Evolution of Asian Cuisine

Cooking is one of the oldest of human activities; indeed it may be the oldest above
basic animal survival. At the wandering hunter-gatherer level of society, cooking is very
simple kill something, throw it on the fire along with whatever vegetables and fruits
were found that day, eat . No one specialized in cooking, since every able body was
needed to find the food in the first place. Cooking equipment consists of a few sticks for
skewering meat and vegetables, leaves for wrapping and baking, maybe a hot flat rock.
At the next level of society, subsistence farming, cooking is a little more complex.
Agriculture increases the selection of food stuffs available and also increases the
probability that any given foodstuff will be available when wanted. Subsistence farmers
rely on grain for their calories where hunters rely on meat, but grain requires
considerable effort to convert to an edible form. As a matter of fact, it has
beencalculated that a farmer has to work harder for his calories than a hunter. The
relative abundance of food in a subsistence farming society compared to a huntergatherer society is at least partly offset by the amount of effort required to prepare the
food. A settled existence allows the development of arts such as pottery and metal
working, which in turn allows new cooking techniques such as baking and boiling. It is in
subsistence farming societies that the regionalcuisine begins to take shape, usually
referred to as a peasant cuisine. These peasant cuisines usually consist of a limited
number of relatively simple dishes, since a wide variety of ingredients is not available,
nor is the time to spend on fancy preparation.
At the next stage of development of a society, central authority and trade begin to
emerge. Central authority implies castles and palaces, a ruling class who like to indulge
their whims and show off for their neighbors and subjects. The rulers need professional
cooks, not only because they are too important to do their own cooking, but to provide
them with the delicacies that only skill and experience can produce. Trade implies towns
and cities, specialization of labour ,exotic foodstuffs from far away, and processed food
products. Taverns appear in the market place, and food is served, creating the first
restaurant. The up-scale restaurants serving the lesser nobility and rich merchant
classes often mimic the cooking of the palace. It is in the kitchens of the palaces and

restaurants that sophisticated combinations of exotic ingredients are prepared with

complicated techniques. It is in these kitchens that recipes are codified and written
down.

The Three Cuisine Areas of Asia

The South West India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma

The North East China, Korea, Japan

The South East Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia ,Malaysia,

Singapore, Brunei

Curries are very important to the cuisines of the South East and SouthWest, less so in
the cuisine of the North East. South Western curries are generally based on yogurt,
whereas the curries of the South Eastand North East are generally based on coconut
milk.
Rice is a staple starch in all three cuisines areas. In addition to rice, South Western
cuisines include a variety of leavened and unleavend breads and South East and North
East cuisines include rice and eggnoodles.
In the South West, the major oil used in frying is ghee, or clarified butter. In the South
East and North East, the major oils are vegetable oils.
Garlic and ginger are used in all three cuisine areas, as are chilipeppers, although
chilies are much more common in the South Westand South East. The North Eastern
cuisines use soy sauce in nearly everything; the South East substitutes fish sauce;
there is no equivalent in South Western cooking. In the South East, there are two
additional flavorings that are not used in the other cuisines galangal and lemon grass.

Cuisines of the South East

The original cuisine of the South East is probably the peasant cuisine of Thailand.
Archaeology has recently discovered that the metal workingcultures of the central plain
of Thailand date back to at least 3000 BC,easily in the same class as the ancient

