East Asian

Tonkatsu—deep-fried breaded pork—is a European-inspired dish that evolved during the late 19th century in Japan. Here, the pork is pounded thin and simply panfried. Pickled carrots offer a cool bite.

It's delicious, but even better, it's deconstruct-ible. (You can remove any offensive elements for the kids without sacrificing your own dinner.)

Forget deep-fried noodles: Miso dressing gives this hearty vegetable meal flavor minus the saturated fat.

The difference between good and bad tempura is the batter—the goal is a light, crisp coating that doesn't absorb oil when fried. There are several important steps for achieving this texture: 1). Don't overmix the batter. When you stir in the water, mix very gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Don't attempt to work out the lumps, or the batter will become heavy. 2). Be sure the water you mix in is very cold. This will make a cold batter that will remain light when fried. 3). Mix the batter just before frying. Making it ahead will produce a heavy coating. 4). Dry the shrimp and veggies well before dipping them in the batter. This will help the batter adhere. 5). Be sure the oil is the proper temperature. If it's not hot enough, the batter will absorb oil before it cooks and the result will be greasy tempura. Tempura is traditionally served with boiled soba noodles and shredded carrots or daikon radish.

Korean tables—both in restaurants and at home—are always set with a series of banchan, or little dishes that can be eaten alone, with rice, or as an accompaniment to the main course. To keep things lively, banchan should run the gamut of tastes and textures, and this particular pickle really sparkles: It is sweet, tart, crisp, and fresh. Salting the sliced cucumbers and then squeezing out their excess water allows them to fully soak up the pickling mixture.

This gently simmered tofu topped with a stir-together sauce is a common banchan. It would also make a great vegetarian main course served with rice. The sauce—speckled with chopped garlic, scallion, sesame seeds, and Korean hot red-pepper flakes—couldn't be simpler or more satisfying. You will want to eat it on everything.

Cooking peeled hard-boiled quail eggs in a mixture of water, soy sauce, and sugar creates lovely little tea-colored morsels that contrast firm whites with buttery yolks. A quarter teaspoon of sesame oil is all it takes to cast an alluringly nutty spell over the eggs.

"Koreans are short rib masters," says Chou, who lived and cooked in Korea for several years. "It's their favorite cut." While some ribs are sliced thin, marinated, and grilled, others are reserved for stews and soups. Kalbi jjim, one of the country’s best-known concoctions, shares some ingredients with a European beef stew—namely, carrots, onions, and potatoes—but here the brothy, slightly sweet dish gets its robust undertones from dried mushrooms, soy sauce, fish sauce, and molasses, plus a dollop of hot red-pepper paste. Though it is rustic-looking, the meat's tenderness and the broth’s amazing depth make clear why this dish is a national treasure.

Dotted with bits of vegetables and seafood or meat, savory pancakes are both a popular side dish on the Korean dinner table and a beloved street-food snack. To make them more elegant, we’ve kept these crisp, colorful pancakes on the small side so they can be easily picked up with chopsticks and eaten in a few bites.

You'll often see a Western-style salad on the menu at a restaurant in South Korea—in all likelihood, a result of the American presence there since World War II. Romaine retains a nice crunch, even after marinating in a hot dressing. Like the cucumber apple pickle , this dish adds a welcome splash of green to the table.

Rice has pride of place at the Korean table, but Koreans have also long embraced the healthful properties of other whole grains like millet, barley, and oats. This combination is fragrant and delicious.

This quick preparation really showcases the gentle flavor of oyster mushrooms. The mild dish, brightened with a small amount of cider vinegar, helps balance the forceful spices of the rest of the meal.

No Korean meal is complete without kimchi, a piquant condiment of fermented vegetables (most popularly cabbage) seasoned with ginger, garlic, chile, and all manner of fresh or preserved seafood. Fermenting the ingredients over several days gives the dish its distinctive tang, but this easy version, which takes advantage of the funky depth of Asian fish sauce, offers relatively instant gratification.

Soju, a favored alcoholic beverage in Korea, is generally served chilled, straight from the fridge. Soju's neutral flavor also makes it a great mixer. It's especially delicious—some might say dangerously drinkable—with tart grapefruit juice and fizzy club soda.

Cups of this calming grain tea, extolled for its digestive properties, are poured throughout Korean meals as Westerners would provide water. In the winter, the tea is usually served hot, while in the summer months, it comes cool or at room temperature.

Green chiles pickled in soy sauce and vinegar are a traditional Korean banchan, so food editor Lillian Chou, who created this menu, was surprised when she discovered a similar dish made with jalapeños and soy sauce at a taco bar in Mexico. But it's no wonder the combination has universal appeal. Here, Chou calls for brown sugar and lemon zest in place of vinegar, and the ingredients hit all the right spots: hot, salty, and a little sweet. Chile fanatics will be happy to munch on these just as they are, but the jalapeños and their liquid also make a terrific accompaniment to the first course of <epi:recieplink id="3510910">shrimp and scallion pancakes.</epi:recieplink>

Ji Geung Lo Mein Editor's note: This recipe is reprinted from My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. At the New Year, noodles represent longevity. Because of this they were never cut when preparing them, and to serve them was to wish those who ate them a long life. In Sah Gau there were many varieties and shapes of noodles, and for vegetarians there were noodles made without eggs. These are what were served to the nuns, along with that special food that came usually with the onset of the New Year, young ginger, more subtle, less hot than the customary kind. These days this young, often pinkish gingerroot is available year-round. This dish illustrates what a "lo mein" is — that is, a dish tossed together, not precisely stir-fried.

Fan Editor's note: This recipe is reprinted from My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo.

Jah Sang Ho Editor's note: This recipe is reprinted from My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. Oysters are one of those three fruits of the sea permissible to Buddhists and were therefore insisted upon for New Year lunch by my grandmother. Cooking them with a batter is traditional. Their name, ho see, sounds like the Chinese words for good business.

Geung Chung Jing Hin Editor's note: This recipe is reprinted from My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. Clams are the fruit of the sea that represent prosperity and are, to be sure, permissible to be eaten by observant Buddhists, including nuns.