You need

• 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in plenty of water
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup tahini, well stirred
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup ice water
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp harissa paste (plain jarred harissa is vegan, but the creamy blends carry yogurt, so check)
• 5 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 small red onion, sliced thin
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 tsp sumac and a pinch of Aleppo pepper
• 1/3 cup pitted green olives, torn
• Warm flatbread (check the dough for milk and honey)

Method

1. Drain the soaked chickpeas, cover with fresh water by 3 inches, add the baking soda and boil 45 to 60 minutes, skimming the foam, until a chickpea smashes to nothing between two fingers and the skins are floating loose.
2. Pull out 1/2 cup of chickpeas for the topping. Toss those with 1 tbsp olive oil and the cumin and roast at 425F for 20 minutes, until they rattle in the pan.
3. While the rest are still hot, blend them with the garlic, lemon juice and salt for 1 minute. Add the tahini, then stream in the ice water with the motor running and let it go 3 to 4 minutes, until it turns pale and holds soft peaks.
4. Cover the sliced onion with the vinegar, sugar and a big pinch of salt and leave it 20 minutes, until it goes pink and loses its temper.
5. Stir the harissa into 3 tbsp olive oil to make a loose, staining oil.
6. Spread the hummus wide and shallow with the back of a spoon, building a wall and a well. Flood the well with harissa oil, then pile on the roasted chickpeas, pickled onion, pine nuts, olives, parsley, sumac and Aleppo. Serve with hot flatbread.

From behind the bar: Blend the chickpeas hot, straight out of the pot. Cold chickpeas give you sandy hummus and no amount of extra tahini fixes it later.

You need

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water 15 minutes and drained
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, plus 1 tsp of the adobo
• 2 tbsp pickled jalapeno brine
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 x 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt (for the beans)
• 10 oz thick restaurant-style salted corn tortilla chips (check the bag for milk powder, whey, or cheese powder)
• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 tbsp vegan mayo
• 1 tbsp lime juice (for the crema)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt (for the crema)
• 1 cup pico de gallo or chunky salsa, drained
• 1/2 cup pickled jalapeno slices
• 1/2 cup quick-pickled red onion
• 3 scallions, sliced
• Handful of cilantro leaves
• Flaky salt

Method

1. Blend the soaked cashews, water, nutritional yeast, cornstarch, lime juice, 1 tsp salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, chipotle with adobo, and jalapeno brine on high for a full 90 seconds until completely smooth.
2. Pour the queso into a small saucepan over medium heat and whisk constantly for 3 to 4 minutes. It will thin, then suddenly thicken to a pourable sauce. Pull it off the heat right then and keep it warm.
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium, add the beans, cumin, oregano, garlic, and 1/2 tsp salt, and cook 4 minutes, mashing about a third of them so the rest have something to stick to.
4. Blend or mash the avocado with the vegan mayo, lime juice, and 1/4 tsp salt until it is a loose crema you can drizzle.
5. Spread half the chips on a sheet pan, spoon over half the beans and half the queso, then repeat with the remaining chips, beans, and queso. Layering twice is the whole point.
6. Bake at 400F for 6 to 8 minutes, just until the edges of the chips darken and the queso sets slightly. Any longer and the chips go bitter.
7. Finish off the heat with pico, pickled jalapenos, pickled red onion, scallions, cilantro, drizzles of avocado crema, and flaky salt. Serve on the pan and let people fight over it.

From behind the bar: The cornstarch is not optional. Without it the cashew sauce breaks into grit the second it hits the oven and you get nacho soup.

