Home Cooking – Episode Summary

Episode: "Annie, Get Your Gunk"

Hosts: Samin Nosrat & Hrishikesh Hirway
Date: October 10, 2025

Overview

In this lively season premiere, Samin and Rishi dive back into the world of everyday cooking, tackling practical listener questions, sharing kitchen stories, and riffing on everything from sardine paninis to the realities of metabolic health. Their signature blend of warmth, wit, and actionable food advice makes the episode a treasure trove for home cooks seeking inspiration and a sense of community — plus a healthy splash of kitchen chaos.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Metabolic Health & Cooking for Dietary Needs (01:03–04:38, 33:39–39:52)

• Listener Question: Alexis writes in about entering her "metabolic syndrome era" (pre-diabetes, high blood pressure) and struggling to adapt recipes without losing the joy in cooking and eating.
  • Rishi’s Personal Experience: Reveals his own high cholesterol and dietary shifts, now focusing on ethical eggs, fish (especially sardines), and supplements. Jokes about his enormous sardine haul from Costco.
  • Samin’s Advice: Empathizes, recommending culinary adaptability and highlights tahini as a nutritious, mayonnaise substitute in salads.
  • Quote:
    "If you keep adding some liquid and keep stirring, [tahini] will thin out again and turn into something that's very similar to the tahini sauce you might get at a falafel joint..." – Samin (06:02)
  • Rishi on joy in dietary change:
    "So I've had to change all kinds of things about my diet … started taking supplements and all these things." (03:09)
  • Culinary School Question (Matt): Matt, a Navy retiree, wonders if culinary school is "worth it" for personal enrichment rather than a professional turn.
    • Samin: "If your school and your housing is covered and all you want is to, like, immerse yourself in a skill … why wouldn't you do that?" (34:45)
    • Rishi: Highlights the philosophical value of learning for its own sake, comparing it to getting an MFA. (37:00)

2. Creative Pantry Ideas – Using Up Dried Chili Flakes (08:10–19:03)

• Listener Question: Ari has nearly a pound of dried chili flakes and no clue how to use them up.
  • Samin’s Suggestions:
    • Use for non-culinary purposes: DIY capsaicin spray for garden pests.
    • Make chili oil or chili crisp. Samin details her recipe development process, referencing inspiration from Carolynn Nugent and Sola El-Waylly's Serious Eats recipe.
    • "If you want something maybe simpler to start with, there is a great, very simple recipe on New York Times cooking. This one's by Genevieve Ko." (18:26)
  • On Spiciness:
    • Discusses the Scoville scale:
      "The thing that makes our tongue burn, like when we're eating something spicy, is pain. The peppers are activating pain receptors in our tongue and in our mouth. It's not a flavor." – Samin (12:45)
  • Memorable Development Story: Samin’s chili crisp fiasco after using unpredictable, unlabeled chilies (15:02–15:33).

3. Cast Iron Skillet Hygiene & Flavor Science (19:03–26:07)

• Listener Question: Jason and Ina wonder if it's safe to leave “gunk” (fond, pan drippings) in a cast iron and cook with it later, especially with a toddler in the house.
  • Key Clarification:
    • Samin differentiates between “seasoning” (the lasting, baked-on oil layer) and “gunk” (leftover bits of food and fat).
    • "The seasoning is different than the fond..." – Samin (21:03)
  • Pragmatic Tips:
    • Leaving some drippings overnight is OK flavor-wise, but don’t carry forward “carbonized, burnt bits.”
    • Paper towel wipe is fine for daily cleaning; soap won’t destroy seasoning; chainmail scrubbers are recommended for tough cleans.
    • "Soap will not destroy seasoning if you're just rinsing and cleaning a pan like you would any other pan..." – Samin (24:14)

4. Demystifying Blanching – Do You Really Need an Ice Bath? (26:14–31:01)

• Listener Question: Hunter is frustrated by recipes that call for blanching and ice baths, asking for the “laziest” effective method.
  • Samin’s Rant:
    • "In 99% of the situations, one does not need the ice bath." (27:10)
    • She typically only uses ice baths for hard-boiled eggs or delicate fava beans. For almost everything else, you can just spread vegetables out to cool after boiling.
    • "The more time food spends in water, the more it's leaching ingredients in flavor." (30:10)
    • Pro tip: Drizzle blanched veggies with oil to stop them from shriveling (30:50).
  • Impact: Hunter (and Rishi) are both relieved by Samin’s permission to skip the hassle.

