KOJO NNAMDIIs it just me, or is everyone spending a lot more time cooking these days? Maybe it has to do with the fact that we're under stay-at-home orders, or that we can't go and sit at our favorite bar or restaurant. Whatever the reason, many local residents have taken a newfound, or discovered a newfound appreciation for cooking and have taken to social media to document it. Joining me to talk about cooking in quarantine, Ruth Tam and Patrick Fort are the co-hosts of Dish City, a podcast from WAMU. Ruth Tam, thank you for joining us.

RUTH TAMHey, Kojo. Thanks for having us.

NNAMDIHey, Patrick, thank you for joining us.

PATRICK FORTHey, Kojo. Thanks.

NNAMDIRuth, I'll start with you. The coronavirus has touched almost all aspects of our daily lives, including the direction of the second season of your podcast. How are you changing the scope of season two?

TAMYeah, so, as some listeners might remember, we are known for covering city change through D.C.'s iconic foods. And, last year, this meant digging deeper into the history of half smokes or changes happening to Ethiopian cuisine. And we got so much feedback from our first episodes that we wanted to go beyond D.C. and cover iconic foods, not just in D.C., but in Virginia and Maryland, too.

TAMAnd so we had originally planned to launch this next season later this month to cover, you know, like Chinese food in Montgomery County and stuffed ham in St. Mary's County. But when the pandemic hit us, it was just really obvious to Patrick and I that the kinds of changes people were thinking about were going to be changes happening because of coronavirus. So, several weeks into working from home, we totally shifted focus and started reporting on how coronavirus was impacting our area's local food scene. So, that's why we launched our totally new season two weeks ago.

NNAMDIPatrick, your first episode focused on cooking during the quarantine, and you and Ruth both shared some experiences cooking at home. So, Patrick, what have you been cooking?

FORTThis is a super-interesting question, because I've been really into, like, making sure I have all of my food planned out during the week. I know what I'm going to have for most, like, every meal. And that's not to say that I'm doing the, like, chicken breasts and the broccoli and the Tupperware in the freezer thing. You know, I'll, like, bring some soup to work, where I can eat that throughout the week. But I think having, you know, what feels like, you know, in this abnormal time, I think my cooking has changed, as well. And I've been trying to do things that I've always wanted to try.

FORTI mean, in our first episode, I ended up making donuts, which is something that I've never done before, (laugh) which was a whole experience. And I think they turned out well. But I think I've transitioned from being, you know, more of kind of a planner to a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of chef.

NNAMDIRuth, how about you? What have you been cooking?

TAMI think I've been leaning into the comfort food. You know, a lot of big, carby meals. I think I've seen a lot of people, you know, making bread on social media or doing, like, huge pasta dishes. But my carb of choice is rice, so I'm taking a ton of fried rice, curry, stir fries, and just generally centering around things that I can either continue to eat for at least a week or so, or freeze for alter.

NNAMDIYou're making me eat virtually, Ruth. (laugh) We got a comment from Jackie on Facebook who said, we've been eating like kings during this pandemic. We have time to cook and have ventured into new territory several times. We could not be more thankful for the food vendors in Eastern Market, not just of the wonderful food they supply, but for the advice they give on what to buy and the best way to cook it. Glad to support the businesses there. Ruth, Patrick, tell us a little bit about where you're shopping for what you're cooking these days. I'll start with you, Ruth.

TAMWell, I try to keep the shopping trips to a minimum, lately. And I have access to a car, so I'm able to go out of D.C., where I feel like it's a little bit less crowded, and go at off hours so that we try to avoid the crowds. It's like a mix of going to big grocery stores like Wegmans, that I feel like are well stocked with produce, but my next grocery trip is probably going to be to an Asian market, because I need to stock up on those essentials.

NNAMDIGot to take a short break. When we come back, we'll continue this conversation. You can give us a call at 800-433-8850. Have you been cooking more during the pandemic? What are you cooking? 800-433-8850. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.

