Asian

(Thai Grilled Chicken) For connoisseurs of grilled chicken, Thailand is paradise: Gai yang is a common street food and restaurant specialty. Each region has its own cooking methods, though most recipes begin by briefly marinating pieces of chicken, the bone still in, with the traditional Thai seasonings of black pepper, garlic, coriander root, and fish sauce. In this recipe coconut milk is added to the marinade, making the chicken especially succulent and flavorful. Because coriander root is called for in many classic Thai recipes, buy coriander with the roots on; when finished with the sprigs, wash the roots, wrap them in foil, and keep them in the freezer.

Here we've adapted the classic Chinese dish "squab in jade," in which the meat is minced, stir-fried, and served in "cups" of lettuce.

Offer some crusty bread with this lovely main-course salad.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Ghee Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 30 min

This is a coleslaw-style salad — its sweet, spicy, and crunchy elements make it a terrific accompaniment to anything fried. Sichuan peppercorns, sometimes called fagara, can be found at many Asian markets (though they're technically banned from import because they come from a plant that is susceptible to citrus canker, a disease that devastates citrus orchards). There's no substitute for their flavor, but if you can't find them, the recipe works perfectly well without them.

Jeera Aloo This is one of the most popular everyday techniques for cooking vegetables in North India. It's so simple: cooked vegetables are pan-seared in a spice-infused oil. Any seasonal vegetable will work although starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro root, and plantains are preferred. The potatoes are great at breakfast or with grilled meats. For a vegetarian meal, roll them in a flatbread or stuff them in pita pockets with lettuce and tomato slices.

Try packaged Asian rice mix (or steamed white rice), and tomato and cucumber salad sprinkled with seasoned rice vinegar. To end, spoon sliced fruits over mango sorbet. Look for the horseradish paste in the Asian foods section or next to the packaged sushi.

Cook and refrigerate the rice ahead of time. This meal needs only a bottle of Chardonnay.

The word mash means mung bean in Farsi and Farsi-related languages like Azeri and Tajik, as well as in Turkic languages such as Uzbek and Uighur. The word kichiri is like the Hindi word kitchri, a name for rice dishes made by cooking rice together with other ingredients. (The British took the idea and the name and turned it into "kedgeree.") We like this satisfying meal-in-one stew we learned in Tajikistan. Potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes give variety of taste and texture to the main event, a spiced combination of mung beans (yellow dal) and long-grain rice. Mashkichiri is quick and easy to prepare once the mung beans have soaked, and all too easy to eat in large quantities when accompanied by plenty of yogurt. Serve it as a simple meal in one, or serve with kebabs and a side dish of something crunchy, like sliced cucumbers or radishes, or Persian pickled radish. The winter version of this dish would have no tomatoes, and would use more carrots and onions instead. Winters in Central Asia are harsh, and there are few fresh vegetables to be had. Root vegetables, which can be stored and used when other vegetables are available, aren't an important part of the winter diet.

In Chinese culture, noodles symbolize longevity and are often served at New Year celebrations and traditionally left very long.

Asian flavors accent this do-ahead appetizer.

Green papaya salad in all its regional variations - often flavored with pork, beef, or shrimp (as below)-is hugely popular throughout Southeast Asia. The dish is made from unripe Southeast Asian papayas, which have firm white flesh and white seeds. The current popularity of Vietnamese and Thai food in the United States has increased these papayas' availability, although it is still generally limited to Asian markets. Such papayas can grow to the size of cantaloupes or larger and range in shape from oval to round. Look for rock-hard dark green fruit without a trace of pink or yellow blush. If you don't see any, ask (some shopkeepers do not display them). Those who can't find the right kind of papaya might skip the salad or substitute seedless (European) cucumbers despite the repetition with the main course. Those who can find Southeast Asian green papayas will be treated to a salad that our food editors found irresistible.