Bun thit nuong with picked carrots and daikon

Vietnamese food was a revelation - fresh, flavourful, and enticing. This dish perfectly suits a hot, humid night. The freshness of the mint and cucumber, and the crunch of the peanuts, perfectly complement the light rice noodles, sweet and spicy dressing, and rich pork or aubergine. Add some pickled vegetables for a final zing, and you've got yourself one hell of a meal.

This version comes from Northern Vietnam, where minced pork patties are frequently served alongside (in which case it's called bun cha), but similar versions of this dish are also found throughout Vietnam. The aubergine is a less traditional step; I got the idea of including it from the book Fragrant Heart (a travel book that also includes recipes, although her versions are a bit more Westernised than mine, presumably to make them more accessible to those who don't live near good Asian markets).

Sambal squid

	I made this dish as part of a Malay feast for a friend of mine. It's very flavourful, although not the prettiest dish ever. The chilli and tomato sauce perfectly complements the tender squid, but would also work well with prawns or other seafood.

Tom yum

This popular hot and sour soup is just the thing when you're feeling a bit under the weather. There's nothing like a blast of chillies and lime juice to clear the cobwebs out. You'll find variations of Tom Yum (or Tom Yam) soup all over Thailand and Burma, and it's spread to Malaysia as well. This version with mixed seafood is called Tom Yum Thelah or Thaleh. If you don't like seafood, use fish or chicken instead, or leave it out entirely and make a veggie version of the soup.

Singapore laksa

If I only had one meal left to eat in this world, I would probably chose laksa. It's that scoffilicious. Essentially a dish of noodles, beansprouts and protein in curried coconut milk soup, you'll find versions of laksa all over Malaysia and Singapore. My Singaporean version uses seafood, but it's also very common to find this dish with chicken, tofu, and quail eggs instead.