You need

• 2 lb baby Yukon Gold potatoes, all roughly the same size
• 2 tbsp kosher salt, for the cooking water
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt, for the potatoes
• 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water 15 minutes and drained
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt (for the crema)
• 3 tbsp vegan chili crisp (many jars carry dried shrimp — read the label)
• 4 scallions, sliced thin on the bias
• 1/4 cup crispy fried shallots
• 2 tbsp chopped dill or cilantro
• Flaky sea salt
• 1 lemon, cut in wedges

Method

1. Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, add the 2 tbsp salt, and boil 18 to 20 minutes until a knife slides in with zero resistance. Underdone potatoes will not smash, they will crumble.
2. Drain them and let them sit in the colander for 5 minutes to steam dry. Dry surfaces are the difference between crisp and leathery.
3. Space the potatoes on an oiled sheet pan and press each one to about 1/2 inch thick with the bottom of a glass or a measuring cup. Ragged edges are what get crunchy, so do not aim for neat.
4. Pour the olive oil over, turning each potato to coat both sides, and season with the 1 tsp salt. Roast at 450F for 20 minutes, flip, and roast another 12 to 15 minutes until the edges are dark gold.
5. While they roast, blend the cashews, water, lemon juice, cider vinegar, and 3/4 tsp salt for 60 seconds until it is a smooth, thick, sour crema. Thin with a tablespoon of water if it will not spoon.
6. Pile the hot potatoes on a warm platter, spoon the cashew crema over in irregular pools, then spoon the chili crisp on top so the oil runs into the crema.
7. Scatter the scallions, fried shallots, and herbs, hit it with flaky salt, and serve with lemon wedges. Eat within about four minutes of it leaving the oven.

From behind the bar: Salt the boiling water like pasta water. Potatoes seasoned only on the outside taste hollow no matter how much chili crisp you pile on.

You need

• 1 lb (450 g) green papaya, peeled and shredded
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4-8 red bird's eye chilies
• 4 long beans, cut in 2-inch pieces
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
• Raw cabbage wedges, to serve

Method

1. Shred the papaya on a julienne peeler or cut it the Thai way: hack the surface with a knife, then shave off the slivers. Soak in ice water 10 minutes, then drain hard.
2. In a clay or wooden mortar, pound garlic and chilies to a rough paste. Do not puree.
3. Add palm sugar, soy sauce, lime juice and tamarind. Pound and stir until the sugar dissolves.
4. Add long beans and bruise them with three or four strikes. Add tomatoes, bruise once.
5. Add the papaya and peanuts. Now switch to pounding lightly with one hand while turning with a spoon in the other, about 20 strokes, until it is dressed but still crunchy.
6. Taste, adjust sour and salt, serve cold with cabbage wedges alongside.

Where you'd actually eat it: Jay shops flying the yellow-and-red flag, all over Yaowarat and around markets citywide, plus every som tam cart that will make it to order. Beer, ice, no ceremony.

From behind the bar: Order som tam thai and you get dried shrimp; som tam pu gets fermented crab and pla ra. Only the jay version is meat-free. Strict jay also drops the garlic.

You need

• 1 lb (450 g) water spinach (phak bung, sold as ong choy); Asian grocers only, and yu choy is the closest stand-in for the crunchy stems
• 6 garlic cloves, roughly crushed
• 4 red bird's eye chilies, crushed
• 1 tbsp yellow bean sauce (tao jiao), mashed
• 1 tbsp vegan mushroom stir-fry sauce
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp neutral oil with a high smoke point

Method

1. Wash and dry the greens completely. Wet greens steam instead of searing, and this dish is entirely about the sear.
2. Separate the thick stems from the leaves. Mix the sauces, sugar and water in a small bowl and keep it next to the stove.
3. Heat a wok over the highest flame you have until it smokes. Add the oil, swirl, then garlic and chilies for 10 seconds.
4. Add the stems, toss 20 seconds, then all the leaves at once. They will overflow the wok; press them down.
5. Pour the sauce down the side of the wok and toss hard for 45-60 seconds, until the leaves collapse and the stems are still crunchy.
6. Turn out immediately, draining off the water it throws. Ninety seconds total from oil to plate.

Where you'd actually eat it: Every open-front shophouse with a wok on the sidewalk, and jay shops during the October vegetarian festival. Beer over ice, ordered by the bucket.

From behind the bar: The standard shophouse version uses oyster and fish sauce. Vegan mushroom sauce plus tao jiao gets the same salty-funky base, and jay kitchens do exactly this.

