Southeast Asian

Turn leftover roast beef such as from Tuscan Braised Beef (page 172) into a taste adventure by adding Thai-style dressing.

If you have never experimented with Thai ingredients before, try this recipe—the flavors are mental. Lemongrass, coconut milk, basil, lime: They all hit the palate in perfect harmony. If you love Thai food, this is a great dish to start playing around with—and it’s very easy. The floral aroma of green curry simmering on the stove is hypnotic. Kaffir lime leaves are crucial to this dish and are worth the trip to your local Asian market. Serve with Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice (page 240).

There are two categories of entrée in Thailand: dishes served with rice, and noodle dishes, which are presented as one-pot meals and often eaten on the go. Rice noodles cook more quickly than wheat pasta and are the perfect neutral vehicle for intense Thai flavors. This Pad Thai is not the dish from the neighborhood take-out joint. "It ain't made with chicken," says Ricker, whose traditional take—pleasantly funky with fish sauce and preserved radish and a touch sour from tamarind—is meant to be eaten in the evening as a stand-alone dish.

All Thai curries start with a handful of aromatic ingredients (chiles, galangal, lemongrass, turmeric, etc.) pounded into a paste with a granite mortar and pestle. The paste is then stirred into soups or stews (often with coconut milk) or used as the basis of sautéed dishes. Use a mini-processor to make the curry paste if you'd like, although this incendiary stew will take on a deeper flavor if you use a granite mortar and pestle.

The simplest of all Thai dishes, stir-fries are a great way to showcase fresh green vegetables. You can increase the spiciness of your stir-fry by adding more chiles. The key to this dish's success? Controlling the heat on the pan from beginning to end.

Thailand has been heavily influenced by Indian culture. India's religion, music, and especially their food have all become part of Thailand's heritage. Curries are often thought of as an Indian thing, but Thai versions of curry are just divine. Serve this dish with Tom Yum , if desired.

You only need 2 tablespoons of this paste for the Panang Vegetable Curry. Freeze tablespoonfuls of the remaining paste on a sheet pan, then store in a plastic freezer bag for up to 2 months. Use cubes to add deep flavor to soups, stews, and rice dishes.

Frazzled? Feast on fish! Tuna is high in vitamin B12, which stimulates the brain's production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps you relax.

Sesame oil and rice vinegar spin the caprese eastward.

If you don't have a slow cooker, use a covered Dutch oven; cook the curry in a 325°F oven until the beef is tender, about 2 hours, adding 1/2 cup water if the stew is dry. The spice paste can be made up to a week ahead of cooking.

This Vietnamese-style dish infuses fresh mussels with intense flavors of garlic, pepper, and fish sauce. A cast-iron pot, the ideal cooking vessel, gets very hot, cooking the mussels quickly and heightening the flavors of the seasonings. You can also use a wok or Dutch oven.

Happy Noodle Restaurant uses local farmraised hybrid striped bass, rated a "Best Choice" by Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch guide, for this Thai-inspired dish.

The temple complex at Angkor Wat is one of the archeological wonders of the world. It's not, however, the most interesting site in Siem Reap, Cambodia. That honor goes to the less-visited Bayon temple, built at the end of the twelfth century A.D. by the Buddhist king, Jayavarman VII. On its stone walls an amazing series of bas-reliefs tell the story of the victory of the Khmers over the Thais. The obligatory heroic and horrific battle scenes are portrayed, but what caught my eye are the pictures of the army supply trains, encampments, field kitchens, and yes, some of the earliest depictions of Asian barbecue. Specifically, you'll see chicken and other meats skewered on split sticks and grilled over pyramid-shaped fires. Fast forward nine hundred years to the parking lot of Angkor Wat where you'll find chicken grilled on split wooden sticks over an open fire, exactly as it was done during the height of the Khmer empire. This recipe may look complicated, but it's really just a series of simple steps.

This Vietnamese dish from Chez Pham is called bun vit mang, a duck and bamboo shoot noodle soup.

Vietnamese hybrid sandwiches called banh mi are great for lunch or a casual dinner.

The vegetable stock is best fresh but it can be refrigerated for 2-3 days, or even frozen. It is prone to absorbing other flavors in the refrigerator so ensure the container is airtight.

A candylike sweetness and a crunchy exterior transform these skewers into adult lollipops. Zak Pelaccio, who brings Southeast Asian street food to a restaurant setting at Fatty Crab, explains that the recipe, despite the fact that it takes a long time, is actually quite easy. "You cook it in advance, then you just crisp it, and you know it's going to be good."

Pumpkin is a member of the gourd family. Its flesh is fibrous and firm, and has an earthy, sometimes sweet, taste. It is used in Asian cooking in a number of ways, both savory and sweet. When buying pumpkin check that the skin is not pitted and that the stem is still intact. Rich in beta-carotene, pumpkins can help protect the body against heart disease.

Cinnamon sticks are made from long pieces of bark from various laurel trees that are rolled, pressed and dried. The type of cinnamon used in Thailand is from the Cassia tree. Cinnamon has a sweet, woody fragrance in both ground and stick forms. Rich in therapeutic essential oils, cinnamon warms the body and enhances digestion. It boosts metabolism and is thus useful for weight loss. It is also good for diabetes as it stimulates insulin production.