Great baked macaroni and cheese is just great mac—tender pasta coated in a thick, creamy cheese sauce—bubbling in a baking pan beneath a blanket of crunchy, golden-brown breadcrumbs.

But all too often that isn’t the case. Most baked mac and cheeses are stodgy and gluey, with the pasta hammered beyond belief. It’s a shame, because it doesn’t have to be this way.

Our version solves all those issues. Using everything we’ve learned about [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/melty-cheese-parametric-analysis melting salts] and [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/cheddar-cheese-sauce cheese sauce] science, we’ve made a super-smooth sauce packed with sharp cheddar flavor that coats and clings to macaroni like a dream. And by adjusting the cook times on the pasta and bumping up the ratio of sauce to elbows to account for how much liquid they can absorb, we ensure that every spoonful is creamy, gooey, and never stodgy.

Ultra-Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese

Fine-dining kitchens pride themselves on their smooth, vibrant purées, which can be used as the foundation for all kinds of sauces, soups, and emulsions. But how do they do it? How do those bright-green broccoli purées stay so green for so long? How do those carrot soups become so smooth and silky? 
 
The secret is hiding right in your kitchen cupboard: baking soda. And it all boils down to some simple chemistry. 
 
By adding baking soda to your vegetables, purées stay bright and become silky smooth. 
 
WHAT YOU’LL NEED: 
Green vegetables, such as broccoli, leek tops, spinach, or parsley 
Or, root vegetables, such as carrots, rutabagas, turnips, or butternut squash 
Baking soda 
Blender 
Fine-mesh strainer (optional)

The secret to smooth and bright purées is baking soda.

Tips & Tricks: The Secret to Smooth and Bright Purées

What is ramen? Well, it depends on who you ask. 

Some might call it a miracle of industrial food production, a cheap and satisfying meal that anyone in the world can prepare in a matter of minutes. Others might call it junk food, a mix of highly processed starch and sodium designed to light up all our pleasure centers with the most delicious empty calories. And still others may say that it is the height of culinary expressions and innovation, a dish that is at once both rigidly defined and highly malleable, the perfect playground for technique-driven chefs. 

The funny thing about ramen is that it is all of these things. “Ramen,” like “pizza” or “hamburgers,” is a catch-all term for an overwhelming number of iterations on a seemingly simple dish. Despite the fact that there are countless kinds of ramen out there, all of them share a few defining characteristics, clearly distinguishing them from other noodle soups and placing them squarely in the “ramen” bucket. 

In this guide, we’ll cover the basic elements of ramen, the quiddity of its ramenness, if you will, and we’ll cover some of the more popular styles and variations. You’ll be able to order off any ramen restaurant menu with confidence because you’ll know what’s in the bowl.

The ultimate guide to ramen, from stock and noodles to regional styles

The Ultimate Guide to Ramen

Shoyu ramen is the most classic style of ramen: A clear soup, stained caramel by a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/shoyu-tare soy sauce tare], with pools of glistening fat floating over a nest of [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/silky-ramen-noodles slinky and slippery noodles], crowned with a couple slices of [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chashu tender roast pork chashu], a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/cured-ramen-eggs-you-can-t-stop-eating marinated soft-boiled egg], and a pile of sliced onions, it is as beautiful as it is delicious. 

This recipe offers a refined take on shoyu ramen, cribbing from the techniques and methods used at Iida Shoten, one of the top ramen spots in Tokyo, and Cafe Mochiko, one of the top ramen restaurants in the United States. It features a complex [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-ramen-stock “super soup” stock] with clear notes of pork, chicken, katsuobushi, and aromatic vegetables that makes for an incredible bowl of ramen. 

It’s rich, but light enough that you won’t need a nap after polishing off a bowl (yeah, we’re looking at you, tonkotsu), and it’s so tasty you’ll wonder why you’ve never had anything quite like it before.

Ultimate Shoyu Ramen

There are all kinds of noodles that fall under the umbrella of “ramen”—super long and crinkly, wire-thin and straight, chunky and ruffled, wide and flat. There aren’t really any rules to the noodles, except for this one: Ramen must be made with an alkalized wheat dough. 

That’s true of these noodles, just as it is of our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/handmade-ramen-noodles-easier-than-you-think Chewy Ramen Noodles]. This recipe produces softer, silkier noodles that are bouncy but light, thanks to the inclusion of tapioca starch and whole egg, which produce a firm starch gel when cooked, complementing the chewiness that high-gluten bread flour provides.

Silky Ramen Noodles

A good bowl of ramen starts with a good stock, and for a great bowl of ramen, you need a great stock—and, boy, do we have the stock for you!

For our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-shoyu-ramen Ultimate Shoyu Ramen] we’ve created a pork-chicken double stock that’s every bit as flavorful and gelatin-rich as the stocks used in some of the best ramen shops around the world.

And if you really want to go the extra mile, we give you the option of clarifying half of the stock to produce two distinct stocks—the porky and pleasantly funky double stock, and a delicate, chicken-forward clarified double stock—that you can then combine with dashi to form a “super soup” shoyu ramen.

Super Soup Ramen Stock

“Chashu” is a Japanese “loan word” from the Chinese “[link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/classic-char-siu char siu],” and while both refer to pork roasts, they’re completely different preparations. 

Chashu is used as an umbrella term for the sliced pork served with ramen. It can be roasted, braised, or cooked sous vide to a tender, blushing pink; it is, sometimes, simply boiled in the [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-ramen-stock stock] used for making ramen. 

This roast pork belly chashu is simple but assertively seasoned. Cured overnight and roasted low and slow, it is tender but still has enough structural integrity and chew so that it doesn’t get lost in a bowl of [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-shoyu-ramen shoyu ramen].

Chashu (roast pork belly for ramen) recipe

Chashu (Roast Pork for Ramen)

Every bowl of ramen gets its seasoning from tare. 

“Tare” is a general term for “sauce” in Japanese. You may have seen it used for yakitori, as in our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/tsukune Tsukune] recipe, but in the context of ramen, it basically means “noodle sauce.” 

Tare determines the flavor of ramen, and there are essentially three flavor categories for all styles of ramen: shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), and miso.  

This shoyu tare is infused with umami-rich ingredients like kombu (dried kelp), katsuobushi (bonito flakes), dried shiitake mushrooms, and fish sauce to create an ultra-savory “super soy sauce” that pairs perfectly with our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-ramen-stock Super Soup Ramen Stock] to produce the [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-shoyu-ramen Ultimate Shoyu Ramen].

Shoyu tare soy sauce seasoning for ramen recipe

Shoyu Tare

With a soft, tender, and crumbly crumb encased in a crisp outer shell, cake doughnuts are a deliciously affirmative answer to the question, “Would deep-fried cake be good?”

What distinguishes cake doughnuts from other styles, like [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/how-to-make-bulletproof-fluffy-yeasted-doughnuts-at-home yeasted doughnuts] and [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/crullers crullers], is the way the dough is leavened: Baking soda and baking powder give the dough lift, producing a fine-grained crumb with tiny bubbles throughout. (Yeasted doughnuts use yeast, and crullers, like other [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/choux-pastry choux pastry]–based doughs, rely on steam produced by water trapped in the dough for leavening.) 

Toss these cake doughnuts in cinnamon sugar or give them a glaze, and you’ll be well on your way to making a doughnut display case that will put your local Dunkin’ to shame.

Cake Doughnuts

If you’ve ever gone apple picking, you’ve probably housed a couple of cider doughnuts—they’re a fixture of apple orchards because they’re a great way to use up apple cider. 

What’s funny about all that is cider doughnuts don’t really taste like apple cider! They are instead more of a celebration of autumnal warm spices—a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/cake-doughnuts cake doughnut] with cinnamon incorporated into the dough, fried and coated with cinnamon sugar. 

We add almond extract (for nutty, brown-butter notes) and brown sugar to the dough for hints of caramel, as well as a little malic acid to the coating to mimic the tang of a fresh, tart apple.

Apple Cider Doughnuts

Crispy, craggy, and glazed on the outside, with a plush and light interior, apple fritters are one of the best doughnuts.

But maybe “doughnuts” isn’t the best description for these delicious chimeras. Like those mythical beasts, they’re a mashup of different things, but in place of the lion’s claws and a serpent’s tail, apple fritters consist of an enriched yeasted dough that’s rolled up with a spiced apple filling, cut into small pieces and formed into monkey bread-like portions, and finally deep fried.

Our version dials up the apple flavor with a Granny Smith filling and a cider glaze bolstered with malic acid for fresh apple tartness.

Apple Fritters

With sweet acidity from tomatoes and a pop of chile heat, amatriciana is the brightest of the “core four” Roman pastas. But don’t get it twisted—this isn’t a light and delicate tomato sauce. It’s got plenty of rich, porky funk from guanciale, background bite from black pepper, and a sharp finish of salty Pecorino Romano. The best part? It comes together in a flash and may just be the best pantry pasta of all time.

Pasta all’Amatriciana

What happens when you mash together [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pasta-all-amatriciana amatriciana] and [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pasta-alla-carbonara carbonara]? You get pasta alla zozzona, an over-the-top, more-is-more pasta that breaks from tradition in the name of delicious decadence.

Pasta alla Zozzona

Cacio e pepe—is there a better example of a dish being greater than the sum of its parts? The simplest of the “core four” Roman pastas (gricia, amatriciana, and carbonara are the other three), with just three ingredients—pasta, pepper, and cheese—bound together with starchy pasta water to produce a punchy plate of in-your-face grownup mac and cheese.

Recipe for cacio e pepe, one of the core four Roman pastas.

Perfect Cacio e Pepe

Carbonara barely needs an introduction: It’s a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/make-ahead-bacon-egg-and-cheese bacon-egg-and-cheese] in pasta form, only better.

Just like the other “core four” Roman pastas, carbonara is a simple dish that you can make or break with technique. We give the eggs and cheese the zabaglione treatment to guarantee a silky-smooth sauce that won’t ever break on you.

Classic Carbonara

Pasta alla gricia is the most under-appreciated of the “core four” Roman pastas. Carbonara and cacio e pepe get all the glory, and amatriciana gets plenty of love as all tomato sauces do. But gricia is given short shrift and often defined by what it’s perceived to be missing: “carbonara without the egg,” or “white amatriciana.”

That’s a shame, because gricia is every bit the equal of the other three—a silky emulsion of starchy pasta water and rendered guanciale fat, speckled with black pepper, with morsels of crispy pork, and a showering of salty Pecorino Romano. It’s time to give gricia its flowers.

Recipe for pasta alla gricia, one of the “core four” Roman pastas

Pasta alla Gricia

Omurice may just be the most viral Japanese dish in recent memory (sorry, [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-instant-ramen ramen] and [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-sous-vide-tonkatsu tonkatsu]). At its most basic, it’s just an omelet served with rice—Japanese home cooks will serve up an omelet with fried rice for breakfast, lunch, or dinner; more enterprising home cooks might even tuck the rice into the omelet as a filling. 

But the version that made omurice a social media sensation was made famous by Motokichi Yukimura, the flamboyant chef of [link https://kichikichi.com/en/ Kichi Kichi Omurice] in Kyoto. It features a perfectly made omelet—pale on the outside, with a crêpe-thin exterior encasing runny curds of scrambled egg—perched atop a mound of rice that's almost identical in shape to the omelet. Just before serving, the omelet is slit open so it unfurls over the rice perfectly, after which the whole thing is doused in dark and rich demi-glace. 

