You wouldn’t know it judging from most Middle eastern eateries in the US, but bright pink pickled turnips (in many places called “torshi left,” or just “left,” which simply means turnip) is a necessary component for many meals all over the Middle East. No, there’s not some crazy pink variety […]
Recent Posts
“Hot as Pho!” The Sauce
Just look around on this site and you’ll quickly see I have a great love of pho (pronounced “fuh” and almost bordering on “fur”), the now iconic Vietnamese noodle soup which is often spiced up with a healthy dose of sriracha sauce. I love pho so much I even created […]
Sauerkraut or Kimchi Latkes (potato pancakes)
For the last several years, I’ve been getting pretty experimental with my latkes (potato pancakes) at Hanukkah time. Eating oily and fried foods is part of the Hanukkah tradition and relates to the holiday’s miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. Latkes are normally just potatoes, matzah meal […]
Salsa Verde Picante Fermentada (Fermented Green Hot Sauce)
Tacos. Steak. Enchiladas. Soup. Breakfast. Burritos. Breakfast burritos. What doesn’t spicy green sauce go on? I first started making homemade red and green salsas almost 20 years ago when a roommate got into it and proceeded to get me hooked. We were frequently buying all those commercial pre-made salsas you […]
Lazy Person’s Kombucha (No SCOBY, No Skill Required)
That’s right. No SCOBY. No SCOBY hotel. No worrying if you don’t even know what that means. This is real, probiotic kombucha you can easily make yourself. Welcome to the lazy person’s kombucha. If you don’t want to understand the science behind it, you can also simply scroll down to […]
Lacto-fermented (or regular) Hummus
Let’s talk beans. They’re super nutritious, filling (largely due to their balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats), grow robustly in a variety of climates and areas, and are thus also usually quite affordable. For these reasons, they have been staple foods for the “masses” since ancient times. The chickpea is […]
Jrouk Spey (Cambodian Pickled Mustard Greens)
There are countless versions of this dish across Asia. In Cambodia, there is Jrouk Spey. In Vietnam there’s Dua Chua. In Thailand there’s Pak Gard Dong. We could go on and on. Although the specific mustard plant varieties one finds more readily in the US differ from those in Cambodia […]
Holiday Cheer Mulled Cran-Ginger Soda
Just in time for Thanksgiving! Unless you don’t have a ginger bug starter culture… in which case you can definitely be drinking this by Christmas, so stay with me! This cranberry soda is crisp, tart, refreshing and great by itself or as a mule mixer (just about any type of […]
Kvashenaya Kapusta (Russian Quick “Kraut”)
One country that may eat and love cabbage with even greater zeal than Germany is Russia (along with its slavic neighbors like Poland, Ukraine and Belarus). This is one of those foods, like chickpeas in the Middle East, that grows robustly in that area, is cheap, hardy, accessible, and nutritious, […]
Fiery Hot Ginger Beer (non-alcoholic soda)
Ginger is a common ingredient in my soda recipes. I love the spicy bite of ginger so much it’s hard for me to resist adding it. (Even if it has to be a minor component when it can’t be the star of the show, like my sparkling strawberry lemonade.) But […]