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Amok Trey

Cambodia's national dish, the centrepiece of any Khmer feast and the proper-occasion food across the country. You start by pounding kroeung fresh in a mortar (the paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallots, kaffir lime zest and coriander root that defines Khmer cooking, and that no shop-bought paste comes close to matching). The kroeung fries briefly to bloom its aromatics, coconut cream and stock loosen it, and eggs whisk in to set the eventual custard. Chunks of firm white fish fold through with chopped greens (traditionally noni leaves, with spinach or chard standing in), and the whole mix spoons into banana-leaf cups (or small ramekins). Twenty minutes in a steamer turns the custard just-set around the soft fish, and the banana leaves perfume everything. Served from the parcels with steamed rice and a wedge of lime.

Cambodian 55 minutes Serves4

Authentic Cajun Gumbo

The "everything" Louisiana gumbo, chicken thighs, andouille, lump crab and shrimp all in one pot, and the dish where the technique matters more than the recipe. The roux is the single defining step and the line between Cajun gumbo and every other stew on earth: a full cup of oil and a full cup of flour cooked at medium-low for around 30 minutes, stirred without stopping, until the colour goes from blond to peanut butter to milk chocolate to dark chocolate. That's not flavour theatre; the long-cooked roux produces a deeply nutty, slightly bitter, profoundly savoury base that thickens the gumbo and gives it the distinctive almost-charred note no shortcut can replicate. Around the roux: the Cajun "holy trinity" of onion, bell pepper and celery; filé powder (ground sassafras leaves) added off heat as a second thickener; okra adding a third (and contributing its own slight slip); plus the four proteins, each adding a different layer. Flavour is dark, smoky, herbaceous, and slightly briny from the seafood. Smell is the roux toasting. Not difficult on technique but tremendously demanding on patience and attention; 30 minutes of unbroken stirring is the gateway, and if you walk away or rush it the roux burns and you start over. A dish that runs deep through Cajun and Creole Louisiana, with origins in the French settlers, the Choctaw (who contributed filé), West Africans (who contributed okra), and Spanish colonial traditions of Louisiana from the 1700s onwards.

Cajun 1 hour 45 minutes Serves8-10

Beef Nasi Goreng

Indonesia's national fried rice, traditionally a way to put yesterday's leftovers to work and now a fixture from street stalls to weeknight kitchens. Beef mince keeps the cooking time short, while kecap manis, soy, shrimp paste and a crumbled stock cube layer the savouriness from four directions. The trick is pressing the rice into the wok and leaving it alone long enough to pick up a proper char before tossing.

Indonesian 30 minutes Serves4

Crab Bisque

A rich and elegant seafood bisque featuring fresh crab cooked in a flavorful broth with brandy and cream. The soup is strained for smoothness, highlighting the sweet crab meat with a touch of spice from cayenne.

French 1 hour Serves4

Crawfish Étouffée

A Louisiana classic, the dish whose name means "smothered" in French, and that's exactly what's happening at the table: tender crawfish tails smothered in a rich gravy spooned over white rice. You start with a blond roux (butter and flour cooked just to the colour of peanut butter, lighter than gumbo's nearly-burnt mahogany), then soften the Cajun trinity of onion, celery and bell pepper in it until everything goes glossy. Tomato paste, Cajun spice and stock loosen the mixture, and the lot simmers down to a thick velvety gravy. Crawfish tails (or prawns if you can't find them) go in near the end and cook just briefly so they stay tender rather than turning rubbery. Spring onion and parsley scatter over at the finish. Ladled over white rice in a bowl, with crusty bread and a glass of cold beer alongside.

Cajun 1 hour Serves4

Creamy Clam Soup

A creamy clam soup that takes the New England chowder format and smooths it out into something closer to a French bisque. You steam fresh clams open in a covered pot, strain the briny liquor (which is half the dish's flavour), then soften onion, leek, carrot and swede in butter before pouring the stock back in with a handful of short-grain rice. The rice cooks down to nothing visible but thickens the soup naturally, which is why this version comes out velvet-smooth after a turn in the blender. Cream goes in last, off the heat so it doesn't split, and the reserved clam meat drops back into the pan along with chopped parsley. You finish each bowl with a few clams left in their shells balanced on the surface for the look of it. Crusty bread on the side, a sharp white wine in the glass, and a small bowl of black pepper to grind over.

