Planning and Serving an Asian Meal
Each of the main dishes included in this book allow about 3 ounces of cooked meat (4 ounces uncooked) per serving. However, the number of people that a dish will serve will also depend on whether you are planning to serve it as the main course of a Western meal or as one of a number of dishes in an Asian meal. Side dishes and some soups can become main courses as one wishes, since many are substantial and the distinction is a matter of quantity. Perhaps the best way to begin cooking these foods is to choose a single dish that can be worked in with a more familiar menu. The nutrient analysis given at the end of each recipe should be of help in determining what other foods you can serve with it and still reduce your intake of fats and sodium.
The introduction to each chapter tells what the typical ingredients and seasonings are for that country, and the recipes themselves contain clear and precise explanations as well. The recipes may seem formidable at first glance because there are so many ingredients in them. But every effort has been made to simplify them and to use ingredients that can be found in any supermarket. In practice they are not difficult to manage if you have your collection of spices and seasonings arranged handily by your stove. The actual process of cooking is quick and easy, but, as with so many Asian dishes, preparation is as important as cooking.
Moreover, for the fast pace of contemporary life, Asian cooking styles are marvelously flexible, and the key is the ability to change recipes based on available ingredients. Keep in mind the fact that there are no precise recipes for any of these dishes. Asian cooks rarely measure their ingredients but cook by instinct, taste, and past experience. Seasonings are adjusted to individual taste, so the "correct" amount is the one that tastes best to the cook or those the cook is endeavoring to please.
Recipes and Their Nutrient Values
The computer analysis for calories and for fat, cholesterol, and sodium content that follows each recipe is for one serving. These counts are for the basic recipe and do not include the optional ingredients unless stated. For example, if a recipe calls for green beans and says that carrots may be substituted, the analysis is for green beans. If the recipe says it will yield 4-6 servings, the count is based on the first number, that is, 4, unless otherwise stated.
All of the figures have been rounded up to the nearest 5 or 10 milligrams, and to the nearest one-half gram. In reading these figures, you will find a difference between the total fat in a recipe and the sum of the values listed for saturated and polyunsaturated fats. This is because there are other fatty acids in the food that are not included in the nutrient analysis.
All of these nutrient values should be regarded as estimates. There are often minor (but sometimes major) discrepancies from one source to another as well as variations in the foods themselves. For example, the actual amount of fat in the preparation of chicken could vary with the quality of the meat and how much care you take in removing the skin and the fat. As for sodium values in Asian condiments, there is a tremendous disparity from sample to sample and brand to brand. Still another consideration is the fact that most Asian foods are served on large platters that are placed in the center of the table, and that diners freely help themselves from these platters. This makes the notion of an exact analysis for a single serving even more imprecise than it already is, since how big a "single" serving is depends upon the diner's appetite at the time. Under these conditions, the analyses can be but approximations at best.
Please note that the nutrient analysis for meats, chicken, and fish is based on only the leanest portions. For example, if a recipe calls for fillets offish,the analysis is for a lean fish such as sole, not for a more fatty variety such as salmon, and the figure used is an averaged, rounded-up figure.
Sources for the data given in the nutrient computer analyses can be found in the section titled "Major Sources for the Nutrient Content of the Recipes" found in the back of this volume on page 335.
The
Good-for-Your-Health
All-Asian Cookbook
The Japanese Kitchen
Japan needs no introduction. With its gross national product accounting for 11% of world production, Japan ranks third after the United States and West Germany as a world trader. It has also become a major partner in many American industries and is giving failing U.S. auto and steel companies a fresh start with infusions of Japanese capital and management. With these economic successes has come a broad series of steps on the part of the Japanese government, education, and business sectors to encourage the development of an international perspective in every aspect of Japanese life. When compared with other nations, Japan has far more knowledge about the rest of the world than most other nations, and Japan has also been more receptive to foreign ideas and foreign technologies. Yet despite these strong influences from the outside, the Japanese, while contributing to the international community, have managed to preserve their cultural heritage and to take pride in being Japanese. Their cuisine is part of this cultural heritage and it has not only been kept intact but is finding devotees all over the world.
Japanese cooking, the most elegantly simple cuisine in the world, stands apart from all other Asian cuisines. Unlike other Asian cooking styles, which tend to combine many ingredients in one dish and to rely on exotic foodstuffs or spice blends, Japanese cuisine emphasizes the unique flavor and character of each food so that all will have equal importance in taste as well as appearance. The insistence on the quality and integrity of the natural food derives from a long history of a reverence for "nature and a sense of harmony with the seasons. Only the freshest, most perfect specimen will make this possible, and only the simplest cooking methods are necessary. Seasonings are used with restraint because the aim is to enhance, not mask, the intrinsic properties of each food. Additional excitement is imparted when it is brought to the table by serving small portions of each food separately in aesthetic arrangements designed to appeal to the eye as well as to the palate. Just as much attention is given to choosing the right bowl or plate as to the preparation of the food itself.
Because of the recent concern in the United States for health and fitness, more attention has been focused on the virtues of Japanese cooking, with its sparing use of fats and its reliance on fish and soy products rather than beef as a source of protein. Not, only is it gaining popularity in the United States, it is also influencing the direction of international cuisine. In some California and New York restaurants, a happy culinary marriage has taken shape combining the Japanese philosophy of aesthetics and simplicity with the French eye for detail of the school of la nouvelle cuisine.
The organization of Japanese cooking is not at all like Western cooking, with its main course preceded by soup or an appetizer and ending with a dessert or an assortment of cheeses.