30 Minute Asian Meals: 250 Quick, Tasty & Healthy Recipes From Around Asia

408 Pages·2006·5.94 MB·English

by  Marie Wilson

For my mother
First published in 2007 by
Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd., with editorial
offices at 364 Innovation Drive,
North Clarendon, Vermont 05759 U.S.A.
Copyright © 2007 Marie Wilson All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Wilson, Marie M.
30-minute Asian meals: 250 quick, tasty and healthy recipes from around
Asia/Marie Wilson.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4629-0210-1
1. Cookery, Asian. 2. Quick and easy cookery. I. Title.
TX724.5.A1W525 2006
641.5'55—dc22
2006017931
ISBN-13: 978-1-4629-0210-1
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Contents
Introduction: Eating Healthy in 30 Minutes or Less 7
The 30-Minute Strategy 8
Health Benefits of Asian Cuisine 9
Helpful Tips for Quick and Easy Cooking 11
An Organized Kitchen 14
1: China 17
2:Japan 61
3: Korea 91
4: Thailand 109
5:Vietnam 133
6: India 151
7: Indonesia and Malaysia 183
8: The Philippines 215
9: Singapore 227
Acknowledgments 236
Asian Food Glossary 237
Index 246

INTRODUCTION
Eating Healthy in
30 Minutes or Less
T
he evidence is all around us—today's lifestyles and schedules put extra
demands on the home cook, requiring that meals be prepared more
quickly than ever before. Not only don't we have time to cook, we have even less
time to shop. But in spite of our changing habits, our standards are higher than
ever. The modern concern with health dictates that these meals should be
prepared with fresh, wholesome ingredients and be low in calories and fat. And
because we have all become more sophisticated about fine cuisine, they must be
unusual meals to be enjoyed and appreciated, not merely a means to meet our
nutritional needs.
A common misconception is that you have to choose between gourmet but
high-fat, unhealthy foods that are delicious and beautifully presented, or low-fat
foods that might help you to live longer but are bland and boring. Another
misconception is that so-called healthful gourmet dishes are complex and time-
consuming to prepare and require a long list of unusual and expensive
ingredients. These trends and misconceptions pose quite an overwhelming
challenge for the home cook, who too often takes the easy way out. Otherwise,
what would account for the staggering increase in sales of frozen dinners and
carryout food?
The prospect of hours in the kitchen after a busy day too often leads to
relying on over-processed frozen dinners or fast foods. The temptation to
compromise lurks in every corner of the supermarket and in the kitchen, but such
compromise comes at a high price. What these foods save in preparation time,
they sacrifice in taste, quality and nutritional value. Many essential nutrients
may be missing because the more processing raw ingredients undergo, the
greater their nutrient loss. They are also high in calories, fat and salt.
Reading the labels on the back of a few common frozen dinners tells the
story. A popular brand of chicken dinner has 27 grams of fat, 105 milligrams of
cholesterol and 730 milligrams of sodium in one serving. Another has about the
same amount of fat but 980 milligrams of sodium. Canned soups are even worse,
with half a can averaging 1000 milligrams of sodium. A fast-food hamburger is
not only fatty, but has about 1000 milligrams of sodium, and a serving of fast-
food chicken can have upwards of 2000 milligrams. The worst offender is the
soup marketed as cup of "oriental noodle soup" that contains 1550 milligrams of
sodium.
The need for good tasting, healthy, everyday dishes that can be brought to
the table quickly is very real, and the solution is found in Asian cooking. Well-
known for its health-promoting benefits and its variety of tempting taste
sensations, Asian cuisine is very quick and easy to prepare. The recipes in this
book have been chosen for variety—each chapter is organized into major
categories such as chicken, beef, pork, lamb, vegetables, salads, eggs, noodles,
tofu and so on—and for their simplicity and speed in cooking. They have been
simplified without compromising authenticity or flavor. The number of
unfamiliar ingredients has been kept to a minimum, and only those available at
most supermarkets are included. Also, substitutions are given wherever possible.
Of course, making an authentic Asian meal—whether Japanese, Chinese,
Korean or Indian—is very labor intensive. A typical Asian meal includes a wide
array of dishes served with rice, with no one dish dominating, but rather each
complementing the others and bringing balance to the whole. To produce such a
meal takes a great deal of time and effort. However, many Asian dishes can be
made in larger quantities and eaten as a "main course," and if cooked with
vegetables, need only rice to make a nutritionally balanced meal. The custom of