You need

• 400 g / 14 oz fresh shelled borlotti beans (or 250 g dried, soaked overnight)
• 150 ml / 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 carrots, cut in 1 cm rounds
• 2 waxy potatoes, cut in 2 cm dice
• 5 garlic cloves, whole
• 2 tomatoes, grated
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp sugar
• 500 ml / 2 cups hot water
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Flat-leaf parsley, salt

Method

1. Using dried beans: drain the soaked beans, cover with fresh water, boil hard 10 minutes, then simmer 40 minutes until just tender. Drain and keep the liquid. Fresh beans skip this step entirely.
2. Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium-low. Cook the onions 10 minutes until soft and translucent with no browning. This is an olive oil dish, not a fried one.
3. Add carrot and whole garlic cloves and cook 5 minutes more.
4. Stir in the tomato paste, fry it 1 minute, then add grated tomato, sugar and salt.
5. Add beans, potato and hot water to just cover. Bring to a simmer, cover, cook on low 35-45 minutes until everything is soft and the liquid has reduced to a thick, oily sauce.
6. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and let it cool in the pot at least an hour.
7. Serve at room temperature or cold, never hot, with parsley and another slug of raw olive oil. It is better on day two.

Where you'd actually eat it: Standing item on the cold meze tray from Beyoğlu to Kadıköy, and in every zeytinyağlı case at a lokanta. Raki, which it soaks up better than most.

From behind the bar: Use more olive oil than feels sensible. Pilaki is defined by the oil setting into the sauce as it cools — cut it back and you get a wet bean stew.

You need

• Shell: 500 g cooked chickpeas, 3 medium starchy potatoes, 3 tbsp tahini, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt
• Filling: 1.2 kg onions, sliced very thin
• 150 ml olive oil
• 150 ml tahini
• 50 g dried currants
• 50 g pine nuts
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp sugar, 1.5 tsp salt
• To serve: olive oil, lemon, ground cinnamon

Method

1. Cook the onions in the olive oil over low heat 45-60 minutes, stirring often, until they collapse into a pale sweet mass with no color on them. Rushing this ruins the dish — browned onions make the filling bitter.
2. Off the heat, stir tahini, currants, pine nuts, cinnamon, allspice, pepper, sugar and salt into the onions. Cool completely, then chill until firm.
3. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins 18-22 minutes until a knife goes through easily. Peel while warm and rice or mash them smooth.
4. Mash the chickpeas to a paste — a processor is fine here — and work in the potato, tahini, sugar and salt until you have a stiff, workable dough. Chill 30 minutes.
5. Lay a large square of damp cheesecloth or cling film on the counter. Spread half the dough into a 20 cm circle about 8 mm thick.
6. Pile half the cold filling in the center, then use the cloth to draw the edges up and over, sealing it into a flattened dome. Twist the cloth shut and chill at least 3 hours until firm. Repeat with the rest.
7. Unwrap onto a plate. Serve cold, cut in wedges, with olive oil, lemon juice and a heavy dusting of cinnamon.

Where you'd actually eat it: Armenian meyhanes and delis around Kurtuluş and Samatya, and the Lenten table in March. Raki, cold, and one wedge per person is usually enough.

From behind the bar: Traditionally the shell is made from soaked raw chickpeas peeled by hand. Cooked chickpeas and a processor get you 90 percent of the way in a fraction of the time.

You need

• 1kg small waxy potatoes, skin on
• 4 tbsp coarse sea salt
• 120ml good olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• chopped flat parsley
• black pepper

Method

1. Scrub the potatoes and dry them. Toss with a little olive oil and the coarse salt so the skins are crusted.
2. Bake at 400F/200C for 45-55 minutes, until the skins are wrinkled and a knife meets no resistance.
3. While they bake, warm the olive oil gently with the garlic and bay over low heat for 8-10 minutes. The garlic should go pale gold and no further; burnt garlic ruins the oil.
4. Take the potatoes out and, one at a time, press down with your palm or the flat of a knife until each one cracks open. They should split, not flatten to mush.
5. Return the split potatoes to a dish, pour the hot garlic oil over them so it runs into the cracks, and put them back in the oven for 5-8 minutes.
6. Finish with parsley, black pepper and more coarse salt. Serve hot, straight from the dish.