NNAMDIWelcome back. We're talking about how you're cooking your way through this pandemic with Ruth Tam and Patrick Fort, the co-hosts of Dish City, the podcast from WAMU. And joining us now is Seng Luangrath, who is the chef and owner of Thip Khao, Padaek, Hanumanh and Sen Khao. Chef Seng, thank you for joining us.

SENG LUANGRATHThank you so much for having me again.

NNAMDIYou've also been cooking up a storm, it's my understanding. But before we get to that, I wanted to ask about the status of your four restaurants. Are your restaurants open for carryout or delivery?

LUANGRATHYeah, so, we actually -- we opening our first restaurant in Seven Corners, Falls Church, Padaek. We are doing contactless pickup orders. We are taking orders today from 12:00 to 7:00, and pickup from 2:00 to 8:00 today. And next week, we'll be reopening Thip Khao in D.C.

NNAMDIYesterday, Hanumanh, your restaurant in Shaw, was named one of the best new restaurants in the country by GQ Magazine. What was it like to learn that you received that honor, and are you hoping to reopen Hanumanh soon?

LUANGRATHYeah, it was unbelievable when I heard the news. It's one of the restaurants that we have been working so hard to get it open. We are actually trying our best. We are currently discussing about how we can reopen that location, because it's a very small, tiny location. And it's also like a bar-type of restaurant.

NNAMDIChef Seng, you've always showcased your cooking on Instagram, but since the stay-at-home orders began, you've been posting even more tutorials. What inspired you to do that?

LUANGRATHActually, a lot of guests have been sending me messages about missing our food at our restaurants. So, I'm trying to create something very close, very similar. And also, you know, cooking at home is kind of like you need some sort of like, you know, comfort, as well, especially during this time of crisis.

NNAMDIHow are the types of recipes that you're posting on Instagram different than say what you'd serve at Thip Khao?

LUANGRATHYeah, some are very similar, some are very different. Something that I love to eat, like, for example, like something for stir-fry, that my son and I love to eat. And also comforting like macaroni-meatball stew that we haven't had for so long. And also, like, some stir-fry ramen noodle, or something like that.

NNAMDIHere, now, is Paula, in Chevy Chase. Paula, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

PAULAYes. Hi. I'm a cookbook author, and so I decided to, you know, challenge myself during this time. So, what my family really has done, which has been so wonderful, is that we've been cooking the cuisines of places we have traveled to over the years to bring back those memories to comfort us.

NNAMDIThat is very interesting. And, so far, how many different types of cuisines have you tried?

PAULAI haven't counted, but we've been Swiss, French, Spanish, Mexican, Eastern European and Israeli. That's off the top of my head, that I can recall, and West Africa.

NNAMDIOkay, great. Thank you for sharing that with us. Chef Seng, have you been cooking anything during the coronavirus that you usually do not cook at your restaurants?

LUANGRATHYes. I like to go back to baking, because I used to love baking. So, I have been baking a lot of dinner rolls.

NNAMDIOh, okay. Patrick Fort, we're all going to the grocery store less. Have you changed your strategy for grocery shopping, and how do you approach the food in your kitchen?

FORTYeah, we're definitely taking a different approach, right now. I think, you know, the first thing that changed is the frequency with which we're going. We're going to the grocery store probably every two weeks, my partner and I. And, you know, we're also trying to come up with things that not only will keep the shopping trip kind of manageable, you know, because we're shopping for such a long amount of time, the list can get really out of hand. But to try to pick up things that can be used in really versatile ways.

FORTSo, try to think of things that can be used in multiple recipes. Think of things that can keep the food variety going so we don't feel like we're eating the same thing every day, when all the days kind of blur together.

NNAMDIRuth, how has the pandemic changed your approach to cooking?

TAMWell, it's funny that Patrick said earlier that he's less organized now and more fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants, because, like, the opposite happened for me. (laugh) Like, I used to be way more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, and now I feel like I have to be way more organized in order to use all my ingredients kind of appropriately.

