My ideas for what to cook this weekend include recipes for a half-boiled eggs recipe for classic Singaporean and Malaysian kopitiam eggs, a shredded chicken and corn salad recipe with salsa macha dressing, and a Russian meatballs recipe for tefteli, which makes some of the juiciest meatballs you’ll ever taste.
If feels like an entire wet season’s worth of rain has fallen upon Siem Reap the last couple of days. The streets have been flooding – though fortunately the water dissipates fast, thanks to the new drains installed during the first two years of the pandemic – and I’ve been craving cosy comforting foods.
Fortunately I write for you and not me, otherwise you’d be seeing two days of recommendations for soups and stews. Instead, I’ve got a real mix of recipe ideas for you for our latest edition of What to Cook this Weekend – from eggs and salads to tacos and meatballs.
And don’t forget, if you don’t find anything below you like, there’s lots more cooking inspiration in the Grantourismo recipe archives, which are heaving with hundreds of recipes. You can also click top right of the page to search or browse recent recipes under Latest Recipes on the home page.
But before I share my ideas for what to cook this weekend, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is partly funded by its readers. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon, which you can do for as little as the price of a coffee.
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Now let me share my ideas for what to cook this weekend.
What to Cook this Weekend from Kopitiam Eggs to to Salsa Macha Chicken Salad
Here are our What to Cook this Weekend suggestions for meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner for Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday Breakfast – Half Boiled Eggs Recipe for Classic Kopitiam Eggs
My top suggestion for you for what to cook this weekend is this half-boiled eggs recipe for the classic kopitiam eggs that are tailor-made for having with kaya toast in a Singaporean or Malaysian coffee shop. It’s one of our best Asian egg recipes for breakfast and one of our most popular recipes from our 13-year-old Weekend Eggs series.
The just-set, still runny yolks and milky whites are perfect for dipping toast ‘soldiers’ into. The secret is getting perfectly soft eggs every time.Terence’s technique is flawless for achieving the perfect soft boiled eggs every time. He uses a stainless steel vacuum insulated coffee mug. He has more tips for making half boiled eggs in the post.
We’ve especially been missing the experience of lingering over a long, slow, weekend breakfast or brunch at a local cafe or coffee shop and whatever that entails wherever we are in the world, and this half-boiled eggs recipe was a result of us craving the quintessential kopitiam breakfast in Singapore and Malaysia.
Half Boiled Eggs Recipe for Classic Kopitiam Eggs to Go With Your Kaya Toast
Saturday Lunch – Spicy Shredded Chicken and Corn Salad with Salsa Macha Dressing
We love a big salad to share for lunch and one of our favourites right now, and another of my picks for what to make this weekend, is our shredded chicken and corn salad recipe with salsa macha dressing for a gently spiced salad, partly inspired by Mexican esquites or street corn in a cup.
Shredded poached chicken is combined with sweet corn kernels, diced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and avocado, doused in a salsa macha dressing, and sprinkled with Mexican cotija or crumbly white cheese and fresh coriander (cilantro).
If you made our classic homemade salsa macha recipe – or you have a jar of your favourite salsa macha in the fridge – and you love a good shredded chicken salad, then please try our shredded chicken and corn salad recipe with salsa macha dressing. It’s deliciously addictive.
If you’ve enjoyed our other shredded chicken salad recipes, which are some of our most popular chicken breast recipes and some of the most searched-for chicken recipes on our site – my favourites are this bang bang chicken salad recipe, Vietnamese chicken salad recipe and Lao shredded chicken salad recipe – then trust me, you’re going to love this salad, too.
Spicy Shredded Chicken and Corn Salad with Salsa Macha Dressing
Saturday Dinner – Tacos al Pastor Recipe
Okay, so I confess, sometimes I do create these lists of What to Cook this Weekend with my own cravings in mind. I’ve been dreaming of devouring these tacos al pastor all week.
This recipe was developed by Terence in Mexico many years ago, inspired by the tacos al pastor we’d been obsessively eating at Salón Corona, a few blocks from our Mexico City apartment, and the tacos al pastor we ate at Rosita’s Al Pastor in Austin, Texas the week before.
