Spring Cleaning to Refresh; Bacon and Egg Don to Comfort

Credit…Matt Taylor-Gross for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Good morning. The birds are back in town, chirping at dawn, flitting to and from the feeders set up out back, firing up the cat at the window. There’s no languorous idyll in bed before breakfast these days; there’s much to be done. Daylight’s burning. Time for spring cleaning.

Start with your fridge and your pantry. Odds are they’re in need of sorting, an edit, a reset, almost certainly a deep clean. Taking some time today to do that will yield satisfaction for weeks to come — when you’re cooking, or simply admiring the organization you’ve brought to the spaces.

Lay in supplies to replenish your stores: peppercorns and brown sugar, cashews and ramen, a new bottle of hot sauce, some rice wine, cider vinegar, a jar of preserved lemons, a fresh sack of flour. Imagine what you’ll cook for the next few days and weeks and get yourself set: chicken thighs for the freezer, tofu for the fridge, a honking big cabbage for stir-fries and slaw.

Tonight, try Eric Kim’s new recipe for bacon and egg don (above), a comforting bowl of soft-scrambled eggs cooked with mirin and soy sauce in the salty rendered fat and set over furikake-laced rice. Some readers substitute Spam for the bacon, in the style of Hawaii. I do it because it clears another can from the pantry, making room for the tinned fish I’ll want for a picnic in June.

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Bacon and Egg Don

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