Where you'd actually eat it: Honestly a side, sent out with grilled fish or bacalhau in every tasca, but it holds its own on a shared table with red wine. Nobody calls it vegan; it just is.

From behind the bar: Use small potatoes, not medium ones cut down. The point is a whole crusted skin holding a split center, and a cut potato has no skin to hold it.

You need

• 800g fresh or frozen broad beans (fava), podded
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 150ml dry white wine
• 1 large bunch coriander, chopped, stems included
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• salt, black pepper
• bread

Method

1. If using fresh beans in the pod, pod them. Older, larger beans should also be blanched 2 minutes and slipped out of their gray inner skins; young or frozen beans do not need it.
2. Sweat the onion in the olive oil over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes until soft and sweet. Add the garlic and bay for 1 minute.
3. Stir in the paprika off the heat, then return to the heat and add the beans, turning to coat them in the oil.
4. Pour in the wine, let it boil hard for 2 minutes, then add 150ml water and the coriander stems. Season.
5. Cover and simmer gently 20-30 minutes until the beans are soft all the way through and the liquid has reduced to a loose, oily sauce. Add water if it tightens too early.
6. Off the heat, stir in the chopped coriander leaves and a final glug of raw olive oil. Serve warm with bread.
7. Honest note: the classic tasca version is cooked with chouriço, entrecosto or bacon. This is the meat-free version, not a disguised one.

Where you'd actually eat it: Spring menus in tascas around Campo de Ourique and Alvalade, in a bowl with bread. A copo of tinto, or vinho verde if it is warm.

From behind the bar: Put the coriander in twice: stems during the simmer, leaves off the heat at the end. Coriander cooked the whole way through tastes of nothing.

You need

• 2 lb (900 g) Maris Piper or russet potatoes
• Neutral oil for deep frying
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• Salt
• Malt vinegar, to serve

Method

1. Cut the potatoes into thick chips, roughly 1/2 inch square. Rinse, then simmer in salted water 5 minutes until just yielding. Drain and dry on a rack.
2. First fry at 285F/140C for 6-7 minutes until pale and floppy. Drain and cool at least 30 minutes — this stage is what makes the inside fluffy.
3. Sauce: soften the onion in oil for 8 minutes. Add curry powder and turmeric, cook 1 minute. Stir in the flour, then whisk in the stock slowly.
4. Simmer 15 minutes, add sugar, vinegar and salt, then blend smooth. It should coat a chip, not drown it.
5. Second fry at 375F/190C for 3-4 minutes until deep gold and audibly crisp.
6. Salt hard, malt vinegar over the top, curry sauce poured on or served alongside. Pick a side and defend it.

Where you'd actually eat it: Chip shop on the walk home, or a pub with a proper fryer and no shame. Wrapped in paper, eaten standing, and it will be the last clear memory of the night.

From behind the bar: Most chip shop curry sauce is vegan, but some brands carry milk powder or ghee. Read the tub before you assume anything.

You need

• 1 1/2 lb / 700 g floury potatoes, in 1 in / 2.5 cm chunks
• Olive or sunflower oil for frying
• For the sauce: 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 small onion finely chopped, 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp sweet pimentón, 1 tsp hot pimentón, cayenne to taste
• 1 1/4 cups / 300 ml hot vegetable broth
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar, salt

Method

1. Sauce first: cook the onion and garlic in the oil over low heat 10 minutes until soft and sweet, no color.
2. Off the heat, stir in the flour and both pimentóns — pimentón scorches in under 10 seconds on direct heat and turns bitter.
3. Back on low heat, add the hot broth in stages, whisking, and simmer 10 minutes until it coats a spoon. Add vinegar and salt, then blend smooth. It should be the color of terracotta.
4. Potatoes: fry at 285F / 140C for 8-10 minutes until tender and pale. Lift out and rest 10 minutes.
5. Raise the oil to 375F / 190C and fry again 3-4 minutes until crisp and gold. Drain, salt.
6. Pile in a dish, pour the sauce over the top — not underneath — and serve with toothpicks.

