The Best Fried Rice Isn’t Fried

In Hong Kong, the flavors are layered, not fried.

By JM HirschMarch 17, 2025

Sunflower Seeds–Not Sesame–Make the Creamiest Hummus

In Tblisi, sunflower and pomegranate seeds respect and reinvent a classic.

By JM HirschMarch 17, 2025

In Calabria, Whole-Wheat Pasta Gets What It Deserves

Stroncatura pasta was made with leftover flour scraps and paired with anchovies, olives, garlic and tomatoes.

By Chris KimballMarch 17, 2025

Radicchio Transforms Risotto

Crunchy and bittersweet, Treviso’s signature vegetable balances creamy richness.

By JM HirschMarch 17, 2025

The Sultry, Six-Ingredient Side of Tiramisù

For the best version, we learned to ditch the cooking and dump most of the sugar.

By JM HirschMarch 18, 2025

The One-Pot Chicken Soup That Punches Above Its Weight

Let South Korea’s flavor trio—gochujang, gochugaru and garlic—do the work for you.

By JM HirschMarch 18, 2025

Georgia’s Perfect Marriage of Bread and Cheese

A khachapuri so easy you can make it while drinking!

By JM HirschMarch 18, 2025

Canned Tomatoes and Stale Bread Never Tasted So Good

Tuscany’s “cooked water” shows just how deliciously simple ingredients can be transformed.

By JM HirschMarch 19, 2025

The Way of the Nonna

At the Librandi olive orchards in Calabria, nonna Maria Luisa Ventre Librandi sets us straight on the way—the only way—to make breaded pork chops

By Chris KimballMarch 19, 2025

How to Blow Up a Gougère!

Edward Delling-Williams, a British chef in France, upsizes the cheesy gougère, and we approve.

By Chris KimballMarch 21, 2025

Transylvanian Apple Pie

Plăcintă cu mere is the perfect marriage of bar cookie and slab pie.

By Chris KimballMarch 31, 2025

Small Bites from Milk Street

Meze

By Milk StreetMarch 31, 2025

Kitchen Insider

Tips and Tricks From Our Kitchen

By Milk StreetApril 2, 2025

Greek Yogurt

Taste test

By Milk StreetApril 2, 2025

Manual Citrus Juicers

Tool Test

By Milk StreetApril 2, 2025

Box Graters

Tool Test

By Milk StreetApril 2, 2025

Ghee

Taste Test

By Milk StreetApril 2, 2025

Chipotle Chilies in Adobo

Taste Test

By Milk StreetApril 2, 2025

Know the Knives You Need

Change the way you cook

By Milk StreetApril 2, 2025

Chris Kimball's Book Reviews

Get a taste of what Christopher Kimball is reading at Milk Street.

By Chris KimballApril 2, 2025

Nut and Seed Candies

The tradition of making candies from nuts and seeds can be traced back millennia.

By Milk StreetApril 2, 2025

Off The Air: "Should I brine my eggplant?"

Editors’ Answers to Milk Street Radio Questions

Cheddar, Roasted Onion and Apple Tartines

This tartine, an open-faced crusty bread with melted cheese, gets a savory-sweet twist: cheddar tartness with sweet caramelized onions and apples.

Tahini-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Za’atar

Two Middle Eastern pantry staples, tahini and za’atar, the seed and spice blend, boost the flavor of sweet potatoes. First we coat the potato wedges with tahini, za’atar and cornstarch, then roast them in a hot oven until golden brown and meltingly te

Cantonese-Style Shrimp Omelet on Rice

Shun Hing Cha Dong, a casual eatery in Hong Kong, is famous for its omelet-like, set-but-wet eggs that are served on a mound of steamed rice. The dish is simple, hearty comfort food, and, as demonstrated to us by owner Wing Chen, it comes together wit

Tangy-Crispy Chickpea Fattoush

Fattoush, a Levantine salad, tosses hunks of toasted pita with fresh vegetables and sometimes meats. In this version, we fry chickpeas until golden and sprinkle them on top. The chickpeas, along with a tahini-enriched dressing, make the salad substant

Creamy Tortilla Chip and Tomato Soup

This pantry-friendly simple soup is our adaptation of a sopa de tortilla we learned to make in Mexico City. It requires barely any knifework and only a few minutes at the stove. Tortilla chips are the hard-working ingredient here—blended into the mix,

Pasta Puttanesca with Tuna

In Naples, we learned to make an anchovy-free iteration of pasta puttanesca that leans on generous amounts of olives and capers for savoriness against the backdrop of sweet-tart tomatoes. We’ve added canned tuna, which gives the dish a satisfying meat

Sunflower Hummus

We thought we’d had enough hummus bastardizations. Then we went to Georgia and had sunflower hummus! At Craft Wine Restaurant in Tbilisi, chef Giorgi Andghuladze makes hummus with sunflower seeds in place of tahini. Look for sunflower butter in the su