American 1 hour Serves4

Doenjang Jjigae

A quick anchovy-and-kelp stock makes the broth backbone (the Korean kitchen standard, taking 10 minutes). Doenjang (about 3 tablespoons) whisks into the hot stock with a small spoonful of gochujang for warmth, never aggressive heat. The vegetables go in by sturdiness: potato first, then courgette and mushrooms, then onion and chilli, finally cubed tofu and clams (or anchovies) at the end. Simmers for 12-15 minutes total. A little minced garlic stirs in at the very end so it doesn't dull. Brought to the table in the cooking pot, still bubbling.

Korean 40 minutes Serves4

Efo Riro

Beef (or goat, or prawns) parboils briefly. Smoked fish soaks. A pepper paste of red bell pepper, Scotch bonnet, onion and tomato blitzes in the blender. Palm oil heats; the pepper paste fries for 10 minutes until reduced and the oil rises. Stock, meat, smoked fish, ground crayfish and iru go in; simmers for 15 minutes. Spinach goes in last, wilts in 5 minutes. Served with rice, eba, fufu or pounded yam.

Nigerian 1 hour 5 minutes Serves4

Egusi Soup

Beef or goat is parboiled with onion, stock cube and salt to make a base stock. Smoked fish hydrates in hot water and is picked clean. Egusi seeds are ground (or already-ground egusi powder is used) into a thick paste with a little water. Onion, garlic, ginger and Scotch bonnet blitz into a hot pepper paste. Palm oil heats until just smoking; the pepper paste fries in it 5 minutes. Egusi paste goes in and "fries" 10 minutes until it forms small clumps. Stock and meat join; everything simmers for 20 minutes. Smoked fish, ground crayfish and locust beans add depth. Chopped spinach (or bitter leaf) goes in for the last 5 minutes. Salt to season.

Nigerian 1 hour 40 minutes Serves6

Gai Yang

Gai yang ("grilled chicken") is one of the cornerstones of Isaan cooking, the cuisine of north-eastern Thailand that has spread across the whole country and into Thai restaurants worldwide. The defining flavour is coriander root, an ingredient barely used in Western cooking but central to Thai marinades. Pounded in a granite mortar with garlic, white peppercorns and a pinch of salt, it forms an aromatic paste that's then mixed with fish sauce, oyster sauce and a touch of sugar. The chicken is butterflied (spatchcocked) so it lies flat on the grill, marinated for at least 4 hours, then cooked slowly over moderate charcoal. The proper Isaan technique is patient: 30 minutes or more, turning often, sometimes pressed flat between two bamboo splints, so the skin slowly crisps and the meat takes on smoke without burning. The flavour is savoury-funky from fish sauce, peppery-warm from white pepper, deeply garlic-and-herb from the paste, with no chilli in the marinade itself; heat comes from the dipping sauce. Difficulty is low for the home cook: a good mortar or a small food processor makes the paste in 2 minutes, butterflying a chicken is a single cut down the backbone, and any covered grill or kettle does the cooking. Eaten by hand with balls of sticky rice and dipped into nam jim jaew, the toasted-rice-and-tamarind dipping sauce.

Thai 5 hours Serves4

Gimbap

Rice cooks, dresses with sesame oil and salt while still warm. Fillings prep separately: carrots julienne and stir-fry briefly with salt; spinach blanches, drains, dresses with garlic, salt and sesame oil; egg cooks as a thin omelette, slices into strips; pickled yellow radish (danmuji) cuts into long strips; protein (ham, beef bulgogi, tuna mayo, fishcake) preps to size. Each gim sheet (toasted seaweed) lays on a bamboo mat; rice spreads thin over two-thirds of the sheet; fillings line in the centre; the mat rolls everything tightly. Cut into 12 slices per roll. Brushed with sesame oil; sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Snacks 1 hour 25 minutes Serves4

Goan Prawn Pulao

A bright green masala paste of coriander, mint, green chilli, ginger and garlic is ground with a splash of vinegar. Basmati is rinsed, soaked and drained. Whole spices and onion are softened in coconut oil, the prawns briefly seared and lifted out, then the green masala is fried into the onion before the rice is added to toast. Stock goes in for the steam; the prawns return at the end so they don't overcook.

