Randwiches by Jenn de la Vega

06/12/2026

Week 2 of Choy Commons 菜樂市集! I had some leftovers from week 1 that I needed to address:

1. Dang, the spinach leaves are so strong!
2. It’s so nice when friends are able to help pick up the veg when you can’t.
3. Hakurei turnip and radish toast with butter and pistachios.
4. Simply blanched yu choy with soy sauce and karashi.
5. Spinach and ramp dip on toast!
6. Yu Choy went so well with gochujang chickpeas and couscous.
7. The last of the strawberry bulgogi lettuce cuppies.
8. I had a catering gig and made tostadas with the leftovers.
9. The bok choy and Hakurei turnips went on a crudités platter with miso hummus.
10. Tiny shrimp tostada! Chile court bouillon is something I will not be able to shake for years to come.
11. Rice cooker xoi man with steamed a choy.

I still have most of the head of lettuce and half of the a choy. I cut it up and realized the core looks a lot like celtuce. I might sear that to see what happens! Otherwise I am feeling great about this momentum and glad I could mostly keep up with the size of the share.

06/10/2026

It’s the Endless Hoagie 🥪 I am so pleased to be in ’s orbit because their mind for creative projects and joy should be studied. For their birthday, they sourced very long pieces of bread and made every sandwich they wanted to eat in sections. From brie with apple to Cubano, Thanksgiving leftovers and eggplant parm; guests were sawing off sections, trying to eat as many kinds as possible. Someone brought my favorite Roll N’ Roaster beef sandos with whiz. Also, Sonya built that picnic table, too?!

What a fun party idea! What would be in your Endless Hoagie?

06/05/2026

Take me out to the hot dog game 🌭 Huge thanks to and for inviting me to the Yankees vs Rangers game last month. A perfect way to celebrate The Hot Dog Cookbook in stores!

It was so much fun hanging with new hot dog loving friends and witnessing explain American baseball customs to ⚾️ I also used the toppings buffet to make a sort-of walking taco.

06/05/2026

Get to swipin’ 🥬 👉🏼 Here is everything I made from my first week of vegetables from . You know I love a creative challenge! Can I get through my half-share every week without wasting anything?

Let’s see how I did:
1. I was thrilled for my first pick up, THRILLED.
2-3. Poached pork loin ssam with gochujang.
4. Tomato ponzu slaw with green garlic and mizuna for breakfast.
5. I ate this goi ga chicken salad with mizuna and pistachios out of a cold metal mixing bowl. You should try this.
6. Grilled Tokyo bekana with ground sesame dip.
7- 11. More ssam set up for grilling strawberry bulgogi and bulgogi shiitakes.
12. Dressed up ramen with the grilled leftovers.
13. Green garlic okaka rice bowl with shiitake and pickled ginger.
14-15. Beef rib and bone marrow gomtang with spinach.
16. Homemade sweet potato ñoqui (my favorite spelling) with guanciale and spinach.
17. Putbaechu kimchi with the last of the mizuna, cilantro, and green garlic.

I still have one head of Tokyo bekana and a hefty bag of spinach leaves that are miraculously still sturdy and strong (what are you feeding them, damn). I’m thinking som pak ga pun and good ol’ spinach dip. Ah, what am I gonna make with the next pick up 😵‍💫

06/04/2026

You know I love a cheese 🧀 I wrote this evergreen guide back in 2018 for and also had the rare opportunity to style it all myself! If I updated it for 2026, what cheeses would you put on the beginner board?

Please enjoy some bts from shoot day. I ran into Dylan on the LIRR and handed him a spare cut of mimolette, too.

05/27/2026

For , I visited a bunch of Asian markets to explore the thinly sliced beef cuts. Check out some of my highlights and the dishes I like to make with them.

In my bio or on the web: https://www.foodandwine.com/h-mart-best-beef-cuts-11979349

1. Homemade hot pot
2. Mille feuille nabe (pork pictured, but you get the idea)
3. Gyudon
4. Pancit Canton

05/26/2026

Big thanks to for donating a bunch of ground pork to gala ☄️ I adapted the cherry chocolate meatballs from my cookbook to make a party-friendly sweet chili version. You can make it at home, too, either in party size, general use (like on top of spaghetti), or big meatbol slider size. These also work with any pesto of your choice, just omit the chocolate and sweet chili sauce at the end.

