Appetizers
Authenticity
and tradition
Whether you're sweating out a spicy curry from India or Sri Lanka, delighting in flavorful grilled meats from Korea or Vietnam, or marveling at the intricate delicacy of a Japanese or Thai meal, Asian food-with its delightfully heady mix of flavors, smells and colors-has plenty to offer the dedicated foodie.
Asian cuisine is so much more than just food-steeped as it is in social and cultural lore. The region's recipes and cooking methods have developed over many centuries and now, thanks to globalization and migration, Asia's time-honored cooking traditions and fabled dishes have made their way to all corners of the globe. Asian ingredients that were once hard to come by are readily available in supermarkets worldwide as well as from Asian grocers and online merchants, and more people than ever before are eating Asian food on a regular basis.
At my restaurant, Blue Ginger, and in my cookbook, I strive to properly blend the flavors of the East with those of the West. My feeling is that in order to successfully combine the two cuisines, one must first learn the proper and traditional methods of preparation for each region. The Food of Asia thoroughly and expertly presents the entire spectrum of the Asian culinary landscape, from Burma to Vietnam. For those who lack the time or r¢sources to travel to Asia, this book brings the region to you, all without leaving your own kitchen.
Peace and Good Eating!
Inspiration
from Asia
I recall sitting in a vine-covered courtyard in Adelaide, South Australia, some 30 years ago and meditating on what Australian cuisine would be like in the future. I remember thinking of the vast resources of food knowledge which abound to the north of us on the Asian continent, and the relative accessibility of it all to young Australian chefs who travel there to gain firsthand information about the best ways of preparing Asian dishes.
The Asian knowledge of fish and seafood preparations, for example, is endless-from knife skills to stir-frying, oil poaching, steaming and multi-step boiling, deep-frying, and steaming-which is another way of braising. Asian methods of grilling after marinating in spices and yogurt, and the appreciation for spice mixtures and the subtle fragrances of a particular spice in combination with various foods-the knowledge and learning of all this is truly without end!
Foods and recipes from Asia have today become an integral part of the Australian diet and it is hard to imagine a restaurant menu or meal without some Asian influences. Herb and spice combinations from Thailand and Indochina add fragrance and excitement to our salads. The dry spice cooking of India provides a wealth of flavors and subtle aromas. The wet spice cooking of Southeast Asia provides aromatic bouquets mingled with the sweetness of creamy coconut. The aquaculture cuisine of Japan teaches us to respect the quality of fresh fish and appreciate raw fish, revealing its true taste. And the classical food science and philosophy of China provides the basis for many of our cooking skills and a better appreciation of food generally.
To know how to cook, one must first learn how to eat! From many Asian traditions, we learn that eating is not only the basis of good living but also of good health, and that certain foods act as preventative medicines. I am so glad that after 30 years, the food traditions of Asia have so profoundly influenced the modern international cuisines of today. And I welcome the publication of The Food of Asia which presents a wealth of authentic recipes and dishes as they are prepared and served today in Asia. At the Grange Restaurant at Hilton Adelaide, I am continually striving to perfect the fusion of traditional Asian food cultures represented in this book with our contemporary dining world in Australia,.
Friends and family enjoying a traditional steamboat dinner. The steamboat, a meal which is not only eaten but cooked by all those at the table, demonstrates one of the fundamental roles that food plays in Asia: that of bringing people together.
The Flavors of Asia
From roadside hawker stalls in the large cities to the food courts in shopping malls, the five-star restaurants and the joys of home cooking, food is an all-consuming passion in Asia.
There is so much good food in Asia that the first-time traveler cannot help but be enchanted. It often comes as a surprise to people unfamiliar with Asian cultures how much the joy of living of most Asian peoples centers around the preparation, sharing, and discussion of food. As a chef once said, food in Asia is an exercise in tradition, in aesthetics, mutual caring, and moral lessons.
Even out of Asia, it is hard to find a place on earth with food that has not been touched by some aspect of Asian cooking, be it in the form of ingredients, cooking methods or presentation. From elegant New York brasseries to stylish Sydney restaurants, Asian food has come a long way since the American take on Chinese food,
