Emily Han

It’s infinitely customizable.

More than a decade after experiencing my first pupusa, I can still remember my wide-eyed joy as I bit into the thick, stuffed tortilla. Why had I never eaten one before, and how soon could I have another? As I learned, the best part about El Salvador’s national dish isn’t just the warm, savory masa filled with melty cheese (or meat or beans), but its brilliant accompaniment called curtido.

Espresso powder and instant espresso provide nuanced flavors in rich, chocolatey baked goods. Learn the best swaps here.

Whether it's raw or cooked, these are the two best methods for preserving it in the freezer.

One of the simplest ways to prepare fresh or even frozen vegetables is to steam them over simmering water. This method is quick, light, and retains flavor and nutritional value. As long as you take care not to overcook them, steamed in-season vegetables often taste perfectly wonderful as they are.

Along with steaming, blanching vegetables is a basic technique every cook should know. Briefly boiled and then plunged into ice water, these bright and tender-crisp vegetables may be used in crudité platters, salads, sushi rolls, and stir fries, or refrigerated or frozen for later use. Blanching is a classic technique that involves quickly cooking food in boiling water then dunking it in ice water to stop the cooking process.

This method is foolproof.

A member of the kelp family, kombu is a seaweed that makes for a versatile pantry ingredient, providing dishes with umami flavor, nutrients, and minerals. While most kombu comes from Hokkaidō, Japan, it is also cultivated in Korea, where it is known as dashima, and China, where it is known as haidai. (Maine kelp is similar and can be substituted for kombu.) Dried kombu can be used to make Japanese dashi (a savory broth), added to beans to make them more digestible, and eaten in salads.

When it comes to beans and lessening their “digestive consequences,” we have two main strategies: one, soak them before cooking and two, add epazote. Not familiar with epazote? Learn all about this pungent Mexican herb, plus how to cook with it.Epazote (pronounced eh-puh-ZOE-tay) is an herb native to Mexico and Central America that is perhaps best known for its carminative, or gas-relieving, properties.

English breakfast, Irish breakfast, Scottish breakfast … why are they served at breakfast, and is there really any difference between them? According to Frank Sanchez of Upton Tea Imports, each breakfast tea blend has it owns flavor profile and different caffeine levels. Breakfast teas are black tea blends intended to accompany a hearty, rich morning meal (think of the full English breakfast or fry-up) and are therefore more robust than afternoon tea blends.

Turns out the best place to store cucumbers isn't where I thought it was. How about you? Do you know the right place to keep your cukes?

There's a lot to know about paprika and all of its varieties.

Don't store tall things in the back!

The other day, a friend of ours sat down to a meal of pancakes for dinner. She poured on the maple syrup, took a bite and then realized that the inside of the syrup bottle was covered in yellowish-gray mold. So much for that comfort food dinner! When she showed us the bottle, we were stumped. Having been under the impression that maple syrup doesn’t spoil, we wanted to look in to the matter.

Whoops!

It's a great little staple to have in your summer cooking repertoire.

Plus why you'll want to keep both in your pantry.

Wonder no more about this pantry staple's shelf life.

Here's what we learned about grain weevils and how you can prevent them from invading your pantry.

They're gluten-free and vegan, too.

With its sweet, delicate flavor of muscat, elderflower cordial is generally known as a mixer for refreshing spring and summer drinks. We also love using it in desserts, such as this lemony sponge cake infused with elderflower syrup and served with a dollop of sweet whipped cream. Based on Delia’s Smith’s classic Victoria sponge, the cake is light and moist with a burst of lemon from added zest and a drizzle of elderflower-lemon syrup soaked into the cake after it bakes.

It may be tough to get excited about food, but it's important to do this one thing.

From their bright-yellow blossoms right down to their roots, dandelions are incredibly nutritious. This recipe focuses on the root, which can be eaten fresh as a vegetable, or can be dried and roasted to make hot drinks that are delicious substitutes for tea and coffee. Earthy and slightly bitter in flavor, dandelion roots aid digestion and support liver health. I like to simmer the roasted roots with milk and spices to make a warm and nourishing “chai.

