The only recipe you’ll want to cook after Christmas
Plus: Louis Theroux visits the dream restaurant, Crying in H Mart, Avalon Emerson's DJ-Kicks and Sizzlers the radio show
Welcome to the very first issue of Sizzlers! Writing this feels like trying a new recipe for the first time... maybe it comes out great, most likely there will be room for improvement. I’d love to hear what you think - scroll to the bottom to add a comment, or hit reply and slide into my inbox. You can also help me decide what recipe to share in the next issue – I’m thinking home-made veggie gyoza dumplings or a beginner’s guide to making kimchi? 🔥
For easy updates, you can also follow Sizzlers on Instagram.
There’s probably some kind of marketing rule against sending your first email right before the Christmas holidays, when everyone has mentally clocked off for the year already. But the great thing about not writing this for profit is that it doesn’t matter when I send it, as long as you enjoy what I have to share. And trust me, when you’ve polished off the last Christmas leftovers – and no longer feel hungover in the mornings because it’s your fifth day on the sauce – this week’s recipe is all you’ll want to be slurping (in your cosiest pyjamas loungewear, of course).
I also have very exciting news to share: Sizzlers is hitting the airwaves! From January 2021, I’ll be hosting a monthly food and music-themed show on Reform Radio. For the very first episode on January 4th, I catch up with Bristol-based producer Count van Delicious to chat about his love for pizza, lockdown cooking (mis)adventures and his newly released EP – and you can listen in here.
But for now, I hope you enjoy everything Sizzlers numero uno has to offer.
What’s on the menu this week?
🔥 EAT: itsu dynamite broth
🔥 LISTEN: Louis Theroux on the Off Menu podcast
🔥 READ: Crying in H Mart
🔥 DANCE: Avalon Emerson’s DJ-Kicks
If you’ve been forwarded this by a friend and like what you’re reading, feel free to hit subscribe!
EAT: itsu dynamite broth
If I’ve had you over for dinner, there’s a high chance you’ll have tried this fiery, umami-laden broth from the itsu cookbook. It’s been my go-to comfort food for years – served up to celebrate reunions, mourn heartbreaks, remedy colds and cure hangovers.
Dynamite broth tastes great on its own, drunk straight from the mug while still steaming hot. Sometimes, I add a handful of seaweed (nori or wakame work best), a few cubes of silken tofu and thinly sliced spring onion, and serve it in small bowls as a warming starter.
You can also easily transform it into a filling main by adding noodles (cooked to package instructions) and vegetables of your choice. Chop your vegetables into bite-sized chunks and simmer in the broth, on a low heat, until cooked through. For extra protein, you can introduce a soft-boiled egg, cubes of silken tofu or king prawns to the mix.
Why cook this now?
Ginger, chilli and garlic make itsu’s dynamite broth an ideal cure for colds and hangovers (aka the whole month of January). It’s healthy but still tastes indulgent, thanks to the umami-rich miso paste and creamy coconut milk. Have a few bowls of dynamite broth in the days after Christmas, and you’ll be ready to go all-in again on New Years Eve.
The antidote you need after days of holiday feasting
Recipe
As this isn’t my own creation, I don’t want to reproduce the recipe entirely here – but you can find it online (scroll halfway down the page to ‘Dynamite broth’) and in itsu the cookbook.
Dynamite broth is perfect for cooking in bulk and freezing for later. If you make it in advance and keep it in the fridge overnight, the flavours will infuse and intensify. Please let me know how it goes if you decide to give this recipe a try.
Can’t find all the ingredients?
Don’t panic if you can’t get a hold of one or two ingredients. To be honest, this happens to me a lot (hello impulse cravings!). I just leave out what I don’t have or substitute with a similar ingredient. No lime leaves? Squeeze of fresh lime. No tamarind paste? Splash of lime juice or rice vinegar and an equal amount of sugar. No dashi? Fish or vegetable stock works too. No mirin? Sub another cooking wine. Boom!
LISTEN: Louis Theroux on the Off Menu podcast
Off Menu is a podcast hosted by British comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster, who invite celebrity guests to their metaphorical dream restaurant. Guests order their all-time favourite starter, main course, dessert and drink, and share funny stories and personal anecdotes that explain their order.
