Find something worth cooking

Nikujaga

肉じゃが

Meat and potatoes simmered in soy and dashi until the house smells like someone is home.

45 min·Easy·No chilli

Polenta

Polenta

Northern cornmeal porridge — soft with cheese, or set, sliced and grilled the next day.

45 min·Easy·No chilli

Katsu curry

カツカレー

A breaded cutlet on Japanese curry rice — the student special that became a national comfort plate.

1 hr·Medium·🌶️

Irish stew

stobhach

Lamb, potato, onion — a pale pot, no wine, no bouquet garni performance.

2 hr 20 min·Easy·No chilli

Ají de gallina

Ají de gallina

Shredded chicken in a bread-thickened yellow chilli sauce — Lima comfort that looks rich and is.

1 hr·Medium·🌶️🌶️

Gumbo

Gumbo

A dark roux, the trinity, and a pot that is Creole or Cajun depending on who is stirring — not a generic chilli.

1 hr 35 min·Medium·🌶️🌶️

Japanese curry rice

カレーライス

The everyday Japanese curry — mild, a little sweet, thick enough to catch on rice, no cutlet required.

55 min·Easy·🌶️

Avgolemono

αυγολέμονο

Chicken soup thickened with egg and lemon — silky, not scrambled, if you temper it.

1 hr 10 min·Medium·No chilli

Omurice

オムライス

Ketchup fried rice wrapped in a thin omelette — Japanese home cooking that is unashamedly yōshoku.

30 min·Medium·No chilli

Doenjang jjigae

된장찌개

The everyday soybean-paste stew: zucchini, tofu, a little chilli, and a broth that tastes like someone's house.

30 min·Easy·🌶️

Sundubu jjigae

순두부찌개

A raging bowl of soft tofu, chilli broth and a cracked egg — the stew you eat before the spoon melts.

35 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Molokhia

ملوخية

A green soup of jute leaves, garlic and coriander — slimy on purpose, chicken broth underneath.

40 min·Easy·No chilli

Samgyetang

삼계탕

A small whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng and jujube, simmered until the broth goes milky and kind.

1 hr 40 min·Medium·No chilli

Arroz e feijão

arroz e feijão

Rice and beans — the Brazilian everyday plate, not a side you skip.

9 hr 45 min·Easy·No chilli

Jambalaya

Jambalaya

Rice cooked in the pot with the meat — Louisiana, not paella, not a dump-and-stir rice mix.

1 hr·Medium·🌶️🌶️

Tinola

Tinola

Ginger chicken soup with green papaya or chayote — the get-well pot that is also Tuesday dinner.

55 min·Easy·No chilli

Pot-au-feu

Pot-au-feu

Boiled beef, marrow bones and winter vegetables — the broth is dinner and so is the meat.

3 hr 55 min·Medium·No chilli

Shepherd's pie

Shepherd's pie

Lamb mince under mashed potato — cottage pie if it is beef, and we will name the difference.

1 hr 5 min·Easy·No chilli

Kitsune udon

きつねうどん

Fat wheat noodles in a hot dashi broth with a sweet fried-tofu pillow — the fox's favourite bowl.

25 min·Easy·No chilli

Fabada asturiana

Fabada asturiana

Asturian bean pot — large white beans, pork, and a slow simmer. Not a chilli, not a cassoulet copy.

10 hr 45 min·Medium·🌶️

Ochazuke

お茶漬け

Tea poured over leftover rice — a late bowl with pickles, nori and whatever is in the fridge.

7 min·Very easy·No chilli

Cơm tấm

Cơm tấm

Broken-rice plate — grilled pork, a chilled egg meatloaf, pickles and fish sauce. Saigon lunch architecture.

1 hr 50 min·Medium·No chilli

Mujadara

مجدرة

Lentils, rice and a scandal of fried onion — the cheap pot that tastes like a house.

1 hr·Easy·No chilli

Seolleongtang

설렁탕

A milky ox-bone broth you season at the table — salt, spring onion, and patience in a bowl.

