C H O P S T I R H A C K the mit cookbook
THE MIT COOKBOOK MIT has an idiosyncratic dining landscape that pairs a straightforward meal-plan-and-dining-hall configuration with a thriving-but-chaoticcook-for-yourself culture, complete with everything from refried pizzas to in-dorm sous-vide. This cookbook is meant to document the cultural role of food in communities across MIT — from the age-old traditions within dorms celebrated year after year to a variety of student recipes passed down from families or invented during college. bone apple tea, the cookbook team
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THANKS We would like to thank the MindHandHeart Innovation Fund for funding, Sam Magee for equipment and support, Chris Peterson for guidance, Lenny Martinez and Leon Yim for photography, and, of course, all of the students who shared their delicious recipes.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS invididual recipes japanese curry | sophie mori ...................................................................................... 4-5 shoyu poke | deborah wen ........................................................................................... 6 shrimp curry | haimoshri das ..................................................................................... 7 beet eggpant pork stew | mina sun ......................................................................... 8-9 tomato egg noodles | erica weng ............................................................................. 10 honey glazed pork chops | sharon lin ................................................................... 11 beef onion bowl | janice lee ........................................................................................ 12 egg tofu noodles | florence lo ..................................................................................... 13 baked salmon | shiloh curtis ...................................................................................... 14 lentil stew | elina sendonaris ....................................................................................... 15 cheesy garlic bread | zehreen etawarooah ............................................................ 16-17 miso soup | florence lo ................................................................................................... 18 stir fry beef | florence lo ................................................................................................ 19 vegan chili | ari grayzel ................................................................................................ 20-21 omurice | yukimi morimoto ........................................................................................ 22 pumpkin porridge | katya bezugla ......................................................................... 23 oatmeal cookies | shiloh curtis ................................................................................. 24 banana cookies | kaitlyn hennacy .......................................................................... 25 chocolate charlotte | lara shonkwiler ................................................................ 26-27
events bc apple bake ..................................................................................................... 28-29 challah for hunger ............................................................................................ 30-31 chocolate lab ...................................................................................................... 32-33 grilled cheese lab .............................................................................................. 34-35 simmons smoothies ......................................................................................... 36-37 soul food night .................................................................................................. 37-18 3
JAPANESE CURRY sophie mori Ingredients 2 large potatoes 3 large carrots 2 large onions 2 teaspoons ginger 2 cloves garlic 2 pounds meat (chicken thigh or stewing beef ) 1 box curry roux cooking oil salt, pepper steamed Japanese shortgrain rice
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2019 | 6-3 + 24 | East Campus
1. Cut the potatoes and carrots into bitesized chunks. For extra fun, use a rangiri cut. Optionally soak the potatoes in water to remove extra starch. 2. Cut the onions into thin slices. Mince the garlic and ginger. 3. Cut the meat into chunks, around 1 to 1.5 inch pieces. Season with salt and black pepper. 4. Procure a pot that is large enough to fit all the ingredients with a few inches to spare. Heat up 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in the pot. Brown the meat, halfway cooking it, on high heat for about 5 minutes. Avoid overcrowding by doing this step in batches if necessary. Set the meat aside.
5. Add a bit more oil if necessary and saute the onion. I cook the onion until it’s lightly browned, but you can bring it to whatever level of caramelization/ disintegration that you prefer. Add the ginger and garlic along with some salt about 5 minutes in. 6. Add all the vegetables and meat, and fill the pot with enough water to just barely cover everything. Let the water come to a boil. 7. Start cooking rice if you don’t have cooked rice yet. 8. Skim off the fat and foamy scum that rises to the top. Reduce the heat to low. Simmer everything until the vegetables turn soft. 9. Slowly add pieces of the curry roux, stirring slowly and continuously to dissolve the chunks. The curry should start turning thick, and you can stop adding roux whenever this happens. Add more water to compensate for overthick curry. The curry will also naturally thicken as it continues to cook. 10. Simmer for a while longer, stirring occasionally. Optionally grate some apple into the curry for sweetness. When you can’t stand waiting anymore (or when the rice finishes cooking), serve the curry with rice!
