Main Dishes

Braises, roasts and slow pots at the heart of the table.

Bún chả in a white bowl: small grilled pork patties and slices of pork belly, caramel-brown with charred edges, in a thin amber dipping broth with strips of green papaya and carrot, minced garlic and rings of red chile, beside a plate of rice vermicelli bundles, a plate of lettuce, perilla, mint and cilantro, and a saucer of sliced chiles and lime

Vietnamese

Bún Chả: Hanoi Grilled Pork with Noodles and Dipping Broth

6 servings · 2 hr

Boiled jiaozi on a white porcelain plate with a thin blue rim: plump crescents pleated along the top, their thin, glossy wrappers showing the green napa cabbage inside, beside small white dishes of black vinegar with minced garlic and red chili oil with flakes, wooden chopsticks and a linen napkin on a dark wooden table

Chinese

Jiaozi: Boiled Chinese Pork and Napa Cabbage Dumplings

48 dumplings · 2 hr

A wide terracotta bowl of thick ribollita on a pale grey stone table: a khaki-green bread and bean soup with dark ribbons of cavolo nero, whole white cannellini beans, carrot and potato, topped with a pool of green-gold olive oil, black pepper and rings of raw red onion, with a spoon in it and a jug of oil and a torn loaf behind

Italian

Ribollita: Tuscan Bread, Bean and Cavolo Nero Soup

6 bowls · 3 hr 15 min

A dark brown stoneware bowl of Cullen skink on a grey-blue painted table: a pale ivory, milky soup with large flakes of white smoked haddock, soft potato cubes, onion, chopped parsley and chives and a knob of melting butter, beside a slice of buttered crusty bread and a spoon on a linen napkin

British

Cullen Skink: Scottish Smoked Haddock and Potato Soup

4 servings · 50 min

Japanese curry rice on an off-white oval plate with a thin rust-brown rim: a mound of white short-grain rice on the left, a thick, glossy brown curry with chunks of beef, potato and carrot on the right, and a small heap of red fukujinzuke pickles, with a steel spoon and a glass of water on a light wooden table

Japanese

Japanese Curry Rice: Kare Raisu with a Homemade Roux

4 servings · 2 hr 35 min

A brown glazed clay bowl of birria de res on a dark wooden table: chunks of braised beef and a bone-in piece of shank in a brick-red consomé with a thin orange-red sheen of fat, topped with finely diced white onion and chopped cilantro, with lime wedges, a stack of warm corn tortillas in a cloth and a small dish of dark red chile salsa beside it

Mexican

Birria de Res: Jalisco-Style Beef Birria in Red Consomé

6 servings · 12 hr

A deep white bowl of Egyptian molokhia on a home table: a glossy, smooth, vivid green soup with fine dark-green flecks and golden fried garlic on top, beside a plate of white rice threaded with toasted vermicelli, golden-skinned chicken legs, lemon wedges, a torn round of brown flatbread and a small dish of red onion

Egyptian

Molokhia: Egyptian Green Soup with Garlic and Coriander

4 servings · 1 hr 30 min

A shallow off-white enamel bowl with a thin red rim of Egyptian ful medames on a pale-green painted table: soft brown fava beans with wrinkled, split skins in a moist half-mashed bean paste, a pool of golden olive oil in the centre topped with chopped tomato, parsley and scallion, ground cumin on the rim, beside two puffed brown flatbreads, a saucer of pink pickled turnips and green chillies, and lemon wedges

Egyptian

Ful Medames: Egyptian Slow-Stewed Fava Beans for Breakfast

6 servings · 5 hr 50 min

A wide steel bowl of Egyptian koshary on a pale-blue table: rice speckled with dark lentils and toasted vermicelli, elbow macaroni and broken spaghetti, chickpeas, orange-red tomato sauce poured over one side and a tall tangle of dark brown crisp onions, beside a bottle of garlic vinegar, chili oil, a spoon and half a lemon

Egyptian

Koshary: Egyptian Rice, Lentils and Pasta with Crisp Onions

6 servings · 1 hr 30 min

Two moi moi on a speckled stoneware plate: one unwrapped from a steamed, olive-green banana leaf, soft and coral-orange with leaf creases on its sides, the other cut open to show a smooth orange inside with a quarter of boiled egg and smoked mackerel, beside jollof rice and fried plantain

Nigerian

Moi Moi: Nigerian Steamed Bean Pudding with Egg and Fish

6 servings · 2 hr 30 min

Hong shao rou heaped in a white porcelain bowl with a blue rim: soft, irregular chunks of pork belly in a glossy mahogany-red glaze, with skin, fat and lean in layers, a little thick glaze pooled underneath and sliced scallion on top, beside a bowl of white rice, green bok choy and wooden chopsticks

Chinese

Hong Shao Rou: Glossy Chinese Red-Braised Pork Belly

6 servings · 2 hr

Moqueca baiana in a wide brown clay pot with two side handles: thick white fish steaks among rings of onion, tomato and green and red pepper in a glossy saffron-orange coconut and palm oil broth, scattered with chopped cilantro, with bowls of white rice and golden farofa and lime wedges beside it

Brazilian

Moqueca Baiana: Brazilian Fish Stew with Coconut and Dendê

6 servings · 1 hr 5 min