6 hr 30 min·A bit of work·No chilli

Tacu tacu

Tacu tacu

Rice and beans mashed and fried into a crisp cake — Afro-Peruvian leftovers that became a plate.

25 min·Easy·🌶️

Budae jjigae

부대찌개

Army-base stew: kimchi, spam, sausages and ramyeon in a gochujang broth that refuses to be precious.

40 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Pide

pide

A boat-shaped stuffed bread — cheese, egg, or mince — thicker than lahmacun, not a pizza either.

1 hr 55 min·Medium·No chilli

Kalguksu

칼국수

Knife-cut wheat noodles in a mild anchovy-kelp or chicken broth — the bowl you want when the air is cold.

55 min·Medium·No chilli

Gamjatang

감자탕

Pork backbone and potato in a gochugaru pot — a late-night stew you eat with your hands and a lot of rice.

1 hr 55 min·Medium·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Shiro wat

ሽሮ ወጥ

Ground chickpea stew — silky, berbere-warm, and the pot that looks like nothing until you taste it.

35 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️

Harira

الحريرة

The Ramadan soup — tomato, lentils, chickpeas, herbs, a little meat if the house wants it.

1 hr 10 min·Easy·🌶️

Oyakodon

親子丼

Chicken and egg on rice — the parent-and-child bowl, simmered in one pan until the egg is just set.

25 min·Easy·No chilli

Collard greens

Collard greens

Greens simmered with smoked pork until the pot liquor is the point — a long cook, not a 2-minute fry.

1 hr 45 min·Easy·🌶️

Gyudon

牛丼

Thin beef and onion simmered in a sweet-soy broth, slid over rice — the chain-restaurant bowl you can make better at home.

22 min·Easy·No chilli

Shogayaki

生姜焼き

Thin pork in a ginger-soy glaze — the teishoku plate that is weeknight dinner in a lot of Japanese houses.

20 min·Easy·No chilli

Phở bò

Phở bò

Vietnamese beef noodle soup: a long, clear-ish broth, rice noodles, herbs, and a table full of finishing flavours.

4 hr·A bit of work·🌶️

Gyeran-bap

계란밥

Hot rice, a fried or raw-ish egg, sesame oil and soy — the 4-ingredient bowl that still counts as cooking.

7 min·Easy·No chilli

Samgyeopsal

삼겹살

Thick pork belly grilled at the table, wrapped in lettuce with ssamjang, garlic and a bit of rice.

40 min·Easy·No chilli

Bún chả

Bún chả

Hanoi grilled pork, rice noodles, a sweet-sour dipping broth, and a pile of herbs.

1 hr 45 min·Medium·No chilli

Chicken adobo

Adobong manok

Filipino chicken braised in vinegar, soy, garlic and pepper — a method more than a single official recipe.

1 hr·Easy·No chilli

Fasolada

φασολάδα

The national bean soup — white beans, tomato, celery, oil. A pot, not a side of beans.

9 hr 45 min·Easy·No chilli

Chole

छोले

Chickpeas in a dark, sour-spiced gravy — Punjabi chana that wants bhatura or rice, not a mild hummus energy.

9 hr·Medium·🌶️🌶️

Kimchi-bokkeumbap

김치볶음밥

Kimchi fried rice with a fried egg — the 10-minute argument for keeping sour kimchi and leftover rice.

18 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️

Kimchi jjigae

김치찌개

A bubbling kimchi stew with tofu and pork — the Korean answer to 'what is in the fridge and why is it sour'.

50 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Bacalhau à Brás

bacalhau à Brás

Shredded salt cod, matchstick potatoes, scrambled egg — Lisbon comfort, not a whole roast loin.

24 hr 40 min·Medium·No chilli

Rose tteokbokki

로제떡볶이

The creamy, pink, extremely 2020s cousin of street tteokbokki — still Korean, just wearing a dairy jacket.

30 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️

Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles

Yesterday's tortillas, today's salsa — softened, not soggy if you are lucky, with cream, cheese and an egg.