Rice 1 hour 15 minutes Serves4-6

Gỏi Cuốn

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.

Snacks 55 minutes Serves12

Green Curry BBQ Aubergine

This is a BBQ side built on the flavour profile of Thai green curry rather than a Thai curry itself. The marinade is essentially a small batch of green curry sauce reduced down until thick and clinging, then cooled and rubbed into wedges of aubergine that sit in it overnight. By morning the cut surfaces have drunk in coconut, paste, fish sauce, palm sugar, lime leaf and basil; by the time they hit the grill, the flesh has half-pickled and the surface is coated in a paste that caramelises beautifully over hot coals. The grill does the rest. Direct high heat blackens the marinade into sticky-black patches while the inside steams under its own glaze and softens to spoon-tender. Difficulty is low. The only patience involved is overnight in the fridge. Serve as a centrepiece on a BBQ platter alongside grilled meats, or as a vegetarian main with sticky rice, a wedge of lime and a scatter of Thai basil. It is rich, smoky, gently sweet, salty and herbaceous all at once, with the unmistakable green-curry note running through every bite.

Sides 37 minutes Serves4

Honey Soy Salmon (One-Pan)

Salmon fillets sear skin-side down for crisp skin, then bathe in a quick honey-soy-mirin-ginger reduction that lacquers them. Broccoli or bok choy steams in the same pan with a splash of stock. Twenty minutes; one pan; serve over rice.

Japanese 20 minutes Serves4

Kare-Kare

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.

Filipino 3 hours 50 minutes Serves6

Larb

Sticky rice toasts in a dry pan to a deep gold, ground to a coarse powder (khao khua). Mince fries hot with a splash of stock until just cooked. Off heat, fish sauce, lime juice, chilli powder, sliced shallot, spring onion and rice powder toss through. Lots of fresh herbs fold in at the end. Served with sticky rice and raw vegetable plate.

Salads 27 minutes Serves4

Malaysian Curry Laksa (Laksa Lemak)

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.

Malaysian 1 hour 35 minutes Serves4

Miso Shrimp Scampi

A clever, restrained twist on a familiar pan sauce. You keep the scampi method intact: butter foamed with shallot and a tower of garlic, deglazed with dry white wine and lemon juice, finished with a hit of chilli and parsley. The change is a couple of spoonfuls of white miso stirred into the sauce just before the shrimp return to the pan. The miso melts in without overpowering, lending a salty, umami round-out that intensifies the buttery base and gives the dish a "what is in this?" quality across the back of the palate. The shrimp themselves get Cajun-spiced before they ever touch the pan, which adds a low background warmth across the whole bowl. You cook them fast because shrimp turn rubbery in moments past doneness; pull them when they show an even pink and a tight C-curl. Serve three ways: over hot linguine with a splash of pasta water for gloss, ladled over white rice, or in a shallow bowl with torn crusty bread for mopping the sauce.

Asian Fusion 55 minutes Serves4

Mohinga

Myanmar's national breakfast, the rice-noodle soup that streetcorner stalls in every city open before dawn for. You cook catfish (or any firm white fish) in spiced water first, then shred the cooked flesh and turn the cooking liquid into the soup base. A spice paste of shallot, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and turmeric fries in oil; a chickpea-flour slurry thickens the broth to a silky consistency; banana-stem (or hearts of palm or cabbage as substitute) softens in. Fish sauce, paprika and lime balance the seasoning. Rice vermicelli portions into bowls, broth ladles over, and a heavy plate of garnishes arrives at the table: crispy split peas, halved boiled eggs, lime wedges, fresh herbs, chilli flakes. Each diner builds the bowl to their own taste. The morning meal of Myanmar.

Burmese 1 hour 30 minutes Serves6

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