Korean Mushroom Soup MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 30 minutes or a little longer Korean mushroom soup can be as simple as precooked mushrooms, water, sesame oil, and soy sauce. This is a little more complex, substantial, and flavorful, but not much more work. 1/2 ounce...
Kombu Dashi MAKES: about 2 quarts TIME: 15 minutes Dashi is the building block of Japanese cuisine and usually flavored with dried bonito (a tunalike fish). But this variation is just as traditional. It may have roots in Japan’s Buddhist vegetarian tradition, but I...
Sea Slaw MAKES: 4 to 6 servings TIME: 20 minutes, plus time to rest if you like This is the most colorful slaw you’ve ever seen. The seaweed will quickly absorb some of the dressing and plump up a bit but still remain chewy. You can use any type of seaweed you like,...
Roasted Onion Salad MAKES: 4 to 8 servings TIME: At least 1 hour, largely unattended As in Green Salad with Caramelized Onion-Thyme Dressing, the cooked onions here are so sweet you have to add something strong tasting. Vinegar is an obvious choice, of course, but...
Kimchi Soup with Tofu MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 25 minutes If you’re the type of person who gets wildly overambitious at Asian markets, loading up your cart with more kimchi, Korean chile paste, and miso than the average Korean family goes through in a month, this...
Jook MAKES: 4 servings TIME: about 21/2 hours Jook—also called congee or rice gruel—is a Chinese “porridge” (it’s thinner than most), a breakfast item that’s also terrific served as a soup in the afternoon or evening. It is truly astonishing how much...
Raw Beet Salad MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 20 minutes Beets, like carrots, can be eaten raw. And they’re delicious that way, crunchy and sweet. So sweet, in fact, that they need a strongly acidic dressing like this one for balance. 1 to 11/2 pounds beets, preferably...
Ratatouille Salad MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 30 minutes Eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onions, and tomatoes are a familiar Mediterranean combination, especially in summer. Too often, however, they’re overcooked and mushy. Enter the ratatouille salad, where the vegetables...
Green Tea Broth with Udon Noodles MAKES: 4 first-course or 2 lunch servings TIME: 15 minutes In Japan, one often eats udon noodles with the liquid they were cooked in to enjoy both the flavor and the nutrition left behind by the noodles. Sometimes the starting point...
Glazed Carrot Soup MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 45 minutes You can glaze any vegetable that’s starchy and sweet enough to convert a little cooking liquid into a syrupy coating, and nothing works better than carrots. Other root vegetables, like turnips, parsnips,...
Mushroom Salad, Italian-American Style MAKES: 4 servings TIME: About 1 hour A vinegary, almost pickled mushroom dish that can be used as a garnish or condiment as well as a salad. It’s also good tossed with chopped Belgian endive (use 2 heads for this amount of...
Lettuce and Chive Salad, Korean Style MAKES: 4 servings TIME: 15 minutes In Korea, the chives would be served alone, as a side dish. And you can certainly do that. But I love tossing them and their distinctive dressing on top of a mound of greens. It’s a great salad...