Culinary Journal
Category
Chicken 65: What Does the Number Mean?
What Does the 65 Mean?
There are at least five different explanations for why this dish is called Chicken 65, and none of them can be..
Chicken Manchow Soup: The Moment the Noodles Hit the Broth
The Moment the Noodles Hit the Broth
There is a specific sound that happens when you stir crispy fried noodles into a hot, dark broth: a..
Samosa: The Most-Travelled Pastry in the World, Made Right on Newark Avenue
The Most-Travelled Pastry in the World
The samosa did not begin in India. This is the claim, and it is worth making clearly because it..
Hot and Sour Vegetarian Soup: The Starter That Wakes Everything Up
The Bowl That Wakes Everything Up
Before you have tasted a spoonful, you know what kind of soup this is. The color is the first signal: a..
Vegetable Manchow Soup: India Invented This One
India Invented This Soup
There is no Manchow soup in China. There never was. Unlike the egg drop technique borrowed from the Han dynasty,..
Chicken Hot and Sour Soup: What Sourness Does to a Meal
What Sourness Does to a Meal
There is a reason that almost every serious culinary tradition in the world begins a meal with something..
Sweet Corn Soup (Veg): Jersey City’s Favourite Indo-Chinese Starter Done Right
The Soup That Crossed Every Boundary
There are dishes that belong firmly to one tradition, and there are dishes that seem to have always..
Sweet Corn Chicken Soup: How a Kolkata Classic Found a Home on Newark Avenue
The Same Bowl, Made Richer
There is a particular satisfaction in a dish that knows exactly what it is trying to do. The Sweet Corn..
Egg Drop Soup: A Two-Thousand-Year-Old Technique, Made Right on Newark Avenue
A Technique Older Than Most Cuisines
Pouring beaten egg into a hot, moving broth and watching it set into ribbons is one of the oldest..
Malai Tomato Soup: The Story Behind Jersey City’s Creamiest Indian Starter
When the Colonial Kitchen Met the Indian Pantry
The tomato has an unlikely history in Indian cooking. It arrived on the subcontinent with..