A 2024 recap in food
(plus recipes for what i cooked on christmas: roast chicken, potato salad, and pomegranate lettuce salad)
2024 has been a beautiful year, one in which I feel at peace and content with myself and my place in the world. The biggest change in my life this year has been teaching cooking classes in the Netherlands: for individuals or couples at home, and for large groups at a cooking studio in Breda. Much of my work—freelance writing, recipe development, and cookbook-writing—is done in isolation at home, so getting to meet new people, teach in person, and cook alongside others has been deeply fulfilling.
Through the cooking classes, I’m also learning about Dutch culture. One trait that I admire about the Dutch is their openness in communicating their needs, desires, and opinions. As a Singaporean, it’s far more common to leave things ambiguous or be indirect to avoid awkwardness or avoid appearing less than generous, and then to simmer in resentment when people cross our boundaries. The Dutch approach is far healthier in my opinion; clearly laying out your needs and expectations at the outset—whether regarding the duration of a hosted lunch, hesitations about a request, or how a bill is to be split—helps avoid misunderstandings, allows others to understand you better, and strengthens the relationship even if that might not seem like the obvious result.
I’m also grateful that I’ve managed to dedicate a good amount of time this year for kitchen adventures, culinary enjoyments, and new discoveries, most of which I’ve documented on this newsletter. I’ve also begun inviting more teachers to share their expertise (thank you paid subscribers for making this possible!)—I hope you enjoyed these guest posts as much as I have. Here are all the new recipes on the newsletter in 2024:
Achar (vg) | Multipurpose rempah (vg) | Glutinous rice balls with black sesame filling (v) | Ear biscuits | Popiah and popiah wrappers (vgo) | Open-faced pineapple tarts (vg) | Otah | Milky fish broth | Sugee cake (vg) | Pumpkin kueh | Carrot sugee cake (vg) | Cereal prawns | Chendol (vg) | Nasi ulam | Lor bak | Braised wombok in chicken broth | Peanut butter noodle salad | Black forest tiramisu (v) | Pissaladière | Multigrain glutinous rice dumplings (vg) | Muah chee (vg) | Soymilk (vg) | Gula melaka granola (vg) | Raspberry ripple ice cream sandwich (v) | Baechu kimchi | Chicken pho | Rendang daging | Bánh xèo (vgo) | Pandan layer cake (v) | LA kalbi | Pasta alle vongole, chilli crab-style | Ensaymada | Crispy pork belly | Tom yum fish soup | Thịt kho trứng | Tomato shio ramen (vg) | Chicken mohinga | Ayam masak merah biryani | Thenkuzhal murukku (vgo) | Butternut squash dengaku (vg) | Three-cup chicken | Bak zhang | Doenjang jjigae | Sambal tumis ayam goreng | Hoshigaki | Málà cocoa linzers (v) | Gyoza | Embutido pâté en crôute | Blue cheese, walnut, and hoshigaki sablés (v) | Chai and chocolate chunk cookies (v) | Nori and white chocolate langue de chat (v) | Malibu-inspired pineapple tarts (vg)
Our final meals of the year felt like a fitting celebration and farewell to 2024. For Christmas lunch, I roasted chicken, which might seem like a humble, everyday dish, but it’s a classic for a reason. Through the years, I’ve tried many recipes, including the famed Thomas Keller and Zuni Café roast chickens, but the approach I love most comes from the first restaurant I worked at.
The spatchcocked chicken is first brined, guaranteeing juiciness and allowing the flavours of garlic and herbs to penetrate the flesh. There’s also a touch of honey to herb with the browning of the skin. After an overnight brine, the chicken is left to air-dry in the refrigerator for another night, until the skin is dry to the touch. To order, the spatchcocked chicken is slid into a pan and basted in butter until the skin begins to bronze, then slid into a wood-burning oven to finish. Except for using a regular oven in place of wood-fire, this is the way I’ve been roasting chicken at home since. This is an undertaking that requires patience (not so much effort), but Christmas dinner (and roast chicken) definitely deserves that.
To accompany the chicken, a fabulous potato salad. Potato salad is extra special in Europe because the potatoes here are so creamy and rich-tasting. The key is to cook the spuds just right—long enough for a fork to slide into them with little effort, but not so long that they fall apart. My dressing of choice is a quick onion pickle, some chopped dill, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, tossed with the potatoes while they are still hot. And finally, some fat slivers of the best anchovies and hard-boiled eggs over the top. Cracked open my tin of Codesa anchovies from Spain that I’d been saving for an occasion, and the wait was entirely worth it.
Finally, a light and refreshing pomegranate and lettuce salad, along with some sauerkraut gifted from a friend. Everything complemented one another on the plate so well and truly felt special. You’ll find the recipes for all three dishes below.
A few days after Christmas, we hosted an impromptu farewell dinner for friends who were departing the Netherlands for Singapore. I made harjeonggai (recipe here, updated with gram measurements) and our friends brought the rest of the food from France. Felt like a very cosy end to the year, or gezellig, as the Dutch would say. I have news for 2025, but I’ll share that with you in the new year. For now, thank you for being here and sharing virtual space with me in my kitchen!
Roast chicken
Serves 4