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SHOYU POKE deborah wen
2021 | 8 | MacGregor
Ingredients 8 oz. sashimi/sushi-grade ahi/ salmon 1/4 small white onion, chopped 1/2 cup soy sauce 1.5 tablespoons sesame oil 1.5 tablespoons sugar splash rice vinegar sriracha, to taste 1 teaspoon furikake Âź avocado, cubed cooked white rice
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1. Dice the sashimi into bite-sized pieces, about the same size as the avocado. 2. Roughly chop the onion. 3. In a bowl, combine the soy sauce + sesame oil + sugar + vinegar + sriracha + furikake. Whisk together until combined, and then add the sashimi + onion. Fold together. 4. Put together a bowl of white rice + poke + chopped avocado, and whatever else you want on top, pretend the weather is warm and you’re at the beach, and enjoy (:
SHRIMP CURRY haimoshri das
2022 | 6 -3 or 18 | Next House
Ingredients 200g of shrimp 100g of potato chilli - 2 pieces 100g of onion salt to taste turmeric powder oil - 500 ml garlic - 1 piece (3-5 cloves)
1. Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry the shrimp (mixed with salt and turmeric). Keep it aside. 2. In the same oil, fry chilli, chopped onion, chopped garlic with salt and turmeric. 3. Add sliced potatoes. Add some water. 4. Put the shrimp in it. 5. Put some water and let it simmer. Tada!!! It’s ready! 7
BEET EGGPLANT PORK STEW mina sun
2019 | 6-3 | Next House
Ingredients sweet Soy Sauce cooking Oil cayenne Pepper dried chili pepper garlic ginger asian eggplant thin sliced pork belly beets 1 tsp salt ½ tsp baking powder Ÿ tsp baking soda
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1. Season the pork. Take cayenne pepper, and add on pork as desired. Pour about 4 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce per pound of meat. Rub the pepper and soy sauce mixture into the meat and let it marinate overnight, or if in a hurry, for 15 minutes. The color of the meat should be a dark maroon. 2. Dice the beets. They should be medium sized dice. 3. Dice the eggplant. They should be large sized dice. This is because the beets take a little longer to cook than the eggplants. 4. Cut 8 garlic cloves into halves and julienne a thumb-sized chunk of ginger.
5. Prepare the pan by adding in enough oil to coat the bottom with an ⅛” coat of oil. You want to be a little generous with the oil because the meat soaks up a lot of oil and it helps get rid of any raw meat smell. For the calorieconscious, you can pour out the excess oil later. Heat up the oil on medium heat until it starts to crackle. Add in all the cloves of garlic and let fry for a couple minutes, until the clove edges start to turn golden. 6. Add in half the ginger. 7. Add in as many meat strips as you can fit flat on the bottom of the pan. Sautee until the meat is barely brown, and add in the next set of strips. You want the time each piece is cooked to be similar. 8. Add in the beets. Occasionally, move the meat and beets around so that the meat doesn’t burn. 9. After the beets are starting to get soft, add in the eggplant. Let the eggplants cook until soft. Add in half a cup of water if things start to get dry, to prevent burning. Add conservatively. Get some water, and enjoy!
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TOMATO EGG NOODLES erica weng
2020 | 6-3 | McCormick Ingredients 3 tomatoes a green onion 2 eggs wide asian wheat noodles chicken broth salt, black pepper 1. Stir-fry the onions until they caramelize. 2. Add in the tomatoes and stirfry until they get all melty. 3. Add chicken broth and season the soup. 4. When soup is boiling, add in noodles. 5. Finally, when noodles are ready, turn the water to a low boil and pour in beaten eggs (they should blossom and float to the surface upon pouring due to the boiling water).
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HONEY GLAZED PORKCHOPS sharon lin
2021 | 6-2 | East Campus
Ingredients honey brown sugar soy Sauce pork chops oil
1. Mix 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of honey, and half a tablespoon of brown sugar for each pork chop into a bowl. Heat in the microwave for 20 seconds. 2. Coat a large skillet with some oil. Heat over medium heat. Add the pork chops. Cook until each side is slightly brown, turning once. 3. Coat each side of the pork chops with the glaze. Allow it to cook until slightly caramelized. Remove from heat and enjoy!
