takes 15 minutes to make!
What is beef teriyaki?
Beef teriyaki is thinly sliced beef (or sometimes whole steaks) with a teriyaki sauce made from soy sauce, sake, mirin, and a bit of sugar. Teriyaki beef is glossy and shiny, which is why it’s called teriyaki, with teri meaning glazed and yaki meaning grilled/cooked.How to make beef teriyaki
- Mix together the sauce ingredients. Whisk together soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, a bit of water and cornstarch into a slurry in a bowl or liquid measuring cup.
- Cook the onions. Add a bit of oil to a pan and cook the onions, stirring, until soft but not brown.
- Cook the beef. Add the beef to the onions. You don’t need to sear it, it should be soft and tender.
- Simmer. Add the sauce to the pan and simmer until glossy and thick.
- Serve. Serve the beef teriyaki on rice and top it off with toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Beef teriyaki ingredients
For teriyaki sauce you’ll need: soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. Sake, mirin, and soy are three backbone ingredients of Japanese cooking.- Soy Sauce – I’m pretty sure you have a bottle of soy sauce in your pantry. It adds umami, a glorious brown sheen, and is delicious. If you can, try to use Japanese soy sauce for this dish.
- Sake – Sake is Japanese rice wine. It adds umami and a natural sweetness. Just like wine in French cooking adds an extra layer of aroma and flavor, sake is common in Japanese cooking – it’s in almost every sauce. They sell cooking sake at Asian grocery stores, or if you’re feeling flush, you can use the nice sake you have for drinking. Buy a bottle and you won’t regret it, it’ll take your Japanese cooking to another level.
- Mirin – Mirin is Japanese sweet rice wine and the other ingredient that is key in Japanese cooking. Compared to sake, it has a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content that occurs naturally from fermentation. It’s used as a seasoning and glazing agent. They sell mirin in the Asian aisle and at Asian grocery stores.
What is teriyaki?
Teriyaki is a cooking technique used in Japanese food – food is brushed with a glaze of sake, marin, soy sauce, and sugar, then either grilled or broiled. Teriyaki means glazed and grilled – teri meaning shiny/glazed and yaki meaning grilled. In Japan, traditional teriyaki isn’t as saucy as we know it in North America – it’s lightly glazed protein or vegetables. pictured: instant pot chicken teriyakiTeriyaki sauce
Teriyaki sauce is a simple Japanese sauce made from just 4 ingredients: sake, mirin, soy, and sugar. Traditionally it’s on the thinner side, but still thick enough to glaze. Classic teriyaki sauce thickens naturally because the sugars caramelize. Teriyaki sauce is incredibly easy to make at home and once you make it once, you’ll never get store bough teriyaki sauce again. You can use it with stir fries, noodles, and for beef teriyaki, of course.Teriyaki sauce substitutes
If you’re looking to substitute the ingredients for teriyaki sauce, I can’t really suggest anything that feasible tastes the same. Since there are only four ingredients in the sauce, even substituting one of them will make it not taste like teriyaki. If you absolutely had to leave one ingredient out, I would leave out the sake. Japanese soy sauce and mirin are easily available online.What kind of beef for beef teriyaki?
I used a very thinly sliced short rib that we bought at our local Asian grocery store. They sell several cuts of beef, all thinly sliced for hot pot, shabu shabu, and things like teriyaki beef or beef bowls. I love thinly sliced meat over rice, the thin slices cook up quick and are so incredibly tender. If you have an Asian grocery store near you, please check out the frozen section, you’ll find curls of thinly sliced beef, perfect for this recipe. If you don’t have an Asian grocery store nearby, you also cut a steak against the grain. Flank steak or sirloin works - any tender cut of beef is great.What to serve with beef teriyaki
I love this over simple fluffy white rice with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds on top. We’ll have either salad with Japanese dressing or a simple green vegetable alongside.Beef Teriyaki
Super tender, thinly sliced beef with onions in a sweet and tangy teriyaki sauce that only takes 15 minutes to make!
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (Japanese preferred)
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 small onion (sliced)
- 1 lb beef (thinly sliced, short rib preferred)
In a bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and 2 tbsp water. Whisk in the cornstarch and set aside.
In a large, non stick frying pan, heat up the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, but not browned.
Add the thinly sliced beef to the pan and cook, until just cooked through. Add the sauce to the pan and bring to a gentle simmer, letting it bubble, thicken, and reduce.
When the teriyaki sauce is glossy and coats the beef, remove from the heat and serve over fluffy white rice. Top with toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions. Enjoy!
I Am... Birria Tacos Recipe
Birria tacos are so good you’ll be making them every week. While our go-to tacos are al pastor, carnitas, carne adovada, and carne asada, Steph asked to mix things up a bit with something a little more modern, and suggested birria tacos. It was so good and so simple I think this just jumped to the top of the list for all of our future taco nights.
What are Birria Tacos?
