The Second Spoon Project

My project for 2017: cooking. The goal is 52 new dishes by the end of the year. Help me brainstorm ideas, help cook if you’d like, and definitely help eat. Don’t forget, bring a spoon.

2021 update: big disclaimer, this was fun documentation of my cooking learning process in med school, but most were straight translations of online recipes, first attempts never to be repeated. Take them lightly, and please forgive me. Only a few, highlight in purple, are recipes I worked upon.

Mains

Taiwanese, Chinese

• nio rou mian (Taiwanese beef noodle soup) – 1/20
• lu rou fan (Taiwanese braised pork) – 1/27, 9/2
• Taiwanese sticky rice – 3/1
• Taiwanese pork belly – 9/2
• Taiwanese fried pork chops – 9/2
• san bei ji (marinated chicken) – 5/7
• cong you bing (scallion pancakes) – 7/15.
• Updated in 2018 here: Scallion Pancakes
• luo buo gao (radish cake) – 4/17
• Taiwanese braised cabbage – 9/2
• dumplings – 1/28
• braised pork – 5/25
• cha siu (BBQ pork) – 3/23
• dan dan mian (Szechuan noodles) – 3/26
• zha jiang mian (Beijing noodles) – 4/10
• eggplant, fried, spicy, with pork – 1/27
• eggplant, with garlic basil chicken – 5/11
• grilled chicken with scallion ginger oil (old)
• Developed in 2021: Soymilk

Japanese

• oyakodon (chicken egg on rice) – 2/4
• gyudon (beef on rice) w/ egg – 6/23
• chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) – 2/4
• okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) – 7/30 (no post)
• omurice (omelette rice) – 8/13
• tonkatsu (fried pork) – 3/17
• miso salmon – 4/11

Indian

• butter chicken – 2/11, updated 3/20
• tandoori chicken – 2/11
• massaman curry – 3/5
• goan fish curry – 3/8, 6/25
• lamb biryani – 7/16 + chutney – 7/16
• dahi baingan (eggplant in yogurt) – 4/9

Korean, Thai, Vietnamese

(dissimilar, just don’t have much of each)

• bulgogi (marinated beef) – 3/25
• Korean spicy pork – 3/18
• japchae (glass noodles) – 3/18
• soondubu jjigae (tofu stew)  – 2/12
• chicken pad thai – 5/25
• Thai cabbage salad – 3/11
• Viet pork chop – 2/18
• do chua (Viet pickles) – 2/18
• poke – 2/22

American, European

• salmon – 4/11
• carnitas – 6/26
• pork loin roast – 2/3
• burger – 4/29
• steak – 3/14
• gumbo – 3/30
• beef stew – 11/23 (defunct from 2/20)
• baked mac and cheese – 4/2
• shepherd’s pie – 3/28

Eggs

• scrambled eggs – 3/5
• eggs benedict – 3/6
• omelette – 6/23
• french toast – 5/15
• Eggslut sandwich – 3/11
• the double awesome – 7/15
• shakshuka – 3/4
• breakfast frittata – 6/25
• dan bing (breakfast egg crepe) – 4/2
• Asian tomato egg – (easy)
• egg bhurji – 5/9

Baking

• challah – 3/28
• Chinese milk bread – 4/2
• zucchini bread – 3/8
• banana bread – (old)
• pumpkin bread – (old)
• blueberry muffins – (old)
• pumpkin cheesecake – (old)

Desserts

• dorayaki (honey pancake red bean sandwich) – 4/11
• Taiwanese nougat – 2/18
• mango sticky rice – 1/20
• dutch baby – 2/19
• nian gao (sticky cake) – 1/27
• apple rose tarts – 1/21

Baked Desserts

• castella (honey cake) – 2/3, updated 2/11
• Japanese cheesecake – 3/11
• matcha sponge cake, whipped cream – 3/17
• An analysis, from 2021: Chocolate Chip Cookies
• chocolate chip cookies NYTimes – 5/11
• chocolate chip cookies, Food Lab – 5/14
• chocolate chip cookies, Levain style – 5/27
• skillet cookie – 3/31
• apple pie – 10/22
• pumpkin pie – 11/23
• rosemary cranberry scones – 2/12

Sides

• spinach sesame salad – 2/22
• cucumber sesame salad – 2/4
• roasted asparagus – 3/12
• roasted butternut squash – 2/16
• fancy roasted brussels sprouts – 11/23
• homefried potatoes – 3/14
• mashed potatoes – 3/28
• pesto – 7/15
• chickpea salad – 2/20
• pork stock – 2/16