Best Asian Cookbook To Buy

As we’ve seen from our Asian cookbook reviews, there are many tasty and interesting Asian dishes to know about and ones that you can learn to make in your own home.

If you’d like to gain a bit more knowledge about Asian cuisine, read our FAQs.

What are some famous Asian dishes?

There are many popular Asian dishes to know about. “Asian cuisine” can’t be used as an umbrella term for all the different cuisines, so let’s explore some of the most famous meals in different countries.

• Teriyaki dishes. These have a shiny visual appearance because they contain teriyaki sauce. Teriyaki originated in Japan in the 17th century. Teriyaki usually contains beef, pork, or chicken that’s grilled, roasted, or broiled.
• Chow mein. This stir fry’s name has roots in Mandarin and Taishanese origins, but is said to have come from Northern China. There are many variations on this dish, but it usually contains boiled and fried noodles, shredded meat such as beef, seafood, chicken, or pork, and a sauce that’s flavored with rice wine.
• Samgyeopsal. This is a popular South Korean dish that consists of pork belly – so popular, in fact, that residents in South Korea eat it every few days. It’s name can be translated to mean “three layered meat.” It became trendy in the 1960s when soju (an alcoholic drink) prices decreased and people chose pork belly to accompany it. This dish is cooked at the table in a pan that allows the fat to run off the sides of the meat.
• Dal. This dish is the national dish of India and it’s a stew with yellow or black lentils, but it can also include mung beans, chickpeas, or peas. It’s so popular because these lentils are the most consumed ingredients in India.
• Satay. This is a dish from Indonesia. It contains skewered meat that is served with a sauce. While it’s made with any type of meat, you can sometimes find exotic meat, such as crocodile, included. The meat is marinated before being cooked, with the marinade containing garlic, lime juice, dark soy sauce, and garlic.
• Spring rolls. These are a popular snack in China that can be eaten as an appetizer or with a hot beverage or dip. They used to be called spring dish, which symbolized the start of the spring season. Spring rolls are made with dough that’s rolled and filled with ingredients, such as pork and mushrooms, before being deep-fried in hot oil.

Why is Asian cooking healthy?

Asian food isn’t just delicious – it’s also good for you. This is because meals usually have soup as an accompaniment, which is filled with vegetables. Rice is also common in Asian meals, and there are different types of rice available, such as purple and red rice, which are less nutritionally dense than white rice, meaning that they provide less starch.

Asian cuisine usually contains a meat-to-vegetable ratio of 1:3, meaning that meat is not the main focus of it. Healthy vegetables are, so this plant-based diet is satisfying while providing a good dose of fiber and nutrients.

Seafood is sometimes consumed instead of meat, which further makes the Asian diet healthy because seafood contains vitamins, protein, healthy fats, and minerals.

Is Japanese and Korean food similar?

The main difference between Japanese and Korean cuisines is the spices used in meals. Japanese dishes don’t contain a lot of spices, whereas spices are popular in Korean food.

This is why you’ll find hot and spicy foods in Korea but not in Japan.

The types of foods that are celebrated also vary from one country to the other.

For example, Japan is known for its sashimi and sushi, whereas Korea is renowned for its BBQ that’s become a worldwide delicacy.

Is Chinese food tastier than Korean food?

It’s said that Chinese food can be considered tastier than Korean food simply because of how it’s more varied than what you’ll find in Korea. Here are some important differences between the two types of cuisine that influence their flavors.

• Stir-frying is popular in China, with soy sauce, meat, and veggies being blended together in a delicious stir fry that’s full of flavor. By comparison, in Korea fermenting foods is more popular as a cooking technique.
• Soy sauce is commonly used as a meal accompaniment in China. It adds a burst of flavor. It’s not used as part of meals in Korea, however, as it’s more of a dipping sauce.

That said, both Chinese and Korean foods contain many spices to add depth of flavor to dishes.

There’s no doubt that you can find many authentic Korean foods that are full of flavor, such as bibimbap, a rice dish containing vegetables, chicken or beef, chilli pepper paste, and a raw egg. Another tasty Korean dish is fried chicken which puts its creative spin on the American fast food classic by coating chicken with a spicy, sweet sauce before double-frying it in oil.

Whether or not you find Chinese cuisine tastier than Korean food really depends on your preferences!