u/nytimes

Hey everyone, 

I’m recipe developer Kevin Pang. I recently set out to slash $50 from my typical weekly grocery budget. My goal was to shop and feed my family of three — breakfast, lunch and dinner, no dining out — for one week for about $200. That sounds like a nice, big number, but broken down, that’s less than $10 a day for each of us.

My wife, Anne, and I live in the Chicago suburbs with our picky 10-year-old boy, Liam. We loved 
this dish of chicken with ginger-scallion noodles, inspired by a meal I had in my native Hong Kong. Here’s a free gift link to the recipe, accessible even if you’re not yet an NYT subscriber.  

Ingredients (Yield: 4 servings)

For the chicken and noodles:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or deboned skin-on thighs)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), plus more for seasoning
• ½ teaspoon white or black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry (optional)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 4 instant ramen bricks
• 4 eggs
• Chile oil or chile crisp (optional)

For the ginger-scallion sauce

• 6 medium scallions sliced, white and green parts
• 2 ounces ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, such as Diamond Crystal (If not using fish sauce, use 1 ½ teaspoons salt.)
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil 
• ½ teaspoon fish sauce (optional)

Preparation:

1. At least 2 hours before serving, cut a number of slits into the chicken thighs without piercing them completely (if using deboned skin-on chicken, cut slits on the meaty underside of the thighs). Place thighs in a bowl, and add soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper, minced garlic, toasted sesame oil and Shaoxing wine if using. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to marinate in the fridge.
2. Make the ginger-scallion sauce: In a small heat-safe bowl, combine scallions, ginger,salt and sugar. Mix thoroughly to release some of the liquid. Let sit for at least 5 minutes. 
3. Add the oil to a small saucepan and heat until it reads 325 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Carefully pour the hot oil into ginger-scallion mixture. The mixture will immediately sizzle. Add fish sauce if using, stir, and let cool. (Sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one week.) 
4. When ready to eat, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to a large (12-inch) nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Sear chicken thighs until beautifully brown, about 5 minutes on each side. When the chicken is cooked (it should register at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit with an instant-read thermometer), remove from heat onto a plate.
5. Cook the ramen bricks in the pot of boiling water according to package directions. Divide cooked noodles among four bowls, and spoon a generous tablespoon of ginger-scallion sauce and its flavored oil onto the noodles, tossing to combine. Slice each thigh into strips and lay over each bowl of noodles. Spoon more ginger-scallion sauce onto the chicken.
6. In the same pan you used to cook the chicken, add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the drippings and fry four eggs sunny-side up. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Drape one fried egg each over each bowl and add chili oil or chili crisp if desired. Break the yolk over noodles, chicken, and sauce.

 

Tip: Here’s one idea for using up leftover ramen seasoning packets from Lucky Peach magazine: Add it to sour cream to make a potato chip dip.

Hi everybody, recipe developer Kevin Pang here. I recently set out to slash $50 from my typical weekly grocery budget. My goal was to shop and feed my family of three — breakfast, lunch and dinner, no dining out — for one week for about $200. That sounds like a nice, big number, but broken down, that’s less than $10 a day for each of us.

My wife, Anne, and I live in the Chicago suburbs with our picky 10-year-old boy, Liam. We loved this pasta amatriciana, which I made with Spanish chorizo instead of guanciale for a more affordable, but equally tasty with a smoky twist. Here’s a free gift link to the recipe, accessible even if you’re not yet an NYT subscriber.  

Ingredients (Yield: 4 servings)
Salt
1 pound bucatini or spaghetti
½ medium yellow onion
1 clove garlic
¼ pound dried Spanish chorizo
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Black pepper
1 (14-ounce) can of crushed tomatoes
½ teaspoon sugar
Grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Instructions: 
Step 1: Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking water.

Step 2: Meanwhile, dice the half onion, mince the garlic clove, and finely dice the chorizo. In a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-low, lightly saute the chorizo until the fat starts to render. Once the chorizo gets shiny and turns a solid color, about two minutes, remove the chorizo using a slotted spoon, leaving the orange oil in the pan. (Be careful not to overcook the chorizo or it will become tough.)

Step 3: Turn heat to medium-high and add the olive oil to the pan. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper, a good pinch of salt and pepper, and saute until the onion turns soft and translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Step 4: Add the crushed tomatoes, then add the cooked chorizo. Turn down the heat to medium-low, stir in the sugar, and allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes. If at any point the sauce starts to look chunky, add ½ cup of water, and more if necessary.

Step 5: When the pasta is cooked, add it to the sauce and toss, along with enough pasta water for the tomato sauce to enrobe the strands.

Step 6: Divide into four bowls, and top with pecorino cheese (or grated Parmesan), a few more grinds of black pepper, and one more glug of olive oil for good measure.

Hey everyone,

In 1992, David Wood was convicted of murdering young women and girls and burying them in the desert outside El Paso, earning him the nickname the Desert Killer. More than 30 years later, his lawyers have one last chance to argue his innocence and stop his execution.

The series “The Last 12 Weeks,” produced in collaboration between Serial Productions and The Marshall Project, follows a team of capital defense attorneys as they try to save their client’s life.With an extraordinary level of access to a capital case in its final stretch, the reporter Maurice Chammah takes listeners into the room. You can listen to the five-episode series here for free, even if you’re not yet an NYT subscriber.

• Episode 1
• Episode 2
• Episode 3
• Episode 4
• Episode 5

From Helen Shaw (proof): Hi everyone! I’m the chief theater critic for The New York Times.

I have been a theater critic for more than 20 years, but this is my first Tony Awards season with the Times! You can see my predictions for the winners (including who I think should win) here. 

This season, I’ve reviewed:

• ‘The Lost Boys’ Review: Live, Die, Reprise 
• Review: In ‘The Balusters,’ Neighborly Dysfunction Is on the Agenda 
• John Lithgow as Roald Dahl in ‘Giant’: A Study in Monstrosity
• Fanciful and Fabulous: ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ on Broadway
• Review: ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ Rewards Your Sense of Antici…pation
• Review: A Cold, Perfect ‘Death of a Salesman’ for Our Time
• Daniel Radcliffe Shines in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ on Broadway

My theater background includes training as a dramaturg at the American Repertory Theater’s Institute for Advanced Theater Training during the last few years that it was run by its founder, the playwright-critic Robert Brustein. Once I moved to New York in 2002, I started writing freelance reviews and features, much of it at Time Out New York. I joined New York magazine in 2019, The New Yorker in 2022 and The New York Times in 2026.

From Michael Paulson (proof): I’m The Times’s theater reporter, and I write news and feature stories. Lately I’ve been writing a lot about theater economics – capitalization costs, ticket prices, nonprofit budgets – because the cost of making theater, both on Broadway and beyond, has become more challenging and, therefore, a more important storyline for us to follow. 

Here are some stories I’ve done this year: 

• How the Stars of 6 Tony-Nominated Broadway Shows Get Into Character
• High-Flying Vampires? You Haven’t Seen This Kind of Spectacle Before.
• Daniel Radcliffe on Returning to Broadway in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ 
• Why Are Theater Tickets So Much Cheaper in London Than New York?
• Obama Has One. So Does a Kardashian. (Check Your Playbill.)
• Fed Up With High Costs, American Theater Takes a Trip to London

I’ve worked as a reporter and as an editor, covering politics and religion before writing about theater, and I was part of the Boston Globe team whose coverage of clergy sexual abuse won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003.

As always, all of these links are accessible for free, even if you’re not yet an NYT subscriber. Ask us anything about Broadway and the Tony Awards. We’ll answer questions from 1 to 2 p.m. ET on Friday, June 5.