About Asian Food and Cooking

[Rafael Chow]

Asian cooking can generally be classified into several categories on
the basis of the regional styles of cooking and the people and culture
of those regions. Some of the main categories of Asian food are East
Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, Central Asian and Middle Eastern.
In common usage however, Asian food (also referred to as Asian
cuisine) primarily includes South and Southeast Asian cuisine. The
main countries that constitute this region are India, China, Japan,
Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma etc.
Chinese food is generally considered to be East Asian food, even
though China stretches from across mid-Asia to the Far East. Rice is
the most important staple through most of China. In some regions
however, noodles are preferred to rice. Most foods are prepared by
mincing or cooking, and are cooked in a wok, using very little oil.
Traditionally, there are eight main regional cuisines in China: Anhui,
Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang. The
three distinct regional cuisines however, are Shanghainese -
characterized by hot and spicy chilly pepper flavoring, Cantonese -
associated with flavorful meat and vegetable combinations, and
Mandarin - associated with steamed noodle and bread dumplings.
Since Japan is an island nation, much of its food includes fish and
fish-based ingredients. Rice and sliced, salted vegetables are staples
in Japanese cooking. Soy products such as soya sauce, soya paste and
tofu are also used in many Japanese preparations. Japanese cuisine
also includes sushi, meats in teriyaki sauce, lightly battered and
fried meat and fish, as well as shellfish called tempura. Japanese
food is healthy, tasty and simple to cook. It is low-fat, low-
cholesterol, and well-known for reducing heart-related diseases.
While different parts of India are known for their different cultural
backgrounds, they are also known for their different flavors and
cuisines. Vegetarian food includes khakra and dhokla from Gujarat,
daal-baati-choorma from Rajasthan, the Kashmiri dum-aloo, as well as
dosas and kesari bhaat from South India. Non-vegetarian delicacies,
especially the tandoori kind, were especially devised for the Nawabs
of India. The saffron-flavoured reshmi kebab, and the lime juice and
garlic marinated fish tikka serve as delectable appetizers in
combination with the yogurt-marinated chicken sheek kebab. Tandoori
food is the perfect evidence of the richness of India's cultural
diversity and royalty.
Asian recipes were casually shared among the womenfolk in Asia, who
generally got together after a long day's work, to discuss the day's
events. Many of these recipes were guarded as important family secrets
and carefully passed down from one generation to another. Thai food is
a blend of Chinese, Malay, Indian, Myanmar, Khmer, Laotian and to a
lesser extent, Portuguese cuisines. It is a harmonious blend of
indigenous spices. Malaysian cuisine consists of fish, seafood,
vegetables and poultry, though beef is conspicuously absent. It is
usually spicier than Chinese food. Indonesian cuisine is also known
for its unique blend of sweet and sour spiciness. Asian cooking has
enormous potential in modern times, as Asian food chains are springing
up all over the world very rapidly, and are also enjoying immense
popularity.