TAMSo, I try to think of a couple special dishes I'd like to make over the weekend, but when I go shopping, I have to really think ahead in terms of how to restock my pantry. And then I have to play, like, culinary tetris over the next couple of weeks to make sure everything fits okay. And I just also have to give up the idea of having the right ingredients all the time, but in the right proportions.

NNAMDIChef Seng, your son has also been craving things like spaghetti and meatballs, and you've been preparing it, but with a Lao twist. Tell us about that.

LUANGRATHYes. So, we have been cooking a lot of pasta lately, as well. So, I made spaghetti, which I used to make back in the days when I cooked for my siblings. So, I had some fish sauce, and also some Asian ingredients. And I also creating a dish that he also likes, which is like a Thai version of druken noodle, that we use pasta, like spaghetti noodles, stir fried it, fish sauce, oyster sauce and chili and basil.

NNAMDIOn to the phones, again. Here is Bonnie in Alexandria. Bonnie, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

BONNIEHello. What a great idea for this show. We've been cooking like crazy at home, and I started running out of ideas. And then I came across the Current Catch, which is the brainchild of the Hank's Oyster Bar restaurant group. And it's a box of fresh fish which was caught 48 hours ago out of Maine with Jaime Lee's awesome sauces to go with it. So, you really look like a rock star chef at home.

NNAMDI(laugh) Thank you very much for sharing that with us. Patrick, we're all going to the grocery store less. Have you changed your strategy for grocery shopping and how you approach the food in your kitchen?

FORTI think the way we've approached the food differently is that, you know, we're big fans of, like, Greek yogurt. You know, public radio, surprise, surprise. (laugh) But, you know, I think we're trying to use the foods that we have so we can, you know, find recipes to cook using the ingredients we already have.

FORTSo, I mean, when I was making donuts, a lot of the recipes I was finding said to use sour cream, which, you know, is a very common ingredient in donuts. But I did not have that, and I didn't really feel like I needed to make a special trip to the grocery store for that. So, you know, I adapted and I found a recipe that wasn't my first choice, but I used a big chunk of the yogurt that we had lying around. So I think it's just kind of adapting what you're cooking to what you have, and trying to be the most efficient with that.

NNAMDIChef Seng, what are your essential ingredients that you always get when you go to the store?

LUANGRATHI like to get something that I can freeze in my freezer, some sort of chicken, or I like to also get a lot of fresh vegetables, something that will be, like, stored in the refrigerator for a long time, like cabbage, tomatoes, or onions, stuff like that, or potatoes.

NNAMDIHere is Joy in Washington, D.C. Joy, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

JOYOh, hi. Yeah, I wanted to tell you about my son's baseball coach, Jimmy Silk. He's the coach at Wilson High School. And the kids are all at home, obviously, with their seasons cancelled. And he's doing a weekly cooking class for the team, for all three teams, actually. And so, on Wednesday evenings, there's a big Zoom class, where Jimmy Silk his other coaches for teaching the athletes how to cook.

NNAMDIAnd have those athletes and -- in this case, your son -- been using any of those newly learned skills at home?

JOYYeah, absolutely. Last Wednesday they cooked enchiladas and fed the whole family, and it was really successful. And this Wednesday they're cooking coconut shrimp. A couple of the coaches are from the Dominican Republic, and so they're using their skills to keep the boys active in a different way.

NNAMDIAre they also using their skills to teach the boys anything about baseball while they're at home?

JOYWell, they sure are, as much as possible during this close-down. You know, they're having Zoom lessons and hitting lessons and encouraging the boys to stay mentally fit, as well.

NNAMDIOkay. Thank you very much for sharing that with us. Back to you, Patrick Fort, what pantry staples have you been grabbing every time you go grocery shopping?

