Cho House Granola

which can easily become YOUR house granola

Thank you, Northern California, for welcoming me back home with an atmospheric river. It’s a little dark and wet for my liking but I don’t mind the perpetual glow of mood lighting and an extra reason to stay bundled up at home. Last week I got in plenty of brisk walking in while traversing New York City for a mini book tour part 2. The week was packed with some live tv, podcast recordings, a massive cookbook club, meetings over pasta and pastries, and lots of Lunar New Year spirit. It was so special to have Momma Cho join me for the first half of the week and to see her experience some of the more exciting parts of book tour with me. I even had some time to bop over to New Jersey to see my in-laws and eat a proper bagel and a generous section (but not enough) of Entenmann's coffee cake. The core of Lunar New Year is about reuniting with friends and family (and maybe to eat food that promises you’ll be rich and healthy) and I was unbelievably fortunate to see so many people I care about last week.

Hope you had an amazing Lunar New Year if you celebrated!

Now that I’m back home and the weather is keeping me inside, I’m giving myself time to reset and restock. I just finished the last of my house granola, Cho House Granola if you will, and thought this would be a perfect time to give this recipe a permanent home on the internet. I’ve been working on this recipe for years, you can find an early iteration of it from 2017 on the blog. Each time I would make it I’d adjust the ratios of mix-ins, sweetener, egg white/or no egg white, and cook time just a little. But something clicked with the recipe within the last year or so and I feel pretty locked into this version, which is honestly still a guideline of a recipe with plenty of room for adaptation.

I first shared this granola in an IG story a few weeks ago and I got over 1000 messages requesting the recipe (which is insane for me). So many people made it and loved it. I was shocked because I wasn’t sure if this recipe was special enough to share, but obviously I have to re-evaluate what special really means. Because this granola is very special to me, I love it so much that I feel no need to ever buy granola again because nothing really compares. I keep it stocked in my pantry at all time and it keeps me full, nourished, and excited for my yogurt bowls in the mornings.

My ideal granola is not too sweet, salty, loaded with a variety of nuts and seeds, and incredibly crunchy. If you’ve been reading my work for any amount of time, you may have picked up on the fact that I’m a texture girl. I love yogurt but I simply can’t enjoy without a high texture contrast element. That’s where Cho House Granola comes in! Egg whites and the details in the cook time is how you get big crunchy clusters of granola.

One person who made the granola said that it reminded them of one of their favorite Chinese cookies and it took me a second to make the connection, but then I realized how similar Chinese sesame crisps are to this granola! I even have a recipe for them in my first book, Mooncakes and Milk Bread. The crisps are simply sesame seeds, egg whites, and sugar and they bake up into these delicately light and crispy nutty rounds. So without intention, some Asian techniques and subtle flavors are in this granola, and still it’s perfect for everyday!

If you end up making a variation of Cho House granola, please let me know how you made it your own!

On the schedule this week are some cozy rainy evening dinners, a valentine’s day cake test, and Philadelphia themed foods for the Super Bowl!

Doubanjiang Chicken and Green Bean Stir-fry | one of my dad’s go-to dinners and I think it would be just perfect for this newsletter

Lemony Shrimp and Broccoli Pasta

Poached Salmon with Mustardy Roasted Potatoes + Winter Salad

Red Velvet Toasted Meringue Cake ❤️‍🔥 | fingers-crossed that with one more test this recipe will be up next week!

Gok Jai | I’ll be speaking in SF Chinatown this Saturday for Edge on The Square’s MSG lecture series and bringing these as a sweet treat to share!

Go Birds!

Smoked Chicken Wings

Philadelphia-style Pretzels with Beer Cheese

Mini Philly Cheesesteaks on Milk Bread Rolls

Chili Philly Dip | essentially softened cream cheese topped with chili sauce and served with crackers)

Cho House Granola

Makes about 8 cups of granola

Cho House Granola

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2 cups rolled oats

About 1 1/2 cups of mix-ins below

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup buckwheat groats (a favorite)

• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (a favorite)

• 1/2 cup crushed nuts (pistachios, pecan, walnuts, almonds, etc)

• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

• 1/4 cup hemp hearts (a favorite)

• 1/4 cup chia seeds (a favorite)

• 1/4 cup flax seeds

• 1/4 cup quinoa (a favorite)

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup honey or maple syrup (closer to 3/4 cup for a sweeter granola)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 to 3 tsp coarse salt (closer to 3 for a sweet and salty granola)

1 tsp Chinese five spice (or mix of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 egg whites

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F degrees and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl mix to combine all the ingredients. Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet and spread into an even thin layer. Bake until the edges are golden brown (the center will still be moist and not crispy yet) 25 to 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, open the oven door for about 10 seconds to let out some heat, and allow the granola to sit in the cooling in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

3. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to fully cool. After cooling, the granola should be really crispy and you can break it up into smaller clusters. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 to 3 weeks.