Bok Choy

This stir-fry is staggeringly simple. A drizzle of sesame oil gives a nutty-toasty boost to thinly sliced bok choy and cabbage.

This fish is steamed on plates, which hold the marinade and juices around the fillets. Be sure that the plates you use have enough of a rim to hold some liquid, and are not larger in diameter than the pan you'll be using to steam. In order to fit the plate on top of the steamer, you'll need a steamer basket that's flat all the way across, without a central protrusion. Many Asian bamboo and stainless-steel steamers have this shape but, if you don't have one, you can substitute a ramekin: Simply place the ramekin on the bottom of the pan, fill the pan with water just to the height of the ramekin, and place the plate on top of the ramekin. In her video demonstration, Chef Cheng uses sole fillets for this dish, but any white, flaky fish such as halibut or flounder, would work well.

Chicken's dark meat is great for grilling because it stays very moist and really soaks up the flavors of a marinade—in this case, an Asian-inspired blend that balances sweet and savory. The addition of meaty mushrooms and bright green baby bok choy makes this a one-dish dinner you can take straight from grill to picnic table.

This spicy soup from Shawn McClain, chef at Green Zebra in Chicago, is rich in immunity-enhancing vitamin A.

Making a fresh-tasting Asian-American meal at home is easier than you think. If you don't have Sherry in the house, you can substitute Scotch.

Tumis Sayur There are, I think, few things more purely satisfying than quickly stir-fried Asian greens. Indonesian cooks agree: Meals in the country are unthinkable without greens on the table. They're so popular that market vendors often sell as many as 15 different kinds, from the tender mustard shoots known as sayur sawi, similar to bok choi, to bitter young papaya leaves (daun papaya), which are stir-fried along with their small white flowers. On our shores, young, tender Asian greens with slender stems — such as water spinach, bok choi, baby bok choi, choi sum, and baby kai lan — work best for stir-frying. Chinese and Southeast Asian markets will likely carry at least two of these varieties at any given time; farmers' markets will have them stocked in the summer months (and year-round in places with temperate climates such as Southern California and Florida). Always buy unblemished greens that have no signs of yellowing, and cook them as soon as possible — they don't store well.

The stacking and Asian fusion of this dish is very 1990s. But don't worry about its trendiness: Heady wallops of curry and ginger make this beautiful preparation timeless.

Inspired by Eat Drink Man Woman A retired master chef in contemporary Taiwan makes elaborate Sunday dinners for his three increasingly uninterested daughters in this 1994 film. While the women carry on their busy lives, the chef discovers he is losing his sense of taste and finds solace in a new love.

This chilled noodle salad from Zygot Bookworks & Cafe is loaded with crisp vegetables.

While at The Boathouse restaurant in Sydney, we sampled a dish of baby bok choy so good that it led us to create our own version. It would be delicious with pan-seared shellfish and Asian eggplant.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A little pork goes a long way in this Chinese dinner. Chicken breast can be used as a substitute for the pork. Chinese crepes are available frozen in most Asian markets, but easy-to-find tortillas work, too.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Editors' note: The original recipe calls for Chinese wheat noodles, but we also like this soup made with somen (Japanese thin wheat noodles) or soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles).

Chinese viceroy Li Hung Chang, visiting San Francisco's Palace Hotel in the 1890s, requested vegetables with a bit of meat "job suey," or "in fine pieces," and chef Joseph Herder obliged.

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.

Whole-wheat spaghetti can replace the soba noodles used here.