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Lamb shoulder is browned hard; onion is softened; garlic, baharat and tomato paste join. Stock, tamarind, dried lime and tinned tomato deglaze. The lamb is braised for 75 minutes. Small whole okra goes in the last 25 minutes (long enough to soften, short enough not to disintegrate). Taqliya, crushed garlic and coriander sizzled in oil, is drizzled over at the end.
Boniato is peeled, cubed and simmered in salted water until completely tender. Once drained, the boniato is returned to the warm pot to steam-dry, then mashed with butter, warmed garlic-infused olive oil, sour orange juice (or a lime-and-orange substitute), salt and pepper. The texture should be soft and spoonable, not stiff. Sour orange is the signature; without it the mash tastes flat.
Chicken inasal is the pride of Bacolod City on Negros Occidental, where streetside grill houses serve nothing else: trays of chicken parts skewered on bamboo, smoking over long coal pits, with the cook brushing on bright orange annatto oil every few turns. The marinade is what marks it as Filipino: calamansi (a small, sour citrus halfway between lime and tangerine), cane vinegar, ginger, lemongrass, garlic and a generous slug of black pepper. The annatto oil (atsuete) is just neutral oil warmed gently with annatto seeds until it stains a vivid orange-red; this is the dish's signature look and a mild peppery flavour. Basting starts halfway through cooking so the colour goes onto skin that's already partly cooked, and continues right up to the moment the chicken leaves the grill. Difficulty for a home cook is low; the only special ingredients are calamansi (lime juice plus a touch of orange juice substitutes well) and annatto seeds (sometimes sold as achiote, found in any Filipino or Latin American shop). The flavour profile is sharp, herbal, slightly smoky, with a peppery edge from black pepper rather than chilli, and ribbon-thin lemongrass perfume running through everything. Service is non-negotiable: a heap of garlic rice (sinangag), a saucer of toyomansi (soy-calamansi-vinegar dipping sauce with sliced chillies), and the cook's pot of warm annatto oil for the table.
I’m a big fan of Thai chicken satay with peanut sauce. Although it isn’t necessary, it is best to marinate the chicken for at least a day. You could get away with 30 minutes but a longer marinating time will get you much tastier results. As the chicken soaks up that incredible marinade, it not only tenderizes it but makes it much juicier when cooked. This recipe could be used with thinly sliced pork or beef, both are also popular at Thai restaurants and takeaways. Pork is the meat of choice in Thailand but chicken is the most popular in the UK. I also like to serve this dish with cucumber and chilli relish.
Chicken thighs (or lamb) are browned, onions and tomato cooked down with garlic and a single whole chilli, then the meat simmers in stock until tender. A loose peanut paste is stirred in for the final 20 minutes, kept thin enough to ladle. Sweet potato or pumpkin softens in the sauce. A spoon of lime juice at the end balances the richness.
Corn kernels, fresh in season, frozen the rest of the year, are charred in a hot dry pan with a bit of oil until many kernels are blackened. Off the heat: mayo, sour cream, lime, garlic, chilli powder and cheese are folded through. Coriander and more cheese top each bowl.
Grilled corn on the cob is the unofficial flag of an American summer cookout. Whether it appears alongside ribs in Kansas City, brisket in central Texas, or burgers on a Midwestern back porch, the technique is essentially the same: husk the cob, lay it directly over hot coals or a hard gas flame, and turn it until the kernels darken and pop with sugar caramelisation. The flavour is straightforward but layered. Heat converts the corn's starches and sugars into something almost popcorn-like in aroma, while a slick of garlic butter melts into every crevice and a squeeze of lime cuts cleanly through the richness. Difficulty is low, but the line between perfectly grilled and overcooked is narrow, since corn can dry out quickly once the kernels begin to wrinkle. The trick is high direct heat for a short time, and constant turning so each side picks up colour without burning through. American corn culture has always borrowed generously from its neighbours, and any conversation about grilled corn eventually circles to elote, the Mexican street-food version slathered in mayo, cotija, chilli, and lime. The recipe here keeps to the cleaner butter-and-chive backyard style, but elote is just a brush away in the notes. Serve hot, straight off the grill, with extra butter and napkins, because nobody eats this neatly and nobody minds.
Saudi Arabia's national dish, the one platter you'll meet at almost every gathering from family lunch through wedding banquet. You brown chicken pieces or lamb shoulder hard in a heavy pot, then build a base of onion, garlic and ginger softened in the same fat, with tomato and a spoonful of baharat (or a dedicated kabsa spice mix) blooming until the kitchen fills with cardamom and cinnamon. The protein simmers in tomato and stock until it's tender and pulling away from the bone, then long-grain rice goes in to cook absorption-style in the same liquid, drinking up every layer of flavour the broth carries. You finish with almonds toasted in butter, raisins plumped briefly, and a fresh salsa of tomato, onion, chilli and parsley spooned on the side to cut the richness. Eaten communally from the centre platter, with hands or a long spoon.
Onion, garlic and tomato fry to a sofrito. Peanut paste loosened with hot water becomes the body of the sauce. Clams or shrimp poach quickly in the sauce just until cooked. Tender pumpkin leaves (or spinach) wilt in at the end. Lime and coriander finish.
Jasmine or basmati rice rinses, soaks for 30 minutes. Coconut milk, water, fresh turmeric (grated or pulped), lemongrass (bashed), kaffir lime leaves, salt and a knob of butter heat to a simmer. Rice drains; tips into the simmering coconut milk; absorbs the liquid over 18 minutes covered on low heat. Rests for 5 minutes off heat. Fluffed; lemongrass and lime leaves removed. Serves with sambal, fried egg, fried shallots.
A bone-in lamb shoulder rubs with baharat, dried lime, garlic and yogurt; sits overnight; roasts long and slow until the meat falls from the bone. Saffron rice cooks separately with onion, raisins and toasted nuts. Everything assembles on a wide platter, rice mounded under the lamb, sauce spooned over, almonds and pine nuts scattered.
A Hijazi speciality that sits closer to a savoury rice porridge than to any other rice dish on the peninsula. You poach a whole chicken in a stock built around onion, cardamom, dried lime, mastic and bay for forty-five minutes, then strain the stock and reduce it. Short-grain rice cooks slowly in equal parts of that reduced stock and warm whole milk, stirred often over thirty-five minutes until it reaches a creamy, almost-risotto consistency. The dairy is what makes this dish what it is. The chicken comes out, gets brushed with butter and finished briefly under the grill so its skin turns gold, then sits on top of the rice for serving. Brown butter drizzled over, a heavy crack of black pepper, eaten with bread torn at the table. Comfort food of Mecca and Medina, traditionally served at Hijazi weddings and family gatherings.
Conch is tenderised by pounding (or by long cooking, whichever is at hand), then briefly simmered. Aromatics (onion, garlic, sweet pepper, achiote or paprika) fry in butter; coconut milk, water, yuca (cassava) and green plantain go in; the conch returns at the end so it stays tender. Cilantro, lime, salt.
Beef tenderloin or sirloin is cubed small. A spice mix of cumin, coriander, cardamom and cinnamon, Somalia's xawaash, seasons it. The cubes sear quickly in a hot pan with onion and pepper; tomato paste deepens; chilli and butter finish. Coriander piles on at the table.
Lamb chunks are browned hard; onion is softened in the same pot; tomato and pomegranate molasses build a tangy base; the lamb returns with stock and braises for 1 hour. Small frozen or fresh okra is added in the last 30 minutes (long enough to soften, short enough not to disintegrate). Crushed garlic and chopped coriander, sizzled briefly in butter at the end (taqliya), go on top.