Coconut Milk

Replacing full-fat coconut milk with a light version reduces fat, not flavor.

The rich, intense flavor base of this traditional Malaysian dish comes from the rempah, or curry paste, that is made from scratch and infused into the oil before cooking the remaining ingredients. This recipe uses whole chickens that have been broken down into 10 pieces (2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 2 wings, and 4 breast pieces each). If you're not comfortable cutting up a chicken yourself, you can ask your butcher to do it or buy chicken pieces.

Drawing her inspiration from the Caribbean, food editor Lillian Chou stirred lightly sweetened coconut milk into roasted sweet potatoes.

An Indian-inspired version of the French classic, layered with eye-opening flavors (yes, it hurts so good), this is a great side dish with any of the meat offerings in this book. I love to serve it for Sunday brunch, as a piquant alternative to hash browns.

Nutty and faintly sweet, our fast peanut sauce tops pork chops for an American take on the Southeast Asian specialty.

This lightly sweet gelatin separates into two distinctly textured layers when it cools, adding a lovely depth to a unique dessert.

A dish that may help prevent cancer, from Chan Le at Le Colonial in Chicago.

For an extra kick, sprinkle a little ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, or finely grated lime peel over the rice puddings before serving.

Crispy calcium bites by Janine Doran, chef at Cafe Flora in Seattle.

This clever caramel sauce is made from coconut milk instead of the usual condensed milk. SERVING SUGGESTION: Over vanilla ice cream sprinkled with toasted coconut.

Serve with steamed rice to soak up the flavorful sauce.

A flavorful, colorful vegetarian stew that's as beautiful as it is easy to make. Rice on the side makes the dish complete and soaks up all those great flavors.

Designed for a four-tier cake, this recipe may be halved and simply made in a 9 1/2- by 11-inch pan and adorned with elephant cookies.

These crisp golden crêpes, filled with shrimp, pork, and vegetables, are both delicious and fun to eat. Simply wrap each crêpe in a lettuce leaf, tuck in fresh herbs like mint and basil, and dip it in the sweet-and-sour sauce.

This recipe was created by chef Mark Franz of Farallon restaurant in San Francisco. It's part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

This rice is delicious with Amber's Pineapple and Cardamom Chicken with Mint, but would also be great alongside curried shrimp or grilled lamb chops.

Here's a very simple salad that's loaded with Southeast Asian flavor.