Tikka Masala Cauliflower

Ditch the cream, not the creamy flavor. This vegetarian spin on chicken tikka masala uses pureed cashews instead of dairy to create a rich and creamy tomato-based sauce. It’s a trick we learned in Mumbai. Be sure to use roasted cashews, which have dee

Buttery Vietnamese Fried Rice

Known as cơm đỏ, this rusty-hued Vietnamese fried rice is a common accompaniment to shaking beef. But garnished with a fried egg, it’s a fast and fantastic meal. Butter may seem an odd ingredient in fried rice, but its sweet notes and richness carry f

Calabrian-Style Pasta with Anchovies, Tomatoes and Toasted Breadcrumbs

This flavor-packed, breadcrumb-topped pasta is our adaptation of a recipe learned from chef Andrea Roberto at Al Girone del Golosi in Cosenza, Italy. In Calabria, stroncatura—a robust and rough-textured, linguine-shaped pasta with an earthy brown hue

Puff Pastry Khachapuri (Penovani Khachapuri)

Penovani khachapuri is one of more than 50 regional variations of kachapuri, the Georgian cheese-stuffed savory bread or pastry. Winery owner Ani Lomidze taught us this easy version during a visit to Georgia’s Alazani Valley. Store-bought puff pastry

Bread and Tomato Soup with Poached Eggs (Acquacotta)

In Colle di Val D’Elsa, cookbook author Giulia Scarpaleggia prepared this classic Tuscan soup for us. It is called acquacotta, or “cooked water,” because the thrifty dish originally was made with little more than day-old bread, vegetables and hot wate

Radicchio-Red Wine Risotto with Pancetta

This classic Venetian risotto features radicchio, a purple-hued member of the chicory family. It contains anthocyanins, or red pigments, that give the dish its characteristic mauve hue. In Treviso, Italy, we tried versions made by home cook Alessandra

Korean Chicken and Vegetable Stew (Dakdoritang)

At Jeontong Nokdoo Bindaeddeok lunch stall in Seoul’s Pungmul Market, we tasted dakdoritang, a spicy chicken and vegetable stew, prepared by Mi-Ok Seo. Gochujang, a cornerstone of Korean cooking, is a fermented chili paste; be sure to purchase pure go

Crumb-Crusted Pork Chops with Green Olives and Capers

At Tenute Librandi Pasquale in Calabria, Maria Luisa Ventre Librandi prepared simple, homey baked pork chops topped with a mix of coarse homemade breadcrumbs, Parmesan, chopped olives, capers and an astounding amount of olive oil. The result was a cri

Two-Cheese Gougères

Gougères are cheese puffs made from pâte à choux (also known as choux paste), the same light, airy pastry that is the basis of so many classic French desserts, including éclairs and profiteroles. Edward Delling-Williams of The Presbytere restaurant in

Tiramisù

In Treviso, where tiramisù was born, we were shown how to make the dessert by Linda Maria Botter of Camelia Bakery, whose tiramisù was voted best in the city. The lesson: Simplicity is best. Many recipes start with cooking a zabaglione, a yolk-rich cu

Romanian Apple Pie with Cinnamon and Walnuts (Plăcintă cu Mere)

Cookbook author Irina Georgescu introduced us to Romanian plăcintă cu mere, a hybrid of slab-style apple pie bar cookie. The traditional baked treat sandwiches lightly sweetened shredded apples between two layers of tender crust. For our version, we c

Miso Butter Spaghetti with Scallions

Miso and garlic deliver a flavor upgrade to that classic kid food—buttered noodles. Softened butter mixed with miso, garlic, scallion whites and lemon juice creates a simple, flavorful no-cook sauce for pasta. The heat from the noodles and some of the

Porcini-Seasoned Steak au Poivre

Mushroom powder sounds illicit, but it’s actually a secret-weapon umami bomb. We pulverize dried porcini mushrooms, mix them with salt and pepper, then rub it all over steaks for intense seasoning. We also stir some into water for an instant broth for

Salt and Vinegar Smashed Potatoes

Salt and vinegar potato chips as a smashed potato? Yes! Crisp outside and creamy inside, these smashed potatoes feature the popular, puckery potato-chip flavor. We tried multiple vinegars for this recipe but found that punchy white vinegar was best. T

Pork and Red Chili Stew

This is a simple Mexican-inspired pork stew of earthy dried red chilies, sweet-tart tomatoes and warm spices. With a little cider vinegar to brighten up and balance the richness of the braise, the sauce echoes the flavor profile of classic Mexican ado

Red-on-Red Slaw with Horseradish and Dill

Crunchy red cabbage and tender beets join forces in this vibrant, Nordic-inspired slaw. Refrigerated cooked beets, found in the supermarket’s produce section, make this a breeze to prepare. For ease, we also use refrigerated prepared horseradish inste

Sea Scallops with Browned Butter, Capers and Lemon

With just six ingredients, you get a caper and lemon sauce with nutty browned butter that highlights the scallops’ sweetness.