Birria is traditionally a spicy and super savory Mexican beef or goat stew that’s slow cooked until the meat is tender and fall-apart juicy and delicious. Someone had the amazing idea to stuff this meaty goodness into a taco shell, and then dip the whole thing into the stew and fry it up. These birria tacos blew up after that, and the rest is history.Beef birria tacos
While birria is traditionally made with goat, for most of us it's easier to get beef so that's what I've gone with here. Beef is also the safer choice for crowds, but if you're an adventurous eater and want to go with goat, you should totally go(at) for it. The recipe remains the same, just switch out the beef shank and sirloin for goat.The best birria tacos are dipped in the stew and then fried to crispy goodness
It’s really in dipping the tortilla into the stew and frying it to a crisp that the magic happens, so don’t skip this step. Tacos are good but very few people who don’t live in the southwest know that tacos only become truly transcendent once you cook the tortilla in fat. Traditionally they do this in butter or lard, but here we use the fat from the top of the stew to give it that extra kick. Once you bite into a crisp fried taco shell, you’ll never go back.Birria Ingredients
- Beef. For the ultimate birria tacos, use a good beef shank. This is non-negotiable. You can, and should, mix up another cut as well for texture and variety. I prefer meat that’s a little on the lean side for tacos, so I mixed it up with a cheap roast like sirloin, but if Steph had her way, she would use short ribs. But, since she’s not cooking, we ended up with a sirloin.
- Dried Guajillo Peppers. These sun dried peppers add an authentic touch of mexican flavor to any stew and you can usually find them in the Mexican aisle of your local grocery store (if you live in America). They are like a mild-medium pepper and don’t add any heat, so you don’t have to worry at all. If you can’t find them, sub any dried mexican/southwestern peppers you can find, such as ancho, new mexico, california, or pasilla. If you really can’t find them, you can skip them, but they’re worth looking for!
- Chipotle peppers in adobo. These come in a little can and they are salty-sweet-spicy delicious. They form the base of many mexican stews and marinades and you can find them pretty much everywhere in the world, they’re that good. We usually keep 3-4 cans around just for tacos al pastor.
- Mexican oregano. This version of oregano is always cheaper and almost always fresher and better than the spice aisle stuff, so if you’re already in the Mexican aisle, be sure to pick up a bag, usually only 99 cents or so.
How to make Birria Stew
Making Birria stew is easy and quick:- Soak the peppers. Bring a pot of water to a boil and then take it off the heat, soak the dried peppers while you do the next steps.
- Season the meat. While you wait for the peppers to soak, cube up the roast and season the meat with salt and pepper
- Make the marinade. Throw together everything left except the cloves, bay leaves, and cinnamon into a blender. Remove the peppers from the now warm water and let them get cool enough to handle. Hold them by the tip over the sink and cut the tops off with scissors. The seeds will just fall right out. Then drop them into the blender too. Blend it all up into a smooth paste.
- Marinate the beef overnight. Two hours is good enough too, but longer is always better when it comes to stews.
- Make the stew. Saute the onions. Onions are the base of all flavor, so make sure they are extra delicious - transparent and golden. Take your time. Then add the meats, cover with chicken stock, and add the last few spices. That’s all there is to it!
How to make Birria Tacos
Once you have the stew, making the tacos is super easy:- Shred your meats. Fry them up too, if you like. I skipped this step and it was ok, but if you like your meat extra crispy and hot, here’s where you would do that.
- Warm up your tortillas. This makes them pliable and soft. We use a tortilla warmer, but you can just wrap them up in damp paper towels and microwave for 30 seconds.
- Dip and fill. Dip your tortillas in the soup, the fat is near the surface so you don’t need to dip too far, but make sure they get coverage. Then top half of the tortilla with beef, onions, cilantro (optional), and cheese (optional).
- Fold and fry. Fry your tacos in a non stick skillet over medium heat until they crisp up, 2-3 minutes per side. Serve with a side of the stew to use as a dip.
