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<\/p>\nKeeping the memory of La Caridad 78 alive, and new recipes from Ali Slagle and Eric Kim.<\/p>\n
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By <\/span>Sam Sifton<\/span><\/p>\n By <\/span>Sam Sifton<\/span><\/p>\n Good morning. It hurts me that I\u2019ll never again take the subway to 79th Street in Manhattan, then amble south to eat a huge meal at La Caridad 78: egg foo young with roast pork; pan-fried pork chops with black bean sauce; yellow rice and black beans; a platter of sweet roasted plantains; an ice-cold Coke. The restaurant, which served Chino Latino cooking to the Upper West Side for more than 50 years, closed during the pandemic.<\/p>\n But I can keep its memory alive at home by combining favorite flavors of the Chinese diaspora with those of Cuba\u2019s. It\u2019s a perfect weekend cooking project for the middle of October: ropa vieja (above), for instance, alongside a platter of fried rice, with maduros, black beans and pressed and toasted French bread with butter.<\/p>\n Or sweet and sour pork, with arroz congr\u00ed? That could be great. I\u2019ll serve a salad, either way: iceberg, tomatoes, onion and a sliced avocado, dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar. And then have arroz con leche for dessert. Yes, there\u2019ll be leftovers. When it came to groaning tables, La Caridad had virtually no peer.<\/p>\n That\u2019s one idea for the weekend, anyway. You might prefer Ali Slagle\u2019s new recipe for crispy coconut tempeh, a delicious vegan version of coconut shrimp that serves as an excellent introduction to the pleasures of cooking with tempeh. That would be ideal before a main course of cold noodle salad with spicy peanut sauce, I think.<\/p>\n Or you could grill jalape\u00f1o pork chops, to serve with cilantro rice. You could make fried chicken biscuits with hot honey butter. Or you might assemble this 30-minute mole that will not compare to an abuelita\u2019s but is still pretty fantastic with its smart combination of peanut butter and tahini. I like that sauce with pan-fried chicken thighs. But you might try it with a collection of vegetables cut into equal size and roasted in a hot oven until they\u2019re both crisp and soft. Superb.<\/p>\n And if you find yourself this weekend cooking for a smaller crowd than normal, or for just the same old one or two? Give Eric Kim\u2019s new recipe for shrimp stew a try, \u201ca sort of cousin of bouillabaisse, cioppino and maeuntang,<\/em>\u201d he wrote for The Times this week, \u201cwith a spicy, aromatic broth that\u2019s tinged red with gochugaru,<\/em> a Korean red-pepper powder.\u201d Fantastic!<\/p>\n Thousands and thousands more recipes are lined up in digital stacks for you at New York Times Cooking. Go browse among them and see what piques your fancy. Save the recipes you like and rate the ones you\u2019ve made. You can leave notes on them, too, if you\u2019d like to remember a hack or substitution, or to share an observation with your fellow subscribers. (Yes, subscriptions are required, same as they are when you want to watch \u201cThe Good Fight\u201d on Paramount+. I hope, if you haven\u2019t already, that you will subscribe today.)<\/p>\n We will stand watch in the meantime just like the ski patrol at Whakapapa in New Zealand, ready to help if you run into trouble in the kitchen or on our site and apps. Just write to us at cookingcare@nytimes.com, and someone will get back to you. (You can also write to me: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I read every letter sent.)<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s not so much about cooking as being cooked for, but see what you think of my colleagues\u2019 amazing list of the 50 restaurants in the United States that we\u2019re most excited by right now. Where are you going to go first?<\/p>\n Take a moment, too, to read our obituary for Anne Saxelby, who died on Saturday at age 40. She was a pre-eminent champion of American cheeses.<\/p>\n Shots fired: Los Angeles Magazine\u2019s Heather Platt takes a look at eight Los Angeles pizzerias \u201cthat beat anything in Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, here\u2019s Matthew Sweet, \u201cGirlfriend.\u201d Enjoy that, and I\u2019ll see you on Sunday.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/10\/07\/dining\/05kenjirex1\/merlin_173126667_25877380-47b9-4557-91eb-1c1037399473-articleLarge.jpg\")
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