Move over meatloaf, make room for Mexican meatball soup. Mac & cheese?
What about Germany's spätzle with cheese? Hey now,
you can’t forget Korea’s cheesy ribs! Stay tuned to discover a world of new comfort foods!
Congee, or rice porridge, likely first arose during the Zhou dynasty in China around 1000
B.C. The word now associated with the dish, congee, came from the Tamil language of
South Asia – but there are many different words across several cultures that refer to the dish.
Many people remember their moms making congee for them when they were ill,
because it's easy to digest, but it is also
traditionally served for breakfast in many places or as a light midday meal.
The basic recipe is rice boiled in water, but variations abound. The rice could be
boiled in cow's milk or coconut milk. Or, to mix things up even further,
another grain or legume could be substituted for the rice or mixed in with it.
Congee may be served plain with side dishes, such as eggs or pickled vegetables or to spice things
up, things could be added to the broth, like bouillon, chicken, fish, vegetables, and herbs.
Bak kut teh translates to "meat bone tea" from the Hokkien language of southeast Asia.
It’s not actually made with tea but instead, as you guessed by the name,
it’s made from pork ribs boiled for hours in a spiced, herbal broth.
Common spices include, but are not limited to, star anise, cinnamon,
cloves, angelica root, licorice root, fennel seeds, and garlic. This dish is
popular in both Singapore and Malaysia, where, naturally, variations exist.
In many ways, bak kut teh resembles the Fujian province dish niu pai,
which uses beef ribs rather than pork. Several of the same herbs and spices are also used,
and the flavors are comparable. Both of the dishes are considered comfort
foods in their countries, and are often eaten in the cooler months of the year.
Malaysia's first bak kut teh restaurants opened in
the mid-1940s. It also emerged in Singapore around this time but didn't become really
popular until 20 years later when it became a favorite street food.
What do you get when you combine a fluffy omelet with fried rice?
"No clue, dude."
Well, one word to describe it would be, "delicious"! But another word would be "Omurice".
Omurice is a shortening of the two words "omelet" and "rice." It's a traditional Western-inspired
Japanese dish of fried rice wrapped in a thin, fluffy omelet and topped with ketchup.
In Japan, chicken fried rice is most often used, but in Korea, where it is also commonly eaten,
omurice is often made with pork. The omelet wrap can be difficult to make. Because of that,
many people today opt instead to top the rice with scrambled eggs. Others enjoy decorating
the top of their omurice, squeezing out fun shapes with the ketchup bottle.
It’s generally accepted that omurice originated at a restaurant in Osaka in
the 1920s, though some claim it was actually invented in Tokyo.
Wherever it came from, omurice has become a beloved dish across
East Asia. Further evidence that rice and eggs were meant to go together!
A fluffy little dumpling, spätzle was born in southwest Germany. The base
ingredients are flour, eggs, yogurt, and whole milk, but different spices,
like chili powder, can be added for a zestier flavor.
Being a starchy food, spätzle can be treated much the same as pasta or rice.
Serve it alongside roast beef or juicy bratwurst, or top it with a red sauce,
meaty stew, or green pesto. Really, you are only limited by your imagination with spätzle.
One popular variety is käsespätzle, which is very similar to homemade macaroni and cheese.
Cassoulet is a stew-like casserole that is a specialty in southern France. The name
comes from the special ceramic dish that it is traditionally cooked in.
The traditional meats used are duck legs and pork sausage, though nowadays,
several types of meat can be swapped in like chicken for duck, for example,
and turkey sausage rather than pork. It can even be made vegan. The other key
ingredient is the white bean, which can be white kidney beans or Tarbais beans. Throw
in some herbs and sometimes root vegetables, like carrots and leeks, celery, and tomatoes.
Some recipes include adding a layer of bread crumbs over the top to make a kind of crust.
Cassoulet is cooked slowly over the course of a few hours. Pair it with
a nice Cahors or Malbec wine, a green salad, and freshly baked French bread. Bon app​​étit!
Fry up some meatballs, then simmer them in a tomato-based soup, and you have Mexican
sopa de albóndigas, or literally "meatball soup". Well, those are the basics anyway.
This soup descended from the middle east when the dish arrived in Spain with the Muslims
when they ruled part of Southern Spain from the sixth to 13th centuries. Spanish conquistadors
then brought the recipe with them when they sailed to the Americas and colonized what is
now Mexico. There it was passed down through the generations and evolved into the soup of today.
For the meatballs, either poultry or beef may be used. They may be seasoned with smoked paprika,
coriander, garlic, onions, and breadcrumbs for a real…
"...spicy meatball!"
They are then simmered alongside vegetables, such as celery,
carrots, and potatoes, and topped with things like sliced avocado,
salsa, grated cheese, or chopped green onion. Don’t forget the freshly made corn tortillas!
The humble pasty began life as far back as the 13th century as food for the wealthy.
But pasties are really known as food for miners — Cornish miners to be precise. Today,
pasties are part of Cornish culture and tradition within the U.K. and beyond.
A traditional pasty is a half-circle-shaped pastry filled with beef, potatoes, onions, and rutabagas,
though a variety of fillings can be used. The ingredients are cooked inside the pastry, which
creates a satisfying gravy. The portability of the pasty is what makes it such a convenient meal.
When rich veins of ore were discovered in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the early 1800s,
skilled Cornish miners immigrated to the region and brought pasties with them.
The other miners were so impressed by them that they, too, adopted the pasty for their
lunches. Thus pasties have become beloved comfort food for Yoopers and Cornish alike.
