Asians, Diet of Health Article

Japan.

Sushi (slices of raw fish on rice), teriyaki meats, and tempura (batter-fried vegetables or shrimp) are not the only foods in the Japanese diet. Salted vegetables are part of everyday diets, as are soybean products such as tofu, soy sauce, miso (a soybean paste), and dashi (a stock whose base is dried fish and kelp). Meat and seafood are popular in Japanese cooking, and broths are also common. Ingredients for stock include dried sea tangle, dried bonito (a type of tuna), and brown mushrooms. Spices like pepper, wasabi (horseradish), cloves, ginger, sesame, and garlic give special flavor to the food.

Japan centers its dishes on rice, with all other dishes thought of as side dishes. When rice stocks are low, millet or sweet potatoes are used. Different types of noodles are found in Japanese cuisine: soba (a buckwheat noodle) is popular in the west, and udon (a flour noodle) is popular in the east. Japanese rice wine (mirin or sake) is served both cold and warm. Green tea is especially popular.

Korea.

Korea's cuisine is a blend of Chinese and Japanese, though with its own distinctive flavor. The Korean national dish is bulgogi, or "fire beef"—beef strips marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and chili. The mainstay of Korean food is kimchi (or gimchi), a side dish of pickled grated vegetables infused with ginger, garlic, and chili. Seafood is a major staple in Korea, in addition to pork, hens, deer, and wild boar. Popular vegetables include turnips, lotus roots, taro, leeks, lettuce, bamboo shoots, ferns, and mushrooms. Popular spices and nuts include pine nuts, hazelnuts, and ginseng, and chili peppers are used liberally.

Noodles are usually made of wheat, buckwheat, soya, rice, or beans. Rice-cake soup, dumpling soup, five-grain rice, rice gruel, and sweet rice beverages are all popular. Green tea, scorched rice tea, herbal teas, and coffee are popular drinks. Other well-liked drinks are made from barley, corn rice, sesame seeds, ginseng, ginger, cinnamon, and citron.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is located in the monsoon belt, where heavy rains fall for several months a year. Most Southeast Asian countries use plenty of spice and coconut in their dishes, except for Vietnam.

Vietnam.

Vietnamese cuisine does not include large amounts of meat and fish; instead, rice is supplemented with vegetables and eggs. Similar to Chinese cooking, Vietnamese cooking uses little fat or oil for frying. Instead of using soy sauce for seasoning, nuocmam (fish sauce) is used as the main flavoring in almost every dish. Pho is a type of soup in which noodles, beef, chicken, or pork are added, and the soup is then garnished with basil, bean sprouts, and other seasonings. Fruits are an integral part of each meal—bananas, mangoes, papayas, oranges, coconuts, and pineapple are all popular. Vietnamese coffee is made with condensed milk to make the drink extra sweet and delicious. Hot green tea is very popular as well.

The Philippines.

Philippine culture is a fusion of Malay origin and Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Islamic, and American influence. In the Philippines, four meals a day are served: breakfast, lunch, merienda (snack), and dinner. Pancit, or noodles, is considered a merienda dish and is served with a spongecake called puto and a glutinous ricecake called cuchinta. Lunch is the heaviest meal and consists of rice, a vegetable, a meat, and sometimes fish as well. Vegetables include kangkung (a local spinach), broccoli, Chinese broccoli, bitter melon, mung bean, beansprouts, eggplant, and okra. However, vegetables are not considered as important to the diet as in East Asia. Meat is a major part of the diet, with pork being one of the more popular meats.

Beef and chicken are eaten often, and water buffalo are eaten in the provinces. The primary foods in the Philippines are rice, corn, coconuts, sugarcane, bananas, coffee, mangoes, and pineapples.

Malaysia and Singapore.

These two countries have Indian, Muslim, and Chinese heritages that are reflected in their spicy cuisines. Authentic Malay food is difficult to find, though a wide selection of Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, and occasionally Western food is almost always available. Nonya is a Malaysian dish that has Chinese ingredients with local spices. Satays (meat kebabs in spicy peanut sauce) are a Malaysian creation, and fiery curries, Chinese noodles, fried tofu in peanut sauce, tamarind fish curry, curry prawns, and curried meat in coconut marinade are typical dishes. Laksa is a creamy curry with either seafood or chicken simmered in coconut milk. Popular desserts include endol (sugar syrup, coconut milk, and green noodles) and is kacang (beans and jellies topped with shaved ice, syrups, and condensed milk).