Instant pot birria
You can make this stew any way you like, but I prefer it in the instant pot because it’s so much faster, and keeps more of the flavor locked inside the dish. Those yummy smells that fill up your house when you slow cook for hours? Those are flavor particles, and that means that’s flavor that’s not in your soup. But, regardless of how you make this, it’ll come out absolutely delicious, so pick whatever method is best for you.Dutch Oven
To cook this in a dutch oven, you'll need a fairly large dutch oven. Follow the instructions all the way until you close the lid of the Instant Pot. Instead, cover the dutch oven and set it on as low heat as possible on your stove, or alternatively, pop it in a 200ºF oven for 4-6 hours.Slow Cooker
The only hard part of making this in a slow cooker is sauteing the onions. My solution was to just skip that step entirely. It didn't seem to make much of a difference. What I did was pop all the ingredients into the slow cooker and set it to low for 8 hours. This recipe as given didn't fit in our smaller slow cooker, so I halved it, but I think it will fit a standard sized slow cooker just fine. Let me know in the comments if you end up trying this out.The tortillas
These tacos use street sized corn tortillas, but you can use anything you want. I like to use locally made uncooked corn tortillas or flour tortillas and cook them myself. Whole foods often carries really good local tortillas, even uncooked ones in the fridge section. If you are in a place without access to good locally made tortillas, some of the best mass-produced tortillas around are La Tortilla Factory and Santa Fe Tortilla Company. If you go one level up to the national brands, Mission Foods is my fave. With store bought tortillas, you need to warm them to make them pliable and delicious. If your tortillas are breaking when you fold them, warming them will fix that. The best way to warm tortillas is to wrap 6-12 at a time in a damp paper towel and microwave for 10-30 seconds, then let them rest for another 10-30 seconds.Quesabirria Tacos
Everyone loves cheese, and quesabirria tacos might just be more popular than standard birria tacos. To make quesabirria tacos, shred some Oaxaca cheese into the tacos before you fold and fry them. If you can't find Oaxaca, feel free to use mozzarella or cheddar. For me though, I like to crumble some aged Cotija cheese into the tacos instead for extra cheese pull and delicious meltiness. The contrast of the melty cheese, soft birria, and crispy tortilla is one of my perfect bites in this world.What to serve with Birria Tacos?
These birria tacos are good enough to eat dozens on their own. If you wanted to do a side though, you can serve them up with homemade tortilla chips, mexican rice, and you even have all the ingredients necessary to make a birria tortilla soup. Or my current personal favorite: Birria ramen (pictured above).Birria Tacos Recipe
Step up your next taco night with our ultimate guide to the best homemade tacos ever.
- instant pot or slow cooker
- 1.5 lb beef shank
- 1 lb sirloin (or other roast/steak)
Marinade
- 3 dried guajillo peppers (see notes)
- 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
Stew
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 whole cloves
- chicken stock to cover (sodium free, about 1 quart)
Tacos
- 4" corn or flour tortillas (as needed, 12-16)
- 1 medium onion (chopped, optional)
- 1 bunch cilantro (chopped, optional)
- 1 cup mexican cheese blend (grated, optional)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then remove from heat. Soak your dried guajillo peppers for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cube your cab sirloin, then season both the steak and the shank with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Add marinade ingredients to the blender. When the peppers are done soaking, hold them by the tip over the sink and use scissors to cut the stem off and allow the seeds to fall out, then add to blender. Blend the marinade into a smooth paste. Marinate the meats for a minimum of two hours or up to overnight.
Set your Instant Pot on saute high or use a skillet over medium heat. Add 1-2 tbsp oil, then saute the onions until golden and translucent (6-8 minutes).
Add the meats, marinade, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and cloves to the pot. Cover with chicken broth, then set to high pressure for 45 minutes. If using a slow cooker or stovetop, set to low heat for 4-6 hours.
When the instant pot is finished, allow a natural release, then remove the meat. Shred, set aside, and discard the bones.
Warm up some tortillas, then dip the tortillas in the stew. Build your tacos, top with any optional toppings, then fry over medium heat on a nonstick skillet. Enjoy immediately, preferably with a margarita or cold Mexican beer.
If you can’t find dried guajillo peppers, sub any dried mexican/southwestern peppers you can find, such as ancho, new mexico, california, or pasilla.
I Am... Best Chocolate Mug Cake
Do you love cake? Do you love mugs? If you answered yes to either question then you know in your heart that mug cake is for you. When I was a kid, I LOVED those frozen chocolate cakes you got at the grocery store. I totally don’t buy frozen chocolate cake anymore (or do I?!), but what I remember loving about it was the fact that there was always cake on hand. It was frozen, but magically easy to slice and enjoy at all times of the day. Mug cake is almost as easy as pulling a pre-made cake out of the freezer, but it has the bonus of being warm! Mug cake is just so incredibly cozy! What could be better than curling up on the couch with a warm chocolate cake in a mug in your hands? It is the pinnacle of being.
What is mug cake?
Mug cake is a cake that’s made in a mug! It bakes up in just a minute in the microwave and is a warm and chocolate-y treat that will satisfy any chocolate sweet tooth. Mug cake is perfect for when you just want a single serving of cake and don’t want to bust out all your baking equipment.How to make mug cake:
- Whisk. Whisk together the milk and oil in a mug.
- Mix. In a bowl (or you can do this straight in the mug) mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Stir. Stir everything together then add the chocolate.
- Microwave. Bake your mug cake in the microwave on a plate (in case of overflow), let cool slightly and dig in!
Toaster oven mug cake
If you don’t have a microwave and want to bake your cake, you can do so in a preheated 350°F toaster oven or oven. Heat the oven, then make the cake as per the recipe. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on how gooey you want your cake to be. If you want a perfectly cooked cake, use a toothpick and insert it in the middle. When the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.Air fryer mug cake
To bake mug cake in an air fryer, make the cake as per the recipe, then air fry at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Let cool slightly, then enjoy!What does it taste like?
