S a v o r i n g
E a s t
A s i a n
C u i s i n e s
ISSUE NO. 01
Feature Articles
The Three Dietary Cultures of Asia
Cooking The Classics: Korean Bibimbap
$5.99
contents
3 The Three Dietary Cultures of Asia 8 East Side China 10 Japan Choice Foods
11 Taiwan Streets Dishes
12 Cooking The Classics: Korean Bibimbap
14
Style Guide
The Three Dietary Cultures of Asia Another well-known aspect of Asian and Asian American culture is food, or more specifically, the different traditions of Asian cuisine and cooking. Reflecting the broad diversity of histories and experiences within our community, there are also many unique types of cuisine that come from our numerous ethnic cultures. As the modern Asian American population continues to develop and evolve, we are also witnessing a fascinating transformation of Asian ethnic cuisine as it blends traditional and contemporary aspects into a uniquely Asian American creation. Cooking is one of the oldest of human activities. When human evolution was at the hunter-gatherer stage, cooking was very simple — kill something, throw it on the fire along with whatever vegetables and fruits were found that day, and eat. Spices and cooking equipment were rather simple at that time and there probably was not much variety in the average diet back then. Since those very early beginnings, cooking has become almost an art form but still remains a fundamental part of our everyday lives. Although many Asian cultures share the tradition of gathering the family or clan together to socialize or celebrate over a big meal, the various cultures of Asia each developed their own ethnic cuisine through the interaction of history, environment,
page 4 | food Journey
and culture. Culinary historians and anthropologists tend to identified three main categories of Asian dietary cultures that have developed through the centuries. As with virtually any classification system, there is some overlap, but they roughly represent to the main groups or types of traditional Asian cooking. The first is known as the southwest style that includes cuisines from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Burma. Having its roots in Persian-Arabian civilization, the eating of nan (or flat bread) became widespread, along with mutton, kebabs (derived from Turkish cooking), and the use of hot peppers, black pepper, cloves, and other strong spices, along with ghee (a butter oil). Curry also became a staple in this dietary culture. Through the teachings of Hinduism, cows were used only for their milk and not for meat. In addition to rice, chapati made from wheat or barley are also a staple part of the diet, and beans also play an important role in meals. The second major dietary culture of Asia is the northeast tradition, comprising China, Korea, and Japan. This tradition developed to emphasize using fats, oils, and sauces in cooking. In the northeast dietary culture, the foods, spices, and seasonings go beyond being mere foodstuffs as they are also used as medicines to promote a long and healthy life. In addition, food became associated with many religious traditions as well, as many northeast Asian cultures frequently used food as symbolic offerings to worship their ancestors. Arguably, Chinese cuisine has become the most prominent of all Asian styles of cooking, with several different styles based on region — the most basic difference being between northern and southern styles of Chinese cuisine. Southern dishes emphasize freshness and tenderness while due to the colder weather, northern dishes are relatively oily and the use of vinegar and garlic tends to be more popular. In contrast, Japanese cooking came to emphasize the frequent use of deep-frying (i.e., tempura, etc.) using vegetable oil or conversely, raw foods (i.e., sushi and sashimi). In Korea, much of the tradition cuisine is centered on grilling or sauteing and the use of hot chili spices (i.e., kim chi, etc.). Finally, the third major dietary culture of Asia is the southeast style, which includes Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. The traditional emphasis in this region is on aromatic and lightly-prepared foods, using a delicate balance of quick
stir-frying, steaming, and/or boiling, supplemented with discrete spices and seasonings, including citrus juices and herbs such as basil, cilantro, and mint. Also, while northeastern cuisines emphasize using soy sauce in nearly everything, many cultures in the southeast substitute fish sauce, along with galangal, lemon grass, and tamarind for additional flavor.
