The 10 most popular recipes of May 2021 on the site were a real mix of new recipes and old favourites – some of which we published a whopping ten years ago, others this time last year. This is a new monthly series that we thought might be fun. We’ll publish it on the first day of every month.
One of our most popular posts each year, which we publish between Christmas and New Year, is a round-up of the most-read recipes of the year. It’s June and last year’s post is still getting read! So we thought we might see if a monthly post of the most read recipes of the previous month interests you as much as the annual list.
Our most popular recipes of May 2021 were a real mix of old favourites – some of which we published a whopping ten years ago during the 12-month grand tour of the world that launched Grantourismo – and they are our tomato bredie recipe from Cape Town and our cote de boeuf recipe courtesy of chef Pierre Gagnaire in Paris.
Before I share our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by using our links to book accommodation, rent a car, buy travel insurance, or book a tour on Get Your Guide. You can also shop our Grantourismo store for gifts for foodies, including fun reusable cloth face masks designed with Terence’s images.
Another option is to contribute to our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon or purchase something on Amazon, such as these James Beard award-winning cookbooks, cookbooks by Australian chefs, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers, travel books to inspire wanderlust, gifts for Asian food lovers, picnic lovers and travellers who love photography.
Now let me tell you about our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021.
10 Most Popular Recipes of May 2021 – Here’s What Our Readers Have Been Cooking
Here’s what you’ve been cooking recently – our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021.
Tomato Bredie Recipe for a Classic Cape Town Stew
This tomato bredie recipe for a classic Cape Town stew was one of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021. This bredie (an Afrikaans word meaning ‘stew’) is a slow-cooked mutton and tomato stew.
The variety and amount of spices added have an infinite variety of permeations so this is Terence’s version of the tomato bredie inspired by our time in Cape Town a decade ago.
It was created for a recipe series called The Dish, in which we shared recipes for the quintessential dishes of each of the places we settled into for two weeks at a time on the yearlong global grand tour that launched this site.
Tomato Bredie Recipe for a Classic Cape Town Stew from South Africa
Easy Mango Jam Recipe to Make Use of the Mango Season Harvest
It’s nearing the end of mango season here in Cambodia, which means we’ve been making mango recipes in our Siem Reap kitchen, such as this easy mango jam recipe, which was one of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021.
Made without pectin and four ingredients – mangoes, sugar, lemon, and lime – this refrigerator jam makes two jars of mango jam that taste of fresh ripe fruit rather than sugar.
If you like this recipe and you have mangoes to use, check out these recipes for mango sticky rice by David Thompson, mango gazpacho, a classic green mango salad and my tropical Eton Mess with mango, passionfruit and dragon fruit.
Easy Mango Jam Recipe to Make Use of the Mango Season Harvest
Cambodian Beef Skewers for Sach Ko Ang
This Cambodian beef skewers recipe kicked off our series on the best Cambodian barbecue recipes this time last year, so it’s perhaps no surprise it is was one of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021 with barbecue season getting underway in the northern hemisphere.
Called sach ko ang in Khmer, they are typically eaten with pickled vegetables and are a classic late afternoon or early evening snack in Cambodia. Some locals slide the meat off the skewer into the buttered baguette to make a meal out of them.
We discovered these addictively delicious skewers on one of our first trips to Cambodia over a decade ago and I think we smelt the smoky aromas first, then spotted the plumes of smoke, and let our noses lead the way.
Cambodian Beef Skewers Recipe with Lemongrass – How To Make Sach Ko Ang
Chinese Tea Eggs Recipe for Perfumed Marbled Eggs Almost Too Beautiful To Eat
This Chinese tea eggs recipe makes marbled eggs – aromatic boiled eggs that have a marbled appearance when peeled.
Steeped in a stock of five spice, soy and tea flavours that perfume the eggs, they’re a tasty snack when eaten on their own, or you can add soy sauce, chilli sauce and steamed rice and you have a lovely light breakfast.
One of last month’s Weekend Eggs recipes, a series on our favourite quintessential breakfast eggs recipes from around the world, it was also one of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021.
Chinese Tea Eggs Recipe for Perfumed Marbled Eggs Almost Too Beautiful To Eat
Thai Corn Fritters Recipe for Tod Man Khao Pod is Made for Thai Sweet Chilli
Our Thai corn fritters recipe makes tod man khao pod in Thai – crunchy, chewy corn fritters that we gently spice with a little chilli paste. Eaten as a snack in Thailand and neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, you could serve these as finger food or as an appetiser.
The corn cobs are fantastic dipped into our homemade sweet chilli sauce. Bonus: these are also vegan corn fritters. If you’re a fan of corn on the cob, also see our recipe for grilled corn on the cobs with lime, butter and lemongrass mayonnaise.
