Southeast Asian

The synthesis of fresh and longcooked textures; rich, sweet, and herbal flavors; and juicy and crunchy garnishes. Serve with extra herbs, chiles, and lime so everyone can customize his own bowl.

To see step-by-step photos and detailed instructions on making these hot and crunchy filled crepes (known as banh xeo).

In this Filipino dish, achiote oil bathes the shrimp in an amber hue, and citrus lends a bright, tart note.

Peanut butter, ginger and fresh basil bring out the Thai character of this tasty rice-and-chicken salad

Done well, this should be crunchy, fresh, spicy, sour, and a little bit funky. Taste as you go and adjust as needed.

You'll never serve ice cream without candied peanuts again.

Prepared curry paste speeds up this nuanced dish.

This curry is doubly rich from the coconut milk and the deep red curry, but the pineapple keeps it from being too heavy and gives a beautiful freshness to the dish. I like to cook the lobster in the shell because it makes for a more flavorful sauce, and I like to serve it that way too. You can be as refined as you like or, like me, pick up the shell and make an animal of yourself. If lobster is going to blow the budget, you can still have a delicious curry by substituting shrimp or monkfish.

Spoon gingery, slow-cooked beef and vegetables over wide rice noodles for a warming, soul-satisfying dinner.

Editor's Note: Use this broth to make Andy Ricker's Het Paa Naam Tok (Isaan-style Forest Mushroom Salad) . Flavor Profile: Spicy, slightly bitter and smoky Slowly toasted dried chiles—seeds and all—become a smoky, spicy ingredient that's essential to many recipes in [Pok Pok]. The key is to toast them over low heat until they're thoroughly dry and very dark, coaxing out a deep, tobacco-like flavor that has a bitter edge, but stopping before the pleasant bitterness turns acrid.

Flavor Profile: Spicy, tart, aromatic, salty, umami-rich Try it with: Any Som Tam (Papaya salad and family) and/or Phat Khanaeng (Stir-fried Brussels sprouts). Needs Khao Niaw (Sticky rice). The recipe for steak salad is a classic, but naam tok made with mushrooms is less common. Yet mushrooms are everywhere in Thailand and echo the texture and even the umami-rich flavor of animal flesh. Thailand has a long history of vegetarian food, for strict Buddhists and those celebrating Buddhist holidays. And while I rarely spend time considering the needs of vegetarians, I figured that if I swapped out the fish sauce in the original for thin soy sauce, then they'd have something to eat at Pok Pok.

Often the last thing people in the North and Northeast of Thailand do before bed is put raw grains of sticky rice in a pot, cover them with water, and leave them to soak. This is sticky rice country, and a day without sticky rice is almost unthinkable. Also called glutinous rice, it has a different starch composition than varieties like jasmine. I'm not qualified to explain the world of amylopectin and amylose starches, so suffice it to say that the glossy cooked grains of sticky rice are particularly chewy and stick to one another in clumps, yet still remain distinct. It's a magical thing. Served in baskets, either one per person or as a mountainous mound to be passed around, the grains of sticky rice form moldable masses. Practiced diners snatch off a gumball-size piece, reflexively fashion it into a sort of spoon shape, and use it to grab a taste of whatever else is on the table. In these baskets or in bamboo tubes, workers carry this rice with them into the fields and forests, a portable, edible eating implement. While you could argue that so-called "steamed jasmine rice" isn't steamed at all but rather boiled, sticky rice is actually steamed. In the Northeast, it typically goes into a bamboo basket; in the North, it's traditionally prepared in a clay pot with a perforated bottom, though today the pot is often aluminum. The basket or pot is set over a pot-bellied vessel filled with boiling water and the steam cooks the grains, already swollen from soaking, in just 15 minutes or so. The process is easy enough for uninitiated cooks. It just takes a little practice to get right.

Editor's Note: Use this broth to make Andy Ricker's Het Paa Naam Tok (Isaan-style Forest Mushroom Salad) . Flavor Profile: Aromatic This powder, made from toasted uncooked sticky rice, is used primarily in Northeastern food to add a toasty quality and subtle texture to salads, and occasionally in Northern food as a thickening agent. Its contribution is initially hard to pin down, but it's one you'd actively miss if it weren't there. Making it at home is beyond simple: it just takes patience and stirring. The only way to screw it up is to try to rush the process with high heat so the outside burns before inside fully toasts. The truly committed will toast over a low charcoal fire so the rice picks up a little smokiness. Flavor Profile: Aromatic

This version of pad thai, developed by cookbook author and teacher Nancie McDermott, is for those who may not have a wok at home. Instead, the recipe calls for a 12-inch heavy skillet. Note that the skillet can hold only enough ingredients for two people (of course, if you have a wok, you should use it). McDermott's pad thai recipe to serve four , which does require a wok, is reason enough to invest in one (look for a 14-inch carbon-steel model with a flat bottom). 

In Thailand, pad thai is hugely popular, but it's not a dish that's cooked at home. Instead, it is commonly purchased from street vendors, who cook it to order in individual portions. For home cooks on this side of the Pacific, cookbook author Nancie McDermott figured out a way to successfully make a big portion of pad thai, enough to serve four people at once, but it does require a wok (they are inexpensive and last forever; look for a 14-inch flat-bottom carbon-steel wok). If you don't have one, consider making her Pad Thai for Two , which works in a 12-inch heavy, deep skillet. For more on Pad Thai, including ingredient information and McDermott's tips, see Takeout at Home: Pad Thai

Basil is wilted like a leafy green in this stir-fry, then added raw at the end for a double dose of its aromatic flavor.

Pickled veggies give this burger low-cal crunch and sweet-and-sour zing.

This silky, aromatic soup is a complete meal in a bowl.

This Thai-inspired salad has that classic tart-sweet-spicy flavor balance that really gets your taste buds dancing. The cool, crunchy herb-laced salad is the yin to the yang of the rich tender beef. What’s more, the food processor does most of the work.

Spiced tea and sweetened condensed milk are the keys here.