Entrée

Hamburg Steak (Hambāgu)

Chicken teriyaki aside, Hamburg Steak or Hambāgu (ハンバーグ) as the Japanese like to call it, is probably the most popular entrée to stick in a bento lunch in Japan. Although it’s unclear exactly when this dish was introduced to Japan, it presumably comes from the American Salisbury steak, which is named after its inventor Dr. [...]

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Chipotle Chicken Chili

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As a kid, when I heard the word “chili” it brought up images of brown chunky mush that looked (and smelled) like something you would feed a furry four legged companion. Between the gas inducing kidney bean “chili” that came out of the kitchen at home and the cans of Hormel that friends would warm [...]

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Mentaiko Pasta (Cod Roe Pasta)

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When it comes to pasta’s I like simplicity that highlights the quality of a few fresh ingredients. Mentaiko Pasta (明太子パスタ) is about as simple as it gets and yet there’s something fun about an Italian inspired Japanese dish (… or is it the other way around?)

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Beef Rendang

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This Beef Rendang was one of the dishes I learned how to cook one rainy afternoon at Russel Wong’s home (yes, the Russel Wong from Bourdain’s Singapore espisode). His wife Judy can cook about as well as Russel can shoot a portrait, after an afternoon sweating over a wok, we were sitting down with friends [...]

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Pork Sugo with Strozzapreti

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Fall is one of my favorite seasons. The golden sunsets cast long shadows, vermillion leaves scurry around in circles carried by the brisk autumn breeze, and in the kitchen, it’s the season of slow-cooked melt-in-your-mouth roasts and home warming braises. Perhaps it’s driven by some primal nesting instinct, but as the thermostat falls, I yearn [...]

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

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With the mercury falling faster than the stock market, I decided to bridge the gap between summer salad and winter braise using the last batch of tomatoes ripened under the waning summer sun to make spaghetti and meatballs. As usual when I’m making an old favorite, I went searching through my archives to see how [...]

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