Southeast Asian

We love the many textures and flavors of this spicy coconut curry with butternut squash, spinach, and cashews. Bottled red curry paste keeps it supermarket-friendly.

Satay is an Indonesian-style kebab served with a spicy peanut sauce. Here, we've amped up the sauce's flavor with some sweet peach nectar.

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

This soup from Tien Dinh at Pho, in Las Vegas, delivers vitamin A.

The curries that are sold in the markets of southern Thailand inspired this heavily spiced dish. Chef Boetz says this delicious main course is a hybrid of an Indian and a Thai curry. The use of dried spices (coriander, cardamom, cumin) is common in Indian curries; coconut milk and fresh, aromatic ingredients (cilantro, lemongrass, galangal) are often used in Thai curries.

Surf-and-turf like you've never had before—whole fried trout topped with crisp pieces of sweet and spicy pork. For a traditional Thai dinner, serve the mains and sides family-style with a large bowl of steamed jasmine rice.

In this appetizer, the spicy squid and the cooling relish are wrapped in betel (pronounced "beetle") leaves, which have a slightly bitter taste. If you can't find betel leaves, Boston or romaine lettuce leaves make a good substitute.

Just to clarify—there are no tangerines in this recipe and it doesn't look like a pie. But it's still delicious. In Singapore, these turnovers, also known as kuey taht, are a highly prized gift for Chinese New Year. Traditionally, people give away fresh tangerines (tangerine is a homonym for "gold" in Chinese). When Western-style baked goods were introduced, this round turnover was created to resemble the real thing: thus its crackly orange egg yolk wash and clever little clove on top. CHEF'S TIP: Don't eat the cloves. They are only a decorative touch, and biting into one will definitely be a shock to your palate.

Don't be intimidated. This is actually just a Southeast Asian twist on beef-noodle soup: steak, fragrant broth, and eminently slurpable noodles.

Despite the exotic name of this sandwich, you can get all the ingredients right at the supermarket. Liverwurst stands in for the traditional pork-pâté filling—the meatiness works beautifully with the sharp-flavored vegetables and fresh cilantro.

Serve this classic and satisfying stir-fry over brown rice.

Canned coconut soups are full of distinct Thai flavors such as Kaffir lime leaves and galangal (a gingerlike root). They lend great depth to this surprisingly easy meal.

Rice paper is available in the Asian-foods section of many supermarkets.

Serve with steamed rice to soak up the flavorful sauce.

This tart is simply all about the coconut—a flavor that Southeast Asians go wild for. Don't expect a gooey, cloying confection, though; this one is a buttery shell chock-full of chewy shredded coconut.

Chang's two restaurants cater decidedly to the pork lover, and this salad is no exception. Among the sweet, smoky, and tart notes tossed together, you'll get an occasional zing of heat from the chili nuts (which, served on their own, may very well become your new favorite bar snack).

Deep-fried Brussels sprouts are a popular side dish at Ssäm Bar. Cooked in a hot oven (easier for the home cook), they still get that nutty sweetness and nicely browned crisp exterior. Rice Krispies, standing in for Indian puffed rice (which is more difficult to find), add crunch, while sous-chef Tien Ho's Vietnamese-style dressing lends the sprouts an offbeat complexity.

To give this salad more crunch, add blanched soybeans (edamame) or fried wonton strips.

Looking to jazz up a backyard barbecue? The bold flavors in this burger will definitely get guests talking. A paste of lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and serrano chile enlivens ground turkey, while also helping to keep it moist. If you don't have a mini food processor, don't be discouraged. It may take longer, but it's still worth the effort to finely chop the ingredients and mash them to a paste using a mortar and pestle. A spicy lime vinaigrette takes the place of traditional condiments.