Southeast Asia

Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines & more

Southeast Asia balances four tastes at once — hot, sour, salty, sweet — over rice, with fish sauce, fresh herbs, and the pounded curry paste at its heart. From Thai curries to Vietnamese pho, Indonesian rendang to Filipino adobo, it is one of the world’s most exciting regional tables.

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Every recipe

8 recipes in this region.

A bowl of beef rendang — large chunks of dark mahogany, glossy beef in a near-dry spice coating flecked with toasted coconut and lemongrass, beside steamed white rice.

West Sumatra (Minangkabau) / Southeast Asia · Indonesian

Beef Rendang (Rendang Daging)

The Minangkabau slow-cooked dry curry of West Sumatra: beef simmered for hours in coconut milk and a pounded spice paste until the liquid renders away and the meat turns dark, glossy, and meltingly tender. Patience is the only difficult ingredient.

IntermediateMains

A bowl of chicken adobo — browned bone-in chicken pieces in a glossy dark soy-and-vinegar sauce with bay leaves and peppercorns, scattered with crisp fried garlic, beside steamed white rice.

Philippines (nationwide) / Southeast Asia · Filipino

Chicken Adobo (Adobong Manok)

The Philippines' unofficial national dish and the easiest great dinner you'll learn: chicken braised in vinegar, soy, garlic, bay, and peppercorns until tangy, savoury, and tender, then reduced to a glossy glaze. Five pantry ingredients, one pot, endlessly variable.

EasyMainsMake-ahead

Singapore & Malaysia (Hainanese diaspora) / Southeast Asia · Singaporean & Malaysian

Hainanese Chicken Rice

The hawker-stall masterpiece of Singapore and Malaysia: a whole chicken gently poached to silky tenderness, rice cooked in the schmaltz-rich broth, served with a trio of sauces. Deceptively plain, ruthlessly precise, and one of the world's great comfort dishes.

IntermediateMains

A plate of pad krapow gai — glossy minced chicken stir-fried with chilies and holy basil over jasmine rice, topped with a crisp-edged fried egg with a runny yolk, a small dish of prik nam pla alongside.

Central Thailand / Southeast Asia · Thai

Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken)

The Thai street-food default and the country's unofficial fast food: minced chicken stir-fried hard with garlic and chili, seasoned with three sauces, and finished with a fistful of holy basil. Served over rice with a crisp-edged fried egg, it's dinner in fifteen minutes.

EasyMains30-minute

A plate of pad thai — stir-fried rice noodles with prawns, beansprouts, and spring onion — topped with crushed peanuts and a lime wedge.

Thailand · Thai

Pad Thai (Thai Stir-Fried Rice Noodles)

Thailand's most famous noodle dish — rice noodles tossed in a sweet-sour-salty tamarind sauce with prawns, tofu, egg, and crunchy beansprouts, finished with crushed peanuts and a squeeze of lime. A fast, balanced wok classic.

IntermediateMainsStir-fry

A bowl of phở gà — clear golden broth over flat rice noodles and shredded chicken, topped with sliced onion, scallion, and cilantro, with a side plate of Thai basil, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and red chili.

Hanoi, Northern Vietnam / Southeast Asia · Vietnamese

Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)

The lighter, faster sibling of beef phở: a clear, aromatic chicken broth perfumed with charred ginger, onion, and toasted spice, ladled over rice noodles and poached chicken, finished at the table with herbs, lime, and chili. Restorative and clean, in about two hours.

IntermediateMains

A bowl of Thai green curry — sage-green coconut sauce with sliced chicken, quartered Thai eggplant, and torn kaffir lime leaves, scattered with sweet basil and slivers of red chili, beside a mound of jasmine rice.

Central Thailand / Southeast Asia · Thai

Thai Green Curry (Gaeng Keow Wan Gai)

Thailand's fragrant green curry, built the way it's meant to be: a fresh pounded paste bloomed in cracked coconut cream, chicken and Thai eggplant simmered to silk, finished with fish sauce, palm sugar, and a fistful of basil. Hot, sweet, herbal, and ready in under an hour.

IntermediateMains

A bowl of tom yum goong with plump pink shrimp, straw mushrooms and a glossy orange broth, lemongrass and makrut lime leaves visible, garnished with cilantro.

Keto

Central Thailand (Chao Phraya River basin) · Thai

Tom Yum Goong (Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup)

Thailand's most famous soup — a fiercely aromatic broth of lemongrass, galangal and makrut lime, sharpened with lime juice and loaded with plump shrimp. Ready in about 35 minutes and brighter than anything a takeout container can hold.

EasyMainsSoup