The spring cleaning itch has hit me almost as hard as the pollen. In the kitchen, it often looks like a cupboard and freezer cleanout — and a refresh. Every time I take inventory of my spice rack, I get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of chile products I’ve accumulated. But here’s the thing: Everything has its rightful place in my cooking.
If you’re looking for a kitchen refresh, here’s a (non-exhaustive!) list of catering and fridge essentials worth stocking up on to enrich your cooking and, by extension, your life.
Dried chilies
A well-stocked pantry may have three different forms of dried chilies: whole, flakes, and powder. Whole dried chilies, such as guajillo chiles or chiles de árbol, can be rehydrated by soaking or boiling in water so they can be easily mashed into smooth sauces, pastes or moles. They’ll add color, earthiness, or heat (or all three!) to dishes like Rick Martínez’s chilaquiles.
Chilaquiles
Red pepper flakes (or crushed red pepper), often a mixture of dried hot chilies and their seeds that have been processed into uniform flakes, can be the fastest, cheapest, and most accessible way for heat. Simply by Alexa Weibel Arrabbiata saucea teaspoon or two of the stuff builds the fiery base of classic tomato sauce.
When it comes to ground spices, the options are seemingly endless: ground cayenne, Kashmiri chili powder, gochugaru, Aleppo pepper, and ancho chili powder are just a few examples. Because some chilies are hotter than others, you might not want to make a substitution of, say, spicy cayenne for the milder Kashmiri at Naz Deravian’s hello goby. If you can’t find cashmere, he writes, “combine ½ teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika with a dash of cayenne.”
Fiery spices
Across cultures, you’ll find chilies cut in vinegar or oil, fermented or dipped in honey for seasonings that will last a lifetime on your refrigerator door or pantry.
Some pastes, such as sambal oelek the harissathey feature other flavors like garlic so they can do double duty in otherwise simple dishes like Hetty Lui McKinnon’s five ingredients baked tomato pasta with harissa and halloumi. (Note that some sambals, depending on their region of origin, may contain seafood.) And the consistency of chili pastes makes them a great base for a glaze, as in Eric Kim’s recipe for gochujang glazed eggplant with fried onion.
A drizzle of warm honey — which is made by roasting chiles in white vinegar and honey — can liven up pizzas and add a sweet heat to dishes like Melissa Clark’s pumpkin roasted nut and chickpeas. And chili-based seasonings can add both heat and texture to a dish. Look no further than Chili Crisp (or chile oil, or chile crunch) to add bite in both senses of the word, as in Hetty’s vegan crispy chili fried rice with tofu and edamame;. You can also use some of the seasoning oil to fry an egg if you want to enjoy it over your rice.
While you can certainly buy any of these, you can also easily make them yourself harissa, warm honey, Chili Crisp and more quickly chili sauces at home.
No thought, just “Challengers” actor Mike Feist wearing a giant root vegetable pin at the Met Gala on Monday. Is it a radish? A turnip? Either way, it’s very vegetarian of him. (This year’s theme was “The Garden of Time”.)