Good for Your Health All Asian Cookbook (P). Marie Wilson

      When I wrote Siamese Cookery more than twenty years ago, I was blissfully ignorant of the hazards of too much fat, cholesterol, and sodium in the diet. Having spent many years in Thailand, I was addicted to all the mouth-watering foods of the area, especially, the salty sauces and the deep-fried dishes. Monosodium glutamate had a niche next to my salt shaker, and I used soy sauce, fish sauces, and Chinese condiments liberally. I also loved eggs, steak, butter, cream-rich desserts, and especially French cheeses. I had the best of both worlds, and, insofar as good health is concerned, the worst.

      I fear this may be happening to affluent Japanese in Japan today. To their salty diet they are adding the West's penchant for beef, cream, butter, and eggs. The trend is noteworthy enough to make news in the American press. An article from the New York Times describes exquisite French-inspired pastries by Yukio Sakase available at a Japanese pastry shop in Tokyo. His green-tea genoise contained four whole eggs and one egg yolk and his green-tea mousse, one cup of heavy cream. They were described as "maintaining the incomparable softness of the genoise and the silken airiness of mousse and Bavarian cream." I'm sure that if I were in Japan today I. would have a difficult time resisting such tantalizing temptations.

      My purpose in writing this book was to prove that it is possible to prepare conspicuously delicious Asian dishes without the use of salt. It proved to be an enormous challenge, but the variety of seasonings and exotic flavorings that these countries have to offer can not only substitute for the taste for salt but also overcome the need for it. What follows is a collection of recipes for lovers of Asian foods who are seeking better health without sacrificing the pleasures of good eating. I hope also to appeal to those who are not familiar with Asian foods but who watch their diets and wish to enlarge their repertory of good-tasting recipes that are low in fat, sodium, and cholesterol. My concern is lowering the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer—to the extent that such a diet can do so—by eating good-tasting and attractive foods.

      I go on the assumption that if the food doesn't taste good, the chances are excellent that the diet, and the good intentions behind it, will disappear within a short time. The principles and guidelines I have followed are recommended by the American Heart Association, the National Academy of Sciences, and other leading medical authorities.

      I have selected only those dishes that could be satisfactorily adapted to remain as good tasting as the originals. Very little fat is used in their preparation, and salt and monosodium glutamate have been wholly forsaken. In their place stand those miracles of flavor and aroma: garlic, fresh ginger root, spices, and herbs to add zest and pungency; pepper, chilies, horseradish, and mustard powder for those who like food hot; and wine, lemon juice, vinegar, and sugar for a sweet-and-sour touch. All these ingredients can spark foods to new taste pleasures without the need for salt. Keep in mind that it took a lifetime to acquire this taste for salt and salty condiments, so you cannot expect to change it overnight. If you cut back a little at a time, your taste buds will gradually become so used to savoring other flavors that some foods and seasonings that were once craved and found palatable will seem intolerably salty and wholly inedible.

      —Marie Wilson

      Acknowledgments

      I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness to the many writers and cooks who brought me closer to the cultures and cooking of Asia, and to those in the fields of health and medicine whose writings helped me to understand more fully the connection between diet and health. Reading their works started me on long and pleasurable journeys of experimentation, and without their help this book would not have been possible. Their names and works are listed in the bibliography.

      I am also grateful to the University of California East Asiatic Library and the South/Southeast Asia Library in Berkeley, from whose collections the drawings for this book have been derived.

      My special thanks also go to those who helped with the following chapters: China: Zhang Yaqi, an exchange teacher from Hunan Teachers University, who demonstrated to me that large quantities of soy sauce are not necessary to prepare good-tasting Chinese food; India: Amrita Sengupta; Indonesia: Tati Conomondo and Krishni Simanjuntak; Japan: Masayo Watanabe Wilson, my very dear daughter-in-law and friend; Korea: Clare You, who introduced me to Korean food and who gave so generously of her time; Pakistan: Naheed Aftab; and Vietnam: Chanh Nguyen. For professional advice about the nutrient analysis of foods, thanks to Carol Lynn Carr, R.D., Helen Black, R.D., Nan Moon, R.D., and to Teresa Chew, R.D., for the use of her work on Chinese condiments in sodium-restricted diets. Her article is also listed in the bibliography. Thanks are also due to Jack and Mary Murchio for advice on weights and measures and for the use of their art library, to Barbara Phillips for her editing skills, and to Stephen Comee for his. My thanks to him also for six of the recipes. I could not have been luckier. I am deeply grateful to all, but I alone am responsible for any mistakes.

      Acknowledgment is also

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