It’s Back-of-the-Package Stew Season
Plus: How to support those affected by the greater Los Angeles wildfires.
Welcome to Best Food Blog, a writer-run publication about eating by journalists Ali Francis, Anikah Shaokat, Anna Hezel, and Antara Sinha. You can check out everything we’ve published so far here. Today, we’re sharing what we’ve been cooking lately, with a special guest appearance from Dennis Lee, the author of the newsletters Food is Stupid (disgustingly funny dispatches about his disturbing cooking experiments) and The Party Cut (about independent restaurants in Chicago). You can find him on Instagram here.
(This is a rare free post to ensure wide availability of the LA fires resources compiled below — for full access to regular posts like this, upgrade your subscription for just $3 per month.)
On New Year’s Day, my family almost always eats a bowl of tteok mandu guk, or Korean rice cake dumpling soup. It’s a Korean tradition that we’ve practiced my whole life. As my mom’s gotten older, she feels less like dealing with prep work in the kitchen, so in the past few years, she’s been reaching for packets of pre-made beef bone broth to use as its base. Otherwise the soup would take hours to make, and despite what food writers say about their moms’ supposedly joyful days of holiday cooking, she’s had it with all that crap.
There’s multiple brands at the Korean supermarket now, like Pulmuone, or Bibigo, which you should be able to just snag off the refrigerated shelf. Here’s the thing that’s so awesome about this — you can make this classic Korean comfort stew whenever you like, with almost zero cooking. The recipe’s even on the back of the damn bag! Oh, also, there’s no rule about just eating this soup on New Year’s Day. You can get tteok mandu guk pretty much whenever, at a lot of Korean restaurants.
Buy frozen rice cakes and frozen dumplings out of the freezer section, and aside from that, all you have to do is chop up some garnishes, like green onions, a little beef, dried seaweed, and some thinly sliced plain omelette. Eat that with a side of radish kimchi, also store-bought, and you’re all set — no Korean mom necessary. (Though, my tiny little mom is the best.) —Dennis Lee
Make More Wings in 2025
As someone from Western New York, I know my way around a chicken wing (as we call them in Buffalo) or a Buffalo wing (as everyone else in the country calls them). I’ve been to all the legendary spots, watched people bob for them in kiddie pools of blue cheese for the sake of journalism, and made them at home more times than I can count. Every time I do, I think: Why don’t I do this more often?
Making wings at home is a good idea because most restaurants actually make terrible wings, and any wings you consume from a takeout or delivery container will be miserably sauce-logged and soggy by the time you bite into them. Even an oven-fried wing at home (this Serious Eats recipe works every time) will be far more crispy than a deep-fried wing you ordered from your local pizza delivery spot.
To make a good wing sauce (which I wrote about for TASTE a few years ago), treat that bottle of Frank’s like Marcella Hazan treated canned tomatoes. Simmer hot sauce with butter and a raw onion, adding a splash of vinegar or a pinch of chile powder as you see fit, and then use a pastry brush to paint the sauce onto each wing. This may sound fussy but it’s the secret to perfectly coated, never soggy wings. —Anna
Post-Vacation Soup Hits Different
I came back to New York after the holidays to a fridge with some produce that didn’t spoil so much as desiccate. A solitary languishing leek with browned tops. Some wrinkly peewee potatoes. A shriveled head of garlic, its skins disintegrating at the touch. Fortified by a quick grocery store run, I rescued it all by making this golden, few-ingredient, potato-and-leek soup by Andy Baraghani (that just so happens to be vegan). It was soothing and satiating.
There’s something extra special and cozy about that first meal you cook in your home when you come back after a trip. The sounds and smells of sizzling alliums feel like the first step in shaking out the stillness and the coldness. Blasting the new Bad Bunny album and lighting a candle are the second and third steps. —Antara
But Have You Miso-Salted That?
Back in November, my mom and I hiked a portion of the Nakasendō Way, a mountainous trail that was built to connect modern day Tokyo to Kyoto during the Edo period in Japan. The road was crucial for merchants and travelers, and for enforcing the sankin-kōtai — a Tokugawa shogunate policy requiring daimyō (feudal lords who controlled large armies of samurai) to alternate years between their provinces and Edo (Tokyo). While the lords hoofed it back home via routes like the Nakasendō, their families were kept in Edo as hostages to deter rebellion. (Also, have you watched Shōgun yet? You must.)
Each morning after breakfast — usually soup, rice, fresh local fish, fruit, and pickled veggies — we filled our backpacks with roadside Mutsu apples, green tea, and onigiri and pancakes from 7/11. Along the way we slept in the ancient post towns, known as juku. These were the exact same places where samurai would rest and refuel over 400 years ago. The typically narrow cobbled lanes were lit with lanterns and lined with dark wooden facades hiding away cozy inns, tea houses, shops, residences, and my personal vice: machines that would dispense chestnut soft serve on command.
I bought so many fun purses, chopsticks, and huge rounds of senbei — giant, crunchy-chewy rice crackers seasoned with sugar and soy sauce — in the adorable shops. It was in Narai that I found the jewel of my haul: a tiny spice shaker filled with miso-flavored salt (my janky translation app tells me it’s made with heavy hitters like miso, black pepper, wild garlic, bell pepper, chili, and cumin). I wish I bought, like, 75 jars, because I use this stuff constantly: sprinkled on roasted vegetables and snuck into soups, scrambled eggs, pastas, and so much more. It makes everything taste like something you cannot stop eating; salty, spicy, and a little sweet. I can’t find the same one online anywhere, but I guess this or this might be pretty close? —Ali
Los Angeles Fire Resources:
The Mutual Aid LA Network has compiled the largest list of resources we’ve found so far. For specific ways to support and be supported, see below.
How to Help:
- Donate to:
- World Central Kitchen, which provides meals to first responders and families impacted by wildfires in the Los Angeles area
- Habitat for Humanity, which assists in rebuilding homes
- The California Fire Foundation, which provides immediate and long-term support to families affected by wildfires in the state
- The LA Fire Department Foundation, which provides vital equipment and funds critical programs to help the LA's firefighters
- Shelters around the city looking for snacks, pet food, and more
- GoFundMe’s Wildlife Relief Fund, which sends critical cash grants directly to people who need help right now
- The American Red Cross, which provides shelter, meals, medical care, and more emergency relief supplies
- The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which donates emergency food to folks affected by the wildfires
How to Get Help:
- Double check before going, but apparently these restaurants are all offering free meals to those forced to evacuate their homes
- Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb are offering free rides and temporary housing to those evacuating and displaced by the fires.
- Uber: Use code WILDFIRE25 (valid for rides up to $40)
- Lyft: Use code CAFIRERELIEF25 (valid for two rides valued at $25 each)
- Airbnb: In partnership with 211 LA, residents who have either lost their homes or been forced to evacuate can fill out this intake form to request temporary housing
- Mask Bloc LA is distributing free PPE at various shelters across the city. (To support its efforts, Venmo @MaskBlocLA)
- Emergency Legal Responders have some solid advice if you’ve personally experienced fire-related losses
Thanks for your support! If you know of any other resources we’ve missed, please comment below. On Thursday, we’ll be back with a story from Anna about the specific new style of food taking over art and fashion parties.