Where you'd actually eat it: Docamar in Ciudad Lineal since 1963 and Las Bravas near Sol are the reference points. Ordered with a caña, shared, always the first thing on the table.

From behind the bar: Many Madrid bars build the sauce on ham broth, which makes it not vegan. Vegetable broth gives the same texture and near enough the flavor — the pimentón is doing the talking.

You need

• Two 15 oz / 400 g cans cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 lb / 450 g spinach, washed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 thick slice of country bread, crust off (plain bread — check it has no milk or butter in it)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet pimentón
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml vegetable broth or chickpea water
• Salt, black pepper

Method

1. Fry the bread and the whole garlic cloves in the oil over medium heat until both are golden, about 3 minutes. Take them out and leave the oil in the pan.
2. Pound the bread, garlic, cumin, and vinegar to a coarse paste in a mortar, or blitz with a splash of broth. This is what thickens the dish; there is no flour.
3. Wilt the spinach in the same pan in batches, 2-3 minutes, and squeeze out excess water so the dish does not go soupy.
4. Add the chickpeas, the paste, the pimentón, and the broth. Simmer 10 minutes, mashing a few chickpeas against the pan.
5. Season hard with salt and pepper and let it sit 10 minutes off the heat. It should be thick enough to eat with bread, not a soup.
6. Serve warm in a small dish.

Where you'd actually eat it: Sevillian by birth and nobody pretends otherwise, but it sits on Madrid tapas boards year round and heaviest in Lent. Old tabernas and market bars, red wine or a caña, midday, standing.

From behind the bar: Squeeze the spinach properly dry before it goes back in. Wet leaves turn the whole thing to soup and mashed chickpea will not save it.

You need

• 240 g masa harina, blue if you can find it
• 360 ml warm water
• 1 tsp salt
• 150 g refried black beans, cooked in oil (not lard)
• 2 nopal paddles, cleaned and diced
• 1/2 white onion, half chopped for cooking, half for topping
• Handful cilantro
• Salsa verde
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• Lime

Method

1. Mix the masa harina, warm water and salt into a soft, pliable dough. Rest 15 minutes covered.
2. Divide into 8 balls. Flatten each in your palm, put a heaped tablespoon of bean paste in the center, fold the masa over and seal completely. Any gap and the beans blow out on the comal.
3. Shape each into a flat pointed oval, about 1/2 inch / 1.2 cm thick.
4. Cook on a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium-high, 4-5 minutes a side, until well spotted and firm. They should sound hollow-ish when tapped.
5. Meanwhile cook the diced nopales with the chopped onion in the oil over medium heat, 8-10 minutes, until the sticky liquid cooks off and the pieces go dull green and slightly browned.
6. Top the hot tlacoyos with nopales, raw chopped onion, cilantro, salsa verde and lime.

Where you'd actually eat it: Comal stands outside metro entrances and near pulquerías, busiest in the morning and again at dusk. With pulque, or a bag of agua de horchata from the next stall.

From behind the bar: Street tlacoyos usually get queso, and the beans are often cooked in lard. If you want it vegan you have to make it yourself or ask, plainly.

You need

• 4 medium zucchini
• Neutral oil for shallow frying
• 1 large white onion, sliced thin
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 10 sage leaves
• 1 cup / 240 ml white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml water
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• Black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf

Method

1. Cut the zucchini into rounds 1/4 in / 6 mm thick, salt them lightly in a colander for 20 minutes, then dry thoroughly.
2. Shallow-fry in oil at 340F / 170C in batches, 2 minutes a side, until gold at the edges. Drain on a rack — not paper, which steams them soft.
3. In a saucepan, soften the onion and garlic in the olive oil over low heat for 8 minutes without browning.
4. Add vinegar, water, sage, bay, peppercorns, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and cook 3 minutes.
5. Layer the fried zucchini in a non-reactive dish and pour the boiling marinade over while it is still hot — hot liquid on cool vegetables is what makes carpione work.
6. Cool, cover, and refrigerate at least 12 hours, up to four days.
7. Serve cool, not cold, with bread. It is vegan as written; the traditional fish version is not.

