Home Cooking · Samin Nosrat & Hrishikesh Hirway

Guess What? Chicken Butt Is Delicious (with Yo-Yo Ma)

May 6, 2020·59 min·5 clips

Samin explains why chicken thighs are the secret to overcoming salmonella fears without drying out.

1. Home Cooking, a quarantine miniseries hosted by Samin Nosrat and Rishi Hirway, wraps its four-episode run with guests Yo-Yo Ma and Lindsay Hirway answering listener questions ranging from chicken safety to kimchi pancakes. 2. Samin Nosrat is a cookbook author and food writer; Rishi Hirway is the creator of the music podcast Song Exploder; Yo-Yo Ma is described as possibly the greatest living cellist and a guest in the latter part of the episode. 3. The episode asks what people with pantry staples, food fears, or unusual ingredient surpluses can cook during quarantine, with an emphasis on practical problem-solving. 4. Samin describes testing approximately eight lasagna recipes in one month for a New York Times national dinner party project, calling the period a carbohydrate-filled journey. 5. Rishi reads aloud a paragraph Samin wrote for the Times piece about missing the social ritual of setting a table, the anticipation before guests arrive, and the moment when strangers become unified around a dinner table. 6. Samin converted a quart and a half of expiring cream-top milk into tapioca and chocolate pudding using Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks recipe, then held a bring-your-own-bowl courtyard pudding party the following day. 7. For listener Marion in Paris who has no oven or microwave, Samin recommends stovetop tapioca, chocolate mousse, or posset — a centuries-old British three-ingredient dessert of heavy cream, sugar, and lemon juice that sets without refrigeration. 8. Listeners Jacob, Julia, and Olivia ask about foods wrapped in other foods; Samin lists dumplings, tamales, lettuce wraps, enchiladas, lavash pinwheel sandwiches, and Injera as options. 9. Samin describes the winged gyoza technique in detail: pot stickers packed tightly in a pan fuse into a single cake via starch release, then unmolded crispy-side up; the variation with a cornstarch slurry creates delicate wings connecting each dumpling. 10. Samin recounts a story of driving far across Los Angeles to purchase the best masa available for a taco party, only to discover she had bought tamale masa instead of tortilla masa, and the entire meal was eaten on chips. 11. Listener Sonal developed a fear of eating chicken at home after contracting salmonella in 2013; Samin prescribes bone-in skin-on chicken thighs roasted at 425°F for 45 minutes as a foolproof alternative to chicken breast. 12. The no-thermometer doneness test: insert a metal fork near the bone, remove it, and press the tines to the back of the other hand — warm means cooked, cold or lukewarm means more time is needed. 13. Listener Heather has a vegan roommate and a meat-and-potatoes boyfriend; Samin suggests modular meals like tacos with separate meat and bean options, Middle Eastern mezze spreads with chicken kebabs on the side, or dual-patty burger nights. 14. Samin recommends a battered and deep-fried portobello mushroom burger, sliced crosswise to reduce thickness, as a satisfying meatless alternative that resembles fried chicken. 15. Listener Morgan accidentally ordered a pound of ginger online; Samin recommends David Leibovitz's version of the Chez Panisse fresh ginger and molasses cake as the primary use, citing the recipe as available on Leibovitz's blog. 16. Samin also suggests making ginger-garlic paste by equal-parts blending raw ginger and raw garlic, covering with oil, and refrigerating for up to one week, cautioning that longer storage risks botulism. 17. A mystery caller asks how to cook with kimchi; Samin recommends kimchi grilled cheese (kimchi inside while cooking), kimchi fried rice with eggs and frozen peas, and kimchi added to dumplings. 18. Rishi cites Maangchi, a Korean YouTube cooking creator, as his top source for Korean cooking and describes her kimchi pancake recipe — kimchi, scallions, sugar, flour, and water fried in abundant oil for a crispy exterior and chewy interior. 19. The episode maintains the warm, unscripted call-and-response format of the series with Rishi asking clarifying questions and Samin answering in extended, detailed cooking explanations; Rishi's wife Lindsay Hirway makes a brief cameo to explain her sourdough discard pancake recipe. 20. Home cooks who want practical solutions for pantry ingredients, food fears, or feeding mixed dietary households will find this episode dense with actionable advice; listeners seeking restaurant-level precision or non-COVID-era content may find the framing dated.

As heard by us

A warm quarantine cooking episode where chicken thighs, lasagna talk, and easy banter make dinner feel possible.

Home Cooking closes its four-part quarantine run with the same loose, generous charm that made the mini-series feel useful in the first place.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Need dinner help and a little comfort? This one gives you both, plus Yo-Yo Ma.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Home Cooking