Jasmine Rice

The simplest way to enjoy wild shrimp is to cook them fast and serve them warm, still in their shells, with melted butter. This recipe takes the opposite but equally flavorful tack: the shrimp are slow-cooked, infusing the entire soup with sweet shrimpiness.

This is a sweet fried rice with a pleasing bite of ginger. Before you begin to stir-fry, cook rice if you don’t have any left over, and have everything prepped and close at hand.

Transform leftover cooked chicken into a dish that will delight the senses with color, texture, aroma, and flavor. Lemongrass, Thai red curry paste, and coconut (our heart-healthy recipe uses coconut extract) are the popular Thai ingredients that do the trick.

Bottled peanut satay sauce is a convenient way to add the traditional Thai flavor combination of basil, peanut, and coconut to your cooking.

Remove the seeds from only half the jalapeño pepper. The heat lives in the seeds and this dish is a balance of heat with sweet.

There are hundreds of versions of this salad-like dish that are eaten throughout South India and parts of western India as well. At its base is rice, the local starch and staple. (Think of the bread soups of Italy and the bread salads of the Middle East.) The rice is cooked so it is quite soft. Then yogurt, and sometimes a little milk as well, is added as well as any fruit (apple, grapes, pomegranate), raw vegetables (diced tomatoes, cucumbers), or lightly blanched vegetables (green beans, zucchini, peas) that one likes. The final step is what makes the salad completely Indian. A tiny amount of oil is heated and spices such as mustard seeds, curry leaves, and red chilies are thrown into it. Then the seasoned oil is poured over the rice salad to give it its pungency and reason for being. This cooling, soothing dish, somewhat like a risotto, makes a wonderful lunch. It is best served at room temperature, without being refrigerated. Other salads may be added to the meal.

This is such a soothing rice dish—slightly sweet and salty, with just a hint of black pepper. (Do not eat the peppercorns. Push them to the side of your plate. They are just for flavoring.) As the dish is South Indian, I have made it with jasmine rice, which is closer in texture to the shorter-grained rices commonly found in that region. I love to serve this with northern lamb and chicken curries, thus breaking tradition and combining north and south in an exciting new way.

Jasmine rice is very different in texture and taste from basmati rice. It is more clingy, more spongy, and more glutinous and, at its best, has a jasmine-like aroma. On some days it is exactly the soothing rice I yearn for. It is certainly closer to the daily rice eaten in South, East, and West India, where basmati rice is reserved for special occasions only. Look for good-quality jasmine rice, usually sold by Thai and other Oriental grocers. Sadly, price is often a good indication of quality. I usually do not bother to wash it, as I enjoy its slightly sticky quality.

In my experience, many people have trouble cooking rice. It’s a dish that seems so simple but can baffle the most adept cook. Follow this straightforward recipe and success will be yours.

This dish takes a little planning ahead but is well worth it. Don’t be scared—it’s a show-off dish. You may, however, have to shop around for some of the makings. A trip to your local Asian market or a surf on the Internet should do it. Start by marinating the duck the night before you plan to serve it. A smoker isn’t required, but you will need a wok with a domed lid and wire rack insert (sorry, an electric wok won’t work). Serve with steamed Asian greens like bok choy or Chinese broccoli. Round out the meal with Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice (page 240).

Juicy, crunchy cucumbers lighten the starch in a rice salad, and lemony coriander accentuates the citrus in the vinaigrette. So-called Persian cukes seem especially beautiful against a background of exotic purple jasmine rice. This is a party dish for which, no doubt, you will become justly famous.

Why reserve cedar planks for the grill? They work just as well in the oven.

Why get takeout when you can make orange chicken so quickly at home?

Double this recipe if you want leftovers for rice bowls.

Fan Editor's note: This recipe is reprinted from My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo.

Jasmine rice is native to Southeast Asia. When cooked, its long grains become soft, seductively aromatic, and nutty in flavor.

Chef Charlie Palmer shared this recipe for one of his signature dishes at his Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant in Sonoma, California, exclusively with Epicurious. Crisp-skinned, juicy duck breasts are accented with gingery fried rice and sweet roasted peaches for a stunning dish that's surprisingly simple to make. Note that the recipe makes more than enough soy-lime emulsion for the fried rice. Leftover emulsion, which will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to three days, can be used in stir-fries and salads or as a sauce for tuna tartare or dumplings.

Hot chili paste gives the rice its kick. The heat is balanced by the briny olives and the sweet raisins.