Garlicky sausage mac and cheese
Hi, I’m Connie!
Welcome to Umami Days, a blog that advocates innovative home cooking for pleasurable everyday dining. No trendy diets, no food fads and definitely no ludicrous recipe names like crustless quiche, noodleless pho or chocolate lasagna.
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Not my mother’s chicken salad sandwich
My mother didn’t add vegetables to her chicken salad sandwich filling. Just mayo, salt and pepper. I like to add celery, bell peppers, onion and sweet …
Moussaka with Mornay sauce
Among all variants of moussaka, this is closest to the Greek layered eggplant and meat dish. But the white sauce has cheese. And more cheese is added …
Chicken soup with mustard greens (leaves)
Make this tasty soup with unwanted chicken parts. Backs or necks, or a combination. While you may always scrape the meagre meat and skin, it is the broth …
Mornay sauce (French cheesy white sauce)
It’s French but it isn’t among the five mother sauces. It’s white but it’s not the same as Béchamel sauce. To make Mornay sauce, you need Béchamel sauce …
Garlic butter noodles with honey and gochujang
Sweet, sour, salty and packed with heat, this spicy meatless mushroom and noodle dish can be cooked in 15 minutes flat. Enjoy for breakfast, snack, lunch …
Tilapia braised in spicy coconut cream
Ten minutes to prep and ten minutes to cook. Simple to make but exceptionally tasty. Serve over rice (don’t forget to drizzle sauce over the rice) for the …
Outside the (recipe) box
What’s the difference between sea salt and rock salt?
When researches say that microplastics have been found in commercial salt originating from different parts of the world, which are they referring to — sea …
Where was the gravy boat first used?
It’s that tableware that looks like a squat pitcher. A shallow oblong bowl with a spout on one end and a handle on the other. It’s been in use long before …
Is blanching spinach a must?
Of course not. It always depends on the dish it is meant to go into. If the dish won’t benefit from the high water content of spinach, here’s how to blanch …
Are katsuobushi and bonito flakes the same?
Fine curly shavings that dance in the heat of the steam of takoyaki or okonomiyaki. They’re shaved fermented fish. The Japanese name is katsuobushi but …
How to make broth for shio ramen
It’s all about the broth. The clarity. The lightness. I make broth by simmering meat and bones. Then, I drop a teaspoon of salt into a bowl, pour in broth …
Is Vietnamese lotus tea real tea?
It depends. Trà sen is real tea. Trà tim sen is an infusion. Both are sold as Vietnamese lotus tea.