Go get an atlas. I'll wait. Open to Asia. Find Laos. Next, find Thailand, China, Singapore, and the Philippines. Each of these countries is represented in the kitchen at Jasmine's Asian Fusion in Webster. Owned by Sue Xiasanasy-Chen and Debbie Thongsavanh, sisters who fled Laos in the early 1970s and eventually settled in Rochester; managed in part by Chen's husband, Lee Chen (who was born in China, and raised in the Philippines and San Francisco); and with a kitchen staff including talent from Laos, Thailand, Singapore, and the United States, Jasmine's is an exercise in pan-Asian flavor fusion. This is appropriate, given that Laotian food itself is a fusion cuisine. Laotian food is heavily influenced by Thai spices and flavors, but there are also strong Vietnamese and Chinese elements as well. Filter these traditions through a kitchen staff from four different countries, each with strong food traditions of their own, and exciting things are bound to happen.

We started with both the fresh and the fried spring rolls ($3.95), and one of each of the soups: Chinese dumpling with wolfberry, tom yum with shrimp, and crabmeat with tofu. The fresh, unfried spring rolls - vermicelli, pork, shrimp, and herbs wrapped in a translucent rice flour wrapper - were served with a salty-sweet peanut sauce. They were exceptionally fresh, almost melting in your mouth to release hints of smoky pork and shrimp along with a burst of astringent herbs. The fried spring rolls were filled with filament-thin glass noodles, vegetables and a flavorful Lao sausage inside layers of thin, crispy spring roll wrappers. There was just enough fat to make them rich and luxuriously flavorful without being greasy.

The soups are based on vegetable stocks made in-house and then enriched with meat, chicken, or fish. The broth is aromatic, flavorful, and clean-tasting, a perfect palate for the ingredients floating in it. The Chinese dumpling with wolfberry soup was bright with a deep flavor provided by the raisin-like wolfberries, but the dumplings were a triumph. Stuffed with a fragrant mixture of ground pork, shrimp, ginger, scallion, and cilantro, in these dumplings each flavor was distinct and yet perfectly married to the rest. The tom yum was all about heat: the broth awash in fiery spices that took my breath away and numbed my tongue. Subtle undertones of fish sauce, kaffir lime leaf, shrimp, cilantro, and a bit of ginger asserted themselves, alleviating some of the heat. At first glance, the crabmeat and tofu soup resembled egg-drop soup. The first bite was fairly innocuous, good but not as flavorful as the other two soups. And then the small heap of white pepper floating on the surface diffused into the broth. The result was astounding, even royal: a mouthful of the most wonderful multi-layered flavors accented with rich, slightly fishy crab meat and velvety tofu.

Like Lao cuisine in general, Jasmine's places a heavy emphasis on fish. Three out of four entrees we had were fish: crispy fish nugget with sweet sauce, steamed sea bass with lemongrass and spicy green chili dip, and pan-fried sea bass with mango salsa. I didn't have high hopes for the crispy fish nugget, since fried food with a sauce is rarely crispy when it arrives. But this was perfect. The sauce brought out the freshness of the fish and enhanced the very satisfying crunch of the light batter that coated it. The generously portioned steamed bass was a study in pastels and nose-tickling aromas. The fish sat on a sauce made of fragrant lemongrass and green chilis along with just enough ginger to bring out the flavor of the mild fish. The pan-fried variant was equally good, the fish given a beautiful sear that brought buttery accents out of it. The mango salsa added a sweet-hot dimension that built into a pleasantly lingering fire as we ate.

Part of the inspiration for Jasmine's was a steak marinade that the Chens developed together, a traditional Lao recipe with Chinese ingredients that is spicy and rich, but not cloying. This sauce is used on all of the grilled dishes that the restaurant offers, and it complements them all. On perfectly charred grilled steak, the sauce enhances rather than covers the meat as a steak sauce would. On the grilled pork ribs it adds a smoky dimension to the meat and promotes the caramelization of the delicious skin. Diners used to American barbecued ribs might be surprised by the more assertive flavors. The shredded papaya salad that accompanied both of the meat dishes was dressed with lime juice, a tiny amount of fish sauce, rice vinegar, chilis, and cilantro, and topped with crushed peanuts. The crunch and the slightly acidic dressing made a nice foil to the richness and smokiness of both the meats, and I found myself going back to the combination time and again just to experience the sensation of hot-cool, sweet-sour, smoky-fishy in each delicious bite.

The most authentically Lao dish on the menu is also the one that might raise the most eyebrows: Laotian beef jerky. Salty, chewy, enriched with spices and chilis, the strips of jerky are served with a sweet and fiery sauce that balances the salty meat, and might leave you in desperate need of water (or a handful of the restaurant's delicious sticky rice). "This," I gasped once I'd recovered the power to speak, "could make me a fan of beef jerky."

Unfortunately, we were unable to try the black rice pudding with coconut custard (Mr. Chen's mother-in-law had not made it the day we were in), but the consolation of a fried banana was more than adequate compensation: a banana, milk chocolate, and peanuts, wrapped in a spring roll wrapper, fried crispy and served with chocolate sauce and crushed peanuts. Too hot to eat immediately, the smell of this dessert alone is mouthwatering. Eating it is a brief visit to nirvana - the cooked banana softens and sweetens to the point that it tastes like a liqueur, the chocolate gives the dish a tiny bit of fat, and the peanuts provide salt to round out the trifecta of perfect flavors. This may not be an authentically Lao dessert, but it's certainly a perfect fusion of tastes and textures that I'll be coming back for again.

Jasmine's Asian Fusion

657 Ridge Road, Webster, 216-1290

Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; Dinner: 3-9 p.m.