I’m a big Off Menu fan in general, but the Louis Theroux episode had me howling with laughter. Louis dishes up one quirky anecdote after another, from the goldfish who died of a broken heart to the driving test he failed as a 40-year old. He veers off on delicious tangents about his lockdown drinking habits and invents a plethora of characters with weird accents that stop by his dream restaurant.
Louis also proposes an interesting theory that I’ve been unable to disprove so far: toasted almonds go with everything.
“Yoghurt and honey and toasted almonds... a nice green salad with tomato, lettuce, avocado and toasted almonds. A nice chicken korma with toasted almonds. Big time! A bowl of muesli or a nice bowl of cheerios... toasted almonds. A gazpacho with a goldfish – toasted almonds. Margherita pizza, toasted almonds! There’s nothing where you could say ‘this is delicious, but the toasted almonds ruined it’”
– Louis Theroux, Off Menu Podcast, July 2020.
I’m fascinated by this theory and will continue to add toasted almonds to as many meals as I can, until I manage to find one where this combination simply does not work. Let me know if you can think of one!
Treat yourself and listen to Off Menu with Louis Theroux on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts.
READ: Crying in H Mart
Crying in H Mart is a powerful personal essay written by Michelle Zauner, an Asian American writer who also makes music under the moniker Japanese Breakfast. First published in The New Yorker in 2018, the essay focuses on Zauner’s upbringing as an Asian American and her relationship with her Korean mother, who passed away from cancer.
Photo by Mehrad Vosoughi on Unsplash
Zauner’s beautifully written piece is a poignant discussion of mixed-race identity and grief, juxtaposed with everyday scenes of families shopping for groceries and slurping seafood noodles in the food court. I hadn’t heard of the H Mart supermarket chain before reading Zauner’s essay, but her writing is so colourful and nuanced that I suddenly felt as though we were roaming the aisles together.
“Inside an H Mart complex, there will be some kind of food court, an appliance shop, and a pharmacy. Usually, there’s a beauty counter where you can buy Korean makeup and skin-care products with snail mucin or caviar oil, or a face mask that proudly and vaguely advertises “PLACENTA.” (Whose placenta? Who knows?) There will usually be a pseudo-French bakery with weak coffee, bubble tea, and an array of glowing pastries that always look much better than they taste.”
– Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner for The New Yorker, August 20, 2018.
Reading Crying in H Mart for the first time made me think about my mother’s and my grandmother’s cooking, and how I should recreate the traditional German dishes from my youth more often. It also gave me a serious craving for spicy jjigae and chewy tteokbokki, so read at your own risk.
The essay went totally viral after it was first published, and as a result, Zauner has written an entire memoir with the same title. It’ll be published by Penguin Random House in April 2021 and is available for pre-order.
More of this
If you like Crying in H Mart, you may also enjoy My Dad’s Fried Chicken Wings Algorithm Has Kept Us Connected This Year and Neither British nor Chinese: Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs.
DANCE: Avalon Emerson’s DJ-Kicks
Avalon Emerson was one of the last DJs I saw live before the wrath of 2020 killed clubbing. And until we can rub shoulders in sweaty basements again, her DJ-Kicks compilation will remain my soundtrack of choice for living room dance parties with my covid bubble.
This album effortlessly combines thumping basslines and quirky melodies at a steady 132bpm. It’s a wonderfully eclectic selection, described by Pitchfork as a “wide-ranging, shape-shifting set of techno, breakbeats, and leftfield pop”. Resident Advisor called it “The sound of a well-honed DJ at the top of her game”.
It also includes four new Avalon Emerson originals, one of which is called Poodle Power. I’m not sure what that is, but I think we could all use a little more poodle powder in our lives, no?
Tune in and get your poodle power on, friends. 🐩
Thank you.
I hope you enjoyed reading the first issue of Sizzlers. It means a lot to me that you signed up, and I look forward to dropping into your inbox more regularly in 2021. For easy updates, you can also follow Sizzlers on Instagram.
Don’t forget, Sizzlers the radio show premiers on Reform Radio on January 4th, 7pm GMT. It’ll feature an interview with the wonderful Count van Delicious, new music from around the world and lots of good vibes.
Listen in and get 2021 off to a happy start!
Dynamite broth looks awesome. Have to try it!