East & Southeast Asian Cooking

This exploration of East and Southeast Asian cuisines illustrates classical and streamlined cooking techniques while bringing favorite recipes to your kitchen. More than 150 recipes display the vibrant diversity of food from the region, all with the confidence-building guidance of America's Test Kitchen.

We use our rigorous testing experience to bring the ingredients and dishes of East and Southeast Asia to life, with a mix of simple weeknight suppers and more ambitious projects. Stir-fry Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken, fry up Shrimp Tempura with ethereally light exteriors, or make Kimchi Pancakes with ease. Master noodle and rice dishes of all kinds, from Thai drunken noodles to Indonesian fried rice. Or toss together a sweet-spicy-salty Thai Green Papaya Salad. If you can't find green papayas, we offer an easy-to-find alternative, jícama. Can't find Shaoxing wine or kecap manis for a recipe? Use dry sherry for the wine, and soy sauce with sugar stirred in for the kecap. All our recipes work with traditional ingredients and the substitutions we suggest.

Have time to make more complex comfort foods? Try making Japanese pork ramen with an intense slow-cooked broth and meltingly tender pork belly. Or superbly satisfying Korean short ribs, flavored with red dates and chestnuts. Make your favorite restaurant dishes too--kung pao chicken, lo mein, and the perfected egg roll. Or enjoy comfort foods like congee, Cambodian somlar kari (a red curry soup with chicken and vegetables), and Japanese meat and potato stew--all sure to become favorites. A visual Learn How feature walks step by step through techniques like shaping dumplings, making pho, and stir-frying with either a flat-bottomed wok or a non-stick skillet. In addition, step photos throughout illustrate processes like flipping a kimchi pancake or slicing steak for negimaki, and an extensive introduction gives essential information on ingredients and easy swaps.