1. Prepare Shrimp Filling or Chicken-Crabmeat Filling. Prepare Lime Dipping Sauce; set aside. 2. Pour beer into a pie plate. Carefully dip rice papers into beer, one at a time. Place papers, not touching, on clean, dry kitchen towels. Let soften for a few minutes until pliable. 3. Place 1/4 cup shredded lettuce on bottom part of each rice paper. Place about 1/3 cup filling on the lettuce near the curved edge of the paper. Fold in ends. Beginning at that edge, tightly roll up the rice paper. Place, seam side down, on a plate....

1. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Combine sesame oil and crushed red pepper; brush over chicken. 2. Grill chicken on the lightly greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender and no longer pink, turning once. 3. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a small saucepan,* stir together sugar, peanut butter, soy sauce, oil, garlic, and 2 tablespoons water. Heat on grill rack until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently. For the last 1 minute of grilling, place split rolls on the grill rack to toast. ...

Place the chicken cubes in a large bowl and add garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Cover and place in refrigerator. Combine the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, water, white vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar in a bowl and set aside. Heat a 4-quart saucepot or clay pot over low heat. Add brown candy pieces or brown sugar and melt slowly over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid sticking and burning. When sugar comes to a slow boil, carefully add fish sauce. Add the soy sauce mixture, Thai chile, garlic, and ginger. Add chicken to the liquid...

In a heavy saucepan cook the garlic in the vegetable oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until it is fragrant, add the curry powder, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in the broth, the coconut milk, the water, the lemongrass, the gingerroot, and the peppercorns and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the chicken and poach it at a bare simmer for 20 minutes, or until it is cooked through. Transfer the chicken with a slotted spoon to a bowl and let it cool, keeping the poaching mixture warm. While the chicken is cooling, in...

Place cabbage in a bowl and cover with salted water. Set aside. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, chile, and lime juice. Add more lime juice to taste. In a large bowl, combine jicama, carrot, and oil. Drain cabbage and crush it a bit between your hands. Toss cabbage with jicama mixture, then with soy dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide among 4 plates and top with with mint, nuts, and grapefruit. Serve.

In a small saucepan of boiling salted water cook shrimp 45 seconds to 1 minute, or until cooked through. In a colander drain shrimp and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Halve shrimp horizontally and devein. Make dressing:In a large bowl whisk together dressing ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Add shrimp, papaya, carrot, and coriander to dressing, tossing well. Salad may be made 2 hours ahead and chilled, covered. Bring salad to room temperature before serving. Serve salad sprinkled with peanuts.

1. Cut the chicken into 6 pieces and make 1 or 2 slashes in each piece for faster cooking. Trim and discard any excess fat. Pat the chicken dry. 2. In a bowl, combine the oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, turmeric, five-spice powder and salt. Stir well to blend. Add the chicken pieces and turn several times to coat them evenly. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. 3. Start a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill to moderate heat. (You can also use a broiler.) Thirty minutes before cooking, add the freshly toasted star...

Make marinade:Thinly slice lower 6 inches of lemongrass stalks, discarding remainder of stalks. In a food processor or blender finely grind together sliced lemongrass and garlic. Add remaining marinade ingredients and blend well. In a large resealable plastic bag combine marinade and steak and seal bag, pressing out excess air. Marinate steak, chilled, turning bag once or twice, at least 4 hours or overnight. In a large bowl soak noodles in hot water to cover 15 minutes, or until softened and pliable. Prepare grill (or preheat broiler)....

Make broth:Roast onions and ginger directly on rack of a gas burner over high heat, turning with tongs, until blistered and blackened, 10 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, broil onions and ginger on foil-lined rack of a broiler pan about 5 inches from heat, turning occasionally, until charred, 20 to 25 minutes for onions; 25 to 30 minutes for ginger.) Transfer to a bowl and cool. When cool enough to handle, rinse and rub under cold running water to remove any blackened pieces (some areas will remain browned).While onions and ginger roast, cover...

