Southeast Asia is a tropical region of the continent encompassing 11 countries with rich culinary traditions. That diversity fosters varied cuisine (and cocktails) with craveable specialties. With recipes from Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and beyond, here are some of our favorite Southeast Asian dishes and drinks, from a tofu pad Thai recipe to beef and chicken Vietnamese pho recipes to vegan Filipino sisig and a tangy Burmese soup.
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Vegan Mushroom and Fried Tofu Sisig
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Classic Filipino sisig is made with pork belly and chicken liver cooked with onions, chiles, and calamansi. Chef Kristine Subido offers a vegan option to this traditionally meat-heavy dish, with fried tofu and king trumpet mushrooms at the center.
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Gang Gai Khao Mun (Thai Chicken Curry)
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Sweet, sticky coconut rice colored and flavored with green herbs pairs with this creamy Thai chicken curry from chef Nok Suntaranon. The foundation of the curry is a vibrant from-scratch curry paste. Making your own curry paste requires a little sourcing, but the resulting flavor is well worth the effort. The curry paste freezes well for future batches.
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Tofu Pad Thai
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Pad Thai, also called kway teow pad Thai (meaning "Thai-style stir-fried rice noodles"), is customized in endless ways by street food vendors, restaurateurs, and home cooks all over the world. But at the heart of this beloved Thai noodle dish is a delectably sweet, salty, and sour sauce that's seasoned with fish sauce, sugar, tamarind, and lime juice.
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Sinigang Na Hipon
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Sinigang is a soup from the Philippines with a tangy broth, often made using sour fruit like tamarind or unripe guava.Sinigang Na Hipon simply means sinigang with prawn. 2022 F&W Best New Chef Melissa Miranda uses fresh grapefruit and lemon juice for the sour notes.
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Thai Red Curry
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Known as one of the most popular curry styles in Thailand, red curry is made with red chiles that give it its iconic heat and bright scarlet color, blended with aromatic spices and ingredients including cilantro, lemongrass, (kapi) shrimp paste, and ginger.
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Cambodian Black Pepper Beef (Lok Lak)
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Wok cooking happens quickly, so prepare each ingredient beforehand. 2019 F&W Best New Chef Nite Yun not only tenderizes the flank steak with an intensely flavorful marinade but also adds punchy flavor in just a few minutes of cooking.
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Pancit Miki Bihon
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"Pancit is a catch-all term for noodle dishes in the Philippines — and there are so many variations of pancit" says Carlo Lamagna, the chef and owner of Magna Kusina in Portland, Oregon. This particular pancit by Lamagna combines two types of noodles: bihon (long, thin noodles usually made from rice flour or cornstarch) and miki (egg noodles).
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Khao Soi
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An aromatic mixture made of shallot, garlic, and radish is the base of this riff on the Northern Thai classic from chef Donny Sirisavath. He amps up the flavor with soybean paste, cherry tomatoes, and ground pork to create a deeply savory pork sauce.
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Thit Kho (Vietnamese Braised Pork Belly)
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This savory pork braise is beloved across Vietnam. The blanched cabbage is a good accompaniment for the fall and winter months; during spring, blanched snap peas and green beans are great options; in the summer, pair this kho with fresh slices of Persian cucumbers.
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Ginataang Gulay (Filipino Stew)
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Ginataang refers to a wide array of Filipino comfort foods cooked with coconut milk. The rich, fragrant canned good brings big flavor in a short amount of time. Lawrence Letrero of Bayan Ko in Chicago uses vegetables like hearty sweet potato, colorful Japanese eggplant, and snappy haricots verts here.
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Whole Fried Snapper with Cashew Nuoc Cham
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This whole fried snapper is a dramatic main course. Crispy and delicious, this dish is paired with a roasted cashew nuoc cham dipping sauce and served with rice paper wrappers, cucumbers, and herbs in this centerpiece-worthy dish.
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Vietnamese Iced Coconut Coffee
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Combining coconut milk, whole milk, and sweetened condensed milk, this refresher by Sahra Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply, shows off the bold flavor of Vietnamese coffee beans.
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Som Tam (Thai-Style Green Papaya Salad)
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The Thai salad Som Tam demonstrates the mortar and pestle’s power. The Thai word som means “sour,” and tam means “to pound,” the action that sets the foundation for the distinct aromatic, tangy flavors in chef Nooror Somany Steppe’s recipe.
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Krapow Khai Yat Sai
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In this eye-catching omelet from Jazz Singsanong, owner of Jitlada in Los Angeles, a thin blanket of folded egg is cut open to reveal a filling of ground chicken and Thai basil that’s been lightly caramelized and flavored with oyster sauce.
