(FORTUNE Magazine) – Having just urged you to play it safe in most of your portfolio, we now propose something radical for that small corner where you keep your mad money: Asian stocks.

Yes, we know they're risky. But not as much as they were six months or a year ago. Indeed, after 18 months of crisis, three solid investment themes are emerging. One: The also-rans are being weeded out, and the survivors will be stronger than ever when the crisis ends. Two: Good management, a scarce commodity in Asia, is being vindicated. Three: Asia's middle class is key to the recovery. At least one of those themes works in favor of each of these companies:

SAN MIGUEL: A COOL EX-CRONY

Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco is a coconut tycoon who had ties to the corrupt Marcos regime, and when he returned to the helm of Philippine food and beer giant San Miguel last summer, investors braced themselves. But maybe because the expectations surrounding him were so low, the one-time crony has done better than most investors anticipated, chalking out a sensible strategy for San Miguel while selling off unneeded assets and paying down a huge chunk of the company's debt.

Unlike his predecessors, Danding seems to understand the importance of brand. He has balked at self-destructive price cuts, for example, and he's hinted that San Miguel will pull away from investments in Vietnam and China and go back to basics--selling food and drink in the Philippines. San Miguel's distribution network across the archipelago of 7,100 islands is a perfect platform for selling other food and beverages, like soft drinks, ice cream, or liquor. And though most economists forecast a stagnant Philippine economy, Filipinos still have to eat and drink.

San Miguel's stock is down roughly 45% from its 1997 high, to a P/E of 25--not too pricey in light of a forecast earnings increase of 100% next year. Says Alex Pomento, head of research for Merrill Lynch Securities in Manila: "I think San Miguel can now be a truly world-class food and beverage company."

JOHN KEELLS: EMERGING BLUE CHIP

A superbly managed small conglomerate, John Keells of Sri Lanka has a total market cap of just $130 million, but its return on employed capital is 20% and its debt is a tenth of its equity. Most alluring of all, the stock is dirt cheap, trading at a P/E of seven.

John Keells' tea business was hit hard when Russia imploded: a fifth of all Sri Lankan tea is consumed in Russia. But growth in John Keells' tourism and food businesses cushioned the blow. The company also plans to go into port management, which will dovetail nicely with its existing shipping business (its container lines account for roughly half of all Sri Lankan shipping). "Given the earnings momentum in their food and tourism businesses, I think the stock could go up as much as 50% over the next year," says Gunendra Sellahewa, an analyst with SG Securities in Colombo.

ASTRA AGRO LESTARI: PALM-OIL PLAY

Astra Agro Lestari, an Indonesian palm-oil exporter, is reaping huge rewards from Indonesia's currency woes. Because Astra Agro's sales are largely in dollars and its costs are in rupiah, net profits have nearly tripled, to $25 million, since the rupiah began to plummet last September. And because of its low price, palm oil is stealing market share from other cooking oils in huge markets like China and India. Nevertheless, Astra Agro's stock has been buffeted with the rest of the Jakarta market: down 20% from its 1997 high, it is trading at a fabulously cheap 1999 P/E of five.

There's another reason why Astra Agro stands out: management. Led by the pioneering female executive Rini Soewandi, managers are determined to put the company on the cutting edge of Indonesia's post-Suharto corporate culture. "We're a wholly public and professionally run company now," Soewandi told FORTUNE. "That's peculiar in Indonesia."

--Neel Chowdhury