Potstickers are delicious dumplings with a crusty base and tender top and filling. They are perfect party appetizers, but at my house, they’re kept in a freezer bag so we can grab as many as we want to cook for a quick lunch or snack. It is rumored that the original potsticker was made by accident. 

Pho Ga is a classic Vietnamese dish made with rich broth, noodles, and shredded chicken. When I was in the city of Saigon (also called Ho Chi Mihn), I spent a day learning how to make it perfectly with charred shallots and ginger, and toasted spices. My young teacher taught me the importance of rinsing the chicken after boiling it for a few minutes, before simmering it slowly for hours. The addition of toasted spices, sugar, and fish sauce at the end of the cooking is what gives the chicken broth its unique flavor.

One of my favorite comfort foods is fried rice. It’s best when you use rice that was cooked a day or two before, but in a pinch I sometimes make it fresh and I spread it on a baking sheet to dry out a bit. It’s a great way to use up all those veggies in the fridge but you can certainly use frozen veggies if you prefer.

In Indonesia sambals are sauces made from pounded chiles and other fresh ingredients like garlic and ginger. Sometimes they are cooked and sometimes they are left raw. Either way, they add a punch of flavor to any dish they are served with. One of my favorite sambals is made with mostly green ingredients, and I use it in many different ways. It’s delicious on its own with peanut crackers or raw vegetables, but it’s also tasty cooked into stews and roasted meats.

In Bali, there are street cafés called Warungs, where an open fire with burning coconut husks are spitting under racks filled with bamboo sticks packed with flavorful chicken. Unlike the chicken skewers we often make with large chunks of meat, satay is small pieces of meat, sometimes minced with spices, that are threaded onto bamboo sticks, lemongrass stalks or sugar cane.

Many cultures have some version of rice pudding, but this one from Indonesia has become one of my favorites. It is typically served at breakfast, but it's also a nice dessert treat. It's made from glutinous black rice, a common ingredient in Indonesia that can be found in most Asian grocery stores. I first had this dish in Bali at the home of Nina, a beautiful woman who cooks all day for her entire extended family.

While I was in Bali I spent a day cooking with a woman named Nina. Her kitchen was outside, covered with a tin roof and surrounded by coconut trees. Next to the house was a huge pile of dried coconut shells the family used to burn for fuel to heat the house. One of the dishes we made was grilled shrimp satay, which is marinated shrimp on a skewer grilled over fire.

Thanks to the Chinese, noodles and stir frying have become a fixture of Indonesian cuisine. Many Chinese immigrants traveled to Indonesian, carrying with them the ingredients and traditions of their homeland. You can find fried noodles many places, and they may include only vegetables or the addition of chicken, shrimp, or pork.

The island of Java in Indonesia is often best known for its coffee plantations, which is where we get the term “java” for our coffee. But they are also known for their food, which is rich with spices that are also grown on the island. During my visit I saw cinnamon trees in full bloom, covered in pink blossoms. We carefully carved the bark from the tree, which would later curl into a scroll to become dried cinnamon.

In the south of Bali there is a beautiful volcano called Mount Batur that is surrounded by lakes and lush green valleys. While driving nearby, my friends and I stopped at a coffee shop. The shop had a gorgeous balcony where we sat and gazed at the gorgeous mountain surrounded by clouds floating in the sky.

At the end of the summer I stock my freezer with loads of corn kernels from the farmers market, and I’m often looking for creative ways to use it. Especially in winter months I like to make this salad, which reminds me of the warm tropics of Indonesia.

It was a humid and sticky night in Ubud, and my friends and I went to dinner at a popular restaurant known best for its whole roasted pig. Diana was a pescatarian and hated to see pigs spinning over open fire, which was exactly what was happening inside the restaurant. She chose the fish soup for her dinner, and I have to admit it was better than any pork dish I sampled that night. It was served in bowls made of coconut shells, and topped with fresh greens and sprouts. I’ve done my best to replicate that soup, and I’ve come very close. I use whatever white fish I can get at the time, and often I squeeze lime juice into each bite for a little extra zing.