This recipe gets you that version. We’ve broken down the process into manageable and repeatable steps that with a little practice will get you perfect results.

Omurice

There are two parts to Japanese [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/omurice omurice]: the beautifully made omelet and the rice it’s served with. While you could serve the omelet with plain steamed white rice, it’s typically served with fried rice spiked with a little ketchup. Yup, you heard that right: ketchup. 

The reason for that is that the version of omurice that’s most well-known today was created for the [link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVgKccixIhQ cult-classic foodie flick Tampopo], and in the brilliant scene it’s featured in, the cook stir-fries rice with ketchup. The inclusion of ketchup squarely situates this dish in “yoshoku,” or the class of Japanese dishes with Western origins. 

Our version includes a little ground chicken to give it some heft, but otherwise, it’s just well-executed fried rice: distinct grains of rice, seasoned with soy sauce, a little chicken bouillon powder, toasted sesame oil, and, of course, ketchup, then tossed with scallions and finished with a knob of butter.

Omurice-style fried rice with ketchup and ground chicken.

Omurice-Style Fried Rice

Chilaquiles—crisp fried tortilla chips simmered in salsa and topped with fried eggs—sit in the pantheon of great breakfast foods.

When done right, they can be texturally amazing, with freshly fried tortilla chips that stay crispy even after being coated and tossed in sauce. And if that sauce uses as its base a brick-red [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/salsa-roja salsa roja] that’s made with charred tomatoes, roasted garlic,  and toasted guajillo and árbol chiles? They’ll be super, super tasty.

Chilaquiles are all about customization, about gilding the chip-and-salsa lily. You can use another salsa (our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/quick-salsa-verde salsa verde], say) or a combination of red and green (for some “A+ for effort” chilaquiles divorciados); you can top them with fried eggs, [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/tenderize-thin-steaks-before-grilling carne asada], shredded chicken, or [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/classic-carnitas carnitas]; and you can garnish them with a shower of cilantro, sliced serrano chile, crumbled queso fresco, dollops of crema, whatever you like!

Chilaquiles

There are a million red salsas out there, but this Jalisco-style salsa roja is the one to beat. 

Charred tomatoes, roasted garlic, and toasted guajillo and árbol chiles combine to produce a beautiful brick-red condiment that’s got a lot of personality—heat from the árbol, fruitiness from the guajillo, sweetness and savoriness from the tomatoes (and a pinch of chicken bouillon powder for a little extra umami kick). 

Bold without being too loud, it’s super versatile: Use it as a dip, drizzle it over tacos, or simmer it with crisp fried tortilla chips for killer [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chilaquiles chilaquiles].

Salsa Roja

General Tso’s chicken is about as American a dish as you can get—a mainstay in Chinese American restaurant menus across the country. Whether you call it General Tso’s, General Gau’s (we see you, New England), or General Ching’s, its origins are distinctly rooted in American tastes. T.T. Wang, a Chinese immigrant, learned the original recipe from Peng Chang-Kuei, a Hunanese chef who claims to have invented the dish. Wang adjusted it for the American palate, battering and deep frying the chicken instead of stir-frying it and making the sauce considerably sweeter.

The result was a master class in flavor and texture. Crispy, crunchy, sweet, sour, savory, and just a little bit spicy, General Tso’s exploded in popularity and became one of the most iconic Chinese American dishes today. We max out the crispiness and, with some tweaks to the dredge, make sure it stays crispy.

It’s so good it’ll convince even the most die-hard takeout fans to swear off soggy General Tso’s for life. (Although we’d never fault you for supporting your local Chinese American businesses!)

Chinese American General Tso’s chicken recipe.

General Tso’s Chicken

Orange chicken is a fan favorite takeout menu item, just like [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/general-tsos-chicken General Tso’s], and it totally makes sense: Sweet, savory, lightly spiced, and packed with orange flavor, it’s got a little bit of everything nice (and it goes amazing with rice!).

This recipe pays tribute to the original version of this dish (Hunanese Chenpi Ji) by using three sources for that distinctive orange flavor: fresh orange juice, fresh orange zest, and dried mandarin peel (chénpí), an ingredient that isn’t typically used for Chinese American orange chicken. The triple orange shot produces a deeply complex flavor that’s a far cry from sauces made using store-bought orange juice (or orange soda).

Of course, the dish is only as good as the chicken itself, and we’ve cranked the crisp and crunch factor up to 11 here, using potato starch and wheat dextrin in the dredge so the crispy coating can be tossed in the beautiful sauce without sogging out.

Orange Chicken

Sesame chicken often takes a back seat to other takeout menu items like [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/general-tsos-chicken General Tso’s] and [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/orange-chicken Orange Chicken], and that's a shame. Sesame chicken has all the savory complexity of General Tso’s, but it’s also jam-packed with toasted sesame flavor, from both toasted sesame seeds and toasted sesame oil. 

Most importantly, it shares the same foundation of crispy fried chicken. Potato starch and wheat dextrin in the dredge make our fried chicken morsels almost impossibly crispy, craggy, and crunchy, with a crust that has enough staying power to withstand sitting in the beautifully lacquered sauce for up to 45 minutes without sogging out.  

Sesame enjoyers look no further. This one’s for you.

Sesame Chicken

There comes a point every summer when there’s just too much squash kicking around. Farmers can’t sell it fast enough, and gardeners find every excuse to off-load it to their unsuspecting neighbors. So, what’s a cook to do with all that zucchini overflowing in their CSA box? We’re here to help, with a little inspiration, a little bit of char, and a lot of flavor.

Zucchini doesn’t have as much flavor as those other, more glamorous summer vegetables, like tomatoes or hot peppers; its delicate notes need to be carefully coaxed out. But summer squash does offer plenty of versatility in the texture department. Cook it soft, and you have the foundation for an amazingly smooth, velvety sauce. Cook it fast, and you get a juicy, satisfying tender-crisp texture.

This recipe features both of those qualities in one cohesive dish: a silky, savory, vibrant green dressing spiked with tahini; charred morsels of summer squash punched up with vinegar; and all the herbs, crunchy nuts and seeds, and garnishes you could want in a summer salad. This dish is both deeply satisfying and showcases the versatility of summer squash.

Recipe of charred zucchini with a green tahini dressing

Charred Zucchini With Green Tahini Dressing

What’s in a cookie? At its most basic, a cookie is the perfect balance of fat, sugar, eggs, and flour. Drop cookies are easy to mix and bake and the formulas are incredibly versatile. In this class, you’ll go from cookie rookie to cookie rockstar. We’ll teach you the rules of baking and how to break them to dial in your perfect crispy, crunchy, soft, chewy, or gooey cookie. Each cookie recipe also includes fun and creative ways to “upgrade” your next batch with unique additions and flavorful enhancements. On your mark. Get set. Let’s bake some cookies!

American Drop Cookies Class

Macarons—those delectably light mini-meringues of French descent—involve a series of sophisticated techniques that can take time and practice to perfect. You often see them only at the finest bakeries—the colorful confections all lined up in a row—because they’re notoriously finicky, even for pastry chefs. But learning to make macarons is remarkably simple when you can see how it’s done, with step-by-step instructions. This class is designed to help you succeed in mastering the macaron. You’ll learn each part of the process with entertaining and informative high-definition videos, succinct step-by-step instructions, and background information on the science of macarons. We also provide recipes for various flavors and colors, so you can apply the skills you’ve acquired to making macarons again and again. ChefSteps founder Grant Crilly, who instructs this class, learned how to make macarons the hard way: he spent hundreds of hours reading cookbooks, trying and failing, his garbage can littered with colorful cookie shells night after night. He finally succeeded after attending a class in Paris with macaron expert Pierre Hermé, mastering the different techniques by taking visual cues from learning in a hands-on, guided workshop. Grant developed this class with his own experience in mind.

French Macarons

Take a look around you. Where are you reading this? What time of day is it? Are you alone in your kitchen, or stuffed on a crowded commuter train, dreaming of what you’ll make for dinner? Point is—you’re going to want to remember this moment. Because this is the moment you began a journey that will fundamentally change the way you cook. This is the moment you discovered sous vide. You’ve no doubt heard of sous vide, a cooking method in which food is cooked at a consistent temperature in a water bath, often first wrapped in plastic and, afterward, quickly seared on the stove or grill. And maybe you associate it with high-end restaurants, high-concept food, and high-priced equipment originally designed for a chemistry lab. But as home cooks around the world have begun to discover, this remarkable technique—which yields perfectly cooked food, predictably, with very little oversight—is no longer the exclusive domain of bold-named chefs and mega-rich mega-geeks. And while cooks who regularly use sous vide often opt to invest in equipment such as immersion circulators and SousVide Supreme baths, in the last few years, a number of affordable models have emerged for home use. But forget the gadgets for a minute. For this class, you’ll need a pot, a stove, a digital thermometer, some plastic bags, and an open mind. Yup, with nothing more than those basic tools, you’ll cook the best steak you’ve ever eaten, fork-tender salmon with a bright pea purée, and a juicy pork chop accompanied by an addictive romesco sauce. Once you’ve worked through the recipes, we believe you’ll be the latest convert to a cooking style that will revolutionize the way we cook food. We’ll also outline the basics on best practices for food safety and offer a list of books to consult as you continue down the road to sous vide mastery. Remember this moment. It’s the moment you took the first step toward becoming the kickass cook you always knew you could be.

Sous Vide: Getting Started

There comes a moment in every meat lover’s life when it’s time to push the barbecue skills to the next level. Maybe you’ve mastered your smoker but you’re looking for a way to save time without sacrificing flavor or texture. Maybe you’ve only just invested in a smoker and need inspiration for how to work with it. Or maybe you’re a total barbecue beginner—a wide-eyed neophyte who has only dreamed of unwrapping a rack of ribs and pondering the possibilities. Wherever you are, you’re about to go further. Because here at ChefSteps, we are unabashedly obsessed with all things barbecue—and stoked to share what we know. Our founders scoured the country to study regional styles, bringing the best tips, techniques, recipes, and religious experiences back to ChefSteps. And don’t think you need a smoker to get going. Our Apartment Ribs—an excellent starter technique—offer an opportunity to cook up a smoky rack in even the tiniest of urban kitchenettes. How do we do it? The same way we do everything—by understanding the science behind the smoke. Get started by exploring the 20+ recipes we’ve assembled here. From meats, to sauces, to sides, to sodas, they’ll take your backyard parties to a whole other level. And for the meat nerds among us, get ready to go deeper: We provide detailed directions for controlling your smoker. We’ll show you how to select the best wood for the job. We’ll debunk common myths and offer clever tricks for barbecue success. (Hint: Ice is involved in one of them.) We’ll advocate combining sous vide cooking with smoking and describe how it can save you hours of time while yielding consistently killer results. (Heretical? Definitely. Try it, however, and we’re convinced you’ll become a convert.) We’ll tell you what to read, where to eat, and how to learn even more—all to add to an ever-growing legion of bonafide barbecue freaks with a serious passion for smoked meat. As always, feel free to ask questions in the discussion section. As you may have noticed, it doesn’t take much to get us talking barbecue.