By the 1700s, potatoes had migrated to Ireland and taken root not only in the ground but in
the cuisine. Nowadays, you might find a recipe for the beloved Irish dish, colcannon on bags
of potatoes sold in shops. For starters, the first thing you'll need to make colcannon is…
"PO-TA-TOES!"
Then you're going to want to boil those potatoes, and mash them along with some kale or cabbage,
and leeks. It can be eaten as a mash or put into a baked dish and baked in the
oven for about half an hour. Leftovers can also be fried into potato pancakes.
While colcannon can be eaten at any time, it was once tradition to eat it on Halloween. For
centuries in Ireland, this night was called Colcannon Night. A variety of trinkets,
such as a ring or coin, were hidden in the colcannon. Whatever trinket a person
received determined their fortune for the year. For example, the ring meant marriage.
Though controversial, frybread is beloved by many Native Americans across the U.S. When
the Navajo were forced from their native lands to settle in unfamiliar regions,
their ability to hunt and raise their own food was crippled.
The U.S. government sent them base provisions that included wheat flour,
a staple to Europeans, but not to people of the Americas, where wheat is not a native crop.
Frybread was born of these unfamiliar ingredients and a little ingenuity.
This simple dough is made from flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and water.
It is then formed into balls, flattened, pierced a few times to make small holes,
and deep fried. The result is a little like an elephant ear. They can be eaten plain,
topped with Nutella or powdered sugar, or even made into a taco.
Groundnut soup, or peanut butter soup as it is sometimes known, is an important part of
West African cuisine. A paste is made from groundnuts which are then thinned with water
or soup stock for flavoring. Peanut butter may also be used. An array of cooked meats,
vegetables, herbs, and spices are also added depending on the region
and personal taste. Food blogger Lois, of Yummy Medley, said that groundnut soup is:
"A common staple in special events such as weddings and even funerals."
Therefore it's commonly served at events that tie a community together. Bitter leaf,
which is native to West Africa, is a common component of groundnut soup. The bitterness
of the leaves is what gives the plant its name, but all parts are used for medicinal purposes.
Bitter leaf is traditionally used to treat malaria, which has shown some real merit in
treating the disease. Groundnuts are also good for one's health, providing a good amount of protein,
Omega-6, fiber, and more. The soup is often served with rice,
fufu which is a mashed starchy food, fonio an ancient grain, or other sides.
Poutine is one of Canada's most celebrated foods. Those French fries topped with cheese
curds and gravy originated in Quebec in the 1950s. No one knows for sure,
but it is thought that someone requested that cheese curds be added to French fries.
The fries grew cold too quickly, so the gravy was added to keep the dish warm.
In the 1980s, poutine had grown beyond its provincial borders and became a popular
street food in neighboring Ontario as well as at home. In the 1990s,
poutine was even added to the menus of fast-food restaurants like McDonald's.
Nowadays, restaurants devoted entirely to poutine can be found,
and almost anything can be put on fries. Even vegan poutine exists
by substituting vegan cheese and gravy. Because the hot gravy melts the cheese,
and the fries become soft after soaking up the gravy, poutine is generally eaten with a fork.
So many cultures love cabbage rolls that it was impossible to highlight just one. You may know
them as golabki in Poland, holubtsi in Ukraine, sarmale in Romania, mahshi kromb in Egypt,
or some other name, but they all have one thing in common: stuffed cabbage.
The Ukrainian holubtsi varies by region. Sometimes corn grits are used in the stuffing,
other times buckwheat. Spiced ground meat and onion are also traditional.
After being placed into a pot, a broth is poured over the rolls,
and then they're topped with sour cream, and the dish is baked until the cabbage leaves are soft.
Polish golabki is very close to holubtsi, but may be topped with a specially blended tomato
sauce. In Romania, where they are called sarmale, the cabbage leaves are stuffed with ground meat,
rice, herbs, and spices. Rather than broth, these cabbage rolls are
cooked in a special tomato juice. Egyptian mahshi kromb are made in a similar manner.
An Arabic slang term for "mixture," shakshuka is another dish that crosses
borders. Variations exist in countries all around the Mediterranean. Using a skillet,
herbs, spices, and occasionally some greens or vegetables are cooked in a tomato sauce.
When the sauce is ready, typically four eggs are added and poached in the mixture. Shakshuka can
be eaten at any time of the day, and the extra sauce can be sopped up with bread.
Shakshuka is particularly popular in Israel, brought to the country
by immigrants from North Africa, where it may have originated. When made with spinach,
mangold, and cream, it's called green shakshuka.
In Italy, shakshuka is known as the somewhat dramatic uova all'inferno or
"eggs in hell" or uova in purgatorio or eggs in purgatory. The eggs represent human souls,
and the surrounding bubbling red tomato sauce is either hell or purgatory.
Name one thing that isn't significantly improved by adding cheese to it?
"I can't think of anything."
Exactly! And hence, the ultimate comfort food, cheese deung galbi!
Cheese deung galbi, which translates to "cheese back ribs", is not for everyone,
but it might be comfort food at its most indulgent. A Korean dish, cheese deung galbi is,
at its heart, tender baby back ribs braised with spicy gochujang sauce dipped in gooey,
melted Mozzarella cheese. But, of course, variations exist.
First, the heat level of the ribs can be made to order. While gochujang has a satisfying
umami flavor, it can also be very spicy! Second,
sometimes rather than Mozzarella alone, people will add corn,
along with other ingredients, turning it into the appropriately named corn cheese.
Cheese deung galbi is perfect for sharing with friends and family,
enjoyed as an appetizer or a full meal served with rice, kimchi, or Korean egg rolls. Because
it’s so messy to eat, restaurants may offer you a plastic glove to use to keep your hands clean.
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