Heaven! Seriously, I’m not joking guys, this cake is SO GOOD. It’s moist, chocolatey, and light and fluffy. I love the melty chocolate parts that essentially make it like molten chocolate lava cake. I like it plain, with a little bit of powdered sugar, with whipped cream, with ice cream, oh my gosh, I feel like I need one right now. The best part is that it comes together so quickly. Bonus points for the fact that I almost always have everything right at home.Mug cake ingredients
For this mug cake, you need:- Milk. I use whatever milk I have in the fridge, usually 2% or almond.
- Oil. Try to use a neutral oil that doesn’t have any flavor like canola oil.
- Flour.
- Cocoa powder. For cocoa powder, we need the unsweetened kind, not hot chocolate milk.
- Baking powder.
- Sugar. You can adjust the sugar to you liking, or use a sugar alternative.
- Chocolate chips. The chocolate gets melty and gooey and is the best part! I usually just chop up a bit of a chocolate bar/baking chocolate if I don’t have chocolate chips in the pantry.
No eggs?
Yep, that’s right. This recipe has been updated and there are now no eggs in this mug cake. Eggs tend to make mug cakes have a bit of a rubbery texture, so bye-bye eggs and hello tender, fluffy cake. As a bonus, it’s now vegetarian and can easily be made vegan too. I developed this recipe from wacky cake, a cake that has no eggs in it. I kept it pretty similar but switched out the water for milk.Can I make vegan mug cake?
Yes! This can absolutely be made vegan. Just substitute a milk alternative for the milk: oat milk, almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, rice milk, cashew milk, macadamia milk.Can I make sugar free mug cake?
You can definitely make a sugar free mug cake by using sugar alternatives like honey, agave, maple syrup, coconut sugar, or even sweeteners. If you’re using sweeteners, don’t swap out the sugar one-to-one, adjust as per the sweetener.Tips and tricks
Each microwave is different in strength so the very first time you make this recipe try experimenting a bit. I find that 1 minute plus 10 seconds in my microwave works best, but you might need a bit extra. Because this recipe doesn’t have any eggs in it, you can have it on the gooey side if you love cake batter. The kind of mug you use matters! One that has straight sides is best and bigger is better. Use a mug that holds at least 1 and 3/4 cups. If you use a smaller mug, you should put the mug on a plate so you can catch the overflow, which will make clean up easier.Variations:
- Cream cheese: add in a nugget of cream cheese when you add the chocolate.
- Nutella: add a spoonful of nutella instead of the chocolate.
- Peanut butter: add a spoonful of peanut butter instead of the chocolate.
- Coconut: use coconut milk and and stir in a tablespoon or two of shredded coconut into the batter.
- Biscoff: add a spoonful of biscoff cookie spread instead of the chocolate and top with crushed biscoff cookies.
Vanilla Mug Cake
If you’re looking for a two minute easy vanilla mug cake, I’ve got you. This is mug cake is fluffy, sweet, and full of vanilla. It’s like a little birthday cake in a mug. Bonus points if you add in sprinkles to make it a funfetti mug cake! Here’s how you make it:In a microwave safe mug that holds at least 1.75 cups of liquid, whisk together:
2 tbsp milk 1 tbsp oil 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 1/8 tsp white vinegar
In a small bowl, mix together:
4 tbsp flour 2 tbsp sugar 1/8 tsp baking soda pinch of salt
Add the flour mix to the mug and whisk well, making sure there are no lumps. Add in sprinkles now if you want a funfetti cake.
Place on microwave safe plate and microwave for 1 minute and 10 seconds. If needed, continue to microwave in 10 second increments if it’s not cooked through.
Let cool slightly and enjoy!
Optional: Top with a quick frosting: mix together 2 tbsp room temp butter with 1/4 cup icing sugar and splash of vanilla extract or milk until smooth and fluffy.
The mug
The mug in the photos is this one from Farmhouse Pottery. I’ve been eying this super cute large breakfast duck mug lately and I think it would be absolutely amazing filled with cake!My favorite whisk
I love using mini whisks to whisk the dry ingredients before whisking in the wet ingredients. These are the perfect sizes (the smaller one) to use right in the mug.If you want to bake a whole cake, here are some of my favorite cake recipes:
- Chocolate loaf cake
- Cinnamon streusel coffee cake
- Yogurt lemon cake
- Chocolate birthday cake
- Carrot cake
- Coconut cake
Mug Cake
Do you love cake? Do you love mugs? If you answered yes to either question then you know in your heart that mug cake is for you.
- microwave
- 6 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 tbsp flour (1/4 cup)
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)
In your mug (make sure it holds at least 1.75 cups of liquid), whisk together the milk and oil.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add the flour mix to the mug and whisk well, making sure there are no lumps.