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BEEF ONION BOWL janice lee
2019 | 6-3 | Simmons Ingredients ½ lb thin sliced beef half yellow onion soy sauce cooking oil Pre-step: I never really measure ingredients and sort of just taste and adjust to how salty/unsalty it tastes. 1. Chop up onions into half moons. Make sure the skin of the onion is peeled off. 2. Put some oil in the pan. 3. Once the oil is warm, put in the onions. 4. As the onions are cooking, add a small amount of water. 5. Add a little bit of soy sauce. 6. Cook until they are a nice light brown color. 7. Add the sliced beef and more soy sauce. 8. Add more water as necessary (I add a little if it seems dryish) Done! Eat and share!
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EGG TOFU NOODLES florence lo Ingredients egg noodles tofu egg oil
2019 | 1 | Burton Conner 1. Boil a pot of water [3-4 cups]. 2. Dice 1/2 a block of tofu into small pieces . 3. When the water is finished boiling, put a handful of egg noodles in the pot. 4. Then take out the noodles to strain the water out. 5. Add the tofu into the water and boil for 3-4 minutes. 6. Take out the tofu and add it to the noodles. 7. Then put oil on a dry pan and add the noodles and tofu. 8. Crack 2 eggs and stir it in a bowl until it’s mixed. 9. Add the eggs into the pan and stir-fry for 5 minutes [or until the eggs are cooked].
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BAKED SALMON shiloh curtis
2020 | 6-2 | East Campus
Ingredients salmon filet 1-2 lemons butter rosemary
1. Grease a baking dish with butter and leave a couple chunks in the dish to melt. 2. Put the salmon filet in the baking dish, slice up the lemons and arrange them on top of the salmon, and sprinkle rosemary over the whole stack. 3. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes or so (until salmon flakes with a fork). Goes well with basmati rice
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LENTIL STEW elina sendonaris
2020 | 8 + 6-1 | No. 6 Society
Ingredients lentils tomato paste white vinegar onion rice salt optional: olive oil and greek yogurt
1. In boiling water, put 4 handfuls of lentils, some tomato paste, white vinegar, chopped onions, 1/4 cup rice, and salt. 2. Leave simmering and covered for ~25-30 mins, or until soft enough. Serve with olive oil and greek yogurt.
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CHEESY GARLIC BREAD zehreen etwarooah
2019 | 20 | McCormick
Ingredients french baguette or any loaf of bread that is not super dense inside. you want something that is crusty on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. this is the item that is hardest to find a good quality type. I know Star Market has the best fresh French baguette. fresh garlic butter fresh parsley a mozzarella/cheddar cheese blend. usually the pizza blend works great. if not, just cheddar is fine too. oregano olive oil
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1. Cut an appropriate size of baguette and slice it half. Peel and mince several cloves of fresh garlic. 2. Wash and chop some fresh parsley. 3. Put two large scoops of butter into a bowl, along with some olive oil and minced garlic and chopped parsley. 4. Mix until it has a smooth consistency. Evenly spread the mixture onto the baguette . 5. Close the baguette and wrap it in aluminium foil . 6. Toast it in oven. 7. Take the baguette out from the oven and open the aluminium foil wrap (be careful because it’s hot!). 8. Layer as much cheese as you want! 9. Put the baguette back to the oven without foil covered on top for 15 minutes at 375F. Enjoy!
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MISO SOUP florence lo
2019 | 1 | Burton Conner
Ingredients organic dashi miso paste soft tofu scallions broccoli
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1. Dice 2 scallions without the roots, 4-7 pieces of broccoli and 1/4 of a tofu. 2. Boil a pot of water [3-4 cups]. 3. When the water boils, put in the diced tofu, broccoli and scallions as well as a spoon of miso paste [1/2 - 1 spoonful depending on how heavy you want the soup].
