CATEGORY

"Rice, spice, and an endless variety of crisp leaves and pungent herbs" is how Vatcharin Bhumichitr describes meals enjoyed in Southeast Asia, where salads are not mere side dishes but are often the meal itself. This culinary voyage of user-friendly recipes offers an astonishing variety of leaves, roots, vegetables, fruit, noodles, meats, fish, and shellfishall enhanced by original, piquant dressings. Dishes such as Indonesia's Gado Gado with its peanut sauce, the fruit-enlivened Rojak of Malaysia and Singapore, Vietnam's Crab Salad with Crispy Noodles or its Minced Pork, Prawn, and Pineapple Salad, and the Smoked Fish and Green Mango Salad of Cambodia promise a new world of flavor and texture.