At Viet parties or special events, Chinese-style roasted meats accompanied by small steamed buns are usually on the menu. Shaped like half-moons, the plain buns are used like rolls: they are split open, a morsel of roast pork, duck, or char siu (barbecued pork) is tucked inside, and if there is a sauce, a little is drizzled over the meat. The resulting tiny sandwich is a great hors d’oeuvre or starter course. Steamed buns made from scratch take time. It is worth the effort to make your own dough for filled buns. But when you want the buns only as a small side dish, a shortcut may be in order. I learned a trick from my Chinese American friend Victor Fong, who revealed that his mom always used refrigerated biscuit dough to make the plain steamed buns she served at home. (In their 1976 book The Gourmet Chinese Regional Cookbook, Calvin and Audrey Lee mentioned a similar practice, describing it as a “guiltily traded secret in America’s Chinatowns.”) The shortcut buns are surprisingly light and spongy, a perfect counterpoint to the rich meats. Serve them with slices of Honey-Roasted Duck Legs, Char Siu Pork, or roast pork or duck bought in a Chinese barbecue shop.
This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.
A savory-hot salsa made with mixed nuts (like the kind dubbed cocktail nuts meant for snacking) gives roast salmon a kaleidoscope of textures and flavors.
Caramelized onions, melty Gruyère, and a deeply savory broth deliver the kind of comfort that doesn’t need improving.
A dash of cocoa powder adds depth and richness to the broth of this easy turkey chili.
This one-pot dinner cooks chicken thighs directly on top of a bed of flavorful cilantro rice studded with black beans for a complete dinner.
Round out these autumn greens with tart pomegranate seeds, crunchy pepitas, and a shower of Parmesan.
Make this versatile caramel at home with our slow-simmered method using milk and sugar—or take one of two sweetened condensed milk shortcuts.
This is the type of soup that, at first glance, might seem a little…unexciting. But you’re underestimating the power of mushrooms, which do the heavy lifting.