Chicken with Chestnuts

This is one of the best fried chickens ever. From southern Thailand, gai hat yai is known for its crispy skin, great aromatics, and super juicy meat.

Reliable cabbage is cooked in the punchy sauce and then combined with store-bought baked tofu and roasted cashews for a salad that can also be eaten with rice.

Among the top tier of sauces is Indonesian satay sauce, because it is the embodiment of joy and life. In fact, this sauce is also trustworthy and highly respectful of whatever it comes into contact with—perhaps it is, in fact, the perfect friend?

Bugak is the ideal light beer snack: It’s crunchy, salty, and the fresher it’s made, the better. Thin sheets of kimchi add an extra spicy savory layer.

The tofu is crunchy on the outside, in part thanks to a panko-studded exterior, and squishy-in-a-good-way on the inside. It also comes together in 20 minutes.

Oyster mushrooms are a strong all-rounder in the kitchen, seeming to straddle both plant and meat worlds in what they look and taste like when cooked. Here they’re coated in a marinade my mother used to use when cooking Chinese food at home—honey, soy, garlic and ginger—and roasted until golden, crisp, and juicy.

This dish is not only a quick meal option but also a practical way to use leftover phở noodles when you’re out of broth.

Spaghetti is a common variation in modern Thai cooking. It’s so easy to work with and absorbs the garlicky, spicy notes of pad kee mao well.