I’ve since learned to make sholeh zard on my own, though my calligraphy skills are sorely lacking. This rich dessert is otherwise easy to make, but requires some attention. Just remember to check the pot frequently. You want your finished dish to have a thin pudding-like consistency, as it’ll thicken when it cools down.

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice
7 cups or more water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup unsalted slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon ground saffron dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup rosewater

Garnish:

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons slivered almonds
2 teaspoons slivered pistachios

1. Clean and wash the rice, changing the water several times. Drain.

2. Combine the rice with 4 cups of water in a large pot and bring to a boil, skimming the foam as it rises. Cover and simmer for 35 minutes over medium heat until the rice is soft.

3. Add 3 more cups of warm water and sugar, cook for 25 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the butter, almonds, saffron water, cardamom, and rosewater. Mix well. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and cook over low heat, uncovered, for another 20 minutes or until the mixture is cooked and has thickened to a pudding.

4. Spoon the pudding into individual serving dishes or a large bowl. Decorate with cinnamon, almonds, and pistachios. Serve the pudding cold or room temperature.

When I came across this recipe for a cool, tropical tapioca pudding first published in Sunset Magazine, and by the Bay Area’s very own Tim Luym, no less, I knew I had to give tapioca a second chance. Luym is the former executive chef of Poleng Lounge, a fun, street-food centered Filipino restaurant that’s no longer around, but I’d met Luym at an Anthony Bourdain book release a few years ago and his super friendly vibe and his amazing use of Southeast Asian flavors made an impression on me.

But I digress. Back to the tapioca. Thankfully, this dish turned out to be really easy to make. Just keep an eye on the tapioca pearls as they boil and take care not to overcook them. Use small, white pearls, not the larger, dark ones that you typically see in boba tea. I topped this pudding with toasted coconut, mango, and grass jelly, but lychees, kiwi, or pineapple will work just as well.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes
1 mango, chopped
1/3 can grass jelly, drained and chopped

Preparation

1. In a saucepan, cook tapioca in 2 quarts boiling water until only slightly chewy to the bite, 5 to 8 minutes. Pour through a fine strainer.

2. Meanwhile, in another saucepan over medium heat, warm the coconut milk, milk, sugar, and vanilla, until steaming, 6 to 8 minutes.

3. Stir drained tapioca into vanilla mixture. Cook, stirring often, until tapioca pearls are clear and just tender, 3 to 6 minutes.

4. Let pudding cool, then chill, stirring occasionally, at least 1 1/4 hours. Stir in more milk if pudding seems too thick.

5. Spoon pudding into glasses or small bowls. Top with toasted coconut and fresh fruit.

It’s also astonishingly easy to make, but make sure to have a huge bowl for mixing the syrup with the popcorn, otherwise you’ll create a mess.

Ingredients:

10-15 cups plain popcorn
3/4 stick butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup salted peanuts

1. Line bottom of a large shallow baking pan with foil. Lightly oil foil. Melt butter in a medium pot over moderate heat. Add brown sugar and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring, then boil, without stirring and making sure syrup does not scorch, about 6 minutes. Remove pot from heat.

2. Using a wooden spoon or a heatproof spatula, stir salt and baking soda into syrup, then quickly stir in peanuts and popcorn to coat. Immediately spread mixture in baking pan as thinly and evenly as possible. Cool completely, then break into bite-size pieces.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a muffin tin lightly with vegetable oil.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until combined. In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin, remaining oil, and eggs, until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

3. Stir together remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon and remaining 1 teaspoon sugar in another bowl and set aside.

4. Divide batter among muffin cups, then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups milk
2 tablespoons rosewater

1. Pour milk in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice flour, stirring to dissolve. Add rosewater and sugar.

2. Stir constantly over heat until mixture comes to a slow boil and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

3. Remove from heat and transfer to individual serving bowls, and let cool. Serve cold or at room temperature.