FORTDefinitely lots of citrus. I mean, I think that's a thing that can be used for, obviously, a lot of different things, you know. I won't lie. There are more experimentations with cocktails right now in our household, but also, you can throw some lemon zest or some lime zest on a whole bunch of things. And that'll make whatever you're cooking a little bit more exciting, just to kind of, you know, keep it fresh, I suppose.

NNAMDIRuth, what are your go-to ingredients?

TAMI guess when I am trying to restock my fridge, I make sure to get scallions. I use them a lot, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cheese, green veggies.

NNAMDI(overlapping) But I'm reliably informed, Ruth Tam, that you have some go-to kitchen hacks. Tell us about those.

TAM(laugh) So, for the scallions, in particular, I use scallions a lot, but they tend to kind of whither quickly, either in my fridge or out on my counter. And so I have stuck my scallions in a little bit of shallow water in a cup by my windowsill to kind of extend the life of the scallions. I also recently used Greek yogurt, as well, for mac and cheese. I didn't have milk, which is a pretty key ingredient for that recipe, but it did a really good job of thickening the mac and cheese sauce I made, but also providing this, like, lactic tang that I think a lot of box mac and cheese sometimes lacks.

NNAMDIVery cool. Chef Seng, you recently started going through a recipe box with baking recipes from 10 years ago. What has it been like going through those recipes?

LUANGRATHWell, I was cleaning my kitchen cabinet, and discovered this old box. And I went back to 10 years ago, that I was obsessed with baking. So, I had kind of experiment with a lot of Asian treats, like Chinese donuts or Chinese baked barbeque pork buns. So, it's been quite fun, and I'm kind of obsessed with it right now.

NNAMDIHere is Natasha in Washington, D.C. Natasha, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

NATASHAHi. Thanks for having me. The guests, oh, my gosh, these hacks are just wonderful. I'm loving it. Thank you. Well, anything about food, I enjoy. I'm a health and a life coach, so I love talking about food. I come from a family of foodies. And something that I've discovered, I've been baking a lot like a lot of your guests. But one specific thing that I've been baking, I've baked a couple times, or fried, fry baked, is a traditional -- it's called Johnnycake. It's a Caribbean -- have you ever heard of it before?

NNAMDII'm very familiar with Johnnycake, yes.

NATASHAOh, my gosh. And it's a deal that I remember from my childhood. My stepmother used to make it. And, one day, my sister was over during the quarantine. We were, you know, doing our six-feet thing. And we were FaceTiming my father and stepmother. She's given the recipe. I knew I had all the ingredients. Got up, made it, and it was just -- it made me think about how bonding food is.

NNAMDIIndeed, indeed.

NATASHALike it was just a beautiful way to bond in that moment with my stepmother. You know, she got all excited about the recipe. And, ever since, just kind of those little reach outs that have happened that really started from a beautiful, tasty, delicious, puffy, kind of salty fried Johnnycake, you know? So, that's been really special as a connection.

NNAMDIThere are entire songs about Johnnycake coming out of the Caribbean. So, thank you very much for sharing that story with us. Chef Seng, how does cooking make you feel now? Does it feel like a chore, or are you using it as a way to relax?

LUANGRATHIt's kind of a chore, because, you know, most of, you know, my family will be home. And, of course, you know, they're expecting dinner or lunch. And it's kind of comforting for me, as well and kind of therapeutic. You know, when I'm in the kitchen, so I'm, like, in my Zen zone, when I'm in the kitchen.

NNAMDIWell, Elise writes on Facebook: I made my grandmother's meat sauce to use in my other grandmother's lasagna. The sauce takes three hours to cook. It's not like I have anywhere to be. Joking aside, it did give me a new appreciation for slow foods of yesteryear and how much flavor the time adds to the dish. Ruth Tam, where are you getting your food inspiration right now? Other than Chef Seng, are there any other chefs you've been following online, or websites you've been reading?