Barbecue

Microgreens have recently emerged as some of the best-loved garnishes in fine dining—and it’s easy to see why. Tiny as they are, these young plants pack remarkably intense flavors, vibrant colors, and interesting textures. Bursting with nutrients, they also get high marks from the health food community. Only problem is that microgreens are hella pricey; you’re lucky if you can find them for $30 a pound. Our solution: grow your own! Cultivating these wee plants requires some care and maintenance, sure, but it’s also super fun. Once your bed is buzzing along, you’ll have a ready source of good-for-you greens that you can use to make elegant salads and hors d’oeuvres toppers; brightly beautiful purées, soups, and smoothies; and so much more. Plus, there’s something distinctly satisfying about growing gorgeous food that will turn an ordinary plate into something pro-worthy. In this project, we walk you through the steps of successful microgreen growing and offer recipes (savory ice cream, anyone?) that make the most of these lovely little plants. No garden? Not an issue—it’s easy to cultivate them indoors, and you can do so year round. Because really, what could perk up the cold winter months better than a pretty crop of cute little plantlets? Nothing, that’s what. So let’s stop talking and start planting. It’s time to grow microgreens.

Microgreens

Make the classic Canadian snack at home. We’ll show you how to prepare perfectly crispy fries, squeaky cheese curds, and delicious gravy, all from scratch. Serve classic Old-School Poutine, or try our modernist “new-school” version—printable recipes included.

Poutine

It’s that time of year again: The shop windows are filled with sweaters and corduroys. The checkout line is stocked with Scotch tape. “Back to School” posters herald the beginning of a new season. So what’s an adult to do when the kids spend all day Sunday gluing pipe cleaners to a Little House on the Prairie diorama due Monday? Don’t worry—we’ve got a big-kid project for you. This is Salmon 104 °F, the dish that launched ChefSteps in 2012, developed by cofounders Chris, Grant, and Ryan to teach culinary students and faculty a series of techniques that would take their cooking skills to the next level. (ChefSteps trivia: Chris and Grant once instructed the faculty at Rhode Island–based culinary school Johnson & Wales; they launched ChefSteps.com as part of a plan to develop free-to-learn curricula for non-culinary students who wanted to tackle new skills.) Salmon 104 °F remains one of our favorite projects for teaching new skills and honing culinary expertise. By making the four simple recipes herein, you’ll cover a culinary curriculum that spans everything from pickling to vacuum compression, brining to sous vide, and blanching to thickening with hydrocolloids. We’ve assembled four component recipes into a ChefSteps Project—a weekend enterprise that will help you learn new things while preparing a beautiful, restaurant-quality dish for family and friends. Each component can be made days in advance and refrigerated so that you have a simple, yet impressive, plate that’s easy to put together at a moment’s notice. And for those of you who skipped art class, never fear: we’ve got tons of artsy plating ideas to get those creative juices flowing. So sharpen your knives, don a cute new apron, and get a killer playlist in order—it’s time to go back to school. No pipe cleaners required.

Salmon 104 F

Remember your first truly sharp knife? That bad boy cut clean and clear through tomatoes and onions and salmon and steak, shaming its dull drawermates. With a good knife, once-mundane tasks become suddenly pleasurable and satisfying. You can chop and slice for hours, comfortable and cramp-free like the kitchen ninja you were born to be. But if you want that knife to continue working at peak performance, you have to show it some love. That means cleaning it properly, storing it properly, honing it regularly, and sharpening it to maintain the blade. In this class, you’ll find all the information you need to learn to hone and sharpen like a pro. Which pro? How about blade sage Daniel O’Malley, owner of the epic knife emporium the Epicurean Edge in Kirkland, Washington, and a foremost expert on selecting and maintaining the world’s best chopping-and-slicing tools. Through video demos and clever tips and tricks, O’Malley walks us through the theory and technique of sharpening knives using Japanese waterstones—the badass little blocks that master bladesmiths have used for hundreds of years. Yes, you can always outsource your sharpening, but where’s the fun in that? We wager that once you’ve tried blade shaping on your own, you’ll fall in love with this ancient, relaxing ritual, as well the sense of satisfaction that comes with caring for your own steel. Knives are, without a doubt, our most important tools in the kitchen. If you want them to last a lifetime, you need to treat them right. We’re here to show you how.

Knife Sharpening

Everyone has a favorite burger, and this juicy, cheesy masterpiece is ours. To our minds, a burger should be something you can wrap your mouth around, with distinct components and clean, unmuddled flavors. This made-from-scratch, French-inspired American sandwich fits the bill. Inspired by the French dip, the Au Jus Burger is about as elaborate as a ChefSteps burger gets. But it’s also awesome, and it’s totally replicable at home—provided you’ve got time. We start five days ahead, preparing, then resting, our Brioche Burger Buns for optimal texture. Then we subject some swiss cheese to our Melty Cheese Slices technique—giving it all the creaminess of a Kraft Single while maintaining the flavor of the European fromage. On game day, we sear the patties, then drop them in a sous vide bath, leaving us free to prep the other ingredients while the burgers cook. Then, when the time is just right and our guests are gathered round the picnic table with napkins tied dutifully around their necks (this burger is messy, after all), we finish the job with caramelized onions and a horseradish-spiked version of our mayo, drizzle Beef Demi-Glace all over the burger, and serve it piping hot. “All that work for a burger?” you might ask. We enjoy every minute of it. You can always simplify matters by using store-bought brioche buns and cheese (or making our buns just two days in advance—they’ll still be spectacular). But at the end of the day, what excites us about this project is that it’s a beautiful, restaurant-style dish you can re-create at home, with magically delicious results. Plus—what can we say?—we’re willing to bend over backward for a kickass burger. Are you?

Au Jus Burger

You know that legendary George Mallory quote about why he climbed Mount Everest? “Because it’s there,” he said. Well, here at ChefSteps, that’s how we feel about candy-making. When we’re standing in the grocery store checkout line, staring at a brightly packaged bundle of Starburst or gummy bears, it’s in our nature to want to reproduce these textural wonders at home. Manipulating textures, after all, is what chefs do. You may think these classic sweets are impossible to create at home, but trust us: they’re not. Yes, you’ve got to be patient. You’ve got to be precise. And if it’s Starburst-style chews you’re after, you’ve got to be pretty ripped as well. (Ever seen someone “pull” saltwater taffy? Yeah, we’re going to be doing a lot of that.) The more delicately limbed among you may opt to start with our juicy Pâte de Fruit or the classic Haribo gummy bear recipe, reproduced here. Black licorice lovers—don’t be shy, we dig it too—wait until you try our toothsome version, laced with anise essential oil. Not into the anise-flavored stuff? We’ve got the formula for other flavors too. Backing it all up: a primer on the basic science of confections, so you can bone up on the ingredients that determine each candy’s unique texture. Sure it takes a little focus, but hey—it’s not rocket science. It’s not extreme mountaineering either. It’s candy-making. And it’s one of the more satisfying things you’re likely to achieve without risking frostbite. NOTE: The recipes in this class require a digital thermometer.

Chewy Candy

Spherification is kitchen alchemy, a technique that enables you to imbue a flavorful liquid with the appearance of being solid, an illusion that’s broken when the spheres burst with flavor as they’re eaten. ChefSteps’s course on spherification will help you prepare dishes that surprise and delight your family and friends by making the impossible possible in your kitchen. Enroll with ChefSteps for helpful step-by-step demonstrations of the relevant techniques, use our reliable recipes as a starting point, and get the support of a friendly community of experienced cooks and world-class chefs who will answer your questions.

Spherification

Welcome to the ChefSteps air frying class! In-depth guides about the mechanics and science behind air frying; delicious and innovative recipes that demonstrate the versatility of the technique; a primer on designing meals made entirely in an air fryer, with accompanying proof-of-concept recipes; a tip sheet on the different kinds of air fryers on the market; we’ve got it all, and a whole lot more. Air frying has a devoted and fast-growing following, for good reason: The air fryer is a powerful, efficient cooking tool that utilizes time-tested technology to deliver delicious results. In this class we’ll explain the science behind that power and provide you with everything you need to know how to get the most out of your air fryer. Let’s get cooking.

Air Frying

Oh, hey there, cooking enthusiasts. Now that you’ve learned the basics of sous vide cooking—and served your friends and family fork-tender salmon and the most delicious steak, like, ever—you’re ready to move on to the next level. In this class, we show you everything you need to harness the predictive power of sous vide, preparing seafood dishes that rival the stuff at fancy restaurants, transforming cheap cuts of meat into savory showstoppers, and whipping up fancy, foolproof desserts for a crowd. Those of you who love food science, fear not: we’re sharing plenty of illuminating theory along the way—plus simple tips and tricks you’ll use every time you enter the kitchen. So tie on an apron and get ready to crush it at your next dinner party, or just next Wednesday. It’s time to go beyond the basics. So, what do you get? You get 28 original recipes. Subscribe to this class, and you’ll also get free updates featuring recipes and techniques developed exclusively for this class by the ChefSteps kitchen development team. From highly addictive Kung Pao Ribs to life-changing Crème Brûlée, you’ll never run out of ways to impress your friends and family. Everything you need to turn cheap, tough meat cuts into tender steaks with flavor that far exceeds pricey stuff like prime rib. Six original fishes dishes—from a low-key weeknight curry to the best fish sticks you’ve ever tasted—plus the science behind brining and curing seafood for leveled-up texture and appearance. A primer on cooking in canning jars: Make no-fuss, silky crème brûlée, flan, yogurt, and chicken liver pâté. Whether you’re serving two or twenty, this essential technique is totally foolproof. Quick tips on how to prep and plate sous vide–cooked foods like a pro. A complete guide to sous vide equipment and packaging. A map of sous vide cooking featuring time-and-temperature settings for any food you feel like cooking. Plus, learn to manipulate time and temp to customize your cook and get the perfect doneness and texture! Techniques for preparing vegetables to keep them bright and snappy—you know, just the way you like ’em.

Sous Vide: Beyond the Basics

How do you take your coffee? We bet you have a tried-and-true answer—maybe you prefer it with a spoonful of sugar, a spot of half-and-half, hazelnut syrup and whipped cream, black, or just-give-me-the-damn-coffee-before-I-cut-you. The thing is: It doesn’t matter how you take it. If you take it every day, it should be perfect. Shouldn’t it? This class is about just that: Dialing in your daily brew—choosing your favorite roasted beans, picking the perfect brew techniques, and refining your recipe—until that morning ritual isn’t just about caffeine intake, it’s a full-on culinary experience. To create this one-of-a-kind class on all things home brew, we teamed up with two coffee experts—James Hoffmann, founder of the renowned London roastery Square Mile Coffee and author of The World Atlas of Coffee; and lauded coffee consultant Ben Kaminsky, cofounder of Boston’s Barismo and a three-time World Tasting Champion. Whether you’re new to home brewing or come bearing serious coffee skills, this class will offer you one-of-a-kind insights, exclusive game-changing techniques (sludge-free French press! amazing dairy-free latte!), and practical advice from coffee’s cutting-edge experts. And to round out this crash course in everyone’s favorite caffeinated beverage, we offer four killer ChefSteps recipes, including a novel technique for coffee “chocolate,” a bitters recipe to instantly up your cocktail game, a coffee-infused butter to spread all over your steak, and a flavor-packed rub that perks up any protein in a flash. And when it’s all over, we’ll ask you again: How do you take your coffee? Your answer: My way.

