Shrimp

The combination of garlic and ramps may seem like overkill, but we promise it’s not. The garlic will mellow as it cooks while the ramps stay pungent.

We strongly endorse eating this dish with your hands, discarding shrimp tails and pepper stems as you go. Soy sauce, lime, and plenty of grated garlic create a marinade that adds tons of flavor in as little as five minutes while helping the shredded coconut adhere to the shrimp.

This dish is so easy to make and yet looks and tastes impressive enough to serve for a dinner party.

A punchy, chile-spiked fish sauce vinaigrette works as both marinade and dressing for glass noodles and handfuls of basil and cucumber.

Seasoned with a spice mix of ground peanuts, cayenne, and ginger, these skewers are most often served with shaved onions and sliced tomato, here a tomato-cream dipping sauce quells the fiery heat.

Made of chiles, garlic, basil, shallots, lemongrass, and ginger—green curry paste packs amazing flavor.

These savory Japanese pancakes are stuffed with shredded cabbage, red pepper, and your choice of meat or seafood. Top with crumbled seaweed, bonito flakes, and mayo for the full experience.

A light, fragrant and utterly delicious south-Indian-style curry, packed with juicy prawns and tempered with coconut milk.

Pansit palabok is a luscious, buttery, bisque–like shrimp sauce tossed with white rice noodles and topped with tsitsaron, crisp-fried pork rinds.

Other quick-cooking shellfish, such as mussels or medium shelled shrimp, can be substituted for the clams, but you might need an extra splash of pasta water to loosen the sauce.

To keep shrimp tender, don’t let them sit in the marinade for too long before grilling. The acid in the citrus will start to firm up and cook the flesh.

A heap of basil, tossed through just to wilt, adds a punchy, cooling element to this dish of chile- and garlic-marinated shrimp. Spoon it over a fluffy pile of white rice for a fuss-free summertime dinner.