Poking around the kitchen the other morning, I discovered a handful of eggs, two leftover tortillas, a knob of cheese, and a jar of salsa. It was clear what I had to do: Make migas. “Migas” is the Spanish word for “crumbs,” and in Spain it’s a dish typically comprised of stale bread and other ingredients. In Texas, where I grew up, migas are made with tortillas or corn chips, scrambled eggs, and, in true Tex-Mex fashion, plenty of cheese.

This bright new riff on the classic switchel features turmeric, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory and antiviral agent. I love sipping turmeric switchel after a workout, or using it as a cocktail mixer with fresh sugarcane spirits like cachaça and rhum agricole. I highly recommend using fresh turmeric, which has a livelier flavor than the dried version.

You may be familiar with shrubs, but have you met our friend the switchel? This vinegar-based drink is energizing, refreshing, and a great alternative to commercially made sports drinks. It makes a fabulous cocktail, too! Originating in the Caribbean in the 16th or 17th century, the switchel has developed into different versions over the years.

squash Although squashes are typically diluted with still or carbonated water, they can also be used as cocktail mixers. Classic British squashes include lemon, orange, and blackcurrant, while in other parts of the world, such as India and Southeast Asia, you’ll find squashes made from local fruits like mango, pineapple, and lychee. Flavoring this syrup with citrus peels gives it a more complex and concentrated flavor than you’d get from plain juice.

Mors is a tart, berry-based refresher that has a heck of a pedigree — it was first mentioned in the sixteenth-century Russian homemaking manual “Domostroy.” Although it’s frequently made from cranberries, mors can easily be made with just about any kind of wild or cultivated sour berries.

On our recent trip to Minnesota, we ate wild rice every chance we could get, savoring the chewy texture and rich, nutty flavor of this Great Lakes specialty. Some of our most memorable meals were the meat-free, wild rice burgers served at restaurants like Fitger’s Brewhouse, Black Woods, and Grandma’s in Duluth.

Every so often there comes a restaurant meal which really inspires us in our own kitchens. This is a dish influenced by my own recent visit to the Porthminster Café, a breezy restaurant nestled below an ocean cliff just steps away from the stunningly blue water in St. Ives, Cornwall. Headed by Australian chef and surfer Michael Smith, the Porthminster Café’s menu mixes Mediterranean and Asian influences, and it’s heavy on the local seafood.

I just received two plump eggplants in my CSA box, and as I was sticking them in the refrigerator, I suddenly questioned whether this was the right move. Remember that tip for how to store cucumbers? Turns out eggplant is similar. Until now, my go-to storage spot for eggplant has always been in the refrigerator — either the crisper drawer or bottom shelf, depending on the size.

Depending on how they’re prepared, grilled vegetables can be tender and succulent, or unevenly cooked and charred. Add some color to your grilled menu and avoid disappointment with these five vegetable grilling hints! For quicker, more even cooking, think of shapes and sizes that will expose more surface area to the grill. For example, cut eggplant, onions, and zucchini into strips or rounds rather than chunks. Recipe: Grilled Eggplant Burgers with Halloumi Cheese Making kebabs?

If you happen to live in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Southern California, New York, or anywhere with a Vietnamese population, I hope you have experienced the wonders of bánh mì – baguettes filled with pickled carrots and daikon, fresh cilantro, and meat or tofu. The sandwiches are crisp, salty, tangy, and sweet; the perfect marriage of French and Vietnamese influences.

The Vietnamese noodle soup is surprisingly simple to make at home.

A month ago I was enjoying lovely French breakfast radishes in a winter-to-spring salad. As the new season further unfolds, I’m now slicing these little jewels into a salad inspired by the classic combination — radishes, butter, and salt. I’ve also added delicate microgreens, tart lemon, and fresh basil for bright spring flavor.

Snap peas and mint from the farmers market, a Meyer lemon from a friend’s yard, and a couple of basic pantry ingredients – quick to prepare and speaking wholly of spring. I hesitate to call this a recipe because it’s just something that came together using fresh ingredients I had on hand. But perhaps that is the best kind of recipe for this season, when the new, vibrant flavors call for simple preparations rather than long hours spent over the stove or in the oven.