Oaxacan Delights and an Array of Sandwiches: The Alt-Weekly, Issue No. 10, Friday, January 9, 2026 (Patreon)

Notes, News, and Nerdiness from JKLA World HQ

Hi Frienjis, I hope your new year is off to a great start. Tessa and I just got back from an incredible trip in Oaxaca. Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at the food and culture we experienced (including a guide to my favorite bites in the city) but for now, here were a few of the highlights:

A fantastic day of exploring the markets and cooking some pre-Colombian Zapotec recipes in the nearby city of Teotitlán del Valle taking a cooking class from Reyna Mendoza of El Sabor Zapoteco. She is a gifted teacher, and I learned some brand new techniques that I plan on exploring back home.

Early morning memelas from Memelas San Augustin. These Oaxacan specialtiesare made by cooking an oblong disk of fresh corn masa until tender-crisp, then pinching up the edges, smearing it with rendered pork fat and beans, and whatever toppings you choose (I had them with nopales and queso fresco). If you’ve had sopes or huaraches, the form is similar.

Grilled cured beef, marinated pork, and chorizo from Pasillo del Humo, a row of vendors in the Mercado 20 de Noviembre serving thin-sliced meats grilled over charcoal fires with a host of sides and salsas. The markets are crowded, but one thing that stood out to both Tessa and I was that during our entire time in Oaxaca, we didn’t see a single argument or fight despite the close quarters and seeming chaos. It’s a big shift from what we’d come to expect from, say, a city like New York.

An insanely delicious meal at Levadura de Olla, a restaurant that offers both ancient and modern dishes from Oaxaca. Our favorite was a tamal stuffed with roughly ground corn, pork, chicken, and a salsa made from puya and guajillo chiles and avocado leaves, served on a bed of smoking corn husks.

An incredibly relaxing stay at Casona Sforza, a small hotel in Puerto Escondido where we (mostly) managed to completely unplug from the online world, spent time in the gorgeous pool and beach, did a lot of drawing and relaxing, and ate four wonderful meals at the on-site restaurant, La Bóveda where Venezuelan wife-and-husband team Vanessa Franco and Andres Trujillo are cooking world-class cuisine with local Oaxacan flavors and ingredients. I cannot recommend the restaurant highly enough.

I’ve come back from Oaxaca incredibly inspired to apply some of the technique and ideas I saw down there in my own cooking back home. I can’t wait to share it all with you.

Are you in Seattle or visiting soon? I just posted the first update of 2026 to my Apple Maps Let’s Eat guide, bringing my total numbe rof recommendations in Seattle up to 124 different restaurants. If you’re planning on visiting Seattle and want to know where to find some good eats, that’s a great place to start!

Some Sandwiches for the New Year

This week, we’re focusing on one versatile vessel: the sandwich. I could wax poetic about these creations–in fact, one of my earliest headcam, first-person POV videos was focused on this chorizo grilled cheese. It’s the video that jumpstarted my YouTube channel, and is my most popular video to this day. 

Sentimental values:

I recently revisited that same chorizo grilled cheese and, let me tell you, it’s as good as it was back in 2017.

I've boiled thousands and thousands of eggs in my career, and this is my favorite egg salad sandwich, Japanese style.

Another sandwich that’s quite sentimental to me is the LA Hot, my favorite childhood sandwich. My mother’s own invention, it brings me right back to my younger years in New York.

And speaking of my youth, the very first thing I learned to cook was actually an English muffin pizza. Back then, we used a fork-split muffin, some jarred marinara sauce, pre-shredded mozzarella cheese, and garlic powder. These days, you can make a more sophisticated version, like this.

Breakfast:

The McDonald's Egg McMuffin is perhaps the platonic ideal for breakfast sandwiches—when it comes to form. In execution, it could use some improving. Here's how to make a better one at home.

Harissa is a magical ingredient to keep around your fridge. In this recipe, I use it to make a quick spicy sausage for homemade brekfast sandwiches.

Do you like topography and eggs? Then these origami egg sandwiches are for you (and for anyone you want to impress)

Broiler magic:

Some of the best sandwiches are served right out of the broiler. This hot turkey sandwich—inspired by the “Ragin' Cajun” at The Other Coast Café in Ballard—comes complete with melty cheese and charred radicchio.

Some leftovers you’re likely to have, at some point in time, are those of meatloaf. Just promise me, when that time next comes, you’ll make these leftover meatloaf sandwiches.

If you’re ever lucky enough to have the ingredients for these toasty cuban sandwiches leftover too, you should take a stab at it. 

Finally, the king of broiled sandwiches: the hot brown. This is served in a cast iron skillet and features thick, toasted slices of bread smothered in sauce. 

Cool and refreshing:

Now, let’s cool it down. A sandwich best served cold (albeit with crispy, hot bacon) is the BLT. This recipe has tips on how to perfect this sandwich staple.

Or you could try making this italian sub at home—but seriously, only serve it after you let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes so the flavors can mingle.

If you’ve never attempted to make a banh mi at home, this grilled lemongrass- and coriander-marinated tofu version is your sign to change that. 

And, in one last sentimental sandwich homage, I’m thinking of the humble tomato sandwich. It’s not tomato season, but I wish it was. 

Thank You!

Thank you again for joining me as a Frienji of Kenji here on Patreon. I want my content here to serve you and your needs in the kitchen. Comment down below what recipes, techniques, or topics you’d like to see me cover!