30 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️

Moussaka

μουσακάς

Layered eggplant, spiced lamb and a thick béchamel — a Sunday tray, not a microwave yoghurt topping.

1 hr 55 min·Medium·No chilli

Bibimbap

비빔밥

A Korean rice bowl of seasoned vegetables, chilli paste and a runny yolk — mixed at the table until everything is the same red-gold colour.

1 hr·Medium·🌶️🌶️

Pasta alla Norma

Pasta alla Norma

Sicilian eggplant, tomato and salted ricotta — named for an opera, cooked like a Tuesday.

45 min·Easy·No chilli

Bún bò Huế

Bún bò Huế

A central Vietnamese beef-and-lemongrass noodle soup — thicker noodles, a redder broth, and more chilli than phở.

3 hr 30 min·A bit of work·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Karnıyarık

karnıyarık

Split eggplant stuffed with mince — the imam's meatier cousin, still an oil pot.

1 hr 10 min·Medium·🌶️

Dakbokkeumtang

닭볶음탕

Chicken and potato braised in a gochujang pot until the sauce clings — also called dakdori-tang, still a weeknight hero.

1 hr·Easy·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Lomo saltado

Lomo saltado

A Peruvian-Chinese stir-fry: beef, onion, tomato, soy and fries — on the same plate as rice.

40 min·Medium·🌶️

Tteokbokki

떡볶이

Chewy rice cakes in a glossy gochujang sauce — the street stall that made K-food a late-night sport.

30 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Vatapá

vatapá

A Bahian puree of bread, coconut, peanuts and dendê — thick, yellow-orange, and unfinished without the palm oil.

45 min·Medium·🌶️

Tteokguk

떡국

Sliced rice cakes in a clear beef broth — the New Year bowl that is said to make you a year older.

1 hr 20 min·Medium·No chilli

Gungjung-tteokbokki

궁중떡볶이

The older soy-sesame rice-cake stir-fry — court-style tteokbokki before the street went red.

30 min·Easy·No chilli

Cornbread

Cornbread

A skillet bread — cornmeal, buttermilk, a hot pan. Sugar is a regional fight we will not pretend is settled.

30 min·Easy·No chilli

Butter chicken

मुरग़ मखनी

Delhi restaurant gravy: tandoori-style chicken in a tomato-butter sauce. Famous, modern, and not a stand-in for 'Indian food'.

2 hr 5 min·Medium·🌶️

Agedashi tofu

揚げ出し豆腐

Lightly fried tofu in a hot dashi-soy broth — crisp for a minute, then silky, which is the point.

25 min·Easy·No chilli

Pastitsio

παστίτσιο

Baked pasta, cinnamon meat sauce and béchamel — the other Greek tray, related to Italy and not a copy of it.

1 hr 40 min·Medium·No chilli

Tamago sando

たまごサンド

Japanese egg salad in soft white bread, crusts off — convenience-store perfection you can copy.

27 min·Very easy·No chilli

Miyeok-guk

미역국

Seaweed soup with beef or clams — the birthday breakfast, and the bowl you eat after giving birth.

45 min·Easy·No chilli

Jjamppong

짬뽕

A Korean-Chinese seafood noodle soup so red and briny it fogs your glasses.

45 min·Medium·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Chicken tagine

طاجين الدجاج

Chicken with preserved lemon and olives — the Moroccan pot people mean when they say tagine.

1 hr 15 min·Medium·🌶️

Bulgogi

불고기

Thin beef in a soy-pear-sesame marinade, cooked hot until the edges caramelise.

1 hr·Easy·No chilli

Shrimp and grits

Shrimp and grits

A Lowcountry bowl — stone-ground grits, a buttery shrimp sauce, and no, instant grits are not the same.

50 min·Medium·🌶️

Frijoles de la olla

Frijoles de la olla

Pot beans — onion, a little fat, time — the Mexican weekday protein that is not a burrito filling first.

9 hr 40 min·Easy·No chilli

Misir wat

ምስር ወጥ

Red lentils in berbere — the fasting pot that is also Tuesday dinner.