Where you'd actually eat it: Summer antipasto in osterie with a courtyard, dragged out of the fridge already made. Chilled Lugana, and bread for the marinade.

From behind the bar: Glass or ceramic only. Metal and vinegar overnight is a metallic-tasting mistake.

You need

• 1.75 cups / 200 g chickpea flour
• 3 cups / 700 ml water
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
• 1.5 tsp salt
• Coarse black pepper
• Optional: rosemary leaves, or thin-sliced onion

Method

1. Whisk the chickpea flour into the water slowly until completely lump-free. Cover and rest at room temperature 4 to 8 hours.
2. Skim off the foam that rises to the surface and discard it — that is where the bitterness sits.
3. Stir in the salt and 3 tbsp of the oil. The batter should be as thin as heavy cream.
4. Heat the oven to 500F / 260C with a 12 in / 30 cm shallow metal or cast-iron pan inside. Get it genuinely hot; this is not a moderate-oven dish.
5. Pour the remaining 2 tbsp oil into the hot pan, swirl, then pour in the batter to a depth of about 1/4 in / 6 mm. Scatter rosemary or onion if using.
6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until the surface is blistered brown in patches and the edges pull away from the pan.
7. Grind pepper over, cut into wedges, eat hot with your hands.

Where you'd actually eat it: Genoese by origin and honest about it, but sold by the slice in Milan's pizzerie al trancio and friggitorie. Hot, heavily peppered, with a beer.

From behind the bar: The rest is not optional — unrested batter tastes raw and chalky. Thin layer, brutal heat, that is the whole recipe.

You need

• 1.5 lb / 700 g borettane or small pearl onions
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml water
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 black peppercorns
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Drop the onions into boiling water for 60 seconds, then into cold water. The skins slip off with a pinch after that.
2. Trim the root ends flat but leave them attached so the onions hold together.
3. Warm the oil in a wide pan, add the onions in a single layer and color them lightly over medium heat, 6 to 8 minutes, shaking the pan.
4. Sprinkle over the sugar and let it melt and turn pale amber, about 2 minutes.
5. Add vinegar, water, bay, peppercorns and salt. Simmer uncovered on low for 30 to 35 minutes, until the onions are tender to a knife tip and the liquid has reduced to a syrupy glaze.
6. Cool in the pan, transfer to a jar with the glaze, and refrigerate at least a day. They keep two weeks and improve for the first five days.

Where you'd actually eat it: In the free pickle bowls on the counter alongside the olives and the chips. Sharp enough to reset your mouth between a Campari and the next one.

From behind the bar: If the glaze tightens before the onions soften, add a splash of water. If the onions soften first, lift them out and reduce the liquid alone.

You need

• 1.5 cups / 300 g dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
• 6 sage leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small red onion, sliced paper thin
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Salt and coarse black pepper

Method

1. Drain the soaked beans, cover with fresh cold water by 2 in / 5 cm, and add the garlic, sage and bay. No salt yet — it toughens the skins.
2. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, then drop to the barest simmer for 50 to 70 minutes until the beans are creamy but still whole. Skim as needed.
3. Salt the water in the last 10 minutes and let the beans cool in their liquid for 20 minutes so they stay plump.
4. Soak the sliced onion in the vinegar with a pinch of salt for 15 minutes; it takes the raw bite off.
5. Drain the beans, keeping a few spoons of the cooking liquid, and dress them while still warm with the onion, its vinegar, the oil and the reserved liquid.
6. Season hard with salt and coarse pepper, fold in the parsley, and serve at room temperature with bread.

