A nice thing I do for myself is, whenever it’s available, I pick up a loaf of shokupan from my local bakery. Everything about shokupan is pleasing — its plushiness, neat cubic shape, buttery aroma and fawn color. It’s my favorite landing pad for all sorts of sandwiches, sandos and toasts, though I’m perfectly happy munching on a soft square, plain and unadorned, with a milky afternoon tea.
You don’t need shokupan to make Cybelle Tondu’s Hong Kong-style French toast (any white sandwich or brioche-style loaf will do) but it’s a great excuse to seek it out. Likewise, you don’t need peanut butter for the filling, and could swipe your slices instead with marmalade, chocolate-hazelnut spread, a different nut butter or (ohh) kaya. The formula here — custard-dunked, shallow-fried bread holding an oozing filling and topped with a sigh of butter and sweetened condensed milk — sets you up for delicious success. It’s a very nice thing for a weekend morning.
Featured Recipe
Hong Kong-Style French Toast
Today’s specials
Cilantro-mint chicken lettuce wraps: How stunning are these vivid green wraps from Zainab Shah? Versatile, too: If you’re not liking lettuce, you could tuck the tangy, herby chicken salad into sandwiches; if you’re chickened out, the green chutney would be wonderful on kebabs and fritters.
Shorbat adas bil hamod (lentil soup with greens): I once rented an Airbnb that came with the instructions to “please water and eat the chard.” We ate a (literal) bunch of it every day. I wish I’d had this easy, healthy recipe from Noor Murad, which turns one pound of those tender, leafy greens into a sustaining, lemony soup.
Crispy tofu tacos: Alexa Weibel doesn’t exclusively develop vegetarian and vegan recipes, but her vegetarian and vegan recipes are so, so good. (You’ve met the Beans, yes?) These assertively seasoned, umami-full tofu tacos already have five stars. “It was so delicious I ate one pan all by myself” writes Julia, a reader.
And to finish
Our Cookie Week king Vaughn Vreeland has written — wait for it — “Cookies,” a cookbook full of brilliant recipes for anytime treats. You can preorder your copy here, and make a batch of his five-star chewy brownie cookies as a preview of all the goodness coming your way.
The post I Didn’t Think French Toast Could Get Any Better, but Here We Are appeared first on New York Times.
