possible. However, if more authentic taste is desired, some coconut milk mixed with a similar amount of stock, water, or nonfat milk may be used. You can vary the amount further by changing the proportion of coconut milk to the diluting liquid. I have tried bottled coconut extract as a substitute for coconut milk and put a few drops of the extract in nonfat milk. While the result certainly gives a coconut flavor, it is too artificial for my taste. However, it may be worth trying if you wish to cut down further on fat. Though my preference is for low-fat yogurt, which has so many health-giving properties, buttermilk, which is marvelously tangy, is another good substitute for coconut milk and blends well with spicy sauces. Both yogurt and buttermilk are low in saturated fat and have a lot more flavor than nonfat milk, though they are decidedly different in taste from coconut milk. It is all a matter of individual taste and the choice is yours.
Please note that my book on Thai cooking (Siamese Cookery; Tuttle, 1965; p. 36), which recommended the use of sour cream as a substitute for coconut milk, gained the hearty approval of Thai friends living in the States. Though it does not resemble the taste of coconut, it is very delicious and has the rich, thickening effect of coconut milk. Unfortunately, it is too high in saturated animal fat to be considered for use in this book.
Making coconut milk: To make coconut milk from desiccated coconut, the quickest way is to use a blender. Mix 1 cup desiccated coconut with 1¼ cups very hot water and blend at least 30 seconds. Strain through a piece of cloth or fine sieve squeezing out all the moisture. This will be the richest coconut milk and will yield approximately 1 cupful. You may repeat the process using the same coconut pulp and 1¼ cups more hot water. Then discard the pulp. The yield will be thinner but still flavorful and with less saturated fat.
If you have no blender, combine the desiccated coconut and hot water in a bowl. When it cools, mix and squeeze repeatedly with your hands and then strain.
To make coconut milk from freshly grated coconuts, use warm water instead of hot. Proceed as above to extract the milk. Dishes with coconut milk should be stirred frequently and not allowed to boiL It is also best not to cover the pot, as drops of hot water that fall from the lid into the mixture may cause it to curdle.
Note: For those who wish to cut down drastically on saturated fat, no matter whether the coconut milk is hand extracted or ready made, it is recommended that you let the milk stand in the refrigerator for a few hours to allow the rich layer to rise to the top, so you can skim off the cream, much as cream is skimmed off dairy milk.
Coriander Coriander is an indispensable herb in Asian cooking. All parts of the plant are used. The seed is used in blends of curry powder and the fresh coriander leaf—called Chinese parsley, Mexican parsley or cilantro—is used in soups and garnishes. It has a pungent, spicy taste and aroma that some find too strong. It is available in the produce sections of most supermarkets.
Garlic Almost every dish in this book has garlic in it. It not only imparts a marvelous flavor to foods, but also, as medical studies have shown, may have a wide range of health benefits as well. Related to the onion, leek, and shallot, garlic has been cultivated since ancient times and is believed to be native to southwest Asia. Mentioned over 5,000 years ago in Sanskrit, one of the world's first written languages, garlic was also a staple in the ancient Sumerian diet. Revered by the ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks for its curative powers, it was used in the treatment of a whole range of ailments ranging from headaches to tuberculosis. In ancient China garlic was worn to ward off the evil eye. It was even found entombed with King Tutankhamen. The Romans fed it to soldiers and slaves to give them courage and strength. It was thought to have protected garlic-eating French priests from contracting the Black Death from victims they attended, whereas English priests who reviled garlic caught the plague easily. By World War I, the British and Russians were using it to control infection, and the Germans used it to prevent gangrene. There are even claims made for its pesticidal properties.
In China and Japan it has been used for some time in the treatment of high blood pressure, and the Japanese food and drug administration has approved garlic therapy for this purpose. Garlic is also credited with antibiotic properties that inhibit the growth of certain fungi that cause disease.
I have learned all of this information and more by reading the daily press and several interesting books about garlic. Whether the curative powers of garlic are as all-encompassing as the reports indicate, the fact is that garlic is the one most indispensable ingredient to Asian and Mediterranean cooking. It is also important in Latin American cooking and was probably introduced there by Spanish arid Portuguese explorers. Northern European immigrants to the United States disdained it—with the exception of its use by the French—until the nineteenth century, when garlic-loving immigrants from southern Europe, the Middle East, and China changed the culinary climate of the country and began J;he trend that has given garlic the popularity it now enjoys.
The odor from garlic, which keeps many people from eating it, is the result of a chemical action activated by mincing and pressing the clove. The greater the damage to the cell membrane, the more it will smell. Slicing and bruising will produce less odor than mincing and pressing. Also, blanching or parboiling unpeeled garlic before using will render the garlic almost odorless, as will long cooking. Another way to combat garlic odor is to chew parsley or some other chlorophyll-rich green after eating it. (Perhaps the best way to cope with garlic's aromatic property is to get everybody you know to eat it!) Use at least the amount of garlic called for in the recipes, which specify that the cloves be large.
Ginger Root This fresh gnarled root, with an aromatic, sweet, spicy, penetrating taste, is another indispensable ingredient in Asian cooking. In the past it was available only in Asian grocery stores but now it is in the produce section of every supermarket. Peel and discard the brown skin and grate or mince the flesh. Powdered ginger cannot be substituted.
Lemon Grass Fresh or dried, lemon grass is an essential flavor in Southeast Asian cooking. It has a bulbous root and long thin bladelike leaves with a lovely lemony fragrance. It is a hardy plant and can be grown in a pot in almost any climate. A few inches are added whole to flavor a dish. Brewed in boiling water, the leaves make a wonderful herbal tea. Crated lemon rind and lemon juice is suggested as a substitute.
Mushrooms Only two varieties of dried mushrooms are used in these recipes. Dried Chinese and Japanese black mushrooms (shiitake), also known as "fragrant mushrooms," are shaped like an umbrella and have a unique flavor. They must be soaked before using and the soaking liquid is used as a stock in soups as well as in other dishes, in both Japanese and Chinese cooking. Another type of mushroom is shaped like an ear. The most common is variously known as "tree ear," "cloud ear," or "wood ear." (The Japanese name for it, ki-kurage, literally means "tree jellyfish.") It is prized not for its taste, which is almost negligible, but for its unique crunchy texture. It also must be soaked before cooking.
Noodles Four varieties of noodles have been used in the recipes in this book. They are available in Asian grocery stores and in some supermarkets. Cellophane noodles, or mung-bean threads, are thin translucent noodles made from ground mung beans and dried on looped skeins. The Japanese name for these noodles is hamsame [spring rain]. Rice vermicelli, or "rice sticks," are very thin rice-flour noodles. Udon are thick wheat-flour noodles used in Japanese cooking. Spaghetti may be substituted for udon. Sōmen, also used in Japanese cooking, are very fine white, wheat-flour noodles. Very fine vermicelli may be substituted for sōmen.
Pepper See black pepper, chili peppers
Rice Rice is the most important food in the Asian diet and a staple food for more than half the world. Chinese records of rice cultivation go back 4,000 years. There are countless varieties of rice, and, as any Asian cook can tell you, such facts as how old the rice is, where and how it was grown, as well as its color, flavor, aroma, tenderness, and stickiness make a big difference in how much satisfaction is derived from eating it. For example, in Japan, November, the month of harvest, is the time when rice (gohan) tastes best. It will take on a special name (shinmai [new rice]),