Coffee

Welcome to the ChefSteps seitan class! Seitan is one of the most miraculous foods in the world. You can imbue it with almost any flavor, mold it into almost any shape, and manipulate it to produce almost any texture! It’s a blank canvas, and the only limit on its potential is your imagination. Seitan is so versatile because it’s made of pure gluten, the protein in wheat flour that makes the vast world of bread possible. This class is designed to give you the competence and confidence to master making seitan dishes of all kinds. With in-depth guides explaining the science behind why gluten and starch molecules behave the way they do, a suite of interrelated recipes that demonstrate how to produce all kinds of wheat meat wonders and unlock the culinary potential of starch, step-by-step videos to guide you through our seitanic rituals, and so much more, this class is meant to show that seitan is for everyone. Whether you’re looking for an alternative source for plant-based protein, you want to explore the intricacies of a centuries-old technique, or you just have a thing for culinary alchemy, this class will give you the ability to transform a bag of flour into all kinds of uniquely delicious things. Nuggets, hot dogs, and hams are just the beginning. Welcome to the wide world of wheat meat.

Seitan

Whether you’re a beach bum or a homebody, we’ve got a clambake for you. Here you’ll find recipes and instructions for throwing a full-blown beach clambake, complete with raging fire and cooler of beer, and for a home clambake hack, served inside a dutch oven with fresh seaweed and beach rocks. We’ve got techniques for breaking down whole crabs, cleaning geoduck, and making spicy, salty garnishes—so whether you’re staying home this weekend or hitting the beach, you’ve got dinner plans on lock.

Clambake

It’s a solid. No, wait, it’s a liquid. Great god of super-cool science, it’s both. In this class, you’ll learn the basics of fluid gels—substances that act like a solid when left alone but become liquid when stirred or blended. You’ll use fluid gels to form liquid layers in a verdant vegetarian parfait. You’ll create a deconstructed Orange Creamsicle dessert that presents Fresh Orange Fluid Gel in two ways—in gel and foam form. You’ll learn how fluid gels make great salad dressings that coat vegetables completely, and you’ll create a Beet Fluid Gel that lends a pop of color and flavor to delicate blini hors d’oeuvres. Enroll with ChefSteps for helpful step-by-step demonstrations of the relevant techniques (including detailed plating tips), showstopping recipes that have been thoroughly tested in our kitchen, and access to our community of chefs and home cooks. Break out the blender and start drafting that guest list—by the time you’ve completed this class, you’ll have all the makings of a magical modernist dinner party.

Fluid Gels

Ice cream may seem like the simplest of lazy-day treats, but delving into the science can mean the difference between a coarse-and-crispy frozen fail and the smooth, creamy stuff they serve at your local parlor. Plus, it’s a whole lot of fun. We’ve assembled a class that will make a master out of anyone willing to cool things down in the kitchen. Go hi-tech with Aerated Green Apple Sorbet or a Root Beer Float Cryosicle, or keep things folksy with our classic mint chocolate chip. Planning a dairy-free party? We’ve got a pistachio gelato that’s going to blow your butterfat-free mind. With a bunch of frozen dessert recipes that will surprise and delight your guests throughout the year, we’ve got plenty of ideas for toppings, plus tips and techniques to make the most of your ice cream-making equipment—whether you’re churning in a stand mixture with dry ice or a state-of-the-art Carpigiani contraption. So stock up on cones and fire up the backyard speakers—you’re about to show the neighborhood a whole new take on the ice cream social.

Ice Cream

We’re just going to say this: We think you should have a whipping siphon (also known as a cream whipper or whipping canister or whip cream thingy), and a high-end one at that. Yup, that glimmering canister that your barista uses to top that hazelnut latte belongs in your home kitchen, too. Why? Because the best whip cream thingies do a heck of a lot more than whip cream. And we can teach you to do all sorts of amazing stuff with one—from fizzy, fresh-juice sodas to no-fail hollandaise, from creamy, homemade burrata—whut?—to spongy feather-light cake. Yeah, you can make a cake in a whipping siphon. Crazy, right?

Whipping Siphons

Welcome to the new and improved ChefSteps espresso class! With everything you need to know to master this uniquely delicious method for brewing coffee, all in one place, this class is designed to put the skills of a professional barista within reach, no matter your skill level. In-depth explainers for the fundamental techniques and principles behind espresso? Check! How-to videos from leading espresso experts for dialing in your machine, learning the nuances of latte art, and mastering an array of café-quality drinks? Of course! Recipes, tips and tricks, and killer creative coffee ideas from our team of chefs? You know it! Guides, graphics, and glossaries to get you fluent in the lingo for a lungo? Certo! With a whole lot of help from coffee-industry veteran Sarah Dooley, Breville’s U.S. manager for Beanz.com, and a few key assists from L.A.-based barista and coffee shop owner Charles Babinski, we’ve created an espresso resource unlike anything available elsewhere. Let’s get brewing.

Espresso

For any cook who’s ever burned a steak, destroyed a perfectly good piece of fish, or rubberized a chicken breast, this is the class for you. With just one simple and versatile technique, you can achieve mouthwatering, flavorful results every time, in your own kitchen. All you need is an oven, a pan, and a thermometer—we’ll show you the rest. We’ll empower you to choose, purchase, and cook tender cuts at home with confidence. The class includes lessons on how chefs shop for meat and seafood, information about which cuts work for which preparations, and clear, simple steps for cooking tender cuts of meat. If you have questions, please ask. Our culinary support team is standing by.

Tender Cuts

Ambitious cooks are a restless bunch—the better we get, the more challenges we seek. When you’ve reached the point at which you can masterfully replicate great recipes at home—anticipating timing issues, controlling temperatures, making confident corrections when problems arise—it’s time to start designing your own dishes. Here, we share the steps that we use to create dazzling and delicious composed plates. We offer up the recipe for one of our own successes—a flavor-packed, texture-driven soup/salad hybrid we served at a recent dinner. Re-creating the recipe at home will provide essential practice; as you prepare it, you’ll think about how each component came to be part of the unified whole and how the steps we outline might apply to your own original creation. Once you’ve worked through the project, you’ll be all set to break out on your own, developing a dish to amaze and delight your nearest and dearest. Be sure to share photos in the discussion—we can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Design a Dish

We’re guessing you’ve made a burger before. In fact, we’ll bet you’ve made a damn good burger and have a solid argument about why yours is hard to beat. We’ll bet you have a favorite burger joint, a favorite ground beef, and a better-than-average topping combo. But let’s get one thing straight: this class isn’t about how to make burgers. It’s about leveling up and designing your very own chef-quality sandwich, with professional-style condiments, fresh burger buns, and homemade fries to match. Whether you’re making a snappy mushroom patty augmented by caramelized onions or a beefy burger topped with ChefSteps’s Homemade Ketchup and Kewpie-Style Mayo, this class will walk you through each step of mastering a restaurant-level burger. You’ll bone up on the science of making Melty Cheese Slices and learn how we ran trials to come up with our perfect patty. You’ll re-create classic commercial condiments in your own kitchen. And in the end, you’ll wind up with a whole new appreciation for this most American sandwich. Best of all, we designed the techniques here with predictability in mind—meaning you can plan your next party knowing your guests will get a memorably great sandwich. No, the ChefSteps Burger Class is not about making ordinary burgers. It’s about developing the culinary know-how to create a true gastronomical experience of your very own. Who knows? You may discover something so groundbreaking that you’ll quit your accounting job to open a burger joint. And if you do, please invite us. We kinda love burgers.

Burgers

Welcome to the ChefSteps countertop oven class: 13 articles of scientific insights and practical tips; a section on baking that everyone can access; 6 new recipes, plus bonus content for Studio Pass members only. The large ovens installed in home kitchens were invented and moved into homes after World War One. At the time, a large oven was an unbelievable innovation for home cooks. But what felt brand-new in 1918 is pretty outdated now. What is today’s upgrade on the large oven that can level up your cooking immediately? The countertop oven. In this class, we show you the science of how a countertop oven works—whether you are roasting, broiling, or dehydrating—and why you should choose a particular cooking cycle for that meal you want to make. We also have some incredible new recipes, with extensive video tutorials and scientific explanations of what is happening while you cook. Of course, we also have tips and tricks for you, including hacks and other tools you can use to make your countertop oven as useful as any other oven. We have made the baking section of the class— including recipes for amazing chocolate chip cookies, plus savory and sweet soufflés—available to everyone. As well, we share some classic ChefSteps recipes we have re-tested in countertop ovens and found success. For Studio Pass members, we have an incredibly detailed guide—with videos for every step—to making croissants. We have vegetable jerky, red cabbage with creamy koji sauce, gluten-free chocolate soufflé, and what Grant believes might be your new favorite lasagna. Now, let’s get cooking.

The Countertop Oven Class

Recipes

When you make a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-smoked-bbq-brisket Texas-style brisket], you end up with a lot of [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/how-to-trim-brisket-bbq trim]. And one of the best things you can do with that trim is grind it up and make smoked brisket burgers. They’ve got everything you love about smoked brisket, but they only take a couple of hours instead of 14 (or more!). Rich and juicy, with a beautifully smoky crust that’s reminiscent of the best barbecue bark, they’re an upgrade on your regular old backyard grilled burgers, not least because the low-and-slow smoke—which makes it easy to nail whatever internal temperature you like—dries out the exterior so you can get a killer sear.

While nothing compares to a masterfully smoked brisket, these burgers come very, very close.

Recipe for smoked brisket burgers using brisket meat and trimmings.

Smoked Brisket Burgers

Picture this: It’s the first barbecue of the summer, and you’ve got guests gulping beers in the backyard. And then there’s you: You’re an hour in and still stuck behind the grill, sweating beneath your novelty apron, flipping burgers a few at a time and worrying about who is getting fed and who isn’t. We love grilling as much as anyone, but if you’re manning the Weber, you’re missing the party.

There’s another option: Cook those burgers sous vide. Now before you start freaking out in the comments, let’s revisit that summer shindig: A half hour before the first knock on the door (or the night before), you mix ground beef with egg, portion them out, and shape them into patties. Then you drop your patties in the heated water for an hour while you prep the toppings. Your first friends begin arriving, and you’ve got a bunch of perfectly cooked patties that you can quickly sear in a skillet or char on the grill, leaving you plenty of time to pop open a bottle and start socializing. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? 

This technique makes a mighty fine burger patty and requires far less micromanaging than traditional ones—leaving you time to relax and have fun with your nearest and dearest. Not convinced? Try it. We can’t wait to hear what you think.

The best way to cook a burger: cook patties sous vide, then finish with a quick sear on the grill or in a hot pan. They’ll be super juicy and done just the way you like them. Every. Single. Time.

Sous Vide Burgers

A better butter burger—say that three times fast!

There’s a burger that’s served at Solly’s Grille in Milwaukee that’s so iconic, the [link https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/announcing-the-2022-americas-classics James Beard Foundation gave the restaurant one of its America’s Classics Awards]. It’s a griddled patty topped with stewed onions and so much butter that the burger comes with its own little melted fat moat of liquid gold.

Our take on the iconic burger features two [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-ultimate-smash-burger smash burgers] with American cheese topped with stewed onions and an inadvisable amount of butter, but we wanted to figure out a way to skip the sea of liquid butter that floods the plate, which inevitably makes the bottom bun soggy.

Our solution? Cream butter and Velveeta together so the butter stays put in the bun instead of leaking out onto the plate.

Butter Burgers

Not so long ago, [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/grilled-portobello-burger-leveled-up grilled portobello “burgers”] were often the only vegetarian option at most restaurants. While no one wants to go back to those dark days, there’s a reason why mushrooms were the go-to option for meat-free foods. Earthy, complex, and super savory, they can be as satisfying and delicious as a juicy steak.