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Lemongrass Skirt Steak Skewers
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Using flat skewers helps the meat char and cook evenly by curbing any rolling around the grill. Be sure to preheat the grill; high, even heat will help guarantee strong grill marks and will caramelize the sugars in the marinade.
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Cà Phê Sữa Chua (Vietnamese Yogurt Coffee)
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Stir Vietnamese-Style Homemade Yogurt with coffee and sweetened condensed milk to make a drink that's creamy, tangy, and bittersweet with a caffeinated boost.
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Balinese Grilled Chicken
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On a surfing trip to Indonesia, Pete Evans tried a version of this chicken roasted over an open fire. The turmeric, chiles, and ginger in the marinade are popular flavors in Indonesian cooking.
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Chicken Pho
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Charles Phan and his children adore this soup, called pho, which has an intense chicken flavor accented by aromatic roasted onion and ginger.
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Singapore Sling
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A bartender named Ngiam Tong Boon is said to have mixed the first Sling around 1915 at the Long Bar inside Singapore's Raffles Hotel. Julie Reiner's take doesn’t stray far from the original, mixing gin, pineapple juice, and bitters, along with a blend of liqueurs she calls Sling Business.
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Yusheng
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Yusheng is a traditional raw fish salad served in Malaysia and Singapore. It is a communal ceremonial New Years dish but delicious all year round. The ingredients are placed individually on a serving platter, the salad is dressed and then all the guests toss the salad up in the air with chopsticks. The higher the toss, the more prosperity in the New Year.
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Burmese Samusa Soup
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This vegan soup from Desmond Tan’s Burma Superstar in San Francisco features a broth that’s seasoned with black mustard seeds, cumin, and turmeric. Fresh cabbage, herbs, and chiles top each ample bowl, contrasting tender lentils and potatoes with a pleasing crunch. It’s substantial enough to be a meal by itself, but try it topped with wedges of leftover samosas (or samusas, as they’re called in Burma) and falafel, as they do at the restaurant.
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Kuy Teav (Cambodian Rice Noodle Soup)
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Kuy teav, a rice noodle soup traditionally served for breakfast in Cambodia, takes on layers of flavor from shrimp, pork, and vegetables. In Deana Saukam's version, you ladle the rich stock over crisp lettuce leaves and rice noodles then top to your liking with herbs, sliced chiles, soy sauce, and lime.
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Perkedel Jagung (Indonesian Corn Fritters)
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Chef Lara Lee's Perkedel Jagung are all about the sweet, tender corn. Packed with fresh or frozen kernels and layers of flavor from fresh ginger and shallots, fragrant makrut lime leaves, and floral ground coriander and cumin, these fried treats are delicious served with a balancing spicy tomato sambal.
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Sweet Sticky Rice with Mangoes and Sesame Seeds
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Most Thai dishes are best served at room temperature, including this creamy dessert: "If you chill it, it becomes rock-hard, but if you heat it up, it turns to mush," Andy Ricker explains. Many traditional recipes for sticky rice require steaming the grains for up to an hour, but for the supereasy adaptation here, Ricker cleverly suggests microwaving the rice for only about 15 minutes instead.
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Sambal Terung (Malaysian Roasted Eggplant with Chile Sauce)
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Sambal is a chilli sauce that is generally made from a mixture of chilli peppers, shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice.Roasted eggplant dish is covered in sambal for this spicy, savory dish.
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Cambodian Chicken-and-Rice Soup with Shrimp
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For this spicy, soothing, and restorative chicken-and-rice soup, Ratha Chau prepares his own delectable chicken stock and roasts a chicken, which is then cut into large pieces and added to it. Using prepared stock and preroasted chicken significantly cuts back on prep time.
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Spiced Beef Pho with Sesame-Chile Oil
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The rice vermicelli soup pho is a staple all over Vietnam and this spicy beef version is the specialty of Hanoi. At home in Connecticut, Marcia Kiesel often eats it for breakfast, as the Vietnamese do. "It's a perfect meal and an invigorating way to start the day," she says. She's tried innumerable phos but considers the recipe from Binh Duong, her co-author on Simple Art of Vietnamese Cooking, to be the best. Inspired by the pho served at Ana Mandara and the Hideaway, she tweaks Duong's recipe by adding an escarole garnish.
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Vermicelli with Chicken Skewers and Nuoc Cham
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In this version of a Vietnamese dish, individual piles of cucumber, fresh herbs, and grilled chicken are arranged on a platter of vermicelli and bean sprouts. Tangy nuoc cham sauce is poured over all. As each diner takes a portion, the components intermingle.
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