Daikon Radish

All of the beloved flavors and textures of pad thai are preserved in this dish, but as a bonus it’s packed with greens and fresh herbs. Soft rice noodles are combined with crunchy fresh daikon strips for an interesting twist.

These tender short ribs are served in an intense broth made sweet with mirin and brown sugar and dark with soy sauce and sherry. "This is a variation of a Korean dish called kalbi tang," Sang Yoon says.

Douglas Keane says that these summer rolls, filled with tangy marinated daikon, cucumber and papaya, are the perfect way to jolt the palate before a rich meal that will likely include truffles and foie gras.

Chef Way David Myers grills with bincho (hard white charcoal) and serves the steak with yuzu kosho, a condiment of yuzu (a citrus), chiles and salt.

Easy Way Home cooks can use a grill pan or any kind of outdoor grill for strip steaks. The topping: lemon zest, chile, daikon and cucumber salad.

Chef Way As these recipes prove, even Japanese chefs love butter; Takashi Yagihashi cooks beets in it.

Healthier Way Roast the beets without any fat.

Chef Way As these recipes prove, even Japanese chefs love butter; Takashi Yagihashi cooks beets in it.

Healthier Way Roast the beets without any fat.

Oxtail is a popular ingredient in Hawaiian cooking. Roy Choi makes it the base for the broth of his hearty soup and adds plenty of the tender braised meat as well. The soup is also packed with ramen noodles and sliced daikon and leeks, and then garnished with crisp, sweet fried garlic chips.

Inspired by the Chinese-French artist Zao Wou-Ki, Pierre Gagnaire's ingenious and surprisingly simple dish looks like a brush dipped in magenta paint.

The foods of the Japanese izakaya (taverns) are among the most beloved in the world. There’s not a chef in the country who doesn’t try his or her hand at chawanmushi, ramen, soba and yakitori. Surprisingly, though, very few home cooks do. Myths abound about arcane ingredients and difficult techniques, but that couldn’t be less true. “This is simple, easy bar food,” F&W contributing editor Andrew Zimmern says. If you can’t find yellowtail collars, you can use tuna, salmon or swordfish collars instead.