Pasta

Bibim Gooksu Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from restaurateur Jenny Kwak's book, Dok Suni: Recipes from My Mother's Korean Kitchen. Kwak also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Kwak and Korean cuisine, click here. This noodle dish is very gratifying on hot summer days when you want to eat something light, healthy, and refreshingly cold. The crisp, clean texture of the cucumber combined with the spiciness from kimchi, the tang from the rice vinegar and a subtle sweetness from the sugar makes the dish so good. The noodles are served over a bed of ice, then topped with this spicy salad-like mixture.

(SPAGHETTI ALLA CHIUMMENZANA) This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. To eat this dish the Caprese way, serve the pasta very al dente.

This is as delicious with mussels as it is with clams. Offer a simple green salad afterward, and pears and a wedge of Italian cheese for dessert.

At Valentino, this is prepared with fresh pasta. Wonton wrappers make a convenient substitute.

The restaurant takes its name from amuse-bouche, a small gift from the chef to "please the mouth." Chicken thighs make a convenient substitute for duck in this pasta dish.

Inspired by Vietnamese cuisine, this combination is also satisfying on its own as a meatless lunch.

Toasted baguette slices and some baby greens tossed with marinated artichoke hearts are a wonderful accompaniment to the pasta. (For extra flavor, you can spread the baguette slices with olive paste before servings.) Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Somen Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 hr In a six-part series in 1975, correspondent Elizabeth Andoh taught us about the reverent seasonality of Japanese cuisine. It was with this summer recipe that many of us learned that noodles as well as rice are eaten in Japan. The concept of icy-cold noodles took only one taste to grasp: Andoh's recipe for somen is one of the lightest and most refreshing pasta preparations we've ever had.

Fideua con Láminas de Sepia Salteadas Fideos are a vermicelli-style noodle, sold in nests, that comes in several thicknesses. For this delicate dish, it's important to use the thinnest fideos possible, cabello de ángel (angel hair). Cuttlefish (sepia), a marine cephalopod of the same family as octopus and squid, is widely available throughout northern Spain; fresh squid is much easier to get in this country, however.

Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 3 1/2 hr This recipe, which accompanied our 1954 article on Tunisia, called for what were then two very exotic ingredients. One, the granular pasta called couscous, is now commonplace in supermarkets across America. The other, dried rose petals, is available by mail order.

Cele Bullis of Gainesville, Georgia, writes: "My husband and I recently went to a restaurant in Alpharetta, Georgia, called Vinny's on Windward. He ordered a pasta entrée with lobster and cream sauce and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd love to make the dish for him. Can you get the recipe?" This can be prepared with 20 ounces of large raw shrimp instead of lobster, if you like. Peel and devein the shrimp, then sauté uncovered in butter until opaque in center, about three minutes. Cut each shrimp lengthwise in half.

More supermarkets are carrying fresh rabbit, as people rediscover its delicate flavor. Braising helps to keep it moist and tender. If you have trouble finding rabbit, however, you can substitute bone-in chicken, skin removed.

Serve this with a basket of crusty bread.