“The wok is the most important piece of cooking equipment in southeast Asia and China”
Comparing the three cuisines with each other, we notice that curries are very important to the cuisines of the southeast and southwest, less so in the northeast. Southwestern curries are generally based on yogurt, whereas the curries of the southeast are generally based on coconut milk. Of course, rice is a staple starch in all three cuisines areas. In addition to rice, southwestern cuisines are supplemented with a variety of leavened and unleavened breads while southeast and northeast cuisines add noodles made from rice, egg, or potatoes (remember, pasta was invented in China). Garlic and ginger are used in all three cuisine areas, while chilies are much more common in the southwest and southeast.
Tools Used in Asian Cuisine In addition to unique cuisines from Asia, western cultures were also introduced to the unique tools used to prepare Asian foods. Perhaps the most important is the wok. The wok is the most important piece of cooking equipment in southeast Asia and China. Because traditional Asian households did not have resources to make or buy several different pans for different types of cooking, the traditional wok was developed with a unique rounded bottom that provides a range of cooking temperatures in one pan, thereby becoming a nearly universal staple of Asian households. Similarly, the cleaver developed as another versatile cooking instrument as it can be used to perform all the functions of an entire set of cooking knives and utensils common in the average western kitchen — general chopping, slicing, dicing, carving, crushing, scooping, etc. And of course, we can’t forget about the quintessential Asian eating instrument — the chopstick. Although its true origins are unknown, a Chinese legend notes that the philosopher Confucius, living in China around 500 B.C., influenced the development of chopsticks through his
non-violent teachings. The widelyaccepted belief was that because knives were associated with war and death, Confucius urged his followers not to use them at the dinner table, which supposedly led to the invention of chopsticks as a substitute.
Asian food is generally a blend of several tastes together sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and bitter. While western palates tend to segregate tastes, Asian cuisine emphasizes a combination of flavors and textures, often within a single dish. Blends of rice or noodles with vegetables and/or a protein source may also include something crunchy, such as nuts, or something softer, such as raisins. Another difference is rather than adding a ground powder to a dish (as is common in the U.S.), Asian cooks, especially in the southeast region, prepare spice blends though various techniques including blending whole spices and freshly grinding them, and preparing curry blends. Other unique ingredients provide flavor, texture, and color to define various Asian cuisine. The popularity of Asian cooking shows such as “The Iron Chef ” is just one example of how popular and even trendy Asian cuisine has become.
The Popularity & ‘Fusion’ of Asian Cuisine In general, there are a few different reasons for the growing popularity of Asian food and cuisine in the U.S. On the institutional level, it can be seen as a reflection of the increasing globalization and transnationalism taking place in the U.S. and around the world in general — the economic and cultural boundaries between countries are becoming less rigid and the gradual diffusion of different elements of national culture such as food and cuisine are some examples of this trend. On the group level, the growing popularity of Asian cuisine is also a function of the demographic trends taking place in the U.S., specifically the growing population of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants, whose total numbers and proportion of the total U.S. population continue to gradually increase each year. As the number of Asians/Asian Americans continues to grow, so too do the numbers of Asian
Food Journey | Page 5
businesses and restaurants located in both Asian-heavy areas and enclaves (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.) and also in newer destinations that are seeing more Asian/ Asian American residents. Finally, on the individual level, taken as a whole, Americans are generally very open to various elements of foreign culture, such as food (although many observers argue this openness to foreign culture does not automatically translate into equal openness to the actual foreigners themselves). As such, cultural elements like Asian cuisine are generally seen as ‘safe’ and ‘easy’ ways for Americans to demonstrate their cultural curiosity and openness. From a historical point of view, as different Asian immigrants have come to the U.S. to begin their lives as Americans, they have brought their cuisine and cooking traditions with them, along with the centuries-old tradition of bringing together the family or a large group of friends and relatives to socialize over a big meal. As restaurants opened to serve the early Chinese and Japanese immigrant communities in various cities in the U.S., westerners got their first taste of traditional Asian cuisine. But inevitably, assimilation and acculturation took place, not just in terms of the individual, but also as applied to Asian food as well. Soon, Asian restaurants that wanted to broaden their appeal and customer base beyond their own ethnic patrons had to modify or invent new ‘ethnic’ food that would appeal more readily to the western palate. This eventually led to the creation of uniquely ‘Americanized’ Asian dishes such as chop suey, egg rolls, fortune cookies, and recently, ‘Asianinspired’ fast food salads. These days, traditional Asian cuisine is undergoing another transformation but instead of being combined with western tastes, the result comes from combining elements and styles from different Asian cultures into a new fusion style of pan-Asian dishes. Many of these early fusion dishes were synthesized from Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, and Chinese cuisines (along with a few French influences), although other Asian cultures are slowly being ‘mixed’ into the trend. Many of these fusion restaurants also tend to be aimed at a slightly more upscale clientele and are concentrated mainly in the major metropolitan areas around the U.S.
