Lemongrass

These grilled chicken drumsticks cook over indirect heat until the skin is browned and crisp, then get basted with a savory-sweet glaze.

If you've ever had kalbi at a Korean barbecue restaurant, you've had grilled flanken-style short ribs. Look for them prepackaged in the meat case, or ask your butcher. This concentrated, aromatic, spicy-sweet chile paste seasons the ribs robustly in as little as 15 minutes.

Refreshingly cold noodles, Vietnamese-spiced pork meatballs, and an array of toppings like fried shallots and crushed peanuts ensure this make-ahead dinner is totally unforgettable.

Larb will not only fill your belly, it will teach you how to balance sweet, sour, salty, spicy, funky, and umami flavors. Larb hails from Laos and gets its addictiveness from the way it stitches together ground meat and crunchy, juicy textures. When you get the balance right, this dish sings, each bite creating a craving for more.

In this riff on beef rendang, the meat is cooked in coconut milk until it breaks up into gloriously rich jammy solids and delicious fat.

These Thai-inspired clams are salty, tangy, and rich from the coconut milk.

Grilled medium or medium rare, the delicious meat pulls from the built-in skewer (aka the bones), and you salivate even more as you chew.

Braise chicken legs in a golden, aromatic coconut broth, then toss rice noodles with the warmly spiced braising liquid to serve.

Keep this curry paste in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Grilled or sautéed, these Vietnamese ground beef–stuffed leaves make a fantastic summer hors d'oeuvre or can be served with rice noodles and grilled vegetables for dinner.

Zucchini "noodles" keep this fragrant curry soup gluten-free. The spiced lamb meatballs are just as good in a wrap or on a salad.

Most. Flavor-packed. Chicken. Ever.

Larb is hailed as the national dish of Laos. Traditionally the salad starts with extremely finely chopped lean meat or fish and is seasoned with lime juice, chiles, fish sauce, and toasted ground rice. This recipe calls for ground lamb, a fattier protein than what’s usually used, and subs ground peanuts as a nod to the texture of the rice.

Don’t skip on the fresh herb garnishes for this recipe; they will serve as a good contrast to the curry.

Combined with coconut milk, it’s the base for your next Thai curry.

Japanese eggplants are smaller, sweeter, and faster-cooking than other types. If using globe eggplants, slice them into half-inch rounds.

Step into January with this healing, brothy Cambodian-inspired soup, perfumed with warming spices, revitalizing ginger, and spicy dried chiles.

This isn’t a super-saucy curry; the aromatics will brown and fry in the pan, yielding lots of yummy crisp bits. Serve with steamed rice.

This simple soup can be eaten hot or cold, in winter, or in summer. Many are aware of the healing benefits of carrots, mainly the antioxidant-rich carotenoids that are known to pack anticancer powers. We love them because they're a simple and delicious food. Combine them with a hefty dose of gelatin-rich bone broth, a touch of lemongrass and ginger, and you're left with a bowl of soup that beats any sugar-laden cold-pressed juice on the market.