#4 Peanuts – Snack & Chill
Welcome to the fourth edition of our biweekly newsletter that hopefully spices up your Sundays (literally) and makes your life a bit richer (metaphorically). Thanks for subscribing, and stay cosy!
🤌🏻 Try this at home, kids!
Not your typical vegan dish: Due to popular demand and our personal gusto – here’s a super-quick, super-cosy veggie food formula. These quick and simple Creamy Peanut Noods serve 2 to 3, depending on how hungry you are.
Take a medium-sized bowl and whisk together soy sauce (2 tbsp), Kewpie/vegan mayonnaise (1 tbsp), neutral oil (1 tbsp), one block of fermented tofu, creamy peanut butter (6 tbsp), black/cherry vinegar (1 tbsp), sugar (1.5 tbsp) and a pinch of salt.
Toast sesame seeds (3 tbsp) and add to the mix.
Your 5-minute road to food heaven right there.
If the mix lacks silkiness, add a bit of water and whisk until smooth. Give the mixture a taste – it should be equally nutty and have some tanginess to it. Add peanut butter or vinegar to your liking.
Slice carrots, cucumber, and scallions. Wash the cilantro and put it aside.
Cook the noodles until al dente, then transfer them to the sauce bowl and mix it all up real good. The heat will make your sauce even creamier.
Time to plate! For each portion, add a handful of veggie toppings plus greens of your choice. Sprinkle with some more of the roasted sesame seeds and – as in Duy Anh’s case – a lot of chili oil.
Dig in!
This is your shopping list to copy-paste:
Creamy peanut butter, a jar of fermented tofu, Kewpie mayonnaise (or a vegan alternative), sesame seeds, vinegar (black/cherry), neutral oil, Chinese noodles, carrots (1-2 pcs), cucumber (1 pc), cilantro, scallions, dark soy sauce.
💕 You know what this tastes amazing with!?
Ciao Chang’s Chili Crunch!
The CCCC, as we will refer to this special sauce from now on, stems from the mighty brain and hands of Daniel Wäcker. He’s the co-founder and head chef of Munich’s cosiest Izakaya Ciao Chang. After dinner there last week, he slipped us a jar of their velvety-crunchy-heavenly-spicy chili mix after dinner. And what can we say… Sigh! This won’t last another week.
While the recipe is, for obvious reasons, a secret, Daniel told us this much: He makes syrup from dried shiitake mushrooms for extra umami flavour and adds fried shallots, garlic and ginger to the mix. If you’re passing through Glockenbachviertel, pay him a visit and order the entire menu, including the CCCC! There will be no regrets!
👀 So apparently, you’re into summer vibes on a plate, aren’t you?
Rebekah Peppler is a Paris-based Californian food writer, author of the much-acclaimed cocktail book “Apéritif,” and pastry chef. With her second recipe collection, “À Table,” she put together an array of seemingly nonchalant, unfussy dishes. It’s inspired by the French way of cooking, drinking, and hosting but also has this laid-back Cali approach to enjoying oneself. “À Table is about gathering over food and drink, coaxing the fantastical from the real, and unabashedly sharing it with your people.“ Amen, sister.
From Baked Camembert and Eggs Mayo With Persillade to Seven-Hour Leg of Lamb and Cassoulet – her recipes range from simple to stylish. One of the cutest and most genuine things about this book is the fact that she added a “takeaway on takeaways”, and included a granola recipe for you to craft a “goodie bag” that your dinner guests can take home after you hosted them. Such an original idea! (Our guests mostly receive vintage Tupperware stuffed with leftovers but we’re taking notes here.)
Rumor has it (aka Rebekah posted on Instagram) that a second cookbook is on its way to the bookstores soon, which will be heavily influenced by her trips to Le Sud. So excited!
📍 Here’s a restaurant recommendation for you
While we’d never judge the quality of a meal by the amount of tweezers and gadgets involved in it’s preparation or plating, the sophisticated Büffelhof Beuerbach has a special place in our hearts. Partly because we befriended the head chef trio over the course of time, but also because their food is insanely tasty.
