Asian

This mapo tofu recipe comes from chef Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese restaurant.

Serve this fragrant, Indian-inspired side dish with all things chicken.

Iceberg lettuce and watercress stir-fry in a flash and serve as a crisp-tender counterpoint to crunchy shallots.

Thai salads are full of crisp vegetables and fruits mixed with intense condiments.

This is the definition of minimalist Thai cooking. The steam not only gently cooks the fish until just tender but also creates an instant, complex sauce from a handful of basic ingredients. Scoring the fish's flesh allows more of the flavor to season the fish and facilitates faster steaming. The fish is cooked on a plate that fits inside the steamer, to catch the juices.

Those brown flecks are caramelized bits of coconut cream (swoon)

This technique is as easy as Thai gets (which is pretty easy)

The key to the dish's success is controlling the heat on the pan

The chef uses a mortar and pestle deep enough to pound the aromatics, then mix the salad in it, too

As the chef says, "it ain't made with chicken"

Today's edition of our Thai Cooking Primer includes more masterful wielding of mortar and pestle