Braising combines colour with flavour and exceptionally tender textures, a technique where the food is first seared at high heat and then submerged into a liquid to continue cooking.
Almost every cuisine has its own version – so with international travel off the cards for the foreseeable future, braise your way around the world at home instead.
Green chilli con carne with warm cornbread
Chilli con carne is usually associated with the Tex-Mex classic that combines beef mince, tomatoes and kidney beans – but once you try this verdant alternative, you’ll never go back.
Don’t be tempted to use a lean cut of meat; the cheaper cuts like shoulder or scotch fillet are veined with intramuscular fat which will melt, keeping your meat juicy and fork-tender. If making cornbread is a bridge too far, on weeknights this will be equally delicious served with a spoonful of sour cream, tortilla chips and wedges of lime. And perhaps a margarita.
Braised eggplant with crispy shallots
Discovering family recipes is like unearthing a cache of jewels – stained margins annotated with notes and comments, then lovingly reproduced over generations. It’s not just nostalgia; these recipes stand the test of time because they are good.
Here, Zijun Meng recalls her mother’s Chinese eggplant dish, braised gently in aromatics until the flesh completely submits. Meng has tweaked the recipe in recent years by dredging the eggplant in potato starch and deep frying before adding it to the braising liquid for a thicker, richer sauce. Garnish with frizzled shallots and serve with jasmine rice.
Chicken with grapes, cider and cream
If you are fantasising about a trip to the vineyards of southern France – warm sun, fruity wines and all those boulangeries – this recipe will take you at least part way there.
When cooking this, Nigel Slater emphasises the need to go hard on the initial searing of the chicken skin. The Maillard reaction will amplify the inherent umami flavours, and any toasty bits that catch on the bottom of the pan will release when you add in the cider to develop that deep brown sauce.
Flathead dtom kem
Braising doesn’t have to be an all day activity. Fish is a delicate protein which requires very little cooking – no more than 10 minutes and it’s ready to serve.
The prep for this subtly caramelised, chilli-flecked dish will take you a bit longer, as will sourcing some of the more specific ingredients online or from an Asian grocer, but the authentic flavours will send you straight back to the streets of Thailand.
Iraqi white bean stew (fasoulia)
Variations of fasoulia can can be found across the Mediterranean and Middle East with many leaning on the inclusion of meat for flavour. But Meera Sodha’s vegan adaptation lets the nourishing simplicity of the ingredients shine.
You probably have most of the ingredients already in your pantry (beans, onions, tomatoes and a few spices) but if you need further encouragement to make this dish, consider that Sodha cooked this “several times over Christmas and new year” a time when there is an abundance of feasts on offer. Make these beans.
Roast pork belly with apple, soy and ginger
Arguably the best bit of a pork belly roast is that glassy, blistered skin, but it can come at the expense of tough, dried-out meat. Yotam Ottolenghi has taken the best features of a roast and a braise to ensure you have succulent and flavoursome pork belly that retains the crunchy crackling.
Taking inspiration from the unofficial national dish of the Philippines, adobo, this broth is heavily infused with soy, vinegar and garlic – the perfect complement to the richness of pork belly.
Cashew milk–braised cabbage with crunchy chilli oil
A satisfying stand-alone dish that will delight your carnivorous and vegan friends alike.
Sohla El-Waylly braises the cabbage in a homemade cashew milk to echo the sweet, nutty flavours drawn out by the initial chargrilling. Spoon the numbing chilli crisp over liberally, but any extras can be used to add heat to poached eggs or on noodles later.
Japanese pork and cabbage millefeuille with ponzu
Something magical happens in this recipe by Adam Liaw when you combine the pork with the Chinese cabbage and throw it over some gentle heat. In Japan these hotpot dishes are known as nabe and are usually served with a dipping sauce, as it is here with ponzu. If you aren’t familiar with ponzu, you’ll want to be, as it’s savoury yet tart and very moreish.
More an assemblage of ingredients than an actual recipe, for something that looks so ornamental, I can verify cooking this requires very little dexterity to put together. (I speak as someone who can barely wield a pair of scissors without lacerating my fingers.)
Grilled octopus
OK, so technically this errs more towards a confit than a braise. Maybe it’s a reverse braise since it still requires a short sear at the end? Semantics aside, New Zealand chef Monique Fiso has developed a foolproof method for cooking supple octopus – a feat in itself.
You can find sustainably caught frozen West Australian octopus in many grocery stores, and you don’t lose out by buying it frozen as the freezing process tenderises the flesh even further. Until we can get back to eating squid in the Mediterranean, this is a pretty good alternative.
Pineapple foster
For something sweet, try this retro-inspired dessert that oozes caramel and tropical island vibes.
Nicola Lamb says flambéing is optional – but who doesn’t want to end their meal with a little drama?
Sumatran egg curry with green sambal (gulai telur)
Eggs aren’t the first thing that come to mind when you think about braises, but they are the perfect vehicle to take on flavour. These bouncy orbs suck up just about anything and coconut-enriched curries like those from the coasts of Indonesia are some of the best.
After hard-boiling you can go the next step and fry them off in oil to give them a golden crust but this isn’t essential. Serve with rice and this spiky green sambal.
Braised waxy potatoes
If you’re looking to freshen up your vegetable options to accompany midweek dinners, these braised potatoes by Maggie Beer are an easy win. Throw all the ingredients in the pot, abandon it in the oven, go for a walk/wash the cats and in just over an hour you have flavoursome potatoes infused with a lemon and thyme broth.
The only key here is to use a waxy potato like nicola or kipfler. Other potatoes will simply collapse into a sad, wet mush.