So why not make a mushroom burger more burger-like? Taking a cue from U.K.-based vegetarian chef Eddie Shepherd, our recipe leverages enzymes and some thoughtful chemistry to produce a patty with all the snap, chew, and heartiness of a real-deal beef burger patty—no beef required. Sear it, grill it, put it in a bun. These burgers aren’t just for vegetarians—they’re for everyone!

EDITORS’ NOTE: This recipe has been updated to streamline the process and reduce the yield by half to produce 6 burgers. The recipe no longer calls for forming the mushroom mixture into a large torchon-like cylinder before portioning into patties; it also no longer calls for a sous vide step to activate the Activa. If you prefer to use the original recipe, we’ve included it as a tip at the end of the recipe before the make-ahead and storage instructions.

An updated vegetarian burger recipe that combines mushrooms with a few modernist ingredients for awesome umami flavor and a tender, snappy texture.

Hi-Tech Mushroom Burger

Turkey burgers? Turkey burgers!

I don’t know why people love turkey burgers, but they do. Maybe you do! I’m going to show you how to make a better one.

All the ground turkey you can find in stores is super lean; the fattiest I could find was 93% lean. So any turkey burger is going to need some help if you want it to be juicy and nicely textured.

My solution is to mix the turkey meat up with 0.5% of its weight in salt, as well as an egg yolk for every pound of meat. The salt lightly cures the proteins, giving them a snappier texture, and improves their water-binding capacity, which means they’ll hold onto water better as they cook. The egg yolk adds some much needed fat and helps to bind the meat together. Combined, the salt and egg yolk help make a turkey burger patty that’s snappy, nicely textured, and really, really juicy.

Once you’ve formed the patties, you can take them straight out to the grill, but I recommend letting them sit in the fridge for a little bit—anywhere from an hour to overnight—so the salt has a chance to work on the proteins. The longer they sit, the snappier and better their texture will be.

Since turkey meat is so lean, it will want to stick to the grates of the grill. It will also be prone to overcooking, and it will overcook quickly. There are two things you can do to set yourself up for success: Give the burger patties a quick pre-sear in a pan before setting them on the grill, and use a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/two-zone-grilling-guide two-zone grill setup].

The pre-sear sets the proteins on the exterior of the patty, after which they’ll slide around easily on the grill grates. That lets you char them in the hot zone of the grill. Once they’ve got a nice char, you can move them over to the cold zone to gradually cook through, which gives you time to carefully monitor their internal temperatures so they don’t overcook.

While the burgers finish cooking, warm your buns using the two zones—toast them in the hot zone, refresh and warm them in the cold zone—then start building your burgers. I go with a bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato and a little mayo for toppings and condiments—the bacon gets crisped on the grill, too. It’s a turkey burger that even turkey burger skeptics would love.

Perfect Grilled Turkey Burgers

The smash burger has been around a long time. The core principle is this—take a pile of loosely packed ground beef, lay it onto a very hot griddle, press it down flat as a pancake, and then let it cook almost all the way through on one side. This creates a maximum surface area for a crispy bite and for Maillard reactions to run rampant. But if you want maximum flavor and texture, you’re also going to want a patty that can stand up to all that high heat. 

We will share some basic and some not so basic ideas, along with a few new hacks that will help you cook up the best smash burger around. Get ready for a new recipe favorite with a very high flavor return on work investment.

Cook the ultimate smash burger at home. Learn how to grind your own beef for the best burger. Know the top ten upgrades for your burger.

The Ultimate Smash Burger

These shrimp burgers are snappy, crisp, nicely textured, and, unlike the shrimp patties you can buy at stores, they’re packed with shrimp flavor because all that’s in them is fresh shrimp and salt.

The salt is super important. I don’t add the salt to season the patties completely (it seasons them a little); instead, the salt lightly cures the proteins, making them stickier and snappier, which helps with forming the ground shrimp mixture into patties and gives the burgers a really nice texture. It also helps to keep the cooked burgers juicy, as the salt improves the proteins’ water-holding capacity when they denature and coagulate as they cook.

Getting your shrimp cold before you grind them up with salt in the food processor is also important. How cold? If they’re a little icy, that’s perfect. Colder shrimp will make it easier to pulse the shrimp into distinct, coarse shreds, and the fat in the meat won’t smear and melt, which will translate to denser, unappealing cooked burgers.

Once you form the patties, you’ll want to let them sit in the fridge for a while to let them chill, which both helps maintain their shape and allows the salt to work on the proteins. I recommend letting them sit in the fridge for at least an hour and up to overnight; the texture will get snappier the longer they sit.

You don’t want to cook the burgers all the way through on a ripping hot grill. I find that if you expose shrimp burgers too long to too-high heat, the outside can get leathery and unpleasant to eat. But if you use a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/two-zone-grilling-guide two-zone grill setup] (and you should!), you can get a nice golden sear on the exterior by setting them in the hot zone, then slide them over to the cool zone to rest and slowly come up to serving temperature.

While the shrimp burgers finish, toast and refresh your buns, then load them up with spicy mayo, some shaved cabbage, some sliced onion, and then slide the burgers in. You’ll never make shrimp burgers on the grill any other way.

Perfect Grilled Shrimp Burgers

Pre-made salmon burgers are one of those things I refuse to buy. They’re really easy to make yourself in very little time, and they’ll be much better than anything you can buy in a store. 

The most important part of making salmon burgers is buying the highest quality salmon you can find. Once you’ve got your high-quality salmon, you want to keep it cold and work fast. Salmon is a fatty fish—and for this recipe, fattier is better; if you don’t mind buying farmed salmon, it’s excellent in this application for that reason. But that fat melts very quickly, making it difficult to form patties, let alone getting them to stick together.

To help with forming the patties, and to give the patties a snappier texture, I combine chunked salmon with 0.5% of its total weight in kosher salt and add an egg yolk for every pound in a food processor and pulse it to create a coarse grind. The salt cures the proteins slightly, encouraging them to bond with one another and firming them up, and the egg yolk both adds a little extra richness and juiciness and interferes with the protein-bonding, which prevents the mixture from getting too snappy—we aren’t making salmon sausage.

The mixture is still pretty loose when it comes out of the food processor, so I use a couple of tricks to help with patty formation. The first is I use a measuring cup to portion the salmon out. Filled up, the measure should yield consistent portions of about 235 g (1-cup measure) or 200 g (3/4-cup measure). A little nonstick spray in the measuring cup helps get the whole portion out cleanly onto a square of parchment, which has also been spritzed with nonstick spray, and set on a rimmed baking sheet.

Instead of forming the patties in my hands, I spritz my (clean) hands with a little more nonstick spray and just form the patties on the square of parchment. Once I form all the patties, I transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator to let the patties chill for anywhere from one hour to overnight. As the patties chill, the salt will do its work on the proteins, firming them up, and the salmon fat will also set up and become more firm.

However, even when thoroughly chilled, these patties will stick if you throw them on a hot grill. So my final tip is to give the patties a little “presear” in a hot pan on the grill, just setting the exterior so that they’ll hold together once you transfer them to the grill for a little char and smoky flavor.

Served in a bun with some instant-pickled lemon slices, these patties are everything the supermarket ones wish they could be: pure salmon flavor, snappy texture, juicy on the inside and lightly crisp on the outside.

Perfect Grilled Salmon Burgers With Instant-Pickled Lemons

Whether you want to eat less meat or you just freaking love mushrooms as much as I do, this portobello burger recipe delivers everything you want in a burger: a deeply seasoned and juicy “patty” with a light char and substantial bite, packed with umami and spice. 

My goal was to maximize flavor and texture and minimize the amount of time the mushrooms spend on the grill, which can turn the caps leathery and dry. With a few tips and tricks, it’s actually pretty simple, and you can customize the flavors however you want.

The main takeaway? The best way to grill portobello mushrooms is...use the microwave.

Portobellos take a long time to cook on the grill; they contain a lot of water, and you want to get that bland moisture content out of the mushrooms so they become mushroomy and delicious. Scoring the mushroom caps and sticking them in a microwave—putting the mushrooms in a bowl, wrapping it in plastic, and nuking them for about two minutes—extracts a lot of moisture (about 25% of the mushrooms’ weight) very quickly, and cooks them completely without drying them out.

The microwave takes care of the texture, but I wanted the burger to be tasty, packed with umami, almost “beefy.” So once the mushrooms are cooked, I marinate them in Worcestershire sauce and Montreal steak seasoning, which makes them taste super savory and steaky. The cross-hatching on the caps also helps them hold onto more sauce and seasoning, so you have an even tastier burger. Combined with the Swiss cheese, you get a nice, synergistic mix of guanylic acid (from the portobellos), inosinic acid (from the anchovies in the Worcestershire), and glutamic acid (from the cheese), which makes the final burger super savory.

The mushrooms can go on the grill immediately, but they can also hang out in their marinade for up to four hours, which gives you a lot of time to get your mise and your two-zone grill setup ready. 

When you’re ready to grill, the caps go on the hot side of the grill, gill-side down, for just about two minutes, which is just enough time for a little char and smoky flavor to develop, then I flip them over and move them to the middle of the grill, top with sweated, sweet onions, and Swiss, and let them hang out until the cheese is melted and the buns are warmed. Finally, I smear some of the leftover butter from sweating the onions onto the buns, add a little barbecue sauce, then slide the portobello patties in, top with lettuce, and they’re ready to serve.

This recipe goes in a classic mushroom/Swiss cheese/onion direction, but you can take the technique and flavor the burger any way you like. You can marinate the cross-hatched, microwaved caps in whatever you want: soy sauce, lemon pepper, fresh herb oils, chile oil...anything is fair game.

The one thing you want to pay attention to is buying the right mushrooms. When selecting your portobellos, look for ones that have caps that are still semi-closed. They’ll be thicker and more evenly textured after cooking, which will help with even grilling and produce a more substantial, “meaty” bite.

Grilled portobello burger with Swiss cheese and onions.

Super-Savory Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burgers

Basque cheesecake has got to be one of the most exciting innovations in the annals of cheesecake history. Dreamed up by chef Santiago Rivera at La Viña in Donostia-San Sebastian, it’s a sight to behold: the iconic burnished (not burnt!) top; the oozy, custardy center; and, of course, the complete lack of a bottom crust.
 
Nailing it requires a two-phase bake, starting in a hot oven to brown the top, then dropping the temperature to gently raise the internal temperature of the custard. We pull the cheesecake from the oven well before it hits the target internal temp, allowing carryover cooking to take it the rest of the way.

Basque Cheesecake

New York cheesecake should need no introduction. It’s a fluffy, creamy, rich, and tangy custard set atop a graham cracker crust, with blond sides and a very lightly mottled brown top. You know it, and to know it is to love it, since, like pizza, even when it’s just all right, it’s still pretty great. 

We set out to make the best New York cheesecake you’ll ever have. You want height? Well, this cheesecake towers. That signature cottony “crumb” and cream cheese tang? Check and check. 

The key to success is temperature control. The silky smooth and slightly aerated batter undergoes a two-phase bake, starting in a moderately hot oven to set the top, then a longer low-temp bake to gently cook the interior. 

Not only does this create a consistent and consistently beautiful cheesecake texture, it also eliminates the risk of cracking, the most common issue with subpar cheesecakes. 

Say <s>“I’m walkin’ here!”</s> hello to the perfect New York cheesecake.