Marinate the beef:In a blender blend together the garlic, the fish sauce, the sesame oil, the sugar, and the salt, in a shallow dish pour the marinade over the steak, turning the steak to coat it well, and let the steak marinate, covered and chilled, for 4 hours or overnight. Make the sauce:In the blender blend together the water, the garlic, the fish sauce, the lime juice, the sugar, and the red pepper flakes. In a large bowl soak the noodles in warm water to cover for 5 minutes and drain them. In a kettle of salted boiling water cook the...

Finely chop enough lemongrassstalks to measure 4 teaspoons. Cut remaining stalks in half. Place beef and stalks in large pot. Add broth and 8 cups water; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 1 1/2 hours.Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1/3 of sliced onions and garlic; saut 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon sambal oelek, paprika, and chopped lemongrass; saut 1 minute. Add sambal oelek mixture to soup; mix in fish sauce, sugar, shrimp paste, and salt. Simmer until beef is tender, skimming foam from surface, about 1 hour. Remove beef from...

For dipping sauce:Mix all ingredients in small bowl. Season sauce to taste with salt. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.) For pork:Mix first 6 ingredients and 2 tablespoons oil in 11x7-inch glass dish. Add pork chops to marinade, turn several times to coat evenly, then crowd together in single layer. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. For salad and noodles:Arrange cucumber, pineapple, bean sprouts, all herbs, and carrot around edge of large platter. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover; chill.) Cook...

Add enough vegetable oil to heavy medium saucepan to reach depth of 2 inches. Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat to 350F. Deep-fry tofu squares in 2 batches until golden, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer tofu to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add minced lemongrass, minced garlic, and chopped jalape; saut until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add sliced onion, red bell pepper, and sliced shiitake mushrooms; saut until vegetables are...

Make sauce: Stir together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Make rolls: Add shrimp to a 4- to 5-quart pot of boiling salted water, then reduce heat and poach shrimp at a bare simmer, uncovered, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer shrimp with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking, then return shrimp cooking water to a boil. Chill shrimp in ice water 2 minutes, then drain and pat dry. Cut each shrimp in half lengthwise, deveining if necessary. Add noodles to boiling...

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Cooks' note: Sauce can be made 2 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

In a small bowl stir together all ingredients until sugar is dissolved.

For stir-fry sauce:In a medium bowl, combine the chicken stock, fish sauce, and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. For shrimp:Peel the shrimp and slice in half lengthwise. Remove any veins. Wash the shrimp under cold water, pat dry with paper towels, and set aside. Clean the shiitake mushrooms with a dry, clean towel or brush. Cut the mushrooms into 1/4-inch slices. Wash the baby bok choy and cut into 1-inch pieces. Set aside to dry. Heat a frying pan or wok on high heat until smoking. Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into the pan. Add...

Preheat oven to 375F. In a small saucepan, bring milk and cream to a simmer over low heat. Place brioche cubes in bowl. Remove milk mixture from heat and pour half of the liquid over the brioche. In a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and egg yolks, beating well. Add pumpkin pure and the other half of the heated cream and milk. Fold the soaked brioche into the pumpkin mixture. Beat the egg whites and sugar until they form stiff peaks and gently fold into the batter. Butter and sugar 8 three-inch...

Make dressing:In a bowl stir together all dressing ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Chill dressing, covered, 1 hour. Shell and devein shrimp. In a large saucepan of salted boiling water cook shrimp with lemon 2 minutes, or until just cooked through. In a colander drain shrimp and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Halve shrimp lengthwise. Halve cucumber lengthwise and seed. Cut cucumber halves and scallions crosswise into 2 1/2-inch pieces and cut pieces lengthwise into julienne strips. In a bowl soak noodles in hot water to...

Preheat oven to 350F.Whisk 1/4 cup oil, 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, and next 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add chicken; turn to coat. Marinate at room temperature 1 hour.Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down, to skillet (reserve marinade in bowl). Cook 4 minutes. Turn chicken, add reserved marinade to skillet, and transfer to oven. Roast until thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 175F, about 25 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate.Add...