2,148 pasteli recipes

Vietnamese Buddhist peanut dipping sauce made with tuong (fermented soybean paste), roasted peanuts, and sugar. A 10-minute vegan condiment for spring rolls and fresh vegetables.

Five-ingredient South Texas chuck wagon rub with crushed garlic, dried green chiles, cayenne, and seasoned pepper. A quick, bold paste for steaks, brisket, and grilled meats.

Authentic-tasting mole in under an hour using jarred paste, Mexican chocolate, and a simple trick. Smoky, rich sauce coats tender boiled chicken for a weeknight win.

Horenso no goma-ae is a Japanese spinach side dish dressed in a paste of toasted sesame seeds, sake, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Classic side served at room temperature with rice and miso.

Indonesian curried crab simmers cracked whole crab in a rich coconut curry built on a fresh-ground paste of galangal, lemongrass, chili and candlenuts, balanced with sour tamarind. Fragrant, fiery, gloriously messy.

Nigiri sushi, the hand-formed Japanese rice fingers topped with raw or cooked seafood and a touch of mustard or wasabi. Make sushi at home with just rice, fish, and a few simple ingredients.

Chinese hot orange soup made with fresh-squeezed orange juice, rock sugar, and preserved ginger, lightly thickened with cornstarch. Served warm with citrus slices and cream wafers.

Smoky, spicy black bean pesto made with ham hock, jalapeños, garlic, and cilantro stems. A thick, spreadable paste for tacos, chips, or as a bold side dish. Makes 3 cups.

A fragrant homemade Balti spice blend built from toasted coriander, cumin, cassia bark, fennel, black mustard seeds, cloves, and cardamom. Use it dry in curries or mix it into Balti masala paste for the real deal.

Ebi kimizushi: elegant Japanese stuffed-prawn sushi, with butterflied vinegar-marinated prawns filled with a silky, seasoned golden egg-yolk paste. A refined, bite-sized appetizer.

Crispy chicken fried steak fingers coated in a seasoned flour paste and saltine crumbs, fried golden, and served with rich homemade cream gravy. Quick, crunchy, and built for dipping.

Szechwan spiced beef stew braised with star anise, hot bean paste, crushed peppercorns, and dry sherry. Deeply aromatic Chinese-style comfort food.

Slow-simmered chicken and okra gumbo with a medium-brown roux, fresh tomatoes, and onions. The okra cooks down past the slime stage into a thick, velvety Louisiana classic served over rice.

Bite-size gemfish stir-fried with green beans and mushrooms in a lemongrass-garlic paste, finished with a glossy fish sauce glaze and topped with crushed peanuts and bird's eye chilies.

Portuguese style goat, a leg of kid rubbed with a garlic, paprika, bay, and pancetta paste, then roasted until tender and served with rice. A rustic, deeply seasoned Portuguese roast.

Traditional Japanese sweet azuki bean paste (anko) made with adzuki beans, kombu, raisins, and barley malt. Naturally sweetened, vegan, and endlessly versatile for Japanese desserts.