Where you'd actually eat it: Osteria antipasto in the cheap places that have not been renovated. Barbera or Bonarda, bread, no ceremony, no plating.

From behind the bar: Canned borlotti work: rinse, warm them gently in oil with sage and garlic, then dress. Do not skip warming, or the dressing sits on top instead of soaking in.

You need

• 6 medium leeks, white and pale green only
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard (check the label; plain Dijon is vegan, some flavored ones are not)
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 6 tbsp olive oil or neutral oil
• 1 shallot, minced fine
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley, 1 tbsp chopped chives
• Salt, black pepper
• Optional: 1 tbsp capers or chopped cornichon

Method

1. Trim the leeks to even lengths and split them lengthwise to within an inch of the root, keeping them held together. Fan them under cold running water until every layer is clean.
2. Simmer in well-salted water 12-15 minutes, until a knife goes through the thick end with no resistance. Undercooked leeks are stringy and there is no fixing them later.
3. Lift them out into ice water for 1 minute to hold the color, then drain.
4. Lay them on a folded towel, cover with another, and press gently with a plate for 20 minutes. Wet leeks dilute the vinaigrette.
5. Whisk the mustard, vinegar and a pinch of salt, then beat in the oil until emulsified. Stir in the shallot and capers.
6. Arrange the leeks in a dish, spoon the vinaigrette over while they are still slightly warm, and let them sit 30 minutes. Finish with herbs and pepper, serve cool.

Where you'd actually eat it: On the entrées list at every prix-fixe bistro in Paris, and reworked as a small plate in the 11th. A dry Loire white handles the vinegar.

From behind the bar: The classic bistro version often gets grated hard-boiled egg on top, which is fine but not vegan. Leave it off and add extra shallot.

You need

• 1.25 lb / 600 g small button mushrooms, wiped clean
• 1/3 cup / 80 ml olive oil
• 1 cup / 240 ml dry white wine
• Juice of 1 lemon plus 3 thin slices
• 1 onion or 4 shallots, sliced thin
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tbsp coriander seed, lightly crushed
• 10 black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, 4 sprigs thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• Chopped parsley to finish

Method

1. Trim the mushroom stems. Halve anything larger than a walnut; leave small ones whole.
2. Simmer the wine, olive oil, lemon juice and slices, onion, garlic, coriander, peppercorns, bay, thyme and salt for 10 minutes to build the court-bouillon.
3. Add the mushrooms, cover, and simmer 8-10 minutes. They will throw off liquid and shrink.
4. Lift the mushrooms out with a slotted spoon into a bowl.
5. Boil the liquid hard for 5-8 minutes until reduced by about half and slightly syrupy, then pour it over the mushrooms.
6. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
7. Serve at cool room temperature, not fridge cold, with parsley and bread for the liquid.

Where you'd actually eat it: A traiteur-counter classic sold by weight, and back on wine bar slates as a cold vegetable plate. Aligoté or any lean white.

From behind the bar: Take it out of the fridge 30 minutes ahead. Cold olive oil goes cloudy and dull and the coriander disappears.

You need

• 1 block (about 400 g) dotorimuk acorn jelly
• 3 cups mixed leaves: lettuce, perilla, watercress
• 1/2 onion, sliced paper-thin
• 1/2 cucumber, cut into batons
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp gochugaru
• 1 tsp sugar or maesil plum syrup
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 scallion, sliced
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. If using a store-bought block, dip it in boiling water for 30 seconds, then chill in cold water. It firms the surface and cleans off packing liquid.
2. Cut into slabs about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches long. Drain on a towel so the dressing does not slide straight off.
3. Soak the sliced onion in cold water 10 minutes to strip its harshness, then squeeze dry.
4. Whisk soy sauce, vinegar, gochugaru, sugar, garlic, scallion and sesame oil. Taste; it should be sharp, since the jelly itself contributes nothing.
5. Toss the leaves, onion and cucumber with two thirds of the dressing.
6. Lay the jelly over the greens, spoon the rest of the dressing on top, and finish with sesame seeds. Toss gently at the table. Vegan as written: acorn starch and water in the block, no anchovy sauce in the dressing.