Sprinkle on the chocolate.
Place on a microwave safe plate and microwave for 1 minute and 10 seconds.
Let cool slightly and enjoy!
You may want to microwave your cake for a bit longer depending on how gooey you like your cake. Microwave in 10 second increments after the first minute until it’s done to your liking.
I Am... 2024 Eclipse Guide: everything you need to know
What is the 2024 eclipse?
On Monday, April 8th, 2024, a total solar eclipse will take place, crossing over North America, making it visible from Canada, the United States, and Mexico.What is a total solar eclipse?
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon aligns perfectly between the sun and the Earth. The moon blocks all sunlight and a faint solar corona can been seen. Total solar eclipses happen about every 18 months, but it’s the location that’s important, because the path of totality is narrow and sometimes completely over the ocean. In 2024, we’re lucky because the path of totality is over North America.What to expect when watching the eclipse
There are four phases of a total solar eclipse and to see all stages, you need to be in the path of totality. If you’re outside the path, you’ll still see a partial eclipse with the moon covering part, but not all, of the sun.- When the eclipse starts, the moon will slowly move into place in front of the sun. It will start to get slightly darker and the sun will look like a cookie with a bite taken out of it.
- As the moon covers the entire disk of the sun, the world will go from bright and sunny to shadowy and dark in just seconds. It will feel a bit colder and any animals nearby will get really quiet, like it’s nighttime. A hush will fall. The moon will move into place and completely block out the light of the sun. Instead of the sun, you’ll see a faint ring of light. The sky will look like dusk and everything will be eerie and bright and absolutely unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.
- After totality ends, the moon starts to move away and the sun starts to reappear, making an opposite cookie bite. Light will start to appear and you’ll start to hear animals making noises like it’s morning time.
- After the moon passes completely past the sun, the eclipse is over and you’ll be forever changed.
Where is the 2024 eclipse?
In short, the 2024 eclipse will happen over North America, first in Mexico, then in the United States, then in Canada. Think of an arc curving from the bottom South West corner of North America towards the top North East corner. The 2024 eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean. The first location that will be able to experience totality (when the sun is completely covered by the moon) is the Pacific coast of Mexico at 11:07 PDT. From there, the eclipse will continue, entering the US in Texas. It will pass through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse, in some small pockets. In Canada, the eclipse will enter in Southern Ontario and continue on to Quebec’s, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton. The last place to see the eclipse will be on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland at 5:16 NDT.When is the 2024 eclipse?
The eclipse will start at 11:07 PDT and end at 5:16 NDT (local times).Where is the 2024 path of totality?
The path of totality is a 115 mile wide path in the centre of the path of the eclipse. The closer you are to the centre of the path, the longer totality will last. Take a look at NASA to make sure you’re in the path. There’s also an interactive map developed by Xavier Jubier, where you can zoom in and see the eclipse path.Which cities will see totality for the 2024 eclipse?
- Dallas, Texas
- Idabel, Oklahoma
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Poplar Bluff, Missouri
- Paducah, Kentucky
- Carbondale, Illinois
- Evansville, Indiana
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Buffalo, New York
- Burlington, Vermont
- Lancaster, New Hampshire
- Caribou, Maine.
When is the path of totality?
In America, totality will start in Texas at 1:27pm CDT and end in Maine at 3:35pm EDT (local times).What is totality?
Totality is the maximum phase of a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely covers the sun. Totality can last a fraction of a second, up to 7 minutes and 31 seconds. For the 2024 eclipse, totality will last for a maximum of 4 minutes and 18 seconds, and vary in length along the eclipse path. Totality will last longest in Mexico and Texas.What equipment do you need to watch the eclipse?
To watch the eclipse, you’ll need a pair of eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewer. Your eyes can be permanently damaged by looking directly at the sun, so you need to make sure to protect yourself. NASA doesn’t have any brand recommendations for solar glasses or viewers, but they do state that whatever you use need to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. This link, from the American Astronomical Society lists some reputable brands. If you're careful, you can also buy online. DO NOT look at the sun or eclipse through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device. Concentrated solar rays will burn through and cause serious eye injury. During complete totality is the only safe time to remove your eclipse glasses.How to take photos of the 2024 eclipse
It's sad to say but a phone probably won't cut it, what you see below is what you can expect from most phones. You need a mirrorless or DSLR and a long lens to truly capture the eclipse, but don't focus too much on it. Just set the autofocus to manual, set the lens to infinity, and the timer to capture a photo every second or so for 4 minutes and you're good to go, the eclipse is a life changing IRL experience and you shouldn't miss it fiddling with a camera.Eclipse snacks
What is a party without snacks? An eclipse party is just the thing to do in the moments before the eclipse starts and after it ends.- Galaxy glaze Galaxy glaze ALL THE THINGS! It’s a space party and what better snacks than ones that look like space? This galaxy glaze is super easy to do and the best part is you can glaze literally anything. I like oreos but you can also do store bought donuts or cake.
