Tamarind

Fluffy, sweet Hawaiian rolls layered with melted cheese and spicy-sweet seeni sambol are the perfect crowd-pleasing snack.

In this fiery Indian classic, chunks of pork shoulder and succulent pork belly are cooked until tender in a tangy, spicy chile-vinegar sauce. 

Toasty, nutty fried tempeh coated in a caramelized spice paste—plus lots of vegetables for good measure.

Roasting, then grinding masala adds a depth of flavor to these chicken wings from chef Preeti Mistry.

Chaat masala adds salty-tangy flavor to this pan-fried fish, and balances the sweet and herby tamarind sauce and cilantro chutney.

This sweet-sour Indian pantry staple makes everything better.

Tamarind concentrate gives this chicken its sticky, glossy quality, not to mention its sweet-and-sour flavor.

Spicy, funky, and sweet!

This sweet-and-sour glaze is good on fish, chicken, ribs—you name it. 

Tamarind is sweet, sour, and quite tart and provides the ideal base for this finger-licking glaze.

This recipe is a sweet, sour, and spicy take on the classic centerpiece ham, and the leftovers will taste awesome in a mini potato roll.

The finished stew should be decidedly sour, tamarind’s calling card, but you’re in control of how ­puckery things get. You can sub other vegetables or simplify the array, but be very careful not to overcook them. This recipe is from Bad Saint, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

It’s worth visiting an Indian grocer for a couple of ingredients: chaat masala, which is a sour-salty mix of ground spices, and the thin, crunchy seasoned noodles called sev, which add texture to the finished dish.

Indian grocers sell prepared tamarind chutney, which you can easily substitute for the homemade version here.

Is it hot? Sure, it’s hot. But the bracing pickled cabbage, cooling fresh herbs, and sweet-tasting rice will help keep the flames in check in this incendiary dish from Thai-Kun.

Proof that fried onions are good on anything—even a slaw. (This recipe was developed with IBM's Chef Watson.)

You'll see fibers running through the cooked steak; make sure to cut across them for tender slices.

Tangy tamarind is a key ingredient in pad thai but works in lots of other applications

Step one: Buy tamarind concentrate. Step two: Make this spin on a classic whiskey sour.

This pad Thai recipe is not the dish from the neighborhood take-out joint. "It ain't made with chicken," says Ricker, whose traditional take—pleasantly funky with fish sauce and preserved radish and a touch sour from tamarind—is meant to be eaten in the evening as a stand-alone dish.