Where you'd actually eat it: The standard order at mountain-foot drinking houses below Bukhansan and Gwanaksan, eaten with dongdongju after a hike. Also on every makgeolli bar menu in Jongno.

From behind the bar: Dress it at the last second. Acorn jelly weeps water within ten minutes and turns the whole plate into a soup.

You need

• 400 g soybean sprouts (kongnamul, the ones with big yellow heads)
• 1 tsp fine salt for the water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 scallion, sliced thin
• 1 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp gochugaru (optional)

Method

1. Pick over the sprouts and pull off any brown husks and stringy tails. Rinse twice in cold water.
2. Bring 4 cups water and 1 tsp salt to a boil. Add the sprouts, put the lid on, and do not lift it for 5 minutes. Lifting it mid-cook is what makes them smell grassy.
3. Boil 5 to 6 minutes total, until the stems are tender and the yellow heads still snap.
4. Drain and rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking, then squeeze gently. Leave them a little damp.
5. Toss with garlic, scallion, salt, sesame oil, sesame seeds and gochugaru if you want color and a low heat.
6. Taste and correct the salt. Chill 20 minutes before serving. No fish sauce, no salted shrimp and no anchovy stock, so it stays vegan.

Where you'd actually eat it: Arrives unasked on every pocha table alongside the peanuts. Also the base of the hangover soup you will need in about nine hours.

From behind the bar: Soybean sprouts, not mung bean sprouts. Mung sprouts collapse in the pot and lose the crunch the whole dish is built on.

You need

• 1 lb (450g) edamame in the pod, frozen is fine
• 2 tbsp coarse sea salt, plus more to finish
• 4 quarts water
• 1 tbsp salt for the pot

Method

1. If using fresh pods, rub them with 2 tbsp coarse salt in a bowl for a minute. This scuffs the fuzz off and seasons the shell. Frozen pods skip this.
2. Bring the water to a rolling boil with a tablespoon of salt. It should taste like a mild broth.
3. Boil fresh pods 4 to 5 minutes, frozen pods 3 minutes. Bite one — it should be tender with a slight resistance, not mealy.
4. Drain and spread on a tray. Do not rinse with cold water; you want the residual heat to dry the shells.
5. Toss with more coarse salt while hot.
6. Serve hot or at room temperature with an empty bowl for the pods.

Where you'd actually eat it: Ordered within eight seconds of sitting down, anywhere in Tokyo, with the first beer, before the menu is even open.

From behind the bar: Genuinely vegan as served — pods, water, salt. Nothing else goes in it, and no izakaya adds dashi.

You need

• 3 Japanese eggplants (or 2 small Italian), halved lengthwise
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 3 tbsp red miso (aka miso), dashi-free
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• Sansho pepper (optional)

Method

1. Score the cut faces of the eggplant in a crosshatch, about 1/4 inch deep. Brush generously with oil — eggplant drinks it and that is how it gets silky.
2. Roast cut-side down at 400F/200C for 12 minutes, then flip and roast 5 minutes more, until a knife meets no resistance.
3. Meanwhile, whisk miso, mirin, sake and sugar in a small pan. Simmer over low 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until it thickens to the texture of soft peanut butter. Check the label: dashi-iri miso contains bonito and is not vegan.
4. Spread the glaze thickly over the cut faces.
5. Broil 2 to 3 minutes, watching it, until the glaze bubbles and darkens at the edges. Sugar burns fast.
6. Sesame seeds on top, sansho if you have it. Serve hot.

Where you'd actually eat it: An izakaya with a charcoal grill, where the eggplant comes out blistered on the skin. Barley shochu, cut with hot water in winter.

From behind the bar: Save the leftover glaze. It keeps a month in the fridge and works on tofu, mushrooms and grilled leeks. Some shops thicken theirs with egg yolk — theirs is not vegan, yours is.