page 6 | food Journey
Health Considerations Along with being seen as new and trendy, these Asian fusion dishes also appeal to many customers because they tend to be lighter and are perceived to be healthier than other types of “ethnic” cuisine. In fact, many westerners are only now understanding the health benefits of many Asian foods. Many nutritionists point out that America’s biggest health problems — heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and many cancers — are seen far less often in Asian countries. One reason is, not only is physical activity that blends spirituality with fitness (such as tai chi) more common in Asian societies, but experts are finding that Asian diets also play a key role. Research shows that the average Chinese adult, for example, eats half as much fat and one-third less protein than the average American. The Chinese rely heavily on grains, fruits, and vegetables. Meat is rarely the main ingredient in a meal; instead, small amounts are offered up in dishes composed mainly of vegetables and rice. The popularity of eating fish in many Asian countries is also linked to lower incidences of many of the chronic health problems that are more common in the U.S., as is the drinking of green tea for its antioxidant benefits. Ethnic grocery stores and frozen Asian dinners have enjoyed explosive growth in recent years, further reflecting the rising popularity of Asian food. However, a healthy diet that took centuries to achieve may be lost in just decades. Many observers are noting that obesity and heart disease is slowly becoming a problem in many Asian urban areas, as more Chinese, Japanese, etc. are copying the unhealthy eating habits of normally associated with Americans and flocking to fast food restaurants that seem to be growing exponentially across Asia. It seems ironic that the blending of eastern and western cuisines can have such different results for each culture involved.
FOOD JOURNEY
Editor Chief
Ramiro Luna
Art Director
Lee Mong Gui
Designer Orlando
Illustrator
Managing Editor
Flores
Rami Moon Esparanza M. Lee
Publisher Food Journey,
Chief Photographer
Xoa Lee Ming
Photographer Katreena
Copyright Editor
Copyright Assistant
Inc.
Lee
Yang Yang Grammarly, inc.
East Side China Hong Kong Cuisines
Traditional siu mai are filled exclusively with chopped pork, though some restaurants will include shrimp in the filling. Siu mai are wrapped in a fresh pasta skin that is left open, so that the filling peeks out of the top of the dumpling when served at the table. Pork siu mai are one of the “Guangdong Big Three,” along with shrimp dumplings and steamed pork buns, a true staple of the original Cantonese dim sum tradition. The quality of a restaurant’s siu mai says a lot about how seriously it takes its dim sum.
Siu Mai
Whether at the restaurant or at home, making great siu mai is all about the filling, which should retain a bright, fresh crunch out of the steamer.
— Dim Sum Central
Egg Waffles Ingredients: 1 cup 1 tsp 1/2 tbsp 1 tbsp 2 large 2/3 cup 2 tbsp 150 ml 1 tbsp 1 tsp
all-purpose flour baking powder tapioca starch custard powder eggs granulated white sugar evaporated milk water vegetable oil vanilla extract
Directions:: page 8 | food Journey
In a large bowl, add all ingredients and mix with a whisk until only very small lumps remain. Set batter in fridge for one hour. Read instructions on whether your pan can be placed directly onto stove or if it needs a wire rack and do accordingly. Pre-heat each half of the waffle pans on medium-high heat until hot (about 1-2 minutes). Lightly brush each pan with vegetable oil (don’t use spray). Turn heat to medium (I set mine at dial at 4).
first pancake, this is your throwaway one. The ones after should look light brown when they are finished.) Remove the side of the pan the finished egg waffle is clinging to, and hold it above a plate with the waffle upside down,. Using a chopstick or spoon, gently loosen it from the pan, starting on the top edge, using gravity to help it release. It will start to curl as it falls off and you should be able to get it out in one piece (except for the first waffle).
