Recipes By Kevin Pang
7 recipes found
Charred Cherry Tomato Pasta
There are countless variations on cherry tomato pasta, but this version is anything but standard. Cherry tomatoes are blasted under the broiler, releasing their sweet juices and charring their skins. The tomatoes are then finished in a skillet with garlic-perfumed olive oil and butter, yielding a simple and savory sauce for pasta. The twist: Stirring in a fresh egg yolk just before serving adds an unexpected, sophisticated richness. If you’d rather skip the egg yolk, a dollop of ricotta or some torn burrata would also fit the bill.
Jian Dui (Fried Sesame Balls)
Popular in bakeries and dim sum parlors in Chinatowns around the world, these sweet bean-stuffed fried sesame balls are a pleasure to snack on, their texture a cross between a warm donut and a gummy bear. But during Lunar New Year, jian dui take on a special significance. Some believe the golden roundness of sesame balls portends money and good fortune “rolling” into your household. Non-believers, fret not: These are easy to make and their crisp chewiness makes them a delight to bite.
Loose Meat Sandwich
The sandwich of choice around Sioux City, Iowa is the loose meat sandwich — think Sloppy Joes without the tomato-based sauce. Here, ground beef and onions are cooked into intensely flavorful crumbles with a few seasonings, then piled high on a hamburger bun with dill pickles and yellow mustard. Sometimes known as a Maid-Rite (named after the restaurant chain that popularized it), a “tavern” or a “canteen,” this is the nostalgic sandwich of a million Iowan childhoods. The recipe easily satisfies a crowd: Just make a double batch of the beef filling, then scoop onto buns until you run out.
Hainan Chicken Rice
The joy of Hainan chicken rice is in the sum of its parts: The skin-on chicken is rendered silky and luscious by poaching, with a flavor and texture that’s best enjoyed lukewarm or at room temperature. The liquid is then used to cook the rice, imparting deep flavor and a golden sheen. Finally, the trio of sauces adds a bit of choose-your-own-adventure. Popularized largely in Singapore, this dish is beloved throughout Southeast Asia and its diaspora. This recipe is inspired primarily by a version from Los Angeles chef Johnny Lee, who’s made his reputation in recent years as a Hainan chicken evangelist in Southern California. (You can find a more streamlined one-pot version of the dish here.) There are two essential pieces of equipment for this recipe: an instant-read thermometer to ensure the chicken is cooked through, and a pot large enough for the poaching liquid to completely submerge the chicken.
Butter-Soy Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry
How do Chinese restaurant stir-fries deliver silky and tender meat with a sauce that seems to cling? The secret is a technique called velveting. When meat is velveted (a two-step process of marinating in a cornstarch mixture and blanching in either oil or water), even lean cuts like chicken breast become supremely juicy. Here, velveting does the heavy lifting in this lightning-quick stir-fry, featuring a sublimely savory sauce of butter, soy sauce and lemon. To speed things along further, you can prep the vegetables while the chicken marinates.
Saltine-Crusted Pork Tenderloin
In the Midwest, especially in diners throughout Indiana and Iowa, you’ll find pieces of pork tenderloin pounded flat and fried — some as impressively wide as a hubcap. In this homestyle version, the Midwesterness is amplified by encrusting the pork cutlets in crumbled saltine crackers and pan-frying them in a mix of butter and oil to enhance flavor and richness. The result is crisp, tender, golden pork that’s delicious as a main course with mashed potatoes and applesauce, stacked high on a roll, or cold straight from the fridge the next day.
Lugaw
As any Filipino mother will tell you, the magic of lugaw comes in its restorative properties. This recipe, adapted from the version served at Uncle Mike's Place, a diner in Chicago, is not supposed to be a wallop of flavors. Approach it as a savory oatmeal, with notes of ginger and chicken peeking through the warm, soothing creaminess. The key is constant stirring during the first 10 minutes of cooking, which aids in breaking down the starches in the rice and makes for a thicker, more luscious dish.