From Thailand to Malaysia, India to Vietnam, Laos to Japan, each country has its own cuisine, which may be one reason why fusion restaurants are becoming more popular in the Silicon Valley.

But just what is Asian fusion?

When chefs travel from their homelands to the United States and combine California cuisine with their culinary training, that's when things get interesting. And that's just what Yung Le did when she opened Yung Le's Fusion in San Jose in 2002. Le was born in Vietnam and came to the United States when she was 22.

"People always ask me, 'Did you learn to cook from your mother?'" she says. "But when I came here, all I knew how to cook was rice."

Then she lived in Jordan for eight years, where she began experimenting with fusion. She was part of a cooking club with women from Laos, Vietnam and China, who would compare new and old dishes alike.

Le takes ingredients across cultural boundaries to create unusual, brilliant and even "orgasmic" flavors, says customer Alan Leventhal, a San Jose resident.

One of these "orgasmic" items is the fusion salad, a combination of shredded red cabbage, jicama and carrots, tossed with chopped peanuts, mint, basil and a vinaigrette, $7.50. Her menu offers Chinese favorites, including kung pao chicken, $9, as well as curries, which range from $8 to $13.

Throughout Le's career, she has diverted from traditionalists and has tried to show others that there are ways of cooking without restrictions. It was an issue she struggled with while working at Straits, an Asian-fusion restaurant that first opened in Palo Alto.

"There were too many restrictions," she says, "but you can always cook something with your own twist."

At the intersections of Winchester Boulevard and Payne Avenue, Yung Le's Fusion is tucked away in the corner of a shopping mall at 1317 S. Winchester Blvd. But her customers think that her restaurant is better suited for downtown Los Gatos, downtown Campbell or even Santana Row.

Customer Mark Silowitz says he is not so sold on the term Asian fusion.

"I don't know what Asian fusion means. If we look at Yung, she's Asian and cooks food from all around Asia," Silowitz says. "I guess you could call it Asian fusion; I call it Yung Le food."

But don't tell that to chef Chris Yeo.

Yeo is a Singaporean chef who went from being a hairstylist to a culinary master. His first venture was Straits in Palo Alto, and then in 2002 he opened Straits in Santana Row.

Offering Singaporean cuisine that combines dishes and ingredients from India, Thailand and Malaysia, Yeo eventually wanted to try something that was a little bit more traditional.

Five months ago, Yeo opened Sino Restaurant and Lounge at Santana Row. The sensual, dimly lit restaurant offers a traditional Chinese menu for lunch and a modern Chinese fusion menu for dinner. While it is not a fusion restaurant compared to the likes of Straits, it deviates from Chinese cuisine with items such as the Snake River Kobe beef tartare, served with Fuji apples and quail egg, $18, and minced Shanghai duckling lettuce cups and roasted pine nuts, $13.

Manager Ken So of Sino says while lettuce wraps appear on many menus, it is rare to find them prepared with duck.

Another fusion restaurant known as much for its atmosphere as for its Vietnamese fusion food is Anise Cafe, 1663
W. San Carlos Blvd., San Jose.

Anise has a diverse menu that combines French flavors with Asian ingredients, such as escargot fused with pork, garlic, black pepper and ginger, $6.95, or Thai-style soup, which has shrimp, mushrooms, lemongrass, tomatoes and pineapples, $3.95. Another popular menu item is the Saigon crepe, which has rice flour with turmeric filled with roasted pork, shrimp, onions, scallions and bean sprout and served on a bed of lettuce, English cucumber, pickled daikons, carrots and mint, $9.95.

In downtown San Jose, one block has two fusion restaurants with two very different atmospheres. E & O Trading Company, at 96 S. First St., prides itself on "pioneering the Southeast Asian grill concept." It offers a collection of food from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and East India. It offers naan--Indian-style flat breads--and small plates such as Cambodian lettuce cups, $12.95, and Chinese stir-fried greens, $5.95, and entrees that range from Korean barbecued beef, $16.69, to Singaporean seafood curry, $18.95.

Around the corner from E & O is Fahrenheit Ultra Lounge and Restaurant, at 99 E. San Fernando St. An Asian and American fusion restaurant by early evening and sexy lounge by late night, this restaurant puts a spin on Asian favorites. Whether it's pan-roasted mussels prepared in coconut curry broth and Pernod, $11, or tuna tartare tostadas with wasabi aioli, $10, the menu features dishes that depend on a wide cultural range of flavors, from Central and South America to France to Southeast Asia.

Each of these Asian-fusion restaurants can take an Asian classic and turn it into a culinary masterpiece; and each chef puts their mark on dishes that the American palate has grown to love.

Wherever chefs work, Le is convinced they have the best job in the world.

"We have the ability," she says, "to make people happy instantly."