Pour 3/4 cup of the batter into the middle of the egg waffle pan and then immediately flip pan, making sure to hold pan together tightly so it doesn’t leak. Cook for 2 minutes, then flip to other side and cook for 2 minutes. The egg waffle will now require one more cook on each side. Timing may vary depending on stove, but mine needed 2 more minutes on each side. (You first waffle will like still be pale yellow and may have cooked unevenly. Like the
Repeat with the remaining batter (re-greasing pans first) and then serve immediately.
Hong Kong French Toast
If you already like regular French toast served in your local diner you’ll probably go nuts on this Hong Kong Style French toast. The Hong Kong style French toast is like French toast on steroids. It’s got two thick slices of soft milk bread covered in egg batter and perfectly fried to crispy golden brown and then served with butter and condensed milk/syrup. Oh I forgot to mention, there is also a generous amount of peanut butter sandwiched in between the bread to make this dish extra decadent. No wonder that even CNN agrees HK Style French toast is one of the world’s 50 most delicious foods (No. 38)
A Cha Chaan Teng, or Hong Kong style café, is a unique casual eatery that’s been feeding the Hong Kong people since the 1950s. A typical Cha Chaan Teng offers a wide selection of Western-influenced Chinese comfort food ranging from spaghetti to milk tea to fried rice at very affordable prices. A Cha Chaan Teng normally opens all day serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, making it a great place to hang out with friends and grab a few bites without hurting the bank account.
— Kibie’s Cravings
— YI Reservation
Hong Kong style café food was first introduced on this blog when I shared this Cha Chaan Teng style spaghetti dish a few months ago. It is really delicious but nowhere near being representative to Cha Chaan Teng food. In light of the holiday seasons and resentment from my wife, a Hong Kong native, on lack of signature Cha Chaan Teng dish on my blog, I decided to share one of my favorite Hong Kong style café dishes, which is French toast – the Hong Kong Style!
Food Journey | Page 9
Japan Choice Foods Sushi Sushi is the most famous Japanese dish outside of Japan, and one of the most popular dishes among the Japanese themselves. In Japan, sushi is usually enjoyed on special occasions, such as a celebration. During the Edo period, “sushi” refered to pickled fish preserved in vinegar. Nowadays sushi can be defined as a dish containing rice which has been prepared with sushi vinegar. There are many different types of sushi.
— Japan Guide
Ramen “Ramen is a noodle soup dish that was originally imported from China and has become one of the most popular dishes in Japan in recent decades. Ramen are inexpensive and widely available, two factors that also make them an ideal option for budget travelers. Ramen restaurants, or ramen-ya, can be found in virtually every corner of the country and produce countless regional variations of this common noodle dish.” Popular Romen in Japan are Shoyu, Shio, Miso and Tonkosu. “The second key aspect of ramen are the noodles, which are made of wheat and come in many different types. Typical Ramen noodles are long and elastic, but countless varieties exist that vary from thin and straight to thick and wavy. Some ramen-ya allow you to customize your noodle order to some extent such as by allowing you to select a thickness (thin, regular or thick) or doneness (regular or firm).” It also come with side dishes that is depend on the menu or ordering one from the machine. Usually it come with chopstick but to buy Ramen on the street, the table always have chopsticks and spoon too.
— Japan Guide page 10 | food Journey
t a i w a n e s e
S t r e e t D I s h E s
Deep Fried Taro Ball A stall at the Ningxia Night Market in Taipei specializes in this lovely snack. The taro is shaped into a hollow ball, stuffed with pork floss (dried pork) and egg yolk before being deep-fried in vats of oil.