Meatball Mix
Makes Ten 3-ounce meatballs, sixteen 2-ounce, or thirty-two 1-ounce meatballs.

2 pounds ground pork
2/3 cup panko, breadcrumbs, or finely crushed chips
1/4 cup dried shallot, onion, or garlic
1 large egg
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 teaspoon whole fennel seed, crushed
2/3 cup sweet chili sauce
2 ounces dark chocolate
Olive oil
Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes

1.    In a large mixing bow, crumble the ground pork, making sure not to smash it. Place the bowl in the fridge.
2.    In another bowl, mix the panko, shallot, egg, soy sauce, brown sugar, heavy cream, cocoa powder, salt, ginger, and fennel. Mix well to combine.
3.    Fold the wet mixture into the chilled pork. Once everything looks like it is coated, break the pile in half and stack it on top, pressing down. Repeat this until the whole mixture looks uniform. Be careful not to overwork the meat that it starts to stick to your hands or get warm.
4.    Cover and chill the meatball mix for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
5.    Preheat the oven to 400F.
6.    Form the meat into 3-ounce balls for sliders (10 pieces), 2-ounce balls for general use (16 pieces), or 1-ounce balls (32 pieces) for party snacks.
7.    Place the meatballs on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the internal temp reads 165F or slice one in half to check if it is still pink inside. Note: smaller meatballs will take less time.
8.    Remove the meatballs from the oven and toss with sweet chili sauce. Sprinkle each with Aleppo pepper and a generous shaving of dark chocolate.

05/24/2026

Baste it, taste it and tweak it again. Showdown is a cookbook about feeding the conversation along with the person. This week, we sat down with Greenpointer and self-described “meat-head” Jenn de la Vega to talk …

05/18/2026

Safe in my Skin will be playing in the SHORTS: UPROOTED film block on Saturday, June 20th, at 11:45am.

I traveled with the crew to Livingston Manor where we lived together for the duration of the shoot. spent a lot of time with me and we had a few animal encounters while I was prepping the meals 🐢 🦌 🦫

05/17/2026

Get on the thank you train! donated a bunch of bacon to gala after party and I used it to make bacon wrapped dates. It’s super easy and a perfect party trick at home. I keep a bunch of them in the freezer and bake off what I need when people come over. Here’s how I do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Cut the bacon strips into 1/3 portions.
3. Split large dates in half and remove the pits. Gently squish the edges together to make them little batons.
4. Wrap each date half with bacon. Make sure the seam is on the bottom and press down slightly. At this point you can flash freeze them for up to 3 months.
5. Place them a finger width’s apart on a wire baking rack nested in a sheet pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the bacon is cooked.
6. Let cool slightly, dab on a paper towel before serving.

Enjoy!

05/14/2026

From the archive, a recipe for bulalo on 🥩 It’s one of my favorite Filipino soups, you can check out my recipe or try the one over at Kabayan in Queens.

I was 34 with no clips and it was a miracle I published my first cookbook (kinda backwards!). I quit my day job and took this on, an online residency to explore writing recipes, essays about Filipino-American cookery, and take a closer look at the intentions behind catering. At the same time, I was also a resident at Kickstarter, where I was figuring out the logistics of a new creative life.
smithphoto helped me shoot the photos in the Kickstarter kitchen (rip!!). I needed that space and time to develop all of my little systems. Grateful to report that it is paying off and I’m still going 🎀

05/06/2026

I got to collaborate with on their spring tasting event at the end of April. They asked me to develop four bites to pass around while some of their favorite brands showcased their products and samples.

Almost all of the ingredients we used could be found on Misfits Market. Here’s what I came up with:

1. cherry pomegranate glazed bison meatballs with shaved chocolate and Aleppo pepper
2. white chocolate mousse with strawberry jam, freeze dried strawberry, and matcha
3. Odds & Ends upcycled goat cheese and arugula ravioli with garlic confit pesto
4. salt & pepper pistachio salad with Asian pear and a mustardy-maple vinaigrette

Huge thanks to my team for keeping the whole operation so smooth: .lebowski

05/04/2026

Presenting afterparty menu! Open bar and snacks curated/ cooked by yours truly 😚 Big thanks to our generous in-kind sponsors for making this happen. We still have a few tickets for tonight at 8pm. Ask me about discount codes! Happy to sponsor a few artists tonight if you can get dressed in time 👠

Come see some of my favorite Tank artists as we honor Stan Zimmerman, celebrated producer, director, and screenwriter; best know for Roseanne, Golden Girls, and Gilmore Girls.
If you can’t make it, we have an online auction and accept tax-deductible donations at http://thetanknyc.org/gala

05/02/2026

It’s been 9 years of SHOWDOWN 🔥 My first pub day as an author was May 2nd, 2017. What a ride, I can’t believe it’s been that long and how many more books I ended up working on since then.

