4 Dishes You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of
These are all recipes I’ve made in the past few months — four delicious dishes that I bet many of you out there have never heard of. They come from all over the world: Chile, Korea, The Philippines, and Mexico, but most of them are not yet on the list of well-trodden international foods. That means that they are the perfect recipes to add to your repertoire. Not only are they really excellent food, but they’re great for sharing. It is always rewarding to make a meal for someone that is unlike anything they’ve ever eaten before. So, let’s start building an exciting new grocery list for next week — just click on the photo or the title of the dish below and it will take you to my recipe.
A stew made with tomatoes, corn, and beef, tomaticán is a perfect dish year round. It celebrates the flavors of summer, but can also easily be made using canned ingredients in the heart of winter. It is simple, hearty, and tasty to boot.
This dish is quickly becoming more mainstream in the U.S., as more and more people learn about Korean food. It is typically made with Korean rice cakes — lovely little chewy pillows of rice flour — and a spicy gochujang sauce, but Korean rice cakes are still an item that you’ll only find at an Asian market, whereas rice papers are everywhere now. In this recipe, I show how you can roll up rice papers to make an ersatz version with the same wonderful chew.
A spicy seafood stew from Veracruz, Mexico, chilpachole de jaiba is made with blended vegetables, dried chiles, warming spices, and crab. It is flavor-packed and has just the right amount of heat — enough to get your lips tingling, but so much as to totally blow out your palate. For the full experience, add a couple of corn tortillas to the pot or crumble them over at the table. The spicy crab stew with just a hint of corn is uniquely wonderful.
This dish is a Filipino specialty. While it is typically steamed in banana leaves, this recipe eschews that difficult ingredient and preparation, instead providing a perfect use for leftover chicken. You just shred it up, add it to the sauce, and you’re ready to eat. Served over rice with sliced cucumber and boiled eggs, it is an extremely fast — and extremely delicious — dinner.