Asian

In the classic Thai dish, white rice is combined with white potatoes. Though it sounds rather redundant, the seasonings and embellishments make it delectable nonetheless. I took the general idea of this recipe and revved it up to include the two main ingredients’ more nourishing counterparts—brown rice and sweet potatoes. This may still sound like an odd combination, but honestly, it works very well. Like any dish using brown rice, this will take about forty minutes, but hands-on time is limited, allowing you to prepare any accompaniments at a leisurely pace.

This is a nice change of pace from more common soy sauce–flavored stir-fries, but it’s just as quick and every bit as delectable. Don’t be alarmed by the ingredient list, which is relatively long compared with those in most recipes in this book. It really is a quick dish, and with such an array of healthy components, you’ll need little else to make a satisfying meal.

Offering an attractive presentation of steamed fresh veggies, this is a nice change of pace from stir-fries. It’s a fresh-tasting meal that gets its personality from a luscious sauce.

Amsterdam is host to a number of Indonesian restaurants (Indonesia was once a Dutch colony), and on a visit to this charming city with my sons, we were informed that a rijkstaffel (“rice table”) meal would be a memorable experience. A big bowl of rice is served with several tasty little dishes. My sons were especially keen on the golden sautéed tofu on skewers that was accompanied by a rich peanut sauce. Once home, I tried to reproduce the flavors of the luscious sauce to serve with triangles of sautéed tofu. Though my version is likely not truly authentic, what counts is that it tastes good, it’s easy, and my sons are still crazy about it. Each time I make it, we’re transported back to Amsterdam, if only briefly.

This Asian-style soup is ideal when you’re in a hurry. It can be on the table in about twenty minutes.

Thick, hearty noodles make this fifteen-minute soup substantial, yet it’s not too filling to serve as an introduction to another course.

When I first came up with this soup, I was looking to make something speedy to serve with a main dish salad. And speedy it is, taking only about fifteen minutes from start to finish, yet it tastes like a long-simmering soup. At first, I thought I was imagining things, but I’ve made it many times since, and that’s just how long it takes. The tiny bit of red curry gives it ample heat; if you’d like a spicier soup, use more, and for a less spicy effect, omit the red curry altogether

A few months after the Shop opened we got a call from the Food Network asking if we would be interested in being guests on Big Daddy’s House with host Aaron McCargo, Jr. They asked if we could develop a new meatball for their Thai-themed episode. The recipe, which captures all of the fresh, wonderful flavors of Southeast Asia, was a big hit on the show and in the Shop as well. Be careful not to chop the herbs too finely and feel free to add extra chiles if you prefer your meatballs extra spicy. The garnish—crunchy peanuts, basil, and grated carrots hit with rice wine vinegar and soy sauce—is a killer. Serve it all with Peanut Sauce (page 67, optional).

My love of rice paper began in childhood with candies that came packaged in colorful boxes, mostly pinkish and with children pictured gleefully jumping. Inside were gummy candies, chewable like jujubes, only softer. The fun part was unwrapping the outer paper and getting to the inside wrapping. At first it seemed like another layer of paper, a bit stiff like cellophane. But then you would pop the candy into your mouth and let the wrapping hydrate until soft enough to chew. I always found it a thrill “eating” my way from seemingly inedible paper to edible candy. So it is with rice paper wrappers for Vietnamese spring rolls” What seems at first glance a large plastic disk not for consumption, with hydration becomes supple enough to enfold all manner of comestibles.

These small sausage balls, with their rice “quills” poking outward, are a dream for entertaining. They can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 2 days before cooking to serve warm. The green tea leaves season the sausage with an exotic savor, and a side plate of hot-sweet mustard, soy sauce, and Asian sesame oil for dipping, all out of a jar or bottle, suffice to complete the dish’s charm. Although the meatballs have a pedigree in Chinese cuisine made with glutinous, or sweet, rice, I prefer to use regular rice. If you don’t have a bamboo steamer basket, a plate lined with lettuce leaves can substitute. The trick here is to rig up something, such as an empty can in the bottom of the pot, to elevate the plate above the water. Covering the pot will allow enough steam to collect around the plate for the balls to cook.