Classic New York Cheesecake

This is a great New York–style cheesecake, full stop. It boasts a tall, fluffy custard with notes of vanilla and that distinctive cream cheese tang, set on top of a cookie-crumb base. The catch? It’s completely vegan!  

We didn’t want to come up with a vegan cheesecake that relied on store-bought vegan substitutes for the eggs, cream cheese, sour cream, and butter in our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/new-york-cheesecake New York cheesecake recipe]. That would have felt lazy, and if there’s one thing we’re not, it’s lazy. More importantly, those vegan alternatives have brand-specific formulations that cause them to perform differently in recipes, which would have meant developing a recipe tailored to work with specific products. No thanks.  

So, we started from scratch and formulated the perfect plant-based cheesecake. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Cheesecake! We did it.

Vegan New York Cheesecake

Japanese cheesecake is often called “cloud cake” because, well, putting a forkful in your mouth is like eating a cloud. 

Airy and light, with the characteristic tang that cream cheese provides, Japanese cheesecakes owe their unique texture to the fact that they’re basically a super-aerated foam. A sweet and cream cheese-y custard base is lightened up with a meringue, and there’s just barely enough flour and starch to give the whole thing structure. 

It’s as if a sweet cloud was given just enough heft to anchor it to a plate just long enough for you to devour it. 

EDITORS’ NOTE: We’ve updated this recipe to improve its flavor and texture, while removing unnecessary ingredients. The recipe no longer calls for xanthan gum or cake flour; the total quantity of eggs has been reduced to temper the egginess of the cake; the amount of sugar has been increased to improve the cake’s moisture retention; and the ratio of egg yolks to egg whites has been altered to produce an airier and lighter texture. If you prefer to use the original recipe, we’ve included it as a tip at the end of the recipe before the make-ahead and storage instructions.

Ultra-Fluffy Japanese Cheesecake

Pumpkins are lovable in their decorative form—you get to pick your favorite one in the patch, plump and round and simply funny-looking—but we can all agree that pumpkins are especially fawn-worthy when they’re in the form of delicious pie. This Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie is creamy, warm-spiced, and not too sweet. And the coolest part? The filling comes together in a blender, no oven required. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure type of pie: Buy the crust or make it? Get tang and texture from sour cream, heavy cream, or buttermilk? These are life’s important questions. And the answer is always pie.

This creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie is made in a blender for maximum ease. It’s perfect for dinner parties, when you want to free the oven.

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

It’s older than the original Olympic Games, and there are references to it throughout the ancient texts of numerous empires. Its reach is worldwide—from New York to Bavaria—and it’s been written about by everyone from Renaissance philosophers to *Bon Appétit* and *Esquire*. There’s even a whole factory devoted to it! Cheesecake—we all know it, and we all love it. It’s a timeless dessert with countless versions and styles, and yet it can be even better. Introducing sous vide cheesecake. This tongue-coating confection is simple and rich—a delectable pot de fromage that you can make in less than 90 minutes with Joule. Grab your prettiest mason jars and whip up these little sweets in batches to satisfy a full dinner party. Or pop them in the fridge for treats to get you through the week. With a quick topping of [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/crunchy-graham-cracker-streusel graham cracker streusel], you can’t go wrong.

This tongue-coating confection is simple and rich—a delectable pot de fromage that you can make in less than 90 minutes with Joule.

The Quickest, Simplest Way to Make Bomb Cheesecake

This dish is classic Sinaloan coastal food. Pristine shrimp dressed with “aguachile verde,” which translates to “green chile water,” a blended mixture of fresh-squeezed lime juice, green chiles, and a few aromatic vegetables. (For a little boost of glutamates, I add a little Maggi Seasoning.)

While it’s common to serve raw shrimp dressed in aguachile verde, I like to “cook” the shrimp first in a concentrated bath of lime juice for 30 minutes, which sets up the protein so it’s just firm enough: neither too-soft and raw nor rubbery and “overcooked.”

If you really want to nail this dish, you’ll have to try to find the elusive chiltepín chile, which is packed with both spice and flavor, despite being tiny. Legend has it that it’s got medicinal qualities and it’s a cure for everything from the common cold to hangovers. It has a floral, vegetal flavor, similar to a serrano, but it also has a nice acidity, and its intense spiciness comes at you quickly but doesn’t linger for too long. If you can’t find it, you can substitute árbol or pequín chile; the aguachile won’t be quite the same, but it’ll still be delicious.

I like to serve aguachile verde with tostadas, mayo, hot sauce, and Maggi Seasoning: spread a little mayo on the tostada, top it with the aguachile and a dash or two of hot sauce and Maggi and you’ve got a perfect bite.

Aguachile Verde

This mixed seafood cocktail is a lateral jump from the classic dish of [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/coctel-de-camaron-mexican-style-shrimp-cocktail cóctel de camarón]. Instead of perfectly poached shrimp in a tangy tomato-based sauce, this has perfectly poached octopus and shrimp, along with steamed clams, citrus-cured snapper, and raw oysters, and everything’s dressed with a cocktail sauce that takes its inspiration from an amazing mole amarillo I had while visiting the state of Oaxaca.

The mole has a ton of bitter-sweet complexity from charred tomatoes, tomatillos, bell peppers, and habanero–charring is a foundational Mexican culinary technique–as well as earthy notes from dried spices and fruity notes from raisins and guajillo chiles. As a final flourish, I use an oil infused with hoja santa, a fragrant herb indigenous to Central and North America that has an inimitable, almost indescribable flavor and aroma, like a cross between licorice, mint, tarragon, and anise.

This dish is a project, and part of that is the variety of the seafood. Whenever you see “campechano” used to describe a menu item, that just means that it contains two or more proteins; the most well-known instance of this is the taco campechano, which combines suadero and longaniza. Here, it refers to the five kinds of seafood in this dish, which is my way of celebrating the quality and variety of seafood that’s available in Oaxaca. But it also means you can add whatever you like: pick whatever fish or shellfish are freshest or in season. If that’s five different kinds, amazing; if it’s just one or two, you’re still making a fantastic seafood cocktail. Just make sure the total adds up to about 1.1 kilograms (2 1/2 pounds) of protein.

To make it easier on yourself, I strongly recommend making this recipe over the course of a couple of days. Make the cóctel base, infuse the hoja santa oil, and cook the shrimp and octopus in advance—all of them keep well in the fridge. Then, the day you want to serve the cóctel, prep your more perishable seafood: shuck your oysters, steam the clams, and cure your raw fish. (You can also just buy prepared octopus and/or shrimp and get someone else to shuck your oysters, too.)

Cóctel campechano (Mexican-style mixed seafood cocktail) recipe

Cóctel Amarillo Campechano (Mexican-Style Mixed Seafood Cocktail)

While ceviche is generally acknowledged as having originated in Peru, there are a lot of Mexican versions. One of the most common is ceviche “a la Mexicana,” and that just means that it contains tomatoes, white onion, and jalapeño chile, which mirror the colors of the Mexican flag. It's one of my favorite things to eat. Fresh fish, cured briefly in a bright and spicy citrus marinade, served cold along with crisp fried masa and a little spicy hot sauce to take it over the top—what's not to like?

This recipe is inspired by the ceviches served in the Western state of Jalisco, which is where my family’s from. We make our ceviche with “pescado molido,” or minced fish, and I’ve found that cutting the fish into small cubes delivers a beautifully tender texture. I call for halibut, a lean, mildly flavored fish with a meaty texture that lends itself particularly well to being cut into small cubes. You want to use the freshest, highest-quality fish you can find. If that’s halibut, perfect, but if you can't find halibut, red snapper or sea bass would be great substitutions. To complement the tender, raw fish, I give the ceviche a generous drizzle of [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/salsa-macha salsa macha] to add a little spicy and nutty crunch.

Think of this recipe as a gateway to Mexican-style ceviche. As long as you observe a few simple rules—use the freshest fish you can find, give the fish a brief, intense cure before building the rest of the ceviche—you can take it in a number of different directions. You can slice the fish in different ways, you can add different vegetables, like cucumbers, to the mix, or you can even add a little Clamato to the marinade to give it a kind of combination cóctel/ceviche vibe.

Pair the ceviche with a hot sauce with some kick, tostadas, and your beverage of choice…it doesn’t get any better.

Ceviche a la Mexicana recipe with halibut (Mexican-style ceviche with halibut)

Ceviche a la Mexicana

This is summertime on a plate. The aguachile broth checks all the boxes: sweet, spicy, sour, bright, and pretty, to boot. In addition to dressing pristine sashimi-grade tuna, you can use the aguachile in cocktails or stir it into some Topo Chico for a refreshing sipper while you cook.

Roasting strawberries intensifies their sweetness, which pairs perfectly with the charred, slightly bitter, fruity notes from the blackened garlic and Fresno and habanero chiles. Combining the foundational Mexican culinary technique of charring vegetables–known as tatemar–and in-season fruit opens up a world of possibilities; once you get the hang of it you can make all kinds of seasonal aguachile variations throughout the year.

You don’t have to limit yourself to tuna, either. If you see hamachi and kanpachi that looks great, go for it!

Aguachile with tuna and roasted strawberries

Roasted Strawberry Aguachile With Tuna

Salsa macha is one of the most flavorful salsas you can make. A spicy, sweet, salty, and crunchy condiment, it’s used more like [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/put-it-on-everything-chili-crisp chili crisp] or nam prik pao, rather than as a dipper for tortilla chips.

With toasty notes provided by fried nuts and seeds, deep and rounded heat from fried dried chiles, and a little acidity and sweetness from vinegar and sugar, it’s incredibly versatile. You can add it to marinades, dressings, and mayo (or aioli, if you’re fancy), and it complements just about any dish you can think of. I find it’s particularly good when paired with high-acid foods that need a little help in the texture department, like [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ceviche-a-la-mexicana ceviche].

The key to making salsa macha is to take your time frying the nuts, seeds, and chiles; if you’re not careful, they’ll burn. To give you greater control over the process, the recipe calls for starting the peanuts in cold oil and bringing it up gradually until the nuts start to sizzle.

The finished salsa is best after a couple days, which allows the flavors of the ingredients to meld. A little patience, both as you prepare it and after it’s made, is worth the payoff.

Salsa Macha

“Mariscos” means “seafood” in Spanish. The word is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to the vast and varied library of recipes of Mexico’s coastal regions.

With over 7,000 miles of coastline, Mexican cooks have had access to a stunning array of fresh seafood for millennia, as well as a steady influx of foreign ingredients due to robust maritime trade. The combination has produced one of the most exciting cuisines in the world, one that varies both according to region and season. While certain regions specialize in specific dishes, each region’s offerings share a common theme: fresh seafood, thoughtfully prepared.

This guide offers a roadmap for mariscos, broken up into distinct categories of preparation. Each section is accompanied by recipes I’ve developed to showcase standout dishes from states across the country. We’re going to start with aguachiles, ceviches, and cócteles, all of which feature near-raw or barely-cooked seafood. In time, we’ll build out the rest, with recipes to inspire you to master this style of cooking.

All you need to do is find a good source of high-quality seafood; we’ll guide you the rest of the way.

Guide to Mexican mariscos

Jonathan Zaragoza

The Mariscos-verse Guide

Caldo de Siete Mares—“soup of the seven seas”—shares characteristics with other seafood stews from across the globe. Legend has it that, like cioppino or bouillabaisse, it was created out of necessity, a way for fishermen in the Ensenada area of Baja California to use up their unsold catch. 

