While poking around in the refrigerated section of my local Trader Joe's, I recently discovered a pouch of one of my favorite foods: kimchi! More

Q: Both my husband and I dislike mushrooms, mainly a texture issue. We also both enjoy lots of Asian food. However, many Asian recipes call for mushrooms. Is there anything I can substitute to get the same earthy flavor or to bulk up a simple soup?

Sent by Kathleen More

Recently Serious Eats featured "pestle tea," a Hakka Chinese drink made from tea leaves pounded with nuts and seeds. Intrigued by the sound of this creamy, nourishing tea, we explored further and realized this is the lei cha that we've found in packets at Asian markets — but so much better when made from scratch. More

When you're not ready for it, the robust garlic-spiked flavor of a dish with black bean garlic sauce can feel like a punch to the mouth. The first time I cooked with it, a dish of stir-fried eggplant, I kept sneaking spoonfuls from the pan and feeling my eyes pop with every umami-packed bite. If you need something that will wake up your tastebuds in these dog days of winter, just find yourself a jar of this sauce and let it work its magic. More

Q: I am looking to buy a good quality pair of chopsticks for my boyfriend for Christmas. We don't use them for cooking, just for eating (mostly noodle dishes). He has talked about wanting some ceramic ones, but I have been reading that wooden ones might be the way to go. More

Time seems to speed up this time of year as we near the holidays. In preparation, I like to make and freeze a big batch of Asian dumplings like these tofu and kimchi-filled Korean mandu. They're easy to heat up as a bite to eat between running to events and make a nice appetizer for guests, too. More

I recently had the best Pad Thai of my life. It was one of those restaurant meals where the person cooking takes us under her wing and simply says, "How about I just cook for you?" Chef Ngamprom "Hong" Thaimee of Ngam in NYC's East Village then brought out plate after plate of regional Thai cuisine from her native Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I was floored.

Normally when I have this kind of meal out, I try to savor it as just that: a meal out that I will probably not make at home. But this was different. In particular, Hong's Green Papaya Pad Thai was a game-changer. Replacing the traditional rice noodles with shredded green papaya isn't a new trick — and one that's gaining a wider audience thanks to its lower carb count — but I'd never thought to make it that way at home. So I called her the next day and asked her to please teach me. This week, I visited her kitchen. More

Trying to reproduce a beloved relative's signature dish is often futile, especially when recipes are unrecorded and our dear ones are no longer with us. In this case, I was inspired by my father-in-law's kalguksu, or Korean "knife noodles," despite the fact that I sadly never got to meet him nor taste the noodles that my partner remembers so fondly. While my version could never match the original, I think I can safely say these noodles are a fabulous comfort food. More

As the weather gets darker and chillier, my craving for Asian noodle soups gets ever stronger. Light yet satisfying and deeply comforting, these ten noodle soup recipes — including Japanese miso-spiked ramen, fragrant Vietnamese pho and spicy curry noodles — are sure to hit the spot. More

Egg noodles and curry might seem like an unlikely combination, but if you've ever tried the Burmese-influenced Thai dish khao soi, you know the two were meant to be. A popular street dish in Northern Thailand, khao soi isn't often found in restaurants abroad, but not to worry. Though its flavors are complex — chewy egg noodles coated in rich, fragrant curry sauce and topped with a choose-your-own combination of garnishes like crispy shallots, fresh cilantro and roasted peanuts — this recipe is quite easy to recreate at home. More