In the annals of folk medicine, watercress soup is said to be good for soothing a dry throat or for when a general system-cleansing tonic is needed. Here, the nip and pep of watercress infuses chicken broth made rich with slivers of shiitake mushroom and plump sausage-filled wontons to produce a new take on wonton soup that is both healthful and delicious. Hydroponic watercress, meaning watercress grown in water and without soil, closely resembles watercress you might pick alongside a running stream in spring, but it has finer, more delicate stems and far less dirt and sand on its leaves. It is often available year-round in supermarket produce sections.

Vindaloo originated in the tiny state of Goa, on India’s southwest coast, which was colonized by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. Because the Portuguese are traditionally Christian, pork is not proscribed in Goa, as it is almost everywhere else in India. Vindaloo, however, has been embraced throughout India and beyond, reinterpreted sometimes with chicken, sometimes with beef or lamb, so that it can be enjoyed within religious bounds. In fact, vindaloo with any meat, or even as a vegetarian dish, has an irresistible sweet-salty-sour-hot flavor. And though it seems intimidatingly spicy at first, one taste and you are hooked. A fruit chutney, to both soothe and stimulate the palate, is an expected complement for many Indian meals. Here, dried plums fit that bill in a chutney that can be enjoyed year-round not only with this dish, but with nearly any pork, poultry, or game dish, as well. I won’t tell you any lies: this dish is for a day when you feel like cooking. The good news is that it is a one-pot meal and worth it.

Season: August. This traditional sweet vegetable pickle, Indian in origin, is the ultimate August preserve for me. The time to make it is when garden produce is at its peak and there is ample to spare. You can use almost any vegetable in the mix, but make sure you include plenty of things that are green and crisp. The secret of a really successful piccalilli is to use very fresh vegetables and to take the time to cut them into small, similar-sized pieces. The recipe first treats the vegetables to a dry-brining, which helps to keep them really firm and crunchy, then bathes them in a smooth, hot mustard sauce.

Indian spices and tandoori cooking inspired this one. The spicy, yogurt-based marinade tenderizes skinless chicken breasts to perfection. They cook up so tender you won’t even need a knife.

This dish perfectly combines the bright, bold flavors of Asian spices, fresh lemon, and BBQ sauce. All you’ve gotta do is fry up some chicken thighs and dress them in a tart, clingy sauce. The result is some powerfully provocative flavors. This sauce also works well with grilled chicken.

This Chicken Lo Mein recipe is extremely simple to make and has a nice peppery flavor from the red pepper flakes, white pepper, and ginger.

When I was in Trinidad, Winnie Lee Lum showed me how to make this superb dish, which beautifully demonstrates the convergence of Chinese and Trinidadian cooking traditions. Of course, the taste was extraordinary because Lee Lum only cooks with fresh local shrimp that her husband, Tony, purchases for her. Before cooking, she rinses the shrimp in lime juice, a Trinidadian cooking practice said to remove the "fishy" taste. She prefers the Chinese custom of cooking the shrimp in the shell to protect the shrimp's succulence and flavor. Rather than rice wine, Lee Lum insists on using dark Jamaican-style rum; according to her, white rum is too harsh for cooking. This is one of the easiest dishes to stir-fry, and it is guaranteed to satisfy.

Iceburg and watercress get stir-fried with just a little bit of flavorful sausage in this lightning-fast weeknight dinner.

At the Market we sell platters of these as appetizers, but they’re also a great way to make a little bit of chicken stretch into a light entrée. They’re always a crowd-pleaser, so make more than you think you’ll need. The skewers are wonderful paired with grilled or steamed veggies and a mound of coconut-infused rice. Leftovers are great on a sandwich, too. For this recipe, you’ll need thirty 6-inch or 8-inch wooden skewers (a few extras never hurt) that have been soaked in water for 2 hours.