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admittedly, it started simple and modest. less salt, more acid and heat. less sugar in general, more umami. that's what I would look for in dishes, what they were relying on to be savory. it was pretty easy to find Americanized Asian dishes that still use salt and sugar, but they would be supplemented by lots of garlic and ginger for an interesting sharpness. there's also a book called 660 Curries which gives a lot of context to just how diverse S. Asian cuisine is and functions as an insane recipe reference.

from there it was stumbling across a really cheap, no frills SE Asian takeout place that puts all the effort into the food. no seating, wait in the cold/rain outdoors with no cover, get food through a slot. only 3 choices, menu shifts weekly. that let me try a lot of things, learn some terms and discover a lot in a short amount of time.

also, if you smoke tobacco, definitely drop that ASAP. for health reasons for sure, but also it mutes/muddles your sense of smell and taste. it's hard to overstate how much, but I think it's one of the reasons so many restaurants prepare food that is overseasoned... because the exec chef's palette and their little brigades are all scorched and blasted from their cig breaks.