Asian

My mom was right—pulao just takes practice.

If making bread has long intimidated you, start here. Parathas come in many shapes, textures, and flavors across Asia—they are perfect for dipping into dals and stews or eating alongside assorted condiments. This take, which Priya Krishna learned from her aunt Rachna, is really simple: a basic wheat-based dough stuffed with silky spiced potatoes.

A vibrant Thai sausage made with ground chicken, plus its spicy chile dip, from chef Parnass Savang of Atlanta’s Talat Market.

The interplay between the fish sauce, chiles, and sweet juicy fruits makes this a simple but refreshing dish.

The curry and ground pork reference the origins of the dish, while the brussels sprouts and leeks are a nod to the local ingredients of Georgia, from chef Parnass Savang of Talat Market.

An ultralight and puffy Thai omelet with crispy golden brown edges.

Thinly sliced flanken-cut short ribs, packed with rich flavor, are the key to this Thai stir-fry.

A rebellious take on a Thai classic from chef Parnass Savang of Atlanta’s Talat Market.

Chitra Agrawal took flavor inspiration for this simple dish from her mother’s home state of Karnataka in South India, where thuppa means “ghee” and anna means “rice” in Kannada, the local language.

In Korean, ssam literally means “wrapped”—set the fish in the center of the table and pull the meat off the bones, using chopsticks to fill lettuce wraps along with radish salad, ssamjang, kimchi, and rice. Roasting a whole fish—skin, bones, and all—is surprisingly easy, and the flesh stays moist and flavorful even if you overcook it a touch. 

Two aged sauces + high heat + oil = magic.

My beloved grater dispatches vegetables in seconds.

When no one is looking I just…

Tender, juicy meat! Clingy, glossy sauce!

Leela Punyaratabandhu’s phanaeng-marinated beef skewers belong at your next barbecue. 

My mom's been perfecting this dish for decades. 

Poha is the flattened rice that cooks up fast.

Adobo—both a style of preparation as well as the name of a dish—is one of the most widely known foods of the Philippines, often referred to as its national dish. To make adobo, which can be wet (very saucy) or dry (crispier and less soupy), pork, chicken, tubers, vegetables, squid, lamb, shrimp, or even duck, is simmered in vinegar, often with soy sauce, black peppercorns, and bay leaves. This recipe channels the same flavors of bright vinegar and dark soy sauce, using eggplant as the base, with the addition of ground pork for extra richness.

When I was growing up, these seaweed rice rolls symbolized how my family was different. Looking back, I think that’s what I appreciate most about them.

Use them to make a bowl of refreshing hiyashi chuuka.

These Bangladeshi sweet fritters are fluffy and tender on the inside, crispy and craggy on the outside.

Chef Lucas Sin of Junzi taught us this technique for fried rice in which every single grain is coated in egg yolk and fries up perfectly distinct and chewy.

Chewy wonderful Korean rice cakes soak up the flavor of a ginger-garlic-scallion sauce we can’t quit.