STIRY FRY BEEF florence lo
2019 | 1 | Burton Conner
Ingredients bottom sirloin flap beef oil soy sauce green pepper tomato sugar
1. Dice tomato and green pepper into small edible pieces. 2. Put the diced tomato in a bowl and sprinkle some sugar on it. 3. Cut the beef into thumb-sized pieces. 4. Put oil in the pan and make sure the pan is dry. 5. Place the beef in the pan and let it sit for 2 minutes, flip each piece over and leave it for 1 minute 6. Add the. soy sauce, diced pepper and tomato into the pan. Stir and mix for 2-3 minutes. 19
VEGAN CHILI ari grayzel
2022 | 16 | next house
Ingredients 1 large yellow onion 1 red bell pepper 6-12 large cloves of garlic 1 block super firm tofu olive oil 1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes 1 14-oz can of black beans 1 14-oz can of pinto beans 1 14-oz can of kidney beans 1 14-oz can of sweet corn kernels 1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (e.g. peas, carrots, etc.) Fresh are even better! ~6 bay leaves cumin oregano chili powder 2 tbsp. tomato paste avocado 1 cup vegetable broth
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1. Press tofu under cutting board and some weight to drain out excess water. This takes a bit of time so I recommend doing it when you start. 2. Mince onion, garlic and bell pepper. Put in bottom of large pot (cast iron is ideal but not necessary). 3. Coat in olive oil and heat over high heat. Add cumin and oregano liberally (the mixture should slightly change color) and continue to heat until onions and peppers are brown and slightly translucent. Stir frequently. 4. Crumble tofu into pot. Heat until and stir until tofu begins to turn a little brown. 5. Add tomatoes, all the beans, vegetables, bay leaves, and vegetable broth and stir well. The consistency should be a little watery, if it is too thick then add some water or more broth. Add other spices to taste 6. Simmer for 45-90 minutes. Stir periodically and add water if needed. Take care to ensure the bottom does not stick and burn. 7. Taste and add varying spices as desired. 8. Serve hot with corn chips, avocado and cheddar cheese (not needed for vegans)!
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OMURICE yukimi morimoto
2019 | 6-3 | Next House
Ingredients rice (Asian rice) : 1+1/4 cups (~230 ml) egg: 4 (doesn’t matter what kind of egg) mixed vegetables (frozen corn, carrots, peas or similar vegetables mixed together. If there’s nothing like this, just carrots, peas, and corn separately are fine.): ~50ml onion: 1/3-1/2 bacon: 3-4 slices ketchup (half a bottle’s definitely enough.) milk: ~2 tablespoons butter: just a little bit salt pepper, sugar, cooking oil (just a little bit each) 1. Cook rice normally, then mix it with cooked veggies, bacon, and ketchup on a pan. 2. (Add salt pepper) cook egg with a bit of milk in it on a pan separately. (Using butter makes the latter part easier). Leave the inside raw. 3. Put egg on rice. Cut the egg while it’s hot and cover the whole rice.
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PUMPKIN PORRIDGE katya bezugla
2022 | 6 ? 16 ? 12 ? | Random Hall
Ingredients pumpkin (orange) sugar milk (whole) cup of rice
1. Cut off pumpkin top and gut it (save the seeds for roasting!) 2. Chop pumpkin in 1-1.5 inch-ish cubes 3. Put cubes in pot and cover with milk (if you stick your finger in, you should hit the pumpkin by the time your first finger joint is covered in milk). 4. Mediumish heat until pumpkin is sorta doneish. 5. Add rice and sugar and cook until it tastes cooked. Notes: use a regular orange pumpkin and whole milk !! Non-whole milk is a blight to our society.
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OATMEAL COOKIES shiloh curtis
2020 | 6-2 | East Campus
Ingredients 3 cups oatmeal 1 stick butter 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup milk 1/3 cup cocoa powder optional tsp or so of vanilla
1. Put everything except the oatmeal in a pot on medium heat. 2. Bring to a boil, stirring to combine ingredients. 3. After boiling for 3 minutes, turn off the heat and stir in the oatmeal. 4. Drop chunks of this mixture onto a baking sheet, sheet of parchment paper, or other reasonably food-safe flat surface, and wait for them to solidify.