cultures of China and India. The peasant cuisine associated with these early metal
workers spread east across the mountains into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and
south down the Malayan peninsula and the island arc of Indonesia.
This cuisine did not develop in isolation, of course. As it spread, it was influenced by
ideas coming from the North East and South West, and influenced them in return. Most
recently, of course, the cuisines of Europe have influenced the native ones. Vietnam,
Laos and Cambodia were French colonies, Malaysia was a British Colony, Indonesia
was a Dutch colony. Thailand was a rarity in that it successfully resisted European
colonisation.
Rice is the staple grain of the North East and South East and is only slightly less
important in the South West. It is the original crop that caused the conversion from
hunter-gatherer to subsistence farmer inthis area; as such it spread across the region
before regional cuisines began to evolve. Some Italians may object if you claim that
Marco Polo brought spaghetti back from China, but there is little doubt tha tnoodles
came to this region from China.
Curries are a very common across the region, but less common in Vietnam where the
Chinese influence is strong. The concept probably came from India and spread east,
but the people of the South East modified the original by substituting coconut milk for
yogurt as the basis for the sauce.
The cooking utensil called the wok, and the stir fry technique using vegetable oils came
to the area from the China.
Garlic and ginger are common all across Eurasia and probably arrived in the area at
almost the same time as rice.
The arrival of chili peppers in the area can be placed with relative accuracy. Chili
peppers, indeed all peppers, are native to the Americas and arrived in the region with
European explorers/exploiters. This means they could not have arrived before about
1520, and were widespread by 1600.

Fish sauce is probably a local invention, but the Romans had a similar concoction
(liquamen), so it is possible the idea was imported. (Maybe thats where the lost legion
ended up)
There are many spices used in the region; cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka, cardamom
and cumin from India, coriander and star anise from China, cloves, nutmeg and mace
are native.
Several herbs are common in the region, Thai basil, sweet basil and mint being the
commonest. These herbs grow almost everywhere across tropical and subtropical
Eurasia, so, while the idea of using them in cooking may have been imported, the actual
herbs used are native varieties. This is especially true of Thai basil, with its purple
stems and licorice flavor.
Citrus flavors are important to the regions cuisines, especially lime, which is native to
the islands of Indonesia and Malaysia. Not just the juice and pulp are used, but also the
zest and leaves.
Last, but certainly not least, are lemon grass and galangal. These two flavors are the
flavors which make the cuisines of the region unique. They are undoubtedly of local
origin, for they are used nowhere else in the world. They are the two flavors which I
have chosen to define the scope of this page.
Notes on Recipes

Equipment
The Wok
The wok is the most important piece of cooking equipment in SouthEast Asia and
China. If you plan to do much of this regions cooking you should invest in a good wok.
A cast iron fry pan will serve in a pinch, but the rounded bottom of the wok provides a
range of cooking temperatures in one pan, which can be important in stir frying.

There are many type of woks available round- bottomed and flat-bottomed, onhandled and two-handled, mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and teflon coated. The
most traditional is hand beaten of mild steel with a round bottom and two handles. Mild
steel is preferred for its heat transfer properties; thin stamped stainless steel or
aluminum just dont hold enough heat, and cast aluminum takes to long to heat upand
cool down. The traditional round bottom is designed to sit in theround hole of a charcoal
burner. In a modern kitchen equipped with agas stove, the round bottomed wok might fit
the burners, depending onthe design of the stove. If the wok does not fit the burners, it
may be placed on a wok ring. In an electic kitchen, a flat bottomed wok is best, both for
stability and for heat transfer. A properly conditioned iron wok is at least as non-stick as
any teflon coating ever made.
A new wok must be seasoned before use. Scrub it well with soap and water to remove
any coating applied to protect it during shipping, rinse well, and dry. Place the wok over
low heat, wipe lightly with vegetable oil and let stand on the heat for 10 minutes. Cool
and wipe with paper towels to remove the dark film. Repeat the oiling, heating, cooling
and wiping procedure until the paper towels come away clean. Once a wok has been
seasoned, it should be cleaned with plain water only using a wok brush, never with soap
or abrasive cleaners, then dried and oiled before storing. If the metal ever rusts, clean
with steel wool or fine sand paper and re-season.
Wok Tools
The most important wok tool is the long handled shovel-shaved scoop used to stir fry.
Other wok tools include; a ladle, used to transfer liquids to and from the wok; a strainer