- Tinned fish Have you heard? Charcuterie is out and seacuterie is in! A tinned fish party is on trend because it’s delicious, easy, and fun. Conservas, Spanish for “preserved” is hugely popular in Europe. Grab some tins, some fancy or not so fancy chips, and have a fish and chips party while you wait for the magic.
- Sushi bake Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. You probably have never heard the words sushi and bake in the same sentence before, but it’s delicious! Creamy, savory, satisfying and perfect for parties, a tray of sushi bake is always one of the first things finished. Maybe don’t call it sushi bake if you have snobby friends. Whatever you call it, make it for your eclipse party. Maybe even cut out some eclipse shaped seaweed and throw it on top for extra festive fun.
- Wings! We have so many wings recipes on the blog because we LOVE wings. Breakout the airfryer (simply the best and easiest way to make wings and keep them coming hot-n-fresh) and then season them any which way you like.
- Korean fried chicken wings Sweet, saucy, spicy, everything you want in a wing.
- Ranch Wings These aren’t wings covered in ranch sauce - although serving ranch to dip would be a pro move - nope, they’re crispy, juicy wings tossed in ranch seasoning and they are out of this world.
- Honey Char Siu Wings Sticky, sweet, finger-licking Chinese char-siu inspired wings that are so, so good.
I Am... Spicy Chili Oil Wontons Recipe
Sichuan style spicy chili oil wontons, are one of my happy foods. Silky little dumplings filled with pork and shrimp drowned in chili oil, soy, and vinegar are all good things.
Chili Oil
The key to good spicy chili oil wontons is the chili oil, so make sure you start off with a chili oil that you like. We tend to make our own (Chili Oil Wonton
But, what you've got to do –store bought or not– is eat wontons drowned in chili oil, soy, sesame, black vinegar, garlic, green onions, and cilantro. They're spicy from the chili oil, bright and tangy from the vinegar, savory from the soy, with a nice hit of freshness from the herbs. Seriously so good. And even if you're not a huge fan of spicy, give these a go, working up from a small amount of chili oil. The thing about Chinese chili oils is that they're not super spicy, so much as they're pleasantly fragrant with a hint of heat.Meal Prep Wonton
PS - This may be weird, but this totally works as a meal prep kind of thing. The wontons keep in the fridge well and reheat beautifully in the microwave. So if you wanna make yourself a double batch so you can be the envy of everyone at work, go for it! I recommend tossing it in the chili oil, then scooping them out of the oil into another container. Keep the extra chili oil on the side and add it after.Spicy Chili Oil Wontons Recipe
Pork and Shrimp Wontons
- 1/4 lb ground pork
- 1/4 lb shrimp (peeled, deveined, and chopped)
- 2 tbsp green onions (sliced)
- 2 tsp ginger (minced)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp shaoxing wine
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- Fresh wonton wrappers (as needed)
Spicy Chili Oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp chili oil (or to taste)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp black vinegar
- 2 tbsp green onions (sliced)
- 1 tbsp cilantro (chopped)
In a bowl, mix together the pork, shrimp, ginger, green onions, soy, Shaoxing, sesame oil, salt, and white pepper.
Take a wonton wrapper and place 2 teaspoons of the meat filling in the middle. Dip your finger into water and lightly wet the edges of the wrapper. Bring one corner of the wrapper to the other corner to form a triangle. Fold in the other two corners, wet, and pinch to seal. Alternatively, just wet the edges of the wrapper and bring together and pinch into a small pouch. Keep the wrappers and finished wonton covered with saran wrap as you work, to keep them from drying out.
Bring a large pot of water to boil over medium high heat. While the water is coming to a boil, mix together the spicy chili oil ingredients.
When the water is at a rapid boil, add in your wonton. Stir gently so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until cooked through – cut one open to check.
Drain well and toss in the spicy chili oil. Enjoy with extra cilantro, green onions, and toasted sesame seeds if desired.
I Am... The 8 Best Steak Sauce Recipes to Serve with Your Weeknight Steak Frites
Life is too short not to eat steak! Whether they're super aged pieces of steak-y art or supermarket 2-packs, these weeknight steak sauce recipes will take your steak dinners to the next level. If you’re looking for an easy yet impressive home cooked meal for date night, the answer is – and forever will – be steak. There’s just something about making steak at home that is so incredibly impressive. I love it when Mike makes me steak and I know that he’s equally happy when I make it for him. It just seems extra luxe to be making steak at home. It probably has something to do with the fact that steakhouses tend to be high end fancy affairs. But the secret to steak is: you can make it at home just as good or even better for a fraction of the cost.
