Romulo Yanes

Watch the video and learn how to make this recipe.

Spoon this spicy and acidic kimchi relish over a steak salad, serve alongside pan-fried chicken, or try it on a taco.

For this steak rub recipe, chef Josef Centeno, of Baco Mercat in Los Angeles, was inspired by the coffee rub his father used to make for grilling steaks. Basting with butter before transferring the pan to the oven helps bloom the dried spices and adds irresistible flavor to the meat.

Don't bother peeling the onions; their skins add a nice, rich brown color to this vegetable stock. If you'd like, remove the skins for use in dishes when a lighter color is preferred, such as in risotto or cream sauces.

Pick firm, bright-green celery stalks with lots of leaves for this refreshing dish from The Bristol in Chicago.

King trumpet mushrooms star in this salad served at Brooklyn's Prime Meats. They're available at many supermarkets, but you'll find them at better prices at many Asian markets. Crimini (baby bella) mushrooms are a fine substitute.

Leave the skin on the salmon to insulate and help protect the delicate flesh as it cooks. Bonus: It cooks up as crisp as cracklings in the process. If you're new to cooking fish and want a little extra insurance, try this method with an ovenproof nonstick pan. 

Add the vegetables partway through braising to ensure they will have enough time to be infused with meaty flavor without overcooking. Serve with a loaf of your favorite crusty bread for sopping up the juices.

The smoky-tart flavors of this sauce pair well with the inherent sweetness of seared scallops or roasted pork tenderloin.

The best desserts strike a balance of sweet, salty, acidic, and rich notes—and this one is it.

Flanked-Style short ribs, used for Korean barbecue, are cut across the bones instead of between the bones. Start this recipe ahead of time; chilling the ribs after braising keeps them from falling falling apart when they served (and all braised meats taste better the next day).

At the Lambs Club in New York, chef Geoffrey Zakarian dusts the chicken with flour and lets it cook skin side down--keys to a juicy cutlet under a super thin, crackly layer of skin. If you can find boneless, skin-on chicken breasts, they'll save you a step.

Golden and fragrant, this dish is a meal on its own, or it can be served with steamed basmati rice or warm flatbread.

Chicken wings are great for stock. They're flavor-making powerhouses of bones, meat, and skin and are easy to find. Some supermarkets sell backbones and carcasses; feel free to use them toward (or instead of) the four-pound total.

Brining these pork chops makes them moist, tender, and seasoned throughout, and the sugar helps create a dark, caramelized sheen.

There's no need to cook beets when they're very thinly sliced. Renee Erickson and Marie Rutherford of Seattle restaurant the Whale Wins mellow them out with a dollop of creme fraiche.

Adding salt to this classic sauce lets you taste the rich complexity of the caramel, not just the sweetness. To save time, feel free to replace the almonds and butter with 1/2 cup store-bought roasted almond butter (no added sugar). Just stir in the salt and almond extract and it's recipe-ready for the bread pudding.

Finishing your chocolate chunk cookies cookies with a flaky salt like Maldon brings out the chocolate flavor and tempers the sweetness, creating the ultimate sweet and salty snack. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.