55 min·Easy·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Shakshuka

شكشوكة

Eggs poached in a spiced tomato-pepper sauce. Maghrebi-Levantine family food, not a brunch fad that appeared in 2014.

45 min·Easy·🌶️

Sinigang

Sinigang

A sour Filipino soup — tamarind, tomato, radish, greens, and pork or fish. The sour is the point.

1 hr 5 min·Easy·No chilli

Mantı

mantı

Tiny lamb dumplings, yoghurt, chilli butter — a project the first time, a flex every time after.

1 hr 45 min·A bit of work·🌶️

Dal tadka

दाल तड़का

Tempered lentils — the everyday pot, finished with ghee, cumin and chilli in hot fat.

45 min·Easy·🌶️

Yukgaejang

육개장

Shredded beef soup, red with gochugaru, full of fernbrake and spring onion — hangover logic that also works at lunch.

1 hr 55 min·Medium·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Korean ramyeon

라면

Instant noodles cooked like a home cook actually does it: extra garlic, an egg, and kimchi on the side.

13 min·Very easy·🌶️🌶️🌶️

Gamja-jorim

감자조림

Potatoes soy-braised until they shine — the lunchbox banchan that tastes better cold.

35 min·Easy·🌶️

Cacio e pepe

Cacio e pepe

Pecorino, pepper and pasta water — a Roman emulsion that looks like nothing and fails if you rush it.

20 min·Medium·🌶️

Amatriciana

Amatriciana

Guanciale, tomato and pecorino — the Roman-Amatrice pasta that is not a generic bacon-and-red-sauce.

30 min·Easy·🌶️

Feijão tropeiro

feijão tropeiro

Minas beans with manioc, pork and egg — a dry plate, not a soup, from the muleteer road.

35 min·Easy·No chilli

Khao soi

ข้าวซอย

Northern Thai curry noodles — coconut broth, boiled noodles, fried noodles on top, pickle on the side.

55 min·Medium·🌶️🌶️

Andong jjimdak

안동찜닭

Soy-braised chicken with glass noodles, potato and a lot of vegetables — Andong's sweet-savoury party pot.

1 hr·Medium·🌶️

Biscuits and gravy

Biscuits and gravy

Flaky buttermilk biscuits under a sausage gravy — Appalachian and Southern breakfast, not a cookie.

40 min·Medium·No chilli

Miso soup

味噌汁

The everyday bowl: dashi, dissolved miso, tofu and spring onion — breakfast, not a starter you ignore.

15 min·Very easy·No chilli

Shoyu ramen

醤油ラーメン

A soy-sauce ramen you can make at home without pretending you run a 20-year tonkotsu shop.

2 hr·A bit of work·No chilli

Carbonara

Carbonara

Roman pasta of guanciale, egg, pecorino and pepper — no cream, no peas, no debate in this house except the usual one.

30 min·Medium·No chilli

Mandu

만두

Korean dumplings — pork, tofu and chives in a thin wrapper, steamed, fried, or floated in soup.

1 hr·Medium·No chilli

Okonomiyaki

お好み焼き

Osaka's cabbage pancake — flour, dashi, a pile of cabbage, and whatever you like, finished with sauce and mayo.

35 min·Medium·No chilli

Pozole

Pozole

A feast soup of nixtamal corn and pork — red, white or green — that you finish at the table with radish, cabbage and lime.

2 hr 25 min·Medium·🌶️🌶️

Meat pie

Meat pie

A hand pie of minced beef in gravy under puff — the Australian bakery counter, not a shepherd's pie in a dish.

2 hr 15 min·Medium·No chilli

Gyoza

餃子

Pan-fried dumplings, crisp on the bottom, steamed under a lid — Japanese potstickers with a garlic-forward pork filling.

55 min·Medium·No chilli

Jajangmyeon

짜장면

Thick wheat noodles under a black-bean gravy of pork and fried chunjang — Korea's Chinese-restaurant hug.

45 min·Medium·No chilli