Bryan Washington wrote about the consoling powers of kakuni, seared pork belly simmered in sake, soy sauce and sugar.
 | | Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas. |
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Good morning. "Every dish exists in its own continuum," Bryan Washington wrote in The New York Times Magazine this week, "but they become interconnected through our personal experience. You eat a meal that blows your mind. That dish works its way into your life. One year, you go heavier on the garlic. The next, a little lighter on the char. Or maybe you grow to prefer more chile, more lime, more heat, until a meal's history becomes interlocked with your own." |
Bryan used that observation as a way to start a discussion about a dish he first had in a tiny Tokyo bar and has since brought into his home and life: kakuni (above), seared pork belly simmered in sake, soy sauce and sugar until it takes on a kind of velvet unctuousness, simple and delicious. "The dish is wildly consoling," Bryan wrote. "You're just as likely to find it chalked across the menu board of a bar as in the weeknight rotation of somebody's home." |
Wildly consoling is about what we need right now. So kakuni is on my menu for tonight. |
As for the rest of the week … |
I love the saltiness of the cheese against the bitterness of the greens and lemony dressing in this escarole salad with smoky halloumi croutons, and I love the dish even more when I sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the top. |
It'll be warm and humid where I stay soon enough, and I want to get in one last mushroom Bourguignon before that happens. Use as many different kinds of mushrooms as you can — and absolutely maitakes for their beefy texture — and caramelize them deeply for extra flavor, please. |
Hot mustard and honey glazed chicken for the middle of the week? It uses Asian hot mustard powder to infuse a spicy-sweet lacquer of honey, soy sauce and garlic that drips into the bed of potatoes and carrots beneath the meat — a classic sheet-pan dinner. |
These smoky white bean and beef sloppy joes are a revelation: a childhood favorite made with far less meat and no less taste. "I loved this recipe," a subscriber wrote below the recipe. "It's nice and sloppy and super flavorful." |
And then on Friday, you could take a run at this amazing maiale al latte, milk-braised pork, made in an Instant Pot, maybe with a carrot cake for dessert? What a terrific way to end the week that would be! |
There are thousands and thousands more recipes to cook this week waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. (Find further cooking inspiration on our TikTok, Instagram and YouTube channels.) Yes, you need a subscription to access the recipes. Subscriptions support our work and allow it to continue. I'd like to ask, if you haven't taken one out yet, that you consider subscribing today. Thanks so much. |
And we are in your corner should anything go sideways while you're cooking or using our technology. Just write cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. (You can also write to me, if you're feeling aggrieved, in great spirits or anywhere in between: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I read every letter sent.) |
I love David Reamer's Alaska history column in the Anchorage Daily News. Here he is on Martha Greer, "Mother White," an early and important figure in the city's development. |
Finally, check out Gary Garay in The Los Angeles Times's Image magazine, on the legacy of Jonny Chingas, the Los Angeles musician who Gustavo Arellano once called "the Blowfly of Chicano rap." And I'll be back on Monday. |
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