— Gothamist Getaway
Taiwanese dumpling Food Journey | Page 11
K or e a Cooking The Classics: Korean Bibimbap Noah Charney The name sounds like a jazz vocalist improvising in the middle of a tune. The mellifluously-named bibimbap, the quintessential Korean meal-in-a-bowl, is a good candidate for the title of most fun dish to order in world cuisine. It could not be simpler in concept, but it is hugely satisfying. I could eat these daily and be a happy camper. The name of Korean Bibimbap means “mixed rice,” which is a pretty good description. A bowl is loaded with rice at the bottom, and topped with a selection of goodies that are laid out to look like a jewels floating on the white rice bed. Sliced beef, a selection of sautéed vegetables called namul, and several sauces, usually soy, doenjang (a soybean paste that provides a salt and umami kick) and gochujang (chili pepper paste adding a spicy kick). An egg is then cracked on top just prior to serving. And once handed the dish, after briefly admiring the mosaic of edibles lain carefully atop your rice bowl, you mix the still-hot ingredients together, folding the sauces and the gooey eggy goodness throughout. It’s nice (and unusual) to have a dish for which the final, necessary step before it’s ready for consumption is undertaken by the consumer—it’s up to you to finish the dish’s preparation, which offers a ritual that heightens anticipation of enjoying the meal.
BIBIMBAP, AN AUTHENTIC KOREAN ICON Having introduced the ingredients, we should take a closer look at what makes this dish uniquely Korean. Many cultures have some equivalent of a rice bowl. Heck, even Spanish paella might be considered in the same category. But bibimbap has some key Korean components. Namul, for instance, is a term for a variety of sautéed seasoned vegetables. Those featured can change, and are ideally seasonal, but may include some things that qualify as exotic to occidental palates, including daikon radish, soybean sprouts, and bracken fern stems (gosari). Even roots, stems, petals and fruits can be featured, and the vegetables may be blanched, fried, steamed, you name it. Namul is essential a catch-all term for vegetables prepared as a side dish (called a banchan), but which in the case of bibimbap, take center stage, the primary ingredient, aside from rice, in the rice bowl, with meat as more of a grace note than the main event. Gochujang is Korea’s answer to chili: many cultures have their own goto hot sauce (Thai Sriracha, Dominican ranchero liquid, Malaysian sambal oelek), and this is as good as any. It’s also more complicated than most, since it is not just a puree of chili (with the common addition of garlic and
“The name sounds like a jazz vocalist improvising in the middle of a tune”
page 12 | food Journey
perhaps sugar, which is the basis for so many hot sauces). Instead it takes a base of red chili, but adds to it salt, fermented soybeans, and glutinous rice powder (which is a thickener). The traditional recipe (from the 18th century) calls for it to undergo a natural fermentation process that takes years, sitting quietly in terracotta pots, usually outdoors or on a special stone platform called a jangdokdae. The Koreans are the world’s masters of exotic fermentation, and not even their basic hot sauce does without it. The distinctive flavor of gochujang means that it adds a lot more to a dish than simple heat, or heat plus sweet, as Sriracha might. It is the key flavor component to bibimbap, augmenting the soybean paste and soy that are also tossed with your rice bowl.
in large quantities to feed many farmhands, or that it originates in the jesa ancestral rites, wherein offerings of food made as a gift to ancestors would be assembled in a bowl before eating. These theories may be more complicated than is necessary—it doesn’t require some exotic origin story to think up throwing leftovers in a bowl of rice and eating it.
