Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I have very strong opinions about bagels.
Good knife skills are lessons you learn over time.
My first restaurant job was Knight of the Round Grill.
An ice cream sundae isn't complete without a crunchy element.
Kombu isn't the only food rich in glutamic acid, though it may be the richest.
Panko crumbs have tons of surface area, leading to exceptionally crisp coatings.
Mapo tofu is my favorite food in the world. We always have tofu at home. Like, a lot of it.
Now, normally I do all my research on existing recipes before I start working on my own version.
I've tested every imaginable brand of popcorn and popcorn-popping product I could get my hands on.
Tempura-style batters were originally brought to Japan by Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century.
Walk into any Japanese fish market, and you'll see neat rows of sea urchin roe sold in little wooden trays.
I found, when I was working in restaurants, that I did have this sort of natural curiosity about why things work.
In its pure crystalline form, MSG can be added to soups, stews, sauces, and stocks to add a rounded, savory flavor.
Frying is essentially a drying process. Batters and breadings are formulated to dry out in a particularly graceful way.
People should eat what they like, even if it's some jalapeno and cheese-covered monstrosity with blueberry cream cheese.
Generally, if two ingredients sound like they're going to taste bad together, they're probably going to taste bad together.
The texture of Mexican crema is thinner than that of regular American sour cream, but it also has a more distinct tang to it.
Symbols have power and meaning and can mean different things to different people at different times and in different contexts.
My job on that first day, like for most green cooks, was official kitchen gofer. Whatever any other cook needed doing, I did it.
A tempura batter has a lifespan of only moments before the flour becomes too saturated with water and a fresh batter must be made.
Historically, almost every cookbook and chef have taught that when you're cooking a piece of meat, the first step should be searing.
Different hot sauces fulfill different needs, and I wouldn't want anyone to live in a world in which each fridge held only one bottle.
Like a good grilled cheese, a good quesadilla is one that takes its time cooking, for a thoroughly melted interior and nice, even browning.
My love of buttered popcorn has never been a secret. It runs deeper than a bottomless jumbo tub, free refills and all. It's my favorite food.
The higher the surface area-to-volume ratio of a given amount of meat, the more efficiently it will freeze and the less damage it will suffer.
Typically, the thinner the gauge of a pan, the more intense the hot and cool spots that form on its interior, which can lead to uneven cooking.
2015 was simultaneously the year in which I consumed the most popcorn of my life and the year in which I received the most praise from my dentist.
When planning a Thanksgiving menu, it's always a balancing act between representing all the classics and satisfying all the members of your family.
Well, my mom is Japanese. She moved to the U.S. when she was a teenager. And so, her food is - she did all of the cooking at home for the most part.
One of the handiest features of crepes is that you can cook the pancakes all the way through and refrigerate them, to be reheated and stuffed later.
The good news is that even if your early crepes have funny lumps and bulges or aren't paper-thin, they're still gonna be plenty edible and delicious.
Making sea urchin pasta is a lot like a toddler playing with Play-Doh: There are a million right ways to do it, and most of them are salty and delicious.
I came from a family of scientists. My father is a microbiologist and my grandfather is an organic chemist. I had a very science- and math-heavy childhood.
The key to a successful Thanksgiving is planning. Know what needs to get done, when it needs to be done, and how much effort and time it's going to take you.
We host Thanksgiving in my mother's apartment in New York. I don't know if you've seen many New York apartment kitchens, but they are not known for spaciousness.
Cooking for a family, and specifically cooking to stimulate exploration of new flavors and textures, has led to mealtimes that are both healthier and more exciting.
Fattier, expensive cuts like prime rib or New York strip are celebratory centerpieces that do best when simply roasted with salt and pepper and served straight away.
Organizing your fridge for maximum efficiency - in terms of food shelf life, food safety, and easy access to the things you reach for most - should be a top priority.
After your knife and your cutting board, quality pots and pans are the most important tools in your kitchen, and a good set can run hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.
When I had a side-by-side-style freezer, I kept everything - soup, ground meat, steaks, cooked rice - frozen in flat packs that I filed away vertically like vinyl records.
But if you're from New York and you grew up here, you have it built into you - what a slice of pizza is supposed to be - in a way that people from outside of New York don't.
Though hot sauce preferences are personal, I'm pretty open to all styles. All except stunt sauces, that is - you know, sauces that are primarily designed to test your machismo.
I mean, my family liked eating, but I was one of those kids who, you know, I hated fish until I was probably in my early 20s. When I went to college, I had no idea how to cook.
A fridge is basically just a big, cold box with a few shelves in it, right? Well, that's true, but where you store food in the fridge can have quite an impact on its shelf life.
Anyone who understands evolution knows that it doesn't necessarily lead from simpler to more complex life-forms. Rather, it leads to life-forms better suited to their environments.
A zipper-lock bag will work for basic, short-term sous vide cooking projects, but for extended cooking and storage, you'll want to pair your sous vide circulator with a vacuum sealer.
The key characteristics of a tempura-style batter are extreme lightness of color and texture: Good tempura should be pale blond with an extraordinarily lacy, light, and crisp coating.
Ten inches is a very versatile size for a skillet. It's the ideal vessel for sauteing vegetables for a small family or searing a couple of large steaks, pork chops, or pieces of fish.
See, tomato skins are really good at keeping tomato juices inside the tomato, but they have one defect: Moisture can escape from the tops, where the tomatoes were attached to the vine.
A tender beef roast with a well-browned exterior is about as easy to pair with wine as a dish can be. You have your pick of just about any medium- to full-bodied red wine, from any place.