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BANANA COOKIES kaitlyn hennacy
2020 | 10 | New House 5 (Desmond)
Ingredients Makes 2 dozen cookies 1 cup unsalted butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 3/4 tsp banana extract 2 eggs 2 2/3 cup flour 1 tsp salt ½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda
1. Cream together the butter, sugars, and banana extract until pale and fluffy. 2. Beat in the egg. 3. Using a large spoon or rubber spatula, mix in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. It’s best if you refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or longer before baking. 3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Drop tablespoons of dough onto a parchment-paper-lined or greased baking sheet. 4. Bake for 10-12 minutes. 25
CHOCOLATE CHARLOTTE lara shonkwiler
2021 | 6-1 | New House (French House)
Ingredients 20 dkg icing sugar 20 dkg butter 6 eggs 1 pint whip cream 3 oz dark chocolate, melted ladyfingers, prob ~2-3 packets, but depends on what type you get milk (enough to soak ladyfingers in, prob ~1-2 cup) rum extract (because we don’t use a l c o h o l)
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1. Separate the eggs. 2. Whip the egg whites until stiff. 3. Cream the sugar and butter together in a separate bowl. 4. Add egg yolks one at a time until well incorporated. 5. Stir in melted chocolate with mixer beating quickly. 6. Whip all the cream. 7. Incorporate half of whipped cream into chocolate mixture. 8. Fold in egg whites. 9. Make a milk (+rum) mixture into a dish. 10. Soak each ladyfinger in milk for 2-5 seconds. 11. Place in springform pan: line the edges and the bottom with ladyfingers. 12. Add chocolate mixture in the middle. 13. Add another layer of ladyfingers. 14. Add a tablespoon of icing sugar to remaining whipped cream and spread on top of ladyfingers. 15. Place plate under springform pan to catch leaking milk and place in fridge for ~1-2 hours. 16. Remove springform pan before serving. 27
BC APPLE BAKE burton conner
The BC porter room quickly fills up with various apple dishes. From grilled dinosaur-shaped apple sandwiches to tiny apple turtles to rotten apples with googly eyes, over sixty entries sit atop red-checkered tablecloths for the annual bc apple bake. Judges from each floor of bc and even the old heads of house arrive, clipboard in hand, to sample and gauge the quality of each entry. The room is full of excitement as contestants survey the other entries with curiosity and (on occasion) bewilderment.
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The stakes are high — the promised prize is an adorable mug for each resident of the floor that wins. Residents pull out all the stops to showcase their best culinary skills for the judges. Since BC is a non-dining hall, it has a strong culture around food, and the evidence has never been stronger. One contestant says, beaming over her submission, “I’m really good at making dumplings with meat, so I filled them with apple instead.” Over the past fifteen years, various categories have been added: apple abroad, apple dessert, and apple art, just to name a few. Here’s to many more years of apple-related culinary creativity to come!
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CHALLAH FOR HUNGER
Six people stand around a table, kneading small piles of dough and casually chatting. There’s flour in the air, in spirals and ridges all over the table, and smudged onto the aprons of the bakers. Every now and then, someone takes a bit of dough, stretches it, and holds it up to the light to see if it’s become translucent — a technique to see if it’s ready. This is Challah for Hunger! Challah is a special type of Jewish bread, traditionally made with lots of eggs and distinctively sweetened with honey. The dough is braided, and the challah for hunger team adds all sorts of different flavors, ranging from nutella and cinnamon sugar to coconut and garlic herb cheddar. The proceeds from the challah sales go towards efforts that address food insecurity both in cambridge, through Food for Free, and nationwide, through MAZON. The MIT Challah for Hunger chapter is a part of a larger national organization. Members participate because they find it a lowstress activity that’s fun and meaningful, and a way to meet cool people and catch up with friends. “We like to chat and catch up with each other, and then punch large buckets of warm dough,” said one baker. “It’s a tight-knit community and we bake delicious bread every week,” another said, “what more could you ask for?”