And like all great seafood soups, the key to a killer Caldo de Siete Mares is a super flavorful stock. Here, we quickly infuse chicken or seafood stock with aromatics—alliums, carrots, dried chiles, tomatoes, warm spices, bay leaves, and [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/mariscos-sazon my flavor-bomb Mariscos Sazón], which includes umami-rich dried shrimp—as well as fresh shrimp shells. That “quickly” isn’t for convenience, it’s for maximum flavor: The volatile aromas in shrimp shells that we associate with “shrimp flavor” are quickly extracted through cooking, and you’ll get diminishing flavor returns if you simmer the stock for hours. Puréeing and straining the stock (shells and all) yields a super aromatic soup base with plenty of body, which serves as a perfect backdrop for all the seafood.

With the stock taken care of, you can focus on seasoning and cooking each piece of seafood perfectly. We stagger the seafood cooking in stages, rather than dumping everything in the pot at once and either hoping for the best or fishing things out one at a time as they’re ready. The reward for attention to detail? Tender seafood and a super savory broth that gets a final flavor boost from shellfish liquor as the clams and mussels open up right before it's time to serve. This is the way.

Caldo de siete mares recipe (Mexican seafood soup)

Caldo de Siete Mares (Mexican Seafood Soup)

Think of these wok-seared shrimp as a supercharged savory-spicy Mexican version of shrimp scampi: succulent shrimp in a buttery, garlicky, chile-spiked sauce designed to be mopped up with a crusty heel of bread.

Even though it takes less than 10 minutes to cook, this dish is packed with flavor. Cooking the shrimp in a wok over charcoal (instead of sautéing them on the stovetop) maxes out [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/mastering-the-maillard-reaction Maillard browning] on the shrimp (without overcooking them) and also lends a subtle smoky aroma to the sauce. And that sauce is jam-packed with umami-rich ingredients and as much butter as possible to balance that savory punch while also blooming oil-soluble aroma compounds in the chiles and spices for killer depth of flavor.

The kind of shrimp and their preparation are important. We like using jumbo, shell-on shrimp—they can withstand the intense heat of a wok set directly onto live coals without becoming dry and stringy. Cutting the shrimp in half lengthwise ensures they cook through in the short cook time. And keeping their shells on protects the shrimp flesh from overcooking, while the sugars and proteins in the shells help with browning (and Maillard browning flavor) immensely. You’ll want to get in there, peel the shells, and get messy while you eat—your hands will be coated in sauce.

And you want that because the sauce is the star of the show. Along with the glutamates and other flavorful nucleotides from the shrimp and their shells, the sauce is spiked with umami heavy hitters: soy sauce, Maggi Seasoning, Valentina hot sauce, and the secret weapon that takes things over the top, [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/mariscos-sazon Mariscos Sazón], a seafood seasoning blend that makes Old Bay old news. Combined with the allium bite of an impressive amount of minced [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/tips-tricks-three-ways-to-peel-garlic garlic], the sweetness of red onion, and the acidity from a finishing squeeze of lime, this sauce pushes the limits of deliciousness.

Camarones al Mojo de Ajo recipe (Mexican-style sautéed shrimp with garlic)

Camarones al Mojo de Ajo (Mexican Garlic Shrimp)

You can find a lot of versions of pescado zarandeado—whole fish that is butterflied, brushed with a chile-spiked mayo-based marinade, and grilled over charcoal—throughout Mexico. While some versions take a light approach to seasoning, this one leans heavily on dried chiles and spices to produce a grilled whole fish with tons of flavor.

The marinade is packed with glutamates—soy sauce, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, Maggi Seasoning—and the dried chiles and spices complement the char of the marinated fish. But the key to the marinade is the mayo that ties it all together. 

For one thing, mayo is delicious; taste the marinade, and you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful. More importantly, mayo’s spreadable properties help the marinade coat and stick to the fish. For this recipe, you’re going to ditch the grill grate and cook the fish directly over the coals in a grill basket, which makes for easier flipping. The mayo protects the flesh from the intense, direct heat of the coals; it browns beautifully thanks to the protein and fat it contains; and that fat, as it heats up, will bloom the oil-soluble aroma compounds in the spices and chiles in the marinade.

Serve the whole fish with all the fixings—warm corn (or even flour) tortillas, thinly sliced raw onion, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, and fresh limes for squeezing—and you might just think you’re actually on a Mexican beach vacation. If you can find it, swap in [link https://www.amazon.com/Salsa-Huichol-Hot-Sauce-pack/dp/B06XBRF8DZ?tag=chefsteps02-20 Salsa Huichol] for the Valentina hot sauce. It’s a fantastic hot sauce from Nayarit that’s on the table of every respectable marisqueria.

Pescado Zarandeado recipe (Mexican butterflied and grilled whole fish)

Pescado Zarandeado (Chile-Marinated Grilled Fish)

It’s all there in the name: seafood seasoning. This spice blend is the [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/guide-to-mariscos Mexican mariscos-inspired] answer to Old Bay (or [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/new-bay-seasoning our New Bay]). It has three kinds of dried chiles (fruity guajillo, sweet paprika, and fiery chiles de árbol), three glutamate-rich ingredients (chicken bouillon powder, Goya Sazón, and ground dried shrimp), heady spices, and dried alliums to round it out. It’s the ultimate cheat code for leveling up [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/guide-to-mariscos mariscos].

Just like Old Bay, you can use it whenever you want to give seafood an umami boost: stirred into marinades; showered over fish that’s heading to the grill; rimmed around the glass of a Clamato-spiked chelada or bloody Caesar; or added as an extra flavor accent for [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/coctel-de-camaron-mexican-style-shrimp-cocktail cócteles] or [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/aguachile-verde aguachiles].

It’s also an integral component of both our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/camarones-al-mojo-de-ajo Camarones al Mojo de Ajo] and our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/caldo-de-siete-mares Caldo de Siete Mares], so you may want to think about making a double (or triple!) batch.

Mariscos sazón recipe (seafood seasoning spice blend).

Mariscos Sazón (Seafood Seasoning Blend)

A good dumpling is a study in textures.

Taking a bite out of a well-made dumpling should get you a kaleidoscope of textures. The skin should be chewy, offering your teeth a little resistance, and yet still silky and slippery. It should surround the filling completely—no rips or tears. And it shouldn’t be mushy. The filling should be light yet cohesive; it should fall apart in your mouth, not in the dumpling, although it shouldn’t be so densely packed that it feels like someone hid a Swedish meatball in a dumpling skin.

With our scratch-made [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/dumpling-wrappers dumpling wrappers] and the classic combination of pork, shrimp, and cabbage in the filling, that’s what this recipe gets you: a textural marvel.

Looking for an even more luxe dumpling? Check out our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/crab-mushroom-dumplings Crab and Mushroom Dumplings]! And make sure to check out our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/guide-to-chinese-dumplings full guide to making great Northern Chinese dumplings].

Recipe for classic pork, shrimp, and cabbage dumplings.

Pork, Shrimp, and Cabbage Dumplings

Just like our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pork-shrimp-cabbage-dumplings Pork, Shrimp, and Cabbage Dumplings], these dumplings are carefully calibrated parcels of textural complexity: [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/dumpling-wrappers silky steamed dumpling skins] encasing a luxurious filling of tender lump crab meat, crunchy water chestnuts, and meaty mushrooms.

These are celebratory dumplings. Whereas our Pork, Shrimp, and Cabbage dumplings use a more classic (and more affordable) combination of ingredients and can (and should) be eaten any day of the week, including dumpling-centric holidays like Lunar New Year, these are for special occasions when you want to live a little XL, if not [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/how-to-make-shanghai-soup-dumplings-with-andrea-nguyen XLB].

For those that really want to go all-out, we give the option of adding a little grated black truffle to the filling. Unorthodox? Maybe, but it’s a fine demonstration of how [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/guide-to-chinese-dumplings versatile Chinese dumplings can be], and it’s a nod to thoughtful, “new wave” Chinese cuisine.

Crab and Mushroom Dumplings

Tender, porky filling. Rich, ginger-laced broth. Paper-thin dough pleated into pretty little purses. If there’s a better one-bite dish than Shanghai-style soup dumplings, we’d like to try that, please. Author and culinary instructor [link http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/ Andrea Nguyen], who wrote [link https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580089755/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1580089755&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=chefsteps02-20&amp;linkId=5a6afe9ec51d6f48a63ca268591c3ce3 a whole book about dumplings], has been making dough-wrapped snacklets since she was a kid. Yet she still marvels at the ingenuity of the nineteenth-century cooks who formed the very first xiao long bao, or Shanghai-style soup dumpling. The cooks’ impressive innovation: make a rich broth, then turn that broth into little gelatinous cubes. Wrap those jelly cubes, along with filling, in some dough, and then steam the whole shebang in a bamboo basket. Steaming the dumplings melts the gelatin, returning the broth to a liquid state. And there it is: a soul-warming, soupy satchel that captivates all who have the pleasure of eating it. 

Xiao long bao are a signature dish of Shanghai, where locals judge them by a few key factors. First, the filling must be plentiful and delicious, so use meat fatty enough to melt in your mouth; lean pork is a no-no. Second, there should be lots of soup that really sings with flavor; a very viscous pork stock is traditional, but it’s easier to get terrific results with chicken stock and gelatin. This frees you up to concentrate on the trickiest bit: the dough should be thin enough that it almost seems to dissolve as you bite, yet it must be strong enough to hold the hot soup right up to the moment of truth.

And now, with Nguyen’s guidance, you are going to make xiao long bao yourself. If you don’t have a bamboo steaming basket, invest in one now. They are inexpensive, and you can serve the dumplings right up in there. And if you’re inviting friends over to share your pork-stuffed treats, plan to make a lot. These little dumplings disappear quickly.

Make Shanghai Soup Dumplings (xiao long bao) at home with this amazing recipe from dumpling expert Andrea Nguyen.

Shanghai Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao)

A well-made dumpling doesn’t need anything—it should be perfectly seasoned and delicious all on its own, just like our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pork-shrimp-cabbage-dumplings Pork, Shrimp, and Cabbage Dumplings] and our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/crab-mushroom-dumplings Crab and Mushroom Dumplings]. But who are we kidding? Even the best dumpling in the world gets a little lift from a dipping sauce.

This dumpling sauce is about as all-purpose as it gets: It works with our from-scratch dumplings with their [link dumpling-wrappers from-scratch dumpling wrappers], but it’s just as good with takeout or store-bought dumplings from the freezer section. No judgment.

All-Purpose Dumpling Sauce

Making your own dumpling wrappers is well worth the time and effort—and it doesn’t even take that much time or effort!

While there’s nothing wrong with store-bought dumpling wrappers—they’re convenient, reliable, and a stack of 50 typically costs a few bucks—making them yourself allows you to tailor the dough to your tastes. Want your dumpling skins thick and chewy or thin and delicate? You’re in control!

We break from tradition by using a pasta roller to quickly sheet out the dough and then punch out the wrappers, rather than rolling out each wrapper by hand. This saves time, produces more consistent results, and doesn’t require lots of practice to get it right. This way, you can make stacks on stacks of wrappers and freeze them for whenever you’re ready for a dumpling party.

Once you’ve got the wrappers squared away, put them to use for [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pork-shrimp-cabbage-dumplings Pork, Shrimp, and Cabbage Dumplings] or [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/crab-mushroom-dumplings Crab and Mushroom Dumplings]. Want to dive deeper into the world of Chinese dumplings? Check out [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/guide-to-chinese-dumplings our guide] to learn how to customize fillings, as well as how to shape and pleat like a pro.

