Innehållsförteckning för September/October 2024 från Cook's Illustrated

Abowl of sopa de tortilla should be garnished with exuberance. So much of the joy of this Mexican soup comes in the customization: the sprinkling of white onion or avocado, the swooshing of crema, the spritzing of lime. From the raisiny musk of crumbled fried pasilla chiles to the patters of golden tortilla strips and plunks of meaty cubes of queso fresco as they enter the bowl, it’s a feast for the senses, even before you’ve dipped your spoon in. Cooking the soup itself, on the other hand, is an exercise in restraint. Beneath that trove of garnishes is a broth made from a stunningly ordinary ingredient list—usually some combination of chicken broth and a fried puree of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and epazote. There are no shreds of chicken, kernels…

“Kimchi is the universe. It’s the cosmos. It’s life,” declared Susan Park. The Seoul native and Korean food historian based in Los Angeles chuckled as she said this to me, an acknowledgement that no words can adequately sum up the eminence of kimchi’s role in Korean cuisine and culture. Indeed, the making and sharing of it, an age-old ritual known as kimjang, is a marvel of humanity, a sacred act that bands people together—whether it’s an entire village in rural South Korea preserving acres of vegetables to sustain itself over the long, harsh winter or a small family working through a case or two of cabbage in an apartment kitchen thousands of miles from the mother country. Savoring kimchi’s communal vibe and its sour, funky character is restorative, a way…

Everyone’s eating salmon, every which way. To name a few, America’s most-consumed fin fish is pan-seared; poached; presented raw and glimmering in poke bowls; and—my preference of late—minced, seasoned, shaped into burgers, and seared until golden and succulent. Treated this way, the buttery flesh is simply scrumptious. Straightaway, I found that using the food processor to chop the salmon was problematic: The heat generated by the friction of the whizzing blade started to melt the fish’s fat, making it so goopy that it slipped through my fingers when I tried to form patties. That’s probably why many recipes call for tediously chopping by hand. Instead, I fortified the fat by par-freezing chunks. This enabled me to pulse them to a ¼-inch mince that wasn’t too slick to shape. After mixing…

Dish towels work hard in our kitchens. They dry our hands and dishes, sop up spills, cover bowls of dough as they proof, act as makeshift pot holders, and much more. The best dish towels are absorbent, durable, and easy to clean. Types of Dish Towels There are many styles of dish towels, but most are made from cotton, linen, microfiber, or a blend of two or more materials. For this review, we narrowed our focus to towels made of 100 percent cotton or linen, because microfiber can melt if exposed to high heat. There is no one “best” material. Understanding the pros and cons of each makes it easier to pick a towel that suits your needs. Regardless of material, we found that all the dish towels in our…

Green sauce is like a common language with distinct regional dialects. Cooks from every corner of the globe throw together dazzlingly verdant dressings and dips from herbs, chiles, and/or other green vegetables as a fast, easy, waste-averse way to inject color and vibrancy into a meal. Here are just a few of our favorite examples. FRESHNESS MEETS BRINY FUNK The French analog of salsa verde is a receptacle for tender herbs (use what you have). Its savory, briny depth makes it particularly nice against richer meats such as grilled steak. THE COOLING CHARMS OF CHUTNEY Lime juice, ginger, and chile ratchet up the herbal freshness of this take on India’s iconic green chutney, while grinding sesame seeds into the mix gives it velvety body. It’s a standard sidekick for fried…

Graze your way through one of the many night markets in Taipei, the alleyways bright with neon, the humid air thick with the mouthwatering aromas of o-ah jian (oyster omelet), chou doufu (stinky tofu), and sian su ji (popcorn chicken with fried basil), and you’ll spot stalls for gua bao (the name is Mandarin for “cut bun”). These palm-size breads are steamed in a folded shape to cradle unctuous red-cooked pork belly. Take a spot in line and watch as the merchant deftly cuts an outsize slab of the braised meat; tucks it into a downy bun; and tops the parcel with tangy fermented mustard greens, cilantro sprigs, and sugary peanut powder. Clarissa Wei, author of Made in Taiwan (2023), joined me on a video call from her home in…

When you’re in need of a speedy, satisfying supper, there’s nothing handier than polenta—if, that is, you know our strategies for making it quick and easy to whip up. Read on for my streamlined recipe for the lush, subtly nutty porridge, as well as a trio of toppings to suit any mood. Polenta’s soothing creaminess develops when the pectin holding the corn’s cells together softens and the starch inside the cells swells with water and becomes tender. But that can take as long as an hour. To hurry the process, you can give the pectin a head start. A pinch of baking soda releases sodium ions that displace some of the calcium that holds the pectin in place, softening it quickly and allowing the golden porridge to be prepared in…

Prior to visiting a new city, I do a lot of research on local delicacies and the restaurants, bakeries, and markets where I can sample the best versions. Topping the list on a recent trip to Amsterdam was a wedge of appeltaart, the stately apple pie that’s both an everyday dessert and a centerpiece of Dutch celebrations, especially birthdays. Baked in a tall, straight-sided pan, it features densely packed, liberally spiced, lightly sweetened apples (and often raisins) encased in a substantial, cookie-like crust that’s crunchy where the pastry meets the pan and velvety where it sits against the fruit filling. The towering construction slices neatly and is usually served at room temperature “met slagroom,” meaning with a mountain of whipped cream. As I polished off my slice at Winkel 43,…

The Best Egg Substitutes Eggs are incredible multitaskers. In baked goods, they emulsify and stabilize batters, aid in browning, leaven, help produce a tender crumb, and maintain optimal moisture levels. However, many people avoid or limit eggs. Enter commercial egg substitutes. Most attempt to replace eggs in baking recipes. A few can also be eaten on their own, scrambled. We purchased several products and used them in place of eggs in cookies and cake and, when applicable, in scrambled eggs. Most are sold in a powdered format and must be mixed with water before use; one is a ready-to-use liquid. Eggs are basically magic, and the ingredient lists of the egg substitutes convey the complex engineering used to replicate that magic. Most of our lineup combined starches, leaveners, and gums.…