with a brass or steel basket to remove foods from hot oil; a strainer with a bamboo
basket fo rremoving foods from boiling water or stock; a bamboo whisk brush for
cleaning; a rack which sits on the side of the wok for draining fried foods.
Steamers
Large dedicated steamers with multiple stacking are available instainless steel or
aluminum, but more common are the stackable bamboo steamers. These are designed
to be used in a wok over boiling water, and are often used as serving dishes.
Clay Pot
Clay pots hot pots, glazed on the inside but unglazed on the outside are used for
baking or stewing. They are available in a range of sizes,and like woks, with either one
handle or two.
Cleavers
The oriental cleaver is a very verstile instrument it performs all the functions of the
various knives of western kitchens. Light cleavers are used for general chopping, slicing
and carving; heavier, thicker cleavers are used for chopping bones. A good set of
kitchen knives can be substituted.
Rice Cooker
If you are cooking rice often, a rice cooker is worth the investment . Place rice and water
in the cooker, plug it in and press the button. Perfect rice very time.
Hand Held Blender or Small Food Processor
Most South East Asian dishes require considerable fine chopping a hand held blender
with a mincer/chopper attachment or a small food processor will cut your preparation
time in half.

Ingredients

Curry Pastes and Powders

Southeast Asian curries are normally based on curry pastes which are made from a
variety of fresh and dried ingredients ground together in a mortar and pestle. This is the
recommended process if you are cooking curries daily, but the pastes have a limited
shelf life. If you are only cooking them from time to time it is more convenient to make
up curry powders in advance and add the fresh ingredients at cooking time.
All the recipes given here are based on curry powders, recipes for which are given in
the section on Sauces, Relishes and Spices for the appropriate country. I would
recommend that you buy fresh whole spices and grind them yourself in a spice or coffee
grinder rather than buy pre-ground spices. Stored in an air-tight container in a dry place,
curry powders will keep for a couple of months before their flavors start to decline.
If you would prefer to make pastes, refer to a recipe for the appropriate curry in my Thai
sauce pages for instance, to make Thai red curry paste, refer to a recipe for a red
curry of pork or chicken in the Thai recipe section. Use the proportions given in the
recipe of onion, shallots, garlic,ginger, galangal, lemon grass, chili paste, coriander
leaves and curry powder to make your paste. Pastes, of course, should be refrigerated
after preparation. They will keep for a week or two.

Chili Paste
The chili paste referred to in the recipes can be made at home by grinding fresh chilies
in a mortar and pestle or food processor. A little salt and vinegar may be added to thin
the mixture slightly. Alternately, you may buy a prepared chili paste, but be sure it
contains only chilies (with a little salt and vinegar as above).
Obviously the color of the paste will depend on the color of the chilies used to make it.
Use red chili paste in a red curry and green chili paste in a green curry if you can. If you

cant, dont worry, the color of the finished product may not live up to the name of the
recipe, but the taste will be pretty much the same.
Coconut Milk
When coconut milk is specified in the recipe, use canned coconut milk with no dilution.
When making curry, the first part of most recipes calls for you to put about 1/2 cup of
coconut milk in a pan and heat it up. It is VERY important that you not shake the can
first. Open the can and skim the top cream off and heat it until you see the oils starting
to separate. Then add the curry paste/powder.
Tamarind Liquid
The Tamarind Liquid referred to in the recipes can be made as follows. Take 3
tablespoons of tamarind pulp, and soak in 1/2 cupwarm water for 10 minutes. Knead
and rub with your fingers until the pulp dissolves. Strain the liquid to remove the seeds
and fibers.
Tamarind liquid may also be made from concentrate by soaking 1tablespoon of
concentrate in 1/2 cup warm water, but the concentrate tends to be very dark in color,
which can adversely affect the color ofthe dish.
There are a few types of Tamarind available. Some recipes call for sweet tamarind and
others call for the bitter types. If your recipe doesnt specify, use the sweet type. If the
recipe is too sweet, you can cut it with a little salt or fish sauce. If you have access to
fresh, sweet tamarind, it can be eated by breaking open the shell and eating the soft
flesh. Some prefer the bitter type, taking the seed covered with the flesh and covering it
with a mixture of sugar and dried red pepper.