Herbs & Spices

If time is of the essence, a skin-on fish fillet is your best friend. Not only does this black bass crisp up beautifully when pressed down on a hot pan—it also absorbs the flavors of its dressing beautifully.

Pastéis de nata have a melt-in-the-mouth, fragile, flaky crust and a not-too-sweet custard that is caramelized and darkened in spots.

In many Indian households observing Ramadan, black chickpeas are eaten at sunset when the fast ends.

Warbat is a popular snack during the month of Ramadan. The flaky pastry is drizzled with rose water syrup and sprinkled with vivid green crushed pistachios.

These easy Moldovan flatbreads are made by mixing the filling into the dough rather than stuffing it.

The fillings for plachinda often include a salted fresh cheese, as well as spring onions and dill.

In this bok choy recipe, you’ll stir fry the vegetables with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic, and drizzle with sesame oil.

If you like mojitos, you’ll like this minty swizzle from the Queen’s Park Hotel in Trinidad. The swizzle is a category of cocktails named for the special bar tool used to mix all crushed-ice cocktails in the days before blenders. A swizzle stick is a long stick made with three to five forked branches originally made from the allspice bush. If you don’t have one, though, you can use a bar spoon to churn the drink with a similar motion, rotating the stick by rubbing your hands back and forth again …

Audrey Saunders created this sparkly hybrid of a French 75 and a mojito at her bar, New York’s Pegu Club.

Too many turkey meatloaf recipes have resulted in a dry, uninspiring dinner. But soaking breadcrumbs in milk prevents the meatloaf from drying out as it cooks.

Paneer is perfect for this toasted sandwich recipe—the cheese is creamy but doesn’t melt completely, adding a satisfying texture to an easy tomato sauce that’s spiced with jalapeño, ginger, coriander, and cumin and mustard seeds. Searing the paneer leaves some bits a little crunchier than others while adding a smoky flavor to the sauce; Sach is my favorite brand. You can serve the sauce simply with flatbread or over rice or use it as the filling in enchiladas or tacos (topped with sautéed mushro.…

Starring crispy fried thigh meat dressed in a savory, citrus glaze, orange chicken is a Chinese American take-out staple well worth making at home.

This dressed eggplant is wonderful as an appetizer or a full meal on its own.

This delicious vegetable soup, called sayur lodeh in Indonesian, is popular in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Rendang is a slow-cooked dish that requires hours of stovetop nursing. It was only when I bought an Instant Pot that I even entertained the idea of making it myself.

This peppery turmeric soup is a meatless version of soto ayam, which is usually made with chicken. 

This Taiwanese classic gets its name from the generous amounts of soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine it calls for.