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A Goan coconut masala paste is ground from soaked Kashmiri chillies, coriander seeds, cumin, peppercorns, garlic and ginger with fresh coconut and tamarind. Onion is softened in coconut oil with green chilli and curry leaves, the masala is fried until the oil separates, water and salt are added for a brief simmer, and the fish is slid into the gravy for a gentle poach. The dish is sharply acidic, deeply red and just hot enough.
Poached chicken is shredded and tossed with finely shredded cabbage, carrot and onion that has been softened in a light vinegar bath. A bright nước chấm style dressing brings everything together and toasted peanuts and fried shallots finish the top. The trick is balance: the salad should be crunchy, not waterlogged, and the dressing should taste sharp on its own before it hits the salad.
Pork belly is simmered until tender, prawns are poached briefly, and vermicelli is cooked just al dente. Everything cools to room temperature, then rice paper rounds are dipped briefly in warm water and rolled around lettuce, herbs and the protein with the pink of the prawns showing through the wrapper. The peanut-hoisin sauce is the make-or-break: it should be thick, sweet and lightly garlicky.
Oxtail simmers slow with aromatics until the meat is falling-tender. The cooking liquid thickens with toasted ground rice and peanut butter, gets coloured with annatto, and becomes a deep golden sauce. Vegetables join briefly at the end so they keep their texture. Bagoong on the side is non-negotiable.
A Burmese aubergine dish, the kind of thing that turns up on a weekday table next to a simple curry and rice. You cube the aubergine and salt it for twenty minutes to draw out the bitter water, then squeeze it dry. Onion fries dark-gold in oil; garlic, ginger and turmeric go in briefly; then the aubergine joins them and fries for eight minutes until silky-soft and just collapsing. Fish sauce, chilli powder and a touch of palm sugar season the pan, and toasted crushed peanuts scatter over at the end for crunch. Eaten warm with rice and a small piece of fish.
A masala paste of shallot, ginger, garlic and red chilli is bloomed in coconut oil with mustard seeds, fenugreek and curry leaves. Coconut milk is poured in and the curry brought to a simmer, then tamarind water and a tomato are added. The fish goes in last and poaches in the gravy for just long enough to set; over-stirring breaks the pieces.
Kung pao (gongbao) shrimp is the seafood cousin of the classic Sichuan gongbao jiding, named for the 19th-century governor-general Ding Baozhen whose title was Gong Bao. Where the chicken version uses diced meat, the shrimp version keeps the prawns whole or halved so they curl into bright pink commas around the chillies and peanuts. The flavour profile is the signature Sichuan "lychee" balance: a touch of sweetness from sugar, sourness from black vinegar, salt and umami from soy, and the warm tingle (ma la) of toasted Sichuan peppercorn paired with the smoky bite of dried er jing tiao chillies. This is a fast dish, fundamentally a wok exercise: every ingredient must be prepped and lined up before the heat goes on, because once the chillies hit the oil you have maybe ninety seconds before everything is overcooked. Difficulty is moderate for a home cook with a working wok and high burner; the trick is keeping the chillies dark red and fragrant without scorching them black, and pulling the shrimp out the moment they curl. Served over plain rice it is one of the most rewarding ten-minute meals in the repertoire.
A two-part dish: a deeply concentrated prawn-and-chicken stock built from roasted prawn shells, layered with a freshly pounded laksa paste of dried chilli, galangal, lemongrass and candlenuts. The two are joined with coconut cream to create a glossy, fragrant broth that bathes rice vermicelli, tofu puffs and prawns. Finished at the table with sambal, lime, fresh coriander and bean sprouts.
The sauce (the technical heart of the dish) reduces palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste, water, ginger and dried shrimp to a thick, glossy, dark amber syrup. The fillings, diced lime (skin and all), diced ginger, sliced shallot, chopped roasted peanuts, dried shrimp, small chilli, and toasted shredded coconut, are arrayed in small mounds on a serving platter. Fresh young betel leaves go alongside. Each diner takes a leaf, layers a tiny pinch of each filling, drops a quarter-teaspoon of the sauce on top, folds and pops the whole thing in one bite.
Ice-cold sparkling water meets soft flour in a barely-stirred batter; the batter goes onto sliced vegetables and prawns and into 180°C oil for 90 seconds. The lumps and dry patches in the batter are the goal; smooth batter gives a heavy crust.