5. Kitchen Chaos & Chemistry – Running Gags and Puns (Throughout)

• Sardini Panini Segment (04:38–08:09): Rishi revives an old in-joke, brainstorming the “Samini’s Teeny Tahini Sardini Panini” with Samin describing how to make a tahini-based fish salad, complete with flavor variations and a string of playful tahini/sardine puns.
• Quote:
  “You want to bring the tahini, Tahini Tahnini Cimini to life now?” – Samin (05:18)
• End Segment – Men in the Listener Queue (40:13–40:50):
  • Rishi notes a rare occurrence: “Did you notice that all the voices in these questions … were all men?” (40:13)
  • Samin: “Wow, we’re expanding our demo … we’re joining the manosphere.” (40:18)

6. Recommended (Non-)Ice Creams and Local Treats (41:51–45:07)

• Both hosts discuss their favorite (vegan and artisanal) ice creams and Samin plugs her upcoming limited-edition apricot noyot caramel ice cream collab with Bayrite Creamery.
  • "The flavor is apricot Noyot caramel … a burnt caramel ice cream base flavored with the kernel inside of the apricot pit … swirls of apricot jam and shards of burnt caramel." (44:00)

7. Podcast & Personal Project Plugs

• Samin announces the recording of her audiobook version of “Good Things.” (45:15)
• Rishi discusses his Substack (“Except Cookies”) and new project: reading “A Study in Scarlet” as an audiobook for newsletter subscribers. (46:37)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Samin on food and pain: "The thing that makes our tongue burn, like when we're eating something spicy, is pain ... It's not a flavor. So the, like, acclimating to spiciness is about sort of increasing your pain tolerance, which is kind of demented, but also lovely." (12:45)
• Rishi, philosophical: "What is the point of an education if you aren’t necessarily going to use that skill that you’re learning?" (36:50)
• Samin, culinary encouragement: “If your school and your housing is covered, and all you want is to, like, immerse yourself in a skill... why wouldn't you do that?” (34:45)

Important Timestamps

• 01:27 – Samin’s butternut squash green curry soup & Bay Area weather stories.
• 03:13 – Introduction to metabolic health, dietary shifts, and sardine haul.
• 04:38 – Reenactment of “Samini’s Teeny Tahini Sardini Panini.”
• 08:10 – The dried chili flake conundrum, non-culinary solutions, and deep dive into chili crisp development.
• 19:07 – Cast iron cleaning, fond, and kitchen realities for busy parents.
• 26:14 – Blanching vegetables: when to skip the ice bath.
• 33:39 – Is culinary school worth it for personal fulfillment?
• 40:13 – Meta commentary: “A whole episode of men’s voices.”
• 41:51 – Ice cream recommendations and Samin's new collaboration flavor.
• 45:15 – Samin’s audiobook, Rishi’s Sherlock Holmes audiobook for Substack.

Conclusion: Takeaways

This episode spotlights Home Cooking’s greatest strengths: their delightful banter, clear science-backed guidance, and honest admissions of culinary imperfections. Whether you’re figuring out how to blanch vegetables sans ice bath (“In 99% of situations, you do not need the ice bath!” – 27:10), seeking to make the most of pantry surplus, wondering what’s safe in your cast iron, or hoping for an affirming word about learning for joy alone — Samin and Rishi have you covered with warmth, clarity, and a dash of chaos.

Recipes & References (from episode)

• Samin’s Calabrian Chili Crisp (see “Good Things”)
• NYT Cooking’s Simplified Chili Crisp by Genevieve Ko
• Samin’s butternut squash and green curry soup (NYT recipe)
• A Study in Scarlet audiobook (Rishi’s newsletter: Except Cookies)
• Samin’s “Good Things” audiobook (announcement)

For more transcripts, recipes, and to submit your own questions, visit homecooking.show.