And for corn lovers we also have recipes for grilled corn salad with lime, chilli, lemongrass mayo, and croutons, smoky Mexican grilled corn on the cob recipe for elotes, a Mexican grilled corn salad, and the Mexican corn in a cup called esquites or elotes en vaso.
This Thai Corn Fritters Recipe for Tod Man Khao Pod is Made for Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
A Cote de Boeuf Recipe Courtesy of Chef Pierre Gagnaire in Paris
This côte de bœuf recipe from superstar French chef Pierre Gagnaire became one of our most memorable souvenirs of our stay in Paris a decade ago. But when we posted it to our site we could never have known it would become one of our most read recipes year after year. This cote de boeuf recipe was almost a couscous recipe too!
Back in the spring of 2010 in Paris, about a quarter of the way through our 12 month global grand tour aimed at inspiring you all to live like locals and travel more slowly, sustainably, and more experientially, we asked the legendary French chef Pierre Gagnaire his opinion as to what the quintessentially Parisian dish was that Terence should learn to cook in Paris. The chef said couscous!
Cote de Boeuf Recipe Courtesy of Chef Pierre Gagnaire in Paris
Stir Fried Clams Recipe with Spicy Sweet Tamarind Sauce and Aromatic Basil
It’s clam season in a lot of places right now, so it’s not surprising that this stir fried clams recipe with spicy sweet tamarind sauce and aromatic basil was another one of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021.
This recipe makes a Cambodian dish called ngeav chhar ampil tum, an easy but impressive plate for a casual seafood meal. The addictive tamarind sauce is sweet thanks to ripe tamarind and palm sugar, spicy courtesy of bird’s eye chillies, and fresh basil brings fragrance. Best of all: it comes together in minutes.
Stir Fried Clams Recipe with Spicy Sweet Tamarind Sauce and Aromatic Basil
Chicken Katsu Burger Recipe for Crunchy Tender Chicken Cutlets with Spicy Slaw
This chicken katsu burger recipe places a crunchy tender chicken cutlet, prepared using the classic Japanese katsu method of panko-breaded and deep-fried chicken, between spicy Asian slaw, tangy Japanese-style barbecue sauce, and soft burger buns.
It was another one of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021. While we love Japanese pork tonkatsu in sandwiches, these tender chicken thighs fried with panko crumbs gives the kind of crunch we love about the Belles Hot Chicken burger.
The super soft bun contrasts perfectly with the crispy breaded deep-fried chicken skin. With this burger, it’s the panko breadcrumbs that offer that crunch that we love so much. Serve with hand-cut fries and you’re in chicken katsu burger heaven.
Chicken Katsu Burger Recipe for Crunchy Tender Chicken Cutlets with Spicy Slaw
Authentic Nom Banh Chok Recipe for Cambodia’s Beloved Khmer Noodles
This authentic nom banh chok recipe for Cambodia’s beloved Khmer Noodles was another one of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021. It makes nom banh chok samlor proher, a popular breakfast dish of freshly-made rice noodles doused in a yellow-green coconut-based fish gravy that at its best is richer and creamier than other iterations of this dish. The bowl of noodles is garnished with fragrant herbs, seasonal vegetables, edible flowers, and wild herbs.
Cambodia’s most beloved dish, Cambodia’s most quintessential dish, and Cambodia’s national dish for so many Cambodians – indicative by the fact that locals translate the dish to foreigners as ‘Khmer noodles’ – nom banh chok has long been ‘Cambodia in a bowl’ for me and is perhaps my most favourite Cambodian food and one of my favourite Southeast Asian noodle dishes.
Authentic Nom Banh Chok Recipe for Cambodia’s Beloved Khmer Noodles
Spicy Potato Wedges Recipe with Sweet Chilli Sauce and Sour Cream
Our spicy potato wedges recipe takes the classic Australian café, pub and bar snack of potato wedges with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream and gives it a spicy Asian twist. Another one of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021, these skin-on potato wedges can be fried or baked, but we’ve gone for the healthier oven-baked route.
Don’t worry, this will still make you potato wedges that are crispy on the outside and fluffy within. Served with the classic Aussie combo of sweet chilli sauce and sour cream, these spicy wedges make a filling snack or a fantastic side for burgers. If you made our Thai sweet chilli sauce (link above), then you’ll definitely want to give this recipe a go.
Spicy Potato Wedges Recipe With Sweet Chilli Sauce and Sour Cream
If you’ve made any of our 10 most popular recipes of May 2021 we’d love to know how they turned out for you.
