Tamarind

The best way to enjoy this Vietnamese delicacy is first to savor the sauce, shallots, and garlic tucked in and around the shells of the shrimp, then eat the succulent meat with steamed rice. Serve with ice-cold beer or a crisp Viognier or Pinot Gris.

This spicy vegetarian curry is hearty enough for a comforting fall dinner. It's great simply ladled over steamed rice.

Use a block of Asian (Thai) tamarind rather than the Indian kind. It's usually thicker, softer, and easier to work with.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

This starter was inspired by the tamarind-flavored dishes of Alicia De Angeli, a food writer and consultant in Mexico City, and Mark Miller of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe.

A caldin is a coconut curry, typical of Goa. Though caldins are made with fresh coconut milk in India, chef Cardoz uses Chaokoh brand canned unsweetened coconut milk. It's thicker and richer than other brands, and imparts a great deal of flavor. It's important not to let the caldin boil during cooking, or the coconut sauce will break.

You may have had pappadams — light, crisp wafers made of lentil flour — at Indian restaurants. Here we use them as a stand-in for croutons.

The chile-tamarind sauce is a refined, complex variation on classic satay sauce, which is traditionally thickened with peanuts. This rendition owes its silky texture to mashed kabocha squash. At Arun's, this is served both as an appetizer and as a main course.

Thai cooking frequently makes use of cilantro roots; their flavor is more pronounced than that of the leaves.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from chef Neil Perry's book Rockpool. Neil also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. For your convenience, we've converted the measures — with as much accuracy as possible — from Australian to American. For those who have metric equipment and wish to follow Neil's recipe to the milliliter, we've included the original measures too. This dish is a blend of both Asian and Western techniques and flavours, and has been refined over a period of time. My objective was to end up with a layering of textures and flavours that built up from firm and sweet to soft and creamy. If there is one thing Eastern cooking has taught me, it is the balance and interplay of flavours from strong to subtle. This recipe also uses extra-virgin olive oil alongside tamarind, soy sauce and palm sugar to achieve a full-flavoured dressing that melds all parts of the composite salad together. When cooking Thai and Chinese food it is imperative not to use olive oil as it masks the authentic flavours, but once you understand the balance of these flavours you can start to blend with sympathy, and to create dishes that are in harmony with both their roots. The key to this salad is the same as for any composite salad; all the parts must be of the highest quality. The mangoes should be ripe but not overly sweet and soft. The chicken cannot be compromised, it must be fresh to achieve the right texture. Ensure that all the ingredients are at room temperature. It is ideal if all the preparation is done on the same day, but if that's impossible make sure you take everything out of the fridge well beforehand.

It takes one to two days to marinate the meat for this recipe, but it's worth it. These will be some of the best ribs you'll ever eat.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Thai cooking frequently makes use of the roots of cilantro; their flavor is more pronounced than that of the leaves.