Southeast Asian

(Vietnamese Lime Sauce) This recipe is used to prepared Grilled Lemongrass Beef and Noodle Salad. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Wrapped foods, such as the Vietnamese spring roll, the Filipino lumpia and the Chinese egg roll, have a long history in Asian cooking and are hot items right now all across America. The lime juice, ginger, cilantro, cucumber and mint in this recipe are found in the cuisines of all Southeast Asian countries. Round out this dinner with hot or iced jasmine tea and cold Thai beer.

If you thought you couldn't cook Thai food at home, this colorful and slightly spicy curry-a bit of a cross between a soup and a stew-will change your mind. It's a cinch to whip up after work and intriguing enough to impress your friends. Begin dinner with frozen egg rolls or take-out ones from a Chinese restaurant, and finish things off with ice cream or sorbet topped with chopped tropical fruit. GewÜrztraminer or Thai beer complements the menu nicely.

In its traditional form, this classic Lao soup is made with noodles rolled out and cut to order for each bowl. It is still excellent made with dried rice noodles. You can substitute fish, chicken, or pork for the beef, but rice noodles are an essential ingredient. The Lao like a considerable amount of lime juice in their food—here a range is given so that you can flavor the soup to your taste.

Pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, is traditionally made with long-cooked beef stock. Our quick version calls for deli sliced beef and canned beef broth instead.<

Green curry paste (a blend of green chilies, garlic, onion, and spices) adds explosive flavor to these one-biters. You'll need a miniature muffin tin to prepare the wonton cups.

Bangkok-style noodles with shrimp, chicken and Thai chilies from Arun's in Chicago.

Matt McMillan, Big Bowl's executive chef, threw together these items for his lunch one day. We ran it as a special the next week. It's simple and delicious.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min

This very typical Lao dish may also be made with fish, pork, beef, or, in Southeast Asian tradition, water buffalo meat. While laap is often made with raw meat or fish, our chicken-based rendition is stir-fried, as it was when Lao cooks served it to us. A powder made from toasted glutinous rice subtly flavors the dish.

(Chicken Stir-Fry with Holy Basil) Two of the common types of basil used in Thailand are now available in North America. Bai horapha tastes like a good strong Italian sweet basil and can be found in Asian markets and some supermarkets, usually sold as Asian basil or Thai basil. The basil traditionally used in this recipes is bai gaprow, or holy basil which can be harder to find because of its shorter shelf life. Holy basil hasn't much taste when raw, but when cooked it becomes strong and distinctive. Asian basil makes a very good substitute, though it can't be cooked as long or it will lose flavor.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Pla Phad Phrik Khing The pummelo salad makes a nice first course with this dish.