3 culinary tricks to get you to eat more veggies, from chef Roy Choi : NPR

In the late 2000s, chef Roy Choi made his mark serving Korean-Mexican fusion street food like short rib tacos and kimchi quesadillas at his Los Angeles-based food truck Kogi.

Although his business's name means “meat” in Korean, the ingredient isn't really the star of the show in his latest cookbook. Culinary choice. The recipes are more reflective of the cooking style he prefers now: “vegetables forward with comfortable pit stops,” he writes in his book.

“I’ve been eating fast food and processed foods my whole life,” he says. “So I had to figure out: How can I make food taste better but be healthier for me?”

Culinary choiceco-written with Tien Nguyen and Natasha Phan, is the result of this journey. It features dishes that “fill you up without necessarily being carrot sticks,” he said. Think stir-fried tofu with kimchi, grilled cauliflower steaks and vegetable-filled noodle salad. gochujang sauce.

Cooking healthy food starts with confidence in the kitchen, he says. Having a good understanding of flavor can help you prepare vegetables you'll actually want to eat, and knowing a few kitchen tricks, like pre-washing and chopping everything, can make preparing them a little more convenient.

In a conversation with Life Kit Tsoi, co-host of the program Chef show on Netflix shares the cooking techniques he's learned over his nearly 30-year career in the restaurant industry. He also shares recipes for three flavorful sauces to drizzle over all your vegetables. (Click here to go to recipes.)

Prepare vegetables as you do in restaurants.

If you often buy vegetables and then leave them uneaten in the refrigerator, Choi says he has a “like for solving exactly this dilemma.”

“You have to dedicate a certain portion of the week to preparation,” he says. “There is no healthy food, no restaurant without cooking.”

“Wash food, cut it and put it in storage containers, just like they do in professional kitchens,” he says. “Then they will be accessible and easy to assemble” when it comes time to cook.

Choi likes to pre-chop carrots, celery, onions and fennel. He also peels the garlic cloves ahead of time and stores them in the refrigerator ready to use. “Grind them or chop them right before cooking to keep the flavor fresh,” he says.

Make homemade sauces and seasonings

Another way to make vegetables easier to prepare and more fun to eat: Make your own sauces, spreads and vinaigrettes, says Choi. His cookbook includes recipes for flavor bombs like ginger ponzu sauce, magic sauce, and sweet garlic teriyaki sauce (click here to go to recipes below).

“Make them at the beginning of the week while you're prepping your vegetables,” he says. Store them in jars, label them, and refrigerate them just like you do in restaurants.

According to him, these sauces will make vegetables more appetizing. “If you mix [a] dressing with a bunch of sliced ​​cucumbers and shredded lettuce makes for a delicious meal. You no longer worry about eating chips or candy,” he says.

Sauces also make cooking vegetables easier. “This will allow you to quickly finish your meal [or] make a Tuesday roast in less than an hour,” he writes in his cookbook. Throw some pre-chopped veggies in the oven, toss them with some sauce, and you've got yourself another meal.

Don't be afraid to use a little MSG.

Adding a note monosodium glutamate (MSG) “It's a great way to bring restaurant-quality flavor to home cooking,” says Choi.

For decades, this seasoning has been criticized and stigmatized, making people feel bad. These sentiments have been fueled by anti-Asian racism and xenophobia in America. reports the NPR science podcast, Short wave. But modern nutritional scientists have not found any evidence to support this claim.

As for Choi, this ingredient is his “secret weapon,” he says. “It’s like hidden umami,” said spicy, meaty taste often found in mushrooms, cheese and tomato sauce.

“You've probably seen the additive in mayonnaise, ketchup and chips,” says Choi. He lists it as an optional ingredient in his cookbook recipes for lemon ranch sauce, shabu shabu broth and spaghetti lo mein. (A very small proportion of people sensitive to monosodium glutamate and might want to avoid it.)

So if you want to experiment, add some MSG. “A little extra never hurts,” he writes in his cookbook.

Recipes: 3 Flavorful Sauces from Chef Roy Choi

Recipes from Cooking Choices: Delicious, Rule-Breaking Recipes for a Tasty Life

Sweet Garlic Teriyaki Sauce

Use the sauce on French fries, as a glaze for wings, and as a marinade, Choi writes in her cookbook.

Makes 3 1/2 cups

1 1/4 cups soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2 serrano peppers, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup whole garlic (15–20 cloves), sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, orange juice, pineapple juice, serrano, garlic, sugar, onion, scallions and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer. Use a spoon to remove any scale from the surface of the liquid. Cook gently until the garlic is soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. It is ready to use.

To store, cool completely, then pour into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week. You can also freeze it in clean ice cube trays: Cool the sauce completely, then strain, discard the solids, and pour into a tray. Stored frozen for 3 months.

Ginger ponzu sauce

This sauce keeps for about a week and gets better the longer it sits, Choi writes in her cookbook. It will last even longer if you remove the ginger and jalapeño. Add them just before serving.

Makes 1 cup

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup water, soy sauce, vinegar, lime zest, lime juice, ginger and jalapeno. Stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste. He's ready to go.

Magic Sauce

“This is Choi’s version of his mother’s magic sauce,” he writes in his cookbook. Spoon it over roasted vegetables or toss with rice.

Makes about 3 cups

1 cup gochugaru
1/2 cup gochujang
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup beef broth or water
6 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

In a blender, combine gochugaru, gochujang, 1/2 cup water, onion, beef broth, fish sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and soy sauce. Puree until smooth, then it is ready to use. Store it in an airtight jar or container and store it in the refrigerator; it will keep for at least a month. Note that it may be a little thick straight out of the refrigerator; Before use, you can add a little water to dilute it.

The digital story was edited by Sylvie Douglis and Megan Keane, and art directed by Bec Harlan. We'd like to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823 or email us at [email protected].

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