Every time we ate tacos al pastor on that trip, the simplicity of corn tortillas topped with pork, marinated with pineapple, spices and chillies, grilled on a vertical spit, and sprinkled with cilantro (coriander), and those beautiful Mexican white onions, reminded us of the Middle East’s wonderful snack food, the shawarma – well, apart from the use of pork!
I would be very satisfied with a plate of tacos al pastor and a big bowl of the authentic Mexican guacamole that I learnt to make in San Miguel de Allende, but we also have recipes for an easy red tomato salsa, and Mexican char-grilled corn on the cob street food snack elotes and grilled corn salad, if you want to turn dinner into a Mexican fiesta. Wash it all down with classic margaritas or micheladas.
Tacos al Pastor Recipe for Home Cooks Without a Vertical Spit
Sunday Breakfast – Thai Son-in-Law Eggs Recipe for Fried Boiled Eggs with Tamarind
My Sunday breakfast suggestion for this week’s edition of What to Cook this Weekend is this Thai son-in-law eggs recipe for kai look keuy. The recipe makes golden-brown fried soft-boiled eggs with an ever-so-slightly crispy skin and it’s one of our best boiled eggs recipes.
The eggs are drizzled in a sweet and sour homemade tamarind sauce (although you could be very generous with the sauce and drown the things in it if you like) and sprinkled with fresh coriander (cilantro), spicy dried chillies, and crunchy fried shallots and crunchy fried garlic.
It is important to make the eggs soft-boiled. We need the egg whites to be firm enough not to break or fall apart, but we still want soft yolks, so around 5 1/2 to 6 minutes is perfect.
You also need to use a high smoke point oil, such as rice bran oil. The reason we’re deep-frying at such a high temperature is to make the surface of the eggs golden brown while keeping the yolks soft.
You can eat these crispy boiled eggs on their own as a light breakfast or snack, or as the Thais do with steamed rice to make a meal out of them.
Thai Son-in-Law Eggs Recipe for Fried Boiled Eggs with Sweet Tamarind Sauce
Sunday Lunch – Classic Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe
Because I can never eat enough chicken salad, for Sunday lunch for What to Cook this Weekend, I’m planning on making this classic Vietnamese chicken salad recipe, which is a fantastic year-round salad.
It’s fresh, fragrant, textured, and flavourful, not only courtesy of the ingredients, but that quintessential Southeast Asian salad dressing of fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, and chilli. We make it with pulled poached chicken but you can use rotisserie chicken pieces.
In summer, you can eat it just as it is, as a one-bowl meal or with other salads, and maybe slices of crusty baguette. In winter, you can serve it with warm chicken alongside a warm Vietnamese rice porridge or hot Vietnamese soup.
Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe with Crunchy Cabbage and Crispy Fried Shallots
Sunday Dinner – Russian Meatballs Recipe for Tefteli
Lastly, on my list of suggestions for what to cook this weekend is this Russian meatballs recipe for tefteli, which makes some of the juiciest meatballs you’ll ever taste.
Made with ground beef and minced pork, grated carrot, and cooked rice, these incredibly delicious meatballs are coated in flour, fried until brown to lock in their juices, and simmered in a rich, creamy tomato sauce to finish cooking and soak up even more flavour.
I know I told you that our Italian-style meatballs recipe made some of the best meatballs ever for the most flavoursome and juiciest meatballs you’ll taste. But I hadn’t yet shared my baboushka’s Russian meatballs recipe for tefteli, an even softer, even more succulent, yet textured meatball thanks to the cooked rice and grated carrot.
This recipe for my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother’s meatballs is another of our best meatball recipes – which includes recipes for all kinds of meatballs, from meatballs Stroganoff to the Spanish meatballs called albondigas. The tefteli are so filling, all you’ll need is a crisp green garden salad on the side.
Russian Meatballs Recipe for Tefteli – Juicy Meatballs Made with Rice in a Creamy Tomato Sauce
Please do let us know in the comments section below if you make any of our recipes for what to cook this weekend as we always love to hear how our recipes turn out for you.