TAMWell, I've been following a lot of Asian chefs on social media. I feel like their home ingredients tend to match what I have in my pantry. And just before we move on from Chef Seng, I just feel like her videos, if you haven't seen them, are really good, super-easy to follow. And I'm definitely going to make her most recent dish that she posted on Instagram, the stir fried Korean instant noodles. Like, it seems like a perfect, easy dish to try.

TAMBut aside from Chef Seng's videos, Tom Cunanan, the chef at Bad Saint, has been a source of inspiration for me for a lot of Filipino dishes to make at home. And just other chefs in the D.C. area, many of whom have recently been honored with Rammy Awards or James Beard Awards. I just find that their, like, home cooking dishes have been really interesting to follow, even if I don't have every ingredient at home.

NNAMDIChef Seng, for those who are still learning kitchen basics, what recipes would you recommend they start with?

LUANGRATHI would recommend something simple, stir-fried. Just like a ginger, like basic ingredients like the soy sauce and ginger. Of course, ginger's very easy to get in most grocery stores, and as well as soy sauce. And you can do with, like, the tofu or with chicken, or any kind of protein. So, something very basic, something very simple. And also I like to make like, you know, simple macaroni and -- no, not macaroni and cheese -- macaroni soup, which is very comforting. And it just needs simple chicken stock, macaroni and some chicken, or you can make meatballs. I show on the recipe which I posted on Instagram.

NNAMDIWell, Chef Seng, we've all been finding ways to relax and have fun with people we love during this time. And I saw that recently you turned to TikTok. Tell us about why you decided to do TikTok dance in front of the U.S. Capital. (laugh)

LUANGRATH(laugh) All right. So, I mean, I like to go take a walk, so it just happened one day, my friends decided, let's get out of the house. You know, we'd been stuck in the house for more than 30 days. And we just happened to like to go around D.C. So, it's beautiful around, you know, the nation's capital. So, I just go out there, and we were just getting a little bit down, or at one point, no one was talking. And my friend was just like, well, let's do something fun.

LUANGRATHSo, we were just like, okay, let's like sign up for TikTok, and we'll just do this dance. And we were just having fun. So, we were just trying to bring some laughs to the people at home to see it, too. So, and they encouraged me, just, like, just post it. I'm having and giving people laughter. Yeah.

NNAMDIYou were clearly having way too much fun. Here's Eric, in St. Mary's County. Eric, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

ERICHi. Thanks for taking the call. I heard earlier they were planning an episode of St. Mary County's stuffed ham. And I was going to hear about the big favorite down here. My question, though, is more about, like, kind of the opposite of what you're talking about. Me and my wife, we have two kids, young kids.

ERICAnd even though we're at home a lot more and we used to cook a lot more interesting dishes, different kinds of cuisines, lately, we've really not been. And have people been seeing anymore of, like, ways to deal with that or, you know, are there recommendations of, you know, hashtags or accounts that we could look at that have kind of basics of where to go for getting that kind of...

NNAMDI(overlapping) Patrick Fort, cooking fatigue. How do you deal with getting new ideas?

FORTYou know, I'm been thinking a little -- there's actually like a few YouTube channels that I like that are largely pretty simple. There's a guy who goes by -- he calls himself Chef John, and I think his channel's called Food Wishes, or something. And his recipes are usually pretty simple. Like, he just had one that is, like, a three-ingredient, like, sweet potato pasta, which I hope to make in the coming weeks. But, hopefully, that's helpful. I know cooking is really stressful right now.

NNAMDIAnd I'm afraid that's all the time we have. Ruth Tam and Patrick Fort are the co-hosts of Dish City, a podcast from WAMU. Miss seeing you guys, Ruth and Patrick. Thank you so much for joining us.

TAMMiss you, too. Thanks for having us.

FORTThank you.

NNAMDISeng Luangrath is the chef and owner of Thip Khao, Padaek, Hanumanh and Sen Khao. Chef Seng, thank you for joining us.

LUANGRATHThank you so much for having me again.