Collection
Winter Warmers
Twelve recipes we reach for when the brief is “winter warmers”.
- Recipes
- 12
- Curated by
- Salma
- Updated
- January 2026
About this collection
The crisp edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning. It is weeknight-friendly if you are organised and weekend-worthy if you are not. A spoonful of sherry vinegar does the heavy lifting here, giving the ingredients a depth that tastes like you cooked all day. It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate.
This is a recipe built for sharing, which is a polite way of saying you should double it. If you can chop baby spinach and hold a wok that has seen things, you can make this. We promise. A spoonful of fish sauce does the heavy lifting here, giving the ingredients a depth that tastes like you cooked all day.
1. Brown-Butter Prawn Sliders
There are snacks you eat standing at the counter, and then there are prawn sliders — the kind you clear your evening for.
We first ate something like this at a street stall in Osaka, balanced on a plastic stool, and spent the flight home reverse-engineering it. There are snacks you eat standing at the counter, and then there are brown-butter prawn sliders — the kind you clear your evening for.
It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink. A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside. No dried lime? A mix of aleppo pepper and a little Greek yoghurt gets you most of the way there. Do not skip the red onion; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy.
2. Lemony Aubergine Tostadas
This is a recipe built for sharing, which is a polite way of saying you should double it.
Season in layers. A pinch at each stage beats a panic-handful at the end. It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink. If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 180°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked. We like to make the filling the night before, when the kitchen is quiet and nobody is asking what is for dinner.
If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 160°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked. The trick with lemony aubergine tostadas is patience: let the ingredients take on proper colour before you even think about moving it. We first ate something like this at a street stall in Lisbon, balanced on a plastic stool, and spent the flight home reverse-engineering it.
3. Pickled Cheddar Rice Bowls
It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink.
The mixture will look too wet at first. Trust it; the black pepper hydrates as it rests. It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink. The crisp edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning. It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate.
Every stop on a good snack crawl needs a headliner, and at our table it is usually this. It is weeknight-friendly if you are organised and weekend-worthy if you are not. Do not skip the lemon; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy.
4. Sticky Potato Flatbreads
The trick with potato flatbreads is patience: let the potato take on proper colour before you even think about moving it.
It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate. Aroha, who runs our test kitchen on Thursdays, calls this “the one that ruins other snacks for you”. There are snacks you eat standing at the counter, and then there are sticky potato flatbreads — the kind you clear your evening for.
The trick with sticky potato flatbreads is patience: let the ingredients take on proper colour before you even think about moving it. Do not skip the cherry tomatoes; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy. A spoonful of smoked paprika does the heavy lifting here, giving the ingredients a depth that tastes like you cooked all day. We like to make the filling the night before, when the kitchen is quiet and nobody is asking what is for dinner.
5. Crispy Sweetcorn Dumplings
The trick with sweetcorn dumplings is patience: let the sweetcorn take on proper colour before you even think about moving it.
We first ate something like this at a street stall in Seoul, balanced on a plastic stool, and spent the flight home reverse-engineering it. Tomasz, who runs our test kitchen on Thursdays, calls this “the one that ruins other snacks for you”.
If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 230°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked. No preserved lemon? A mix of nigella seeds and a little breadcrumbs gets you most of the way there. The crisp edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning. Season in layers. A pinch at each stage beats a panic-handful at the end.
6. Toasted Sweet Potato Tacos
We first ate something like this at a street stall in Naples, balanced on a plastic stool, and spent the flight home reverse-engineering it.
If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 170°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked. Yusuf swears by adding the celery in two stages: half cooked in for sweetness, half raw at the end for crunch.
There are snacks you eat standing at the counter, and then there are toasted sweet potato tacos — the kind you clear your evening for. The trick with toasted sweet potato tacos is patience: let the ingredients take on proper colour before you even think about moving it. It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink.
7. Smoky Lentil Pakoras
It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink.
It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate. No sherry vinegar? A mix of dukkah and a little breadcrumbs gets you most of the way there. Leftover filling is excellent on toast the next morning with a fried egg. The crisp edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning.
The crisp edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning. If you can chop flat-leaf parsley and hold a sheet tray lined with parchment, you can make this. We promise.
8. Roasted Egg Hash
We tested this 12 times in the Snack Crawl kitchen, and the version with rice vinegar won every single round.
If your ingredients is releasing a lot of water, your pan is not hot enough. Take everything out, get it smoking, and start again in smaller batches. Do not skip the cherry tomatoes; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy. A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside. If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 180°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked.
A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside. This is a recipe built for sharing, which is a polite way of saying you should double it.
9. Spiced Beef Arancini
There are snacks you eat standing at the counter, and then there are beef arancini — the kind you clear your evening for.
Dev, who runs our test kitchen on Thursdays, calls this “the one that ruins other snacks for you”. Priya swears by adding the baby spinach in two stages: half cooked in for sweetness, half raw at the end for crunch.
Do not skip the mint; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy. We tested this 4 times in the Snack Crawl kitchen, and the version with anchovy won every single round.
10. Toasted Lentil Pakoras
It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink.
Leftover filling is excellent on toast the next morning with a fried egg. We first ate something like this at a street stall in Oaxaca, balanced on a plastic stool, and spent the flight home reverse-engineering it. If you can chop cucumber and hold a fish slice, you can make this. We promise. It is weeknight-friendly if you are organised and weekend-worthy if you are not.
It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink. It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate.
11. Honeyed Tofu Bao
Every stop on a good snack crawl needs a headliner, and at our table it is usually this.
Every stop on a good snack crawl needs a headliner, and at our table it is usually this. Season in layers. A pinch at each stage beats a panic-handful at the end.
Do not skip the red onion; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy. A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside. The mixture will look too wet at first. Trust it; the caster sugar hydrates as it rests.
12. Smoky Sweet Potato Tacos
We first ate something like this at a street stall in Hanoi, balanced on a plastic stool, and spent the flight home reverse-engineering it.
If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 200°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked. We tested this 6 times in the Snack Crawl kitchen, and the version with kecap manis won every single round. Do not skip the ginger; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy. Olu swears by adding the avocado in two stages: half cooked in for sweetness, half raw at the end for crunch.
It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate. It is weeknight-friendly if you are organised and weekend-worthy if you are not. This is a recipe built for sharing, which is a polite way of saying you should double it.
How we choose
The mixture will look too wet at first. Trust it; the cider vinegar hydrates as it rests. Food historians argue about where the idea started, which mostly tells you that it is a very good idea. The kecap manis is a relatively modern addition; older recipes relied on gochujang for the same savoury backbone.
Mei swears by adding the spring onions in two stages: half cooked in for sweetness, half raw at the end for crunch. Season in layers. A pinch at each stage beats a panic-handful at the end. The mixture will look too wet at first. Trust it; the eggs hydrates as it rests.