On the farm itself, the staff keeps both Italian water buffalos as well as a huge vegetable garden for the purpose of showcasing a creative, seasonal and attentive kitchen practise. Their daily changing dishes put buffalo products in the focus, sometimes in a rather unusual way, but always with a sense of zeitgeist, humor and curiosity towards the craft of cooking.
Located in a tiny village in an Upper Bavarian district, just a 40-minute drive outside of Munich, it presents sustainable farming within an authentic surrounding. If you’re into a holistic experience, you might even book their Tiny House accommodation for a sleepover on the same compound.
🏆 If you like us, you’ll love
all editions of Makers Bible. By all means, the founders (who are running Melville Brand Design by day) share our passion for handcrafted goods and delicious food. They started their truly beautiful publication series with the goal of telling great stories about equally great makers, crafters, and foodies all over the place. Up until now, they published a stack of books as a manifest of passion, quality, and the finest craftsmanship. More to come…
If you’re as much into hefty print objects as ourselves, you can buy their books about the Alps region as a bundle for only 35,– € right now. 👀
📺 Worthwhile to watch
Yes, of course, we do have a refined taste when it comes to TV food content. But also, we’re parents of a two-year-old, so this is where Studio Ghibli comes into the literal picture. Since our daughter watched “Ponyo” on our last flight to Vietnam, she’s loved the film so much that we eventually got her a little Ponyo plush toy she’s dragging everywhere.
The film tells the tale of the goldfish Ponyo, who desires to escape from the ocean. She is rescued ashore by a five-year-old boy, Sōsuke, who she bonds with immediately. Unfortunately, her wizard father disapproves of her life choice and goes after her… No spoilers here, except there’s this genuinely wonderful scene in which Ponyo tastes Ramen for the first time. If you’re into it just as we are, you might want to try this recipe yourself while you watch the Ghibli classic for the whole experience:
2 Japanese instant ramen packs (i.e. Nissin Raoh brand)
2 slices of ham, cut in half down the middle
1 soft or hard boiled egg, cut in half
1 green onion, thinly chopped
💌 A random quote on food
“Empathy goes a long way, in life as well as during a successful dinner party. Get and stay attuned to your guests. Set terms by asking questions in advance. If you've invited people who don’t know each other, introduce them with a connective talking point so they don’t have to start with the weather. If someone isn’t drinking that night for LITERALLY WHATEVER REASON, THEY DON’T HAVE TO EXPLAIN THEMSELVES, have something special and non-boozy ready for them, both when they walk in the door and to drink throughout the night. Sparkling water, nonalcoholic cocktails, a special soda: all great options. If you know someone has social anxiety, invite them over a bit early for some one-on-one time before any crowd amasses.”
✌🏻 Who are we even!?
We’re a journalist slash a designer by day and foodies by night. Sonja has spent around 15 years in hospitality (big love!), and Duy Anh learned his craft mostly by watching his talented mum whip up the most amazing Vietnamese meals. So when we cook, it’s all about that sweet spot between cosy and delicious. Although admittedly, our days of the extravaganza have changed pace ever since our harshest critic (aka now two-year-old daughter) came into our lives. Hence the delay with the promised cookbook. We’ll keep you posted!
🎤 Lastly, let’s turn to our foreign correspondent Alice M. Huynh
Here's news from our own Alice M. Huynh, founder of I Heart Alice and fellow foodie. Currently, she roams one of her most beloved places in the universe: México. And she came up with a special recommendation for this edition of our newsletter – Oaxaca city. "There's really not much else to say than I've found a new favorite city," she texted us. "I'm in paradise here!" So if you care to know what else she eats, sees, drinks, and discovers, follow her around.
🍳 What’s next?
If you like what you just read, consider tuning in again in two weeks. This time, we’ll be sharing a cake recipe with y’all that is both CAP-approved as it is lazy as shit. Until then, stay cosy! 💋