Recipe for homemade Chinese dumpling wrappers

Homemade Dumpling Wrappers

Frozen dumplings are the ultimate convenience food: Buy a big (affordable) bag at the grocery store,  stash it in your freezer, and in minutes you can prepare a plate of tasty and plump dumplings any number of ways.

And there’s nothing wrong with that! But the ubiquity of prepared dumplings, many of which are perfectly fine, may make the prospect of making them yourself seem silly. Why go through the trouble when there’s tons of variety in the freezer case?

Because homemade dumplings are better in every way!

Even if you grab a stack of prepared dumpling skins and make the filling(s) yourself, your dumplings will be way better than the frozen ones pulled out of a branded bag, and you can customize the fillings to suit your specific tastes. And if you go the extra mile and [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/dumpling-wrappers make the wrappers] yourself, they’ll be even better, and you’ll have more options: silky and delicate thin skins, chewy and sturdy thicker skins, and everything in between.

And, of course, making anything yourself is fun—and that’s particularly true of shaping and pleating dumplings, and since extra hands make quick work, you can get your family and friends involved!

This guide will walk you through every step of making Chinese wheat flour dumplings (jiǎo zi) —from making the dough and fillings to shaping, folding, and cooking them in several ways.

The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Dumplings (Jiǎo Zi)

Every culture has its fried chicken. Crispy, salty, meaty, and juicy—it’s easy to see why it’s universally loved. 

This version is a marriage between Nashville hot chicken and Taiwanese popcorn chicken. I’d worked in fine dining for a while, most recently as a sous chef at Eleven Madison Park, but when the pandemic hit, I decided to start a fried chicken popup. People loved it, and now I sling chicken all day every day at Pecking House in New York City.

From the Southern culinary tradition, I cribbed the buttermilk marinade (for tender, juicy, well-seasoned meat), the double fry (to create an incredibly craggy crust), and the chile oil dip. From Taiwanese popcorn chicken and other kinds of Asian fried chicken, I borrowed the technique of using a mix of starches in the coating to produce a more pronounced crunch. I also took advantage of the distinctive and aromatic spices of the Chinese pantry: numbing Sichuan peppercorns, fiery Tianjin chiles, and the warmth of Chinese five-spice powder. (And, of course, a little MSG.)

Making exceptional fried chicken isn’t hard, but it does require attention to detail. Let me break those details down for you:

The chicken: There’s a lot of different ways to break down a chicken, each suited to different applications. Our method aims for consistently sized pieces while preserving the integrity of the skin as much as possible. Where it differs from other chicken butchery methods is primarily in the way the breasts are prepared. We keep the rib cage on, so it serves as an anchor for the skin, and we split the whole breast through the keel, which helps to insulate the meat while it fries. Instead of cutting the split breasts exactly in half crosswise, we split them on a bias on the “40-yard-line,” which gives you more consistently sized pieces that’ll cook through in the same amount of time.

The dredge: The No. 1 thing you want for the coating is for it to stick. In other ChefSteps fried chicken recipes, that’s accomplished by letting the chicken sit in its dredge, which helps to hydrate the flour. We wanted something a little more efficient for handling large volume, so we achieve a similar effect by just adding a small amount of flour to the buttermilk marinade. The flour hydrates, thickening the marinade to an almost yogurt-like consistency, and that paste ends up forming a lattice the dry dredge can hold onto during the frying process. So, we can just pull the chicken out of the marinade, dredge, and get straight to frying.

Crispy and juicy chicken: If you start off with cooked chicken, like [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/foolproof-sous-vide-fried-chicken sous vide fried chicken], all you need to do while frying is crisp and brown the crust. When you cook from raw, you have to cook the chicken through without burning the crust, and you have to get the crust crispy without drying the chicken. Our solution is to fry at a relatively low temp ([f 325]) and use a double fry. This is super simple to do in a commercial fryer—there’s lots of oil, so adding cold chicken doesn’t drop the temp too much and it recovers quickly. In a home kitchen, you’ll be using a smaller volume of oil, so you need to start off with oil at a higher temperature—[f 350]—which will then drop down to [f 325] once you add the chicken. You also want to keep the chicken pieces moving more than you would in commercial fryer to ensure even cooking. (Be gentle; you work hard for that crust.)

Chile oil: The key to the chile oil, other than the spice mix used to season it, is viscosity. To get it to cling to the fried crust with just the right amount, you don’t want it too liquid. We found a mix of duck fat and neutral oil keeps it both flowing and slightly viscous (with the duck fat providing extra depth of flavor and richness), and that viscosity is enhanced by the maltodextrin in the vinegar powder we add to the oil for a little acidity. At room temp, the chile oil coats the chicken just right.

Chili fried chicken recipe (from Pecking House in New York City)

Chili Fried Chicken

Dirty rice is an iconic Creole dish of seasoned rice mixed with chopped up, cooked down offal, often chicken livers and giblets. The “dirty” in the name refers to the speckled brown coloring the rice takes on once the livers and giblets have been mixed in. Deeply savory, with a pronounced minerality from the liver and other offal, it’s one of the all-time great side dishes.

Fried rice is an iconic Chinese dish of rice tossed in a wok with finely cut vegetables and proteins. The best fried rice consists of cooked rice, coated in fat so that each individual grain is distinct, tossed in ripping-hot wok over the flames of a high-output gas burner, which periodically ignite aerosolized fat to produce the inimitable smoky flavor known as wok hei. 

What this recipe asks is: What happens if you made dirty rice, but with Chinese fried rice technique? It’s one of the most popular sides that we serve alongside our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chili-fried-chicken Chili Fried Chicken] at [link https://www.peckinghouse.com/ Pecking House].

We borrow “the scrape” technique from Cajun cuisine, in which a purée of chicken liver is smeared onto a cast iron griddle and cooked until deeply browned on the bottom, and then it’s scraped off the griddle and chopped up into fine bits with a spatula. We also use the Cajun “trinity”—celery, green bell pepper, and onion—to hit that distinct flavor profile. But we cook everything in a ripping-hot wok, and we use the standard techniques for making great fried rice: cooking, cooling, drying, and fluffing the rice beforehand, so the grains of rice remain distinct; cutting the vegetables into the finest of dices, so they cook to “tender-crisp” in seconds; and, of course, using a high-output burner so the flames lick the fried rice as it’s tossed just over the lip of the wok, for wok hei.

Each grain of rice is coated in oil (and a little butter, for richness), and each bite has a little minerality from tiny speckles of charred chicken liver, a little sweetness from the onion, and a little grassiness from the celery and bell pepper. Seasoned with salt and a little MSG, it’s a side that works incredibly well with strongly seasoned mains (like our Chili Fried Chicken) but can also stand on its own as a light meal.

Dirty Fried Rice

Break out your [link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WDW8XKEGgU cornballer], folks, because it’s time to fry some cornballs!

Hush puppies are basically fried cornbread nuggets. Packed with cubes of smoky tasso ham, cheddar, and sliced scallions, these nuggets are crispy, light, salty, tangy, and slightly sweet from the corn—the perfect side dish.

Our batter uses a mix of cornmeal and all-purpose flour, enriched with buttermilk and eggs and leavened with baking powder. Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in stages helps prevent overmixing, which would develop the gluten in the flour a little too much, and it keeps the crumb light and almost cake-like. 

To boost the sweetness, we serve the hush puppies with “apple honey.” No, it’s not honey made in an apiary on an apple orchard—it’s a syrup made from freshly pressed, unpasteurized apple cider that has the same viscosity as honey at room temperature. Pasteurized cider—or cider that has been treated with enzymes to remove pectin [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pectin-free-juice to improve the product’s clarity]—won’t work in this application. Since the texture is produced by [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/science-of-pectin pectin’s gelling qualities], the cider needs to start with an ample concentration of pectin. With the added sugar and the natural acidity of cider, gently reducing the liquid will transform it into a golden, flowing syrup that tastes distinctly of apples. Call it “vegan honey”!

Serve the crispy, golden hush puppies up with a pot of apple honey and a honey wand alongside, so you can drizzle as little or as much as you like, and you might just forget about anything else on the table.

Hush puppies recipe with cheddar and tasso ham, drizzled with apple honey

Cheddar-Tasso Hush Puppies With Apple Honey

There are countless ways to break down poultry, depending on the culinary tradition you’re working in and/or the way you plan to use the various parts. For example, breaking down a bird [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/how-to-butcher-turkey-yakitori-style yakitori-style] requires a different approach than breaking down a chicken for [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chili-fried-chicken Chili Fried Chicken].

This method for breaking down a chicken yields 10 bone-in pieces—two drumsticks, two thighs, two wings, and four breast pieces—plus a back that can be used to make [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pressure-cooked-blond-chicken-stock stock]. It’s commonly referred to as a “country-cut,” and it’s the best method to use for making classic Southern-style [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-ultimate-guide-to-fried-chicken fried chicken] or a stew. The process is designed to produce serving pieces of relatively consistent size, which makes it easier to nail cook times, and it also preserves the integrity of the skin, particularly on the bone-in breast pieces. 

Let’s get into it.

How to cut up a chicken into 10 bone-in pieces for fried chicken and stews.

How to Butcher a Chicken: 10-Piece Country Cut

The ribeye is one of the most desirable “trophy” steak cuts, with its ample amount of intramuscular fat and two tender and beefy muscle groups, the longissimus dorsi (the “eye” of the ribeye) and the spinalis dorsi (the “ribeye cap”). 

Since it’s such a rich cut, it tastes amazing when given a nice char on the grill. However, its fattiness makes grilling tough—all that fat causes flare-ups as it renders, and you don’t want a beautiful char to be marred by the taste of burnt soot. 

This technique maximizes the utility of a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/two-zone-grilling-guide two-zone grilling setup]. Frequently moving the steak around on the hot zone of the grill gives you great charring without uncontrollable flare-ups. Once charred, the steak is slowly brought up to serving temperature in a just-warm butter bath set up in a cast iron skillet on the cool zone of the grill, which gives you precision control over doneness. 

A scattering of herbs and big squeeze of lemon juice adds brightness to the perfectly cooked, perfectly charred steak.

Grilled and Butter-Rested Ribeye Steak

Recently, Grant shared a story about his favorite lasagna, which he makes with fresh pasta, béchamel, ground cheese, fresh tomato sauce, and a spinach-basil blend. Then, he sears slices of it for crunchy, oozy lasagna. (Sometimes he eats lasagna for breakfast this way.) After reading the email, you wanted us to make this lasagna recipe for you. We listened to you. Get ready to make lasagna.  

Grant focuses on two principles for making lasagna. Make fresh pasta to make sheets as fine as possible, for lots and lots of layers. (People forget that lasagna is a pasta dish. Make amazing pasta.) He also reduces the moisture in the lasagna, by blanching and squeezing dry the spinach and basil, and only uses enough tomato sauce and béchamel to make incredible lasagna, not a goopy mess with pounds of melted cheese.  

Want to take this lasagna to the next level? Bake the lasagna, refrigerate it overnight (or, let’s be honest, refrigerate the last bit of lasagna after eating well with your friends or family), then slice it up. Have you ever eaten seared slices of lasagna? You should. You really, really should.  

Make this and throw a lasagna party soon.

This lasagna has super-thin sheets of fresh pasta, béchamel sauce, ground mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, a tomato fresca sauce, blanched spinach and basil. bake, rest, and sear.