All bok-choyed up with nowhere to go? Asia Market announces its first cookbook collection. Selected by food writer Mei Chin, the books run the gamut from basics to cutting edge, with titles that include David Chang’s bad-boy Asian fusion bible, Momofuku, Meera Sodhi’s stunningly inventive vegetarian Fresh India, and Andrea Ngyuen’s exhaustively thorough guide, Asian Dumplings. Also covered are classic authors like Fuschia Dunlop and Claudia Roden.

What’s more, the books serve as handbooks to Asia Market’s products. Sure, you know that you can find your soy and oyster sauces here, but did you also know that you’ll find Maggi seasoning and orange flower water, fresh jackfruit for your Thai desserts and Indian legumes for your dal? Also, books like Lucky Peach: 101 Easy Asian Recipes have illustrations to help you with what you need to find.

Below is a simple dish from ingredients easily available in the Asia Market aisles. Thai papaya salad is a staple throughout Thailand and, given how delicious it tastes, ludicrously good for you. It is the essence of summer freshness in a bowl, a mouthwatering burst of sunshine, and exactly the thing to drive the March doldrums away. We sometimes add a salted duck egg (also at Asia Market) for richness and a couple of chilies for heat.

Asia Market Book Launch PR

GREEN PAPAYA SALAD (From Lucky Peach: 101 Easy Asian Recipes)

Makes 2-4 servings

  • 1 T dried baby shrimp
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ C palm or brown sugar
  • 2 t sambal oelek
  • 1 C pieces (2”) green beans
  • ¼ C lime juice
  • ¼ C fish sauce
  • 1 C cherry tomatoes halved
  • 4 C shredded green papaya (from ½ medium green papaya weighing about 2 ½ lb)
  • ½ C roasted, unsalted peanuts

 Direction

  1. Combine the shrimp, garlic, sugar, and sambal in a large mortar and pound into a paste with the pestle. Add the beans and pound gently to bruise them. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, and tomatoes and stir with a spoon, lightly crushing the tomatoes to release their juices.
  2. Scoop the vegetable mixture into a large bowl. Add the papaya and peanuts and toss to combine.