Read More →
I Am... Twisted Bacon
Twisted bacon is soft and crispy while somehow staying juicy. It’s a Tiktok trend and it’s super easy to make. Twisted bacon makes the perfect combination of crispy crunchy bacon and soft bacon because the twist creates a tunnel – the inside of the twist is soft and tender and the outside edges end up being crisp. Somehow eating bacon that isn’t in it’s regular form factor makes it even more delicious. It’s perfect for a keto snack – in fact the original viral hack were via @house.of.keto and @lowcarbstateofmind
How to make twisted bacon
Making twisted bacon is seriously the easiest thing ever.- Heat the oven. You’ll want a 350°F oven so heat up your oven while you’re twisting your bacon.
- Line a baking sheet. Line a rimmed baking sheet (super important, make sure it’s rimmed so the bacon fat doesn’t spill everywhere) with parchment paper. This is so the bacon doesn’t stick to the pan and it also makes it easy to clean up.
- Twist the bacon. Take a strip of bacon and hold one edge down with one hand and use your other hand to twist it up. Place it on the baking sheet and repeat.
- Bake. Pop the bacon into the oven and bake until crispy, flipping halfway.
- Enjoy. That’s it! Use a pair of tongs to remove the twists from the baking sheet onto a wire rack or paper towels to let some of the bacon fat drain off then enjoy.
Ingredients
All you need is a pack of bacon. I prefer thick cut but this will work with any bacon.How to twist bacon
Grab ahold of your bacon with your hands, hold one side and use your other hand to twist until it twists.Air fryer twisted bacon
If you have an air fryer, you can make air fryer twisted bacon. It's exactly the same steps, just preheat your air fryer, place your bacon in the air fryer basket, and bake for about 8-10 minutes. Air fried bacon is really great! Check out more tips for air fryer bacon here.Toaster oven twisted bacon
For those times when you only want a couple of bacon twists, don’t sleep on your toaster oven. Toaster ovens are perfect for making twisted bacon. They don’t take any time to preheat and they’ll give you crispy twisted bacon in no time. Twist your bacon the same as you normally would, then bake in the toaster oven at 350°F for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes. It takes a little less time in the toaster oven because the element is so close to the bacon. If you need it a bit crisper, don’t be shy, just add a couple of extra minutes.Twisted turkey bacon
If you’re seeing this and thinking, can I make twisted bacon with turkey bacon, the answer is yes! Turkey bacon twists up the same as regular bacon and ends up just as crispy and juicy.Tips and tricks
- parchment paper - use parchment paper for easy clean up. You can use foil too if that’s what you have.
- rimmed baking sheet - this one is important, don’t use a flat baking sheet because you need the rim of the baking sheet to catch the bacon fat.
- you don’t need to space them out - usually when you’re making bacon you want to give them space to crisp up, with twisted bacon you can snuggle them all up next to each other.
- don’t pour bacon fat down the sink - important!! let the bacon fat solidify on the the parchment paper and save it for another use, or fold it up along with the parchment paper put it in the compost if your city does industrial composting.
Make it ahead
I often make twisted bacon for the week as meal prep. Nothing beats bacon that’s already cooked and ready to go. Just cook it, cool it, and store it in an air tight container in the fridge. To warm it up, you can do it in the microwave, on a paper towel covered with another paper towel and warm it up for 20-40 seconds. Or you can just pop it in your air fryer and heat it up at 400°F for 1-2 minutes.What to eat with twisted bacon
Variations
- candied bacon: sprinkle on some brown sugar or brush with maple syrup, it will caramelize into a sweet glaze.
- spicy bacon: sprinkle on a bit of cayenne pepper for a bit of a kick
- sweet and spicy: combine sweet and heat with brown sugar and cayenne
- peppery bacon: add a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper
- garlic bacon: sprinkle on garlic powder for a garlicky twist
Twisted Bacon
The perfect combination of crispy crunchy edges and soft bacon goodness.
- 12 oz bacon (1 package, thin cut preferred, see notes)
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Hold one end of the bacon with one hand and use your other hand to twist each strip of bacon tightly. Lay the twisted bacon down on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes then flip and bake for another 20 minutes. Let the bacon drain on a wire rack for a minute or two then enjoy!
I Am... Korean Fried Chicken Wings
You’re 30 minutes away from a super easy air fryer (or oven baked) Korean fried chicken. If you’ve never tried it, is an extra crunchy double fried chicken tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. It's like the best hot wings ever.
What is Korean fried chicken?
Korean fried chicken is classically double fried extra crispy wings and drummettes that are then coated in a sticky, sweet, and spicy sauce. It’s like buffalo wings amped up with the power of gochujang.Air fryer Korean fried chicken
We've always loved the idea of making Korean fried chicken at home, but even with as much as we cook, deep frying is never fun, so we've never done it. Steph suggested using the air fryer, which I thought was a genius idea, and I developed this double air fry technique that produced a pretty darn crispy chicken that I think rivals the best of the best deep fried versions while being way healthier.How to make Korean fried chicken
The secret of Korean fried chicken is the double frying. Double frying in the air fryer works just as well as it does with deep frying, but way easier. The secret is to coat your chicken after the first fry using a spray/mist of oil. It's not totally necessary, but it really helps. To make Korean fried chicken in an air fryer:- Coat the chicken. I coated the chicken first with oil to help with heat transfer, then salt and pepper, then corn or potato starch, which is what Asian-style chicken is classically made with for a lighter, crispier outer shell.