When it comes to preparing bibimbap myself, I have to admit that I must cheat. I just can’t seem to get my hands on a jangdokdae, so making gochujang at home is, I’m afraid, out of the question. Likewise for the soybean paste. I can handle blanching and sauteeing some exotic vegetables, but in the wilds of central Europe the bracken fern stems are in short supply, so I wind up having to opt for store-bought pastes and not-particularly-exciting THE ORIGINS OF KOREAN vegetables. Part of the dish’s appeal is the color of the BIBIMBAP RECIPE ingredients atop the rice (it was not do at all to preBibimbap is only about a century old, but it derives mix the ingredients in the bowl before serving), so I from Goldongban, a dish involving the same concept (a go for mushroom, daikon, cucumber, soybean sprouts bowl of rice with vegetables, meat and sauce mixed in), and spinach, which I flavor with sesame oil, chili, soy which is far older, emerging sometime during the Joseon sauce and sesame seeds. I sear beef rare and thinly slice Period (14th-16th centuries). it. When I’ve had bibimbap at restaurants, Goldongban had a ritualistic, I’ve been served a special version called and potluck, component to it. It dolsot bibimbap, served in a special stone was eaten on the eve of the lunar bowl that is red-hot and coated with sesame new year, allowing people to clear oil—a raw egg is thrown in and cooks when out their pantries at the year’s tossed with the rice against the heat of the end, throwing whatever was left stone. This also results in a nice crunchy over into their rice bowls, tossing crust to the rice at the bottom of the bowl (a it together, and considering it favorite aspect of paella). But I’m fresh out dinner. I like this approach. My of hot stone bowls, so I cook the egg overfridge is often full of renegade soft before laying it atop my mixture. In go leftovers, and the idea that you the bottled soybean paste and gochujang. can consciously create a dish with Egg, beef, seaweed, etc. make authentic It looks like bibimbap. It tastes reasonably Bibimbamp. a rich history just by throwing them like bibimbap. But I feel like I’ve cheated, all into a bowl with rice appeals to my hoarding mentality foiled by my inability to get the right ingredients, and (never throw away any food, unless it’s blue—and not shamed at my over-reliance on premade flavorings, like blueberries). The first time bibimbap is mentioned by my mail-order jar of gochujang. Ah well, at least it tastes name is in a late-19th century cookbook, Siuijeonseo. good. Next Christmas I know what to ask for: hot stone Various theories suggest that it was a tradition dish for bowls and a jangdokdae or two. farmers during the harvest, as it could be easily made
Food Journey | Page 13
style guide Font: Trojan Pro 3 Single color: Black I first start by drawing out how I want the Trojan 3 Pro to be turn out. So, I thought of something like the column. Because the letter E gave it away. I also want the two Os together like a connection. Logo reversed
Primary colors This is used to help idenifythe brand as well as for primary elements including logo and as part of the visual scheme in the magazine. These Primary colors are red and golden yellow and I want to have a shadow the two Os though. For the line, I want to show like a looking column I’m assuming. CMYK RGB Hex
1-99-95-00 236-32-39 EC2027
CMYK RGB Hex
1-99-95-00 236-32-39 EC2027
page 14 | food Journey
CMYK RGB Hex
4-3-94-00 252-231-39 FCE727
Grid Structure For the Print Magazine Margins top 1” bottom 0.75” inside 0.6875” outside 0.5” For the rows and columns, I use 3 rows; with 0.1667” and 2 columns with 0.1667”
Typefaces + Styles // Print Cover lines: Section headings: Feature heading: Freatures bodytext: Author Byline: Body text: Masthead Title: Masthead Names: Photo Credits: Running Footers: Content Title: Cont. sub:
Ni Hai Hao Ma, Meiyo, 21pz Trojan Pro 3, Reg., 13pt Adobe Garamound Pro, Bold, 24pt Adobe Garamound Pro, Regular, 10pt Adobe Garamound Pro, Reg, 17pt Adobe Garamound Pro, Reg, 10pt Trojan Pro 3, Reg, 37pt Gills San, Regular, 11pt Adobe Garamound Pro, Bold, 7pt Trojan Pro 3, Regular, 11pt Helvetica Neue, Med, 78pt Helvetica Neue, Med, 19pt
Web Layout The design layout is optimized for iPhone 6/7/8 Columns had not been giving at the moment. Typefaces + Style // Web Everything is done on Adobe Xd. All text only have one font; Helvetica, Regular First Layout/Homepage Letter: Blue Text: mini-Text:
29 29 10
Second Layout / Pop-up Ad
Medium Text: Small Text Blue Text
29 14 20
Food Journey | Page 15
954 8966 321 1546 6 4