24 sea sour recipes

Chunky sweet potato soup loaded with carrots, celery, peas, and herbs, finished with nonfat sour cream and skim milk. A big-batch comfort soup that serves 16 and feels lighter than it tastes.

Chicken and vegetable stir fry with broccoli and snow peas in a quick ginger-soy sauce, thickened glossy and served over rice. A fast 30-minute weeknight dinner with crisp-tender vegetables.

Crispy vegetarian egg rolls stuffed with spinach, cabbage, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. Fried golden and served with a homemade sweet and sour dipping sauce.

Slow cooker beef chuck roast simmered all day with black-eyed peas, carrots and green chiles, finished with a hit of hickory liquid smoke. Set it and forget it for 9 to 10 hours.

Seafood strata layered with crab meat, oyster crackers, water chestnuts, and peas in a lobster bisque custard. Assembled the night before and baked golden for an easy brunch or dinner.

Szechwan spicy scallops: quick-fried sea scallops tossed in a hot-sweet-sour sauce of red pepper flakes, soy, ginger, garlic, and scallions. A fiery Chinese restaurant classic in 40 minutes.

Asafetida, mango powder, and black salt distinguish the chat masala from other masalas, giving the blend a sourness that makes it a welcome accompaniment to fresh fruit and other snacks. 'Chat' refers to various snacks and to the North Indian cafes that serve them. Fresh fruit often is sprinkled with lime juice and chat masala. Black salt (which is actually reddish gray), available at Indian food stores, has a distinctive flavor that's quite different from sea salt or table salt. The garam masala is the wild card in this recipe; either one of the (Tamil Nadu Curry Powder or Punjabi-Style Garam Masala) masalas may be used.

Oven kalua pork: a four-ingredient Hawaiian luau classic that turns pork butt into smoky, salty, fall-apart shreds without a buried imu pit. Liquid smoke, Hawaiian sea salt, water, and time do the work.