- Air fry the chicken. 400ºF for 15 minutes. There’s no need to preheat the air fryer.
- Make the sauce. While the chicken is air frying, make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients, then heating it up to a very slight boil (or even just microwaving it for a minute).
- Flip the chicken. When 15 minutes is up, flip the chicken and continue air frying for another 5 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Double fry and sauce. After the chicken has cooled, spray it with oil again, then air fry it for the final time at 400ºF for 5 minutes. Remove and toss in sauce, then enjoy immediately.
How to make a lot of wings
Sometimes you need to make multiple pounds of wings. Air fryers tend to have small baskets that fit one pound just about perfectly. You could easily do small batches until you achieve your desired wing quantity, but there are a couple of other options. You can:- make multiple levels of wings with air fryer racks (be sure to buy the right size for your baskets), which we love. It takes a little more time and it's best if you swap the rack positions halfway for even browning, but it's amazing for doubling or tripling your air fryer wing output.
- use a baking sheet with a rack and an oven on convection mode to simulate a giant air fryer.
- use a baking sheet with a rack and a conventional oven, this will take longer (up to 30-50 minutes depending on how crispy you want your wings) but it's still a lot less labor than standing by the air fryer swapping out baskets of wings.
Korean fried chicken sauce
The magical sauce that goes on Korean fried chicken is a mixture of honey, brown sugar, gochujang, and ketchup. Really: ketchup is a very important ingredient if you want to keep things authentic. It's important to note that this is just one possible sauce – there are other sauces for Korean fried chicken out there, but this one (in America, at least) is the iconic one.What is gochujang?
Gochujang is very slightly spicy fermented Korean paste that goes great in everything. We also use it for our sweet and spicy gochujang honey roast chicken and potatoes, our 10 minute spicy beef weeknight stir fry udon, and our kimchi stew with mochi egg recipe.. Traditionally it comes in tubs, but these days you can find it in much more convenient squeeze bottles in the Asian aisle of literally any grocery store.What if I don't have spray oil?
Spray oil is really good, cheap, and irreplaceable in the kitchen – especially if you have an air fryer. It's not worse for you than any other kind of oil, as long as you know when to use it and its limitations. We like a nice high smoke point propellant free oil, but you can use any oil you want (except olive because of its low smoke point) and you can even make your own.Deep/pan fry Korean fried chicken
If you don’t have an air fryer (they're pretty cheap these days though) you can easily do it the classic way: fry the chicken until golden brown, then remove and let cool a bit before dropping it back in for a few more minutes. Then toss in sauce.Oven baked korean fried chicken
If you don't have an air fryer, you can use an oven to bake these wings. Just follow the recipe as is, but preheat the oven to 425ºF and bake the wings on the middle rack for 30 minutes, then turn them and continue for another 10-20 minutes (50 minutes total). Toss them in the sauce once they are cool enough to handle.Will this sauce work with any kind of fried chicken?
Yes! If you are feeling lazy, you can just make the sauce and toss it in grocery store or chain fried chicken. It won’t be as good or quite the same, but still pretty awesome.How does it compare to delivery?
Korean fried chicken is available as a delivery, so why do all this work you ask? Because it's not really that much work, it's cheaper, and believe me, this chicken is going to knock the socks off the delivery stuff. -MikeAir Fryer Korean Fried Chicken
The greatest fried chicken in the world, hot and fresh at home via the power of air frying
- air fryer
- 1 lb chicken wings
- 1 tbsp oil
- 3 tbsp corn starch
For the sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp gochujang (see note)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 0.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 0.5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 0.5 tbsp ginger (grated)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
Coat the chicken with the oil, then season with salt and pepper. Toss with corn starch.
Spray the air fryer basket with oil or use a paper towel to wipe a thin coat of oil onto it. Arrange the chicken in a single layer and air fry the chicken at 400ºF for 15 minutes.
While the chicken is air frying, combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until it comes to a brief boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
When the 15 minutes is up, flip the chicken and air fry another 5 minutes, then transfer the chicken onto a plate or rack to cool for 5 minutes.
After the chicken has cooled, spray the chicken with a very light coating of oil (optional), place the chicken back in the air fryer and fry another 5 minutes at 400ºF.
Toss in the sauce, making sure to get every nook and cranny. Enjoy immediately with wedges of lime and slices of green onion.
Gochujang is available at all supermarkets in the Asian aisle or online via Amazon.