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CHOCOLATE LAB Finals week, for many of us at MIT, is the treacherous culmination of a semester of stress and late nights. The infinite is full of people walking from dorms to libraries, from libraries to exams, from exams to empty classrooms. But as students cross lobby 10, something brings them to a halt — the richly intense and alluring smell of hot chocolate. Courtesy of the MIT Chocolate Lab, three portable stoves (each with their own double boiler) are perched on a booth table, full of hot milk and swirling chocolate. Chocolate Lab members heat up heavy cream before adding chocolate chips that melt away (like the stress levels of anyone who stops to get a sample).
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MIT Chocolate Lab was founded in 2003 to educate students in the art of chocolate making — perhaps most famously through their persistently popular IAP truffle-making class. During finals week, Chocolate Lab brings cheer to the student body by providing free hot chocolate. And it’s clear that they’re achieving their goal: one happy passerby says, clutching their warm cup, “this is the best part of exams. I love these guys, they’re so good!” For the interested: Add yourself to chocolatiersvolunteers@mit.edu to get involved in more Chocolate Lab events.
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GRILLED CHEESE next house The Next House country kitchen is smoky and loud, as orders are yelled out across the room and sandwiches stack up in tottering piles on the tables. Four people wielding spatulas flip and slightly char melty, cheesy sandwiches on the stovetops as others rush to wrap them in foil and run them up to hungry Nexties on the upper floors. Periodically a rush of chill October air floods the kitchen as a chef opens the exit door, stopping the fire alarm from going off. Welcome to the Grilled Cheese Lab.
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E LAB (GCL) The Grilled Cheese Lab is run by residents of safety third (Next House 3W). In 2013, Next Act ran over budget, so the production staff decided to sell grilled cheese halves to make up the balance. It then became a tradition for this event to be held a couple of times a year, but now the sandwiches are free. GCL has become an institution at Next House, and are a welcome phenomenon for many residents. As one hungry Nextie said: “they warm my heart�.
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SIMMONS SMOOTHIES simmons hall
With bags upon bags of frozen fruit piled at his feet, Prof. John Essigmann, Simmons’ head of house, expertly wields his blender. Hundreds of pounds of fruit, tempered with honey, yogurt, and coconut milk, are being transmuted almost alchemically into delicious and refreshing smoothies. With each whir of his blender, another batch of antioxidant-filled, flavor-packed smoothies is prepared for the parched attendees of Simmons smoothie night. From buttermilk pancakes to french toast to fresh fruit, the tables are laden with food — but it’s clear that the smoothies are residents’ favorite. The heads of house at Simmons, John and Ellen, started out at New House where they were always on the lookout for new dormwide activities. Since New House lacks a dining hall, they started preparing breakfasts for residents. Years later, when John and Ellen moved to Simmons, the breakfast tradition came with them. now, when seniors leave Simmons, John and Ellen give them their recipes so they can take a little piece of Simmons with them out into the world.
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SOUL FOOD NIGHT
mccormick hall
The end of the line is barely discernible — it seems to be somewhere in the Brown living room. Part of you wants to give up and go elsewhere for dinner. The wait can’t really be worth it, can it? But your nose, taken in by the enticing smell of mac and cheese and roast pork wafting out of the dining hall, tells you otherwise. As the people in front of you are swiped in one by one, you get closer and closer to your goal: dinner on McCormick soul food night. Held in McCormick about once a month, soul food night attracts students from all over campus with its promise of the taste of southern home cooking. The menu contains reliable staples like mac and cheese (gooey with a wonderful breadcrumb crust), cornbread (soft and crumbly), and pulled pork (the kind that melts in your mouth). It’s the sort of thing people count down towards every month.
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Editor-in-chief - Megan Fu Creative Director - Alex Boccon-Gibod Financial Director - Sebastian Quilter Project Manager - Aaron Sipser Campus Culinary Coordinator - Jessica Yen Student Culinary Coordinator - Charlotte Sun Marketing Lead - Anjali Nambrath
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