Southeast Asian

Unlike most braises, these ribs aren't browned before they're simmered. The long, slow simmer tenderizes the meat, and the ribs get their brown, shiny exterior from a soy and brown sugar marinade. The ideal drink pairing? Ice-cold Thai beer.

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.

Kajsa Alger, chef and co-owner (with super-chef Susan Feniger) of Street in Los Angeles, isn't a fan of chicken breast. "It's my least favorite meat," she says. So if chicken breast is to make it onto Street's menu, it has to be something special. This salad—inspired by Vietnamese green papaya salad—is anything but boring.

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.

Thai red curry paste and unsweetened coconut milk are sold in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets and at Asian markets. Be sure what you're buying is coconut milk, not sweetened cream of coconut, which is used for cocktails.

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.

Thai papaya salad is an ideal summer side dish and packs up well if you want to take it with you.

This refreshing yet rich northern Thai soup is called tom kha gai. It is quite easy to prepare, and much of the flavor comes from the garnishes stirred with the soup after it is cooked: the fresh lime juice, the chiles, the cilantro leaves, and the nam prik pao, a roasted chile curry paste that can be bought in most supermarkets. The Thai red curry paste, fish sauce, and canned coconut milk called for in the ingredient list are all sold in the international aisle of the local supermarket, or you can try to get all the Thai ingredients called for through the fun, online Thai supermarkets at www.importfood.com and www.templeofthai.com.

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

Although the base of this fairly standard Vietnamese dish is a caramel sauce, the garlic, shallots, and black pepper cut through the sweetness like a knife, providing terrific contrast. Since the last 45 minutes of the cooking time are unattended, this is a good dish for a night on which you want to entertain.

In Vietnam, yogurt is known by a couple of different names: sua chua (sour milk) and da ua, pronounced "ya-orh," which is actually a transliteration of yaourt, reflecting the dish's origins during French colonization. Semantics aside, this just may be the silkiest yogurt you’ll ever taste, with a delightful balance of sweetness—which comes from condensed milk, a staple of the Vietnamese pantry—and tanginess. At Street, Feniger and Alger make and culture their own yogurt, but this recipe produces similar results and is much quicker.

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.

These addictive and deeply flavored ribs make a great starter as part of a larger Thai meal, or they can be served as a main course accompanied by jasmine rice and a sautéed or braised leafy or bitter green vegetable. On the other hand, they make a terrific snack to go along with a cold beer.