Spring rolls are great, as are the flavors of bánh mì, so why not stick 'em together? These rolls are stuffed with pickled carrots and daikon radish, cucumber, jalapeño, and cilantro. The sauce is made with a mixture of homemade vegan mayonnaise and spicy chili-garlic sauce. Creamy, spicy, crispy, tangy, and a little greasy, they hit all the notes you want in a game time snack.

Vicky Wasik

Turkish hot pepper paste, found in Turkish markets or online, adds heat to an emulsified sauce made with tomato, anchovy filets, egg, capers, tuna, Dijon, and oil. Pour it over the freshest in-season tomatoes you can get your hands on and garnish with basil leaves for a cool. spicy, summery salad.

Phat ka-phrao, a beef stir-fry flavored with garlic, shallots, fish sauce, and Thai bird chiles, can be found across Thailand. Re-creating the dish at home is tough because the ingredient that gives the dish its name—holy basil, or ka-phrao in Thai—is nearly impossible to get in the States. Fortunately, you can make something equally delicious with easier-to-find purple basil.

Yes, these are derivative of jalapeño poppers, but jalapeños are great, refried beans are great, and golden brown and crunchy is great, so why not stick them all together? Crisp on the outside and creamy in the middle, they come out of the fryer super hot, so make sure you've got plenty of cold beer on-hand.

Preserved mustard root like this (often labeled "Sichuan Preserved Vegetable") can be found in cans or jars in your Chinese market. Once opened, they'll last for months in a sealed container in the fridge. You don't need much to add big flavor to dishes.

If you want a break from the usual white rice that goes alongside a stir-fry, try adding noodles to make it a complete meal. Here, that means lo mein, which we mix up with strips of country-style ribs, purple cabbage, Chinese broccoli, carrots, and a variety of aromatics. Serving it with sambal oelek on the side lets each eater customize the spiciness level to their taste.

The problem with so many steam-table iterations of this dish lies in the broccoli: It's too often mushy and bland. To keep it crisp and flavorful here, and get a good sear on the strips of beef without overcooking them, we stir-fry the ingredients over very high heat, using a wok or a wok insert over a grill.

Braised eggplant with garlic sauce is a classic Sichuan dish that combines soft simmered eggplant , fermented soy beans, and a sweet, garlicky sauce. This version adds a few tablespoons of preserved mustard root and incorporates the garlic in a couple of ways. You can go with 100% eggplant if you'd like, or you can add cubes of firm silken tofu to transform this into a one-pot-meal.

Cooking fresh Chinese wheat noodles in a big pot of water doesn't produce a high enough concentration of starch to be effective, but cooking it in far less water than is recommended (I cook eight ounces of fresh noodles in about a quart of salted water) yields you a pot full of silky, semi-opaque liquid that combines marvelously with the sauce base.

Who doesn't love empanadas, particularly when they're deep fried to a perfectly crisp, flaky finish? These pastry pockets are stuffed with a mixture of cooked potatoes and capers flavored with a touch of chipotle and a dash of madras curry powder. The flavor combo is perhaps a bit unusual, but it's pretty fantastic, especially drizzled with a spicy cilantro chutney.

To ensure the eggplant in this stir-fry comes out tender, we steam it before adding it to the wok. In the wok, the juicy slices of eggplant get mixed with ground pork, garlic, ginger, and spicy chiles in a sweet and tart sauce. After that, just turn down the flame and let the mixture simmer until the sauce has thickened and the eggplant has absorbed as much flavor as possible.

The history of Singapore noodles is unclear—they probably aren't actually Singaporean—but we are confident about how to make the tastiest version. Most of the seasoning comes from curry powder, which we add to the noodles and vegetables separately so that everything turns out perfectly spiced.

I use my patent-pending, copyrighted Minced Mushroom Mix (A.K.A. M 3 ) to replace the ground meat in this vegan mapo tofu, giving it a chewy texture and a rich flavor all its own. I like it even better than the original.

Transfer noodles to serving bowl and top with pork mixture. Stir vinaigrette and spoon over and around the noodles (you may not want to use all of it). Sprinkle with roasted peanuts, Sichuan peppercorn, grated garlic, and Best Noodle Recipes|Https://Noodleinsight.Com/ scallion greens. Serve immediately.

Heat reserved 1 tablespoon of mushroom oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat until shimmering. Add chopped Sichuan vegetables, fried mushrooms, and garlic. Cook, stirring and tossing constantly until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add Shaoxing wine and stir to combine. Transfer mixture to bowl with sauce.

Beef with broccoli is usually the worst offering at a Chinese buffet—who wants a dish laden with bland, overcooked florets of Western broccoli? Our version of the dish replaces them with Chinese broccoli, which has a more complex, mildly bitter flavor. Once you've got that ingredient, the rest of the dish is simple—just shallots, garlic, marinated beef, and an oyster sauce–based sauce.