My folks have 20ish copies of Showdown left to ship in my Fourthwall merch shop (in my bio)! Order on the web here: https://jdelavegs-shop.fourthwall.com/collections/books

Here are some highlights from my lil tour:
1-2. BK pub dayyyy
3. Ty 🫡
4. Catching in LA
5. !
6. Shooting in ’s apartment
7. Some buffoonery in Texas
8. COA summer fundraiser in Long Beach
9. with
10. Pool time in Austin
11-12. A food styling workshop & signing at Barnes & Noble
13. Lemon whoopie pie in Lancaster, PA
14. SF
15. I love banana pudding okay
16. Grandma Litaaaa
17. Jersey City slideshow
18-20. Book bts shot on my old roof and

04/28/2026

Tickets are on sale for ! Daddy’s Little Meatball will be debuting as part of the NY Making It Here shorts program 6/6 at 8:45pm. I’ll be there cheering on the team ☄️

Please enjoy a few things I saw around set and at our wrap party.

04/27/2026

Birthmonth was a blur. Thank you for being my friend 🌺

04/24/2026

Last summer, I developed a few cool pop-up dishes with Malaysian condiments. You can get the recipe for my peanut satay queso on Mamalams.com 🧀

Swipe to hear some bts at our shoot, Cass had the zoomies 😂

04/20/2026

Tis time to name our next hot dog at 🌭 It’s my birthmonth, so I’m using my favorite dish ever as inspiration: nachos! Nacho cheese blended with fermented Fresno peppers, topped with pickled jalapeño, and a few seasoned tortilla chips for crunch.

Reply here with your name suggestions! Our dogs follow a tradition of pop culture and video game puns like Kraut Cobain, Dark Seouls, and Grim Fandoggo. Submit as many as you want.

The names go to rolling polls on my Instagram stories with a final vote that ends 10/22 at 10pm ET. The weiner receives $10 USD to get a hot dog wherever you are. Good luck!

04/17/2026

Daddy’s Little Meatball is headed to ☄️ I have been catering the sets of .world collective for the past couple of years and could not be prouder!

For DLM, I worked out of an apartment in Chinatown, carting food to locations around the neighborhood. On the last day, we all stuffed into the apartment together (it was freezing!) to have our final lunch. It was warm and inviting, I really can’t believe I get to do this!

I’ll write it up soon, but here’s a sneaky peek at what the crew ate:

🍴 Black bean and pepita vegan balls with pesto, rye berry and apple salad, and sesame potato salad

🌶️ Mole tofu, sofrito rice, vegetable noodles, and cinnamon black beans.

04/15/2026

04/12/2026

Back again in with little test kitchen learnings about spaghetti 🍝 I ran a side by side battery between the cheapest Barilla and the more expensive Rummo pastas. Big thanks to my taste testers!

04/10/2026

Birthmonth perseveres 🍸

03/31/2026

Kiki’s Delivery Service is remastered in 4K and playing theaters now! The official English language edition of the cookbook is also coming out October 27th, 2026. Rest assured, I tested the recipes for herring pot pie, all the delicious breads, and cookies from the movie.

Pre-order yours in my bio or on Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/55436/9781974763412

03/28/2026

I feel extremely humbled 🙏 Thank you for interviewing me about crafty. was my first feature length project by my long time friend Caroline Golum. I got to see the film last night in a sold out showing at .

You must catch it during its short run here in NYC! There is no other film like it, I promise you. The synth music by really makes it shine. What a team!

03/25/2026

Goofin’ off at ’s party at .nyc for her latest book: Party Tricks 🍸 It was so great to catch up with folks and I’m coming back for more spice bags!

Anna is a master of dips and delicious little bites. I especially loved the pickled celery in the Gibson and little cheese toasties.