Table Of Content30-Minute Asian Meals
250 Quick, TAsTy & HeAlTHy
Recipes fRoM ARound AsiA
Marie Wilson
TuTTle Publishing
Tokyo • Rutland, Vermont • Singapore
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
I n t r o d u c t I o n
Eating Healthy in
30 Minutes or Less
The evidence is all around tions pose quite an overwhelming
us—today’s lifestyles and challenge for the home cook, who
schedules put extra demands too often takes the easy way out.
on the home cook, requiring that Otherwise, what would account for
meals be prepared more quickly than the staggering increase in sales of
ever before. Not only don’t we have frozen dinners and carryout food?
time to cook, we have even less time The prospect of hours in the
to shop. But in spite of our changing kitchen after a busy day too often
habits, our standards are higher than leads to relying on over-processed
ever. The modern concern with health frozen dinners or fast foods. The
dictates that these meals should be temptation to compromise lurks in
prepared with fresh, wholesome every corner of the supermarket and
ingredients and be low in calories and in the kitchen, but such compromise
fat. And because we have all become comes at a high price. What these
more sophisticated about fine cuisine, foods save in preparation time,
they must be unusual meals to be they sacrifice in taste, quality and
enjoyed and appreciated, not merely a nutritional value. Many essential
means to meet our nutritional needs. nutrients may be missing because
A common misconception is that the more processing raw ingredients
you have to choose between gourmet undergo, the greater their nutrient
but high-fat, unhealthy foods that loss. They are also high in calories,
are delicious and beautifully pre- fat and salt.
sented, or low-fat foods that might Reading the labels on the back
help you to live longer but are bland of a few common frozen dinners
and boring. Another misconception tells the story. A popular brand of
is that so-called healthful gourmet chicken dinner has 27 grams of fat,
dishes are complex and time-con- 105 milligrams of cholesterol and
suming to prepare and require a long 730 milligrams of sodium in one
list of unusual and expensive ingre- serving. Another has about the same
dients. These trends and misconcep- amount of fat but 980 milligrams
minimum, and only those available
at most supermarkets are included.
Also, substitutions are given wher-
ever 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 comple-
menting the others and bringing bal-
ance to the whole. To produce such
a meal takes a great deal of time and
of sodium. Canned soups are even effort. However, many Asian dishes
worse, with half a can averaging can be made in larger quantities and
1000 milligrams of sodium. A fast- eaten as a “main course,” and if
food hamburger is not only fatty, cooked with vegetables, need only
but has about 1000 milligrams of rice to make a nutritionally balanced
sodium, and a serving of fast-food meal. The custom of serving one
chicken can have upwards of 2000 “main course” is a Western idea that
milligrams. The worst offender is the seems to be in keeping with today’s
soup marketed as cup of “oriental fast-paced lifestyles.
noodle soup” that contains 1550 Most recipes in this book make
milligrams of sodium. two servings, reflecting the Asian
The need for good tasting, tradition of eating family style—that
healthy, everyday dishes that can is, of enjoying multiple, smaller
be brought to the table quickly is dishes with rice rather than one
very real, and the solution is found large dish. When serving three or
in Asian cooking. Well-known for four people, you may wish to make
its health-promoting benefits and two dishes in this collection or sim-
its variety of tempting taste sensa- ply double the recipe to make one
tions, Asian cuisine is very quick large dish.
and easy to prepare. The recipes in
this book have been chosen for vari-
ety—each chapter is organized into The 30-Minute
major categories such as chicken,
Strategy
beef, pork, lamb, vegetables, salads,
eggs, noodles, tofu and so on—and
for their simplicity and speed in The timeframe for making recipes in
cooking. They have been simplified this book is 30 minutes—the time it
without compromising authenticity takes to cook rice, plus a 10-minute
or flavor. The number of unfamil- buffer to rectify mishaps, set the
iar ingredients has been kept to a table, make that extra dipping sauce
30-minute asian meals
or make two quick dishes instead of noodles, sauces, Japanese hot pot,
one. Experienced cooks may have a satay and so on. A visual key accom-
meal on the table in 20 minutes flat panies each recipe section.
and, if making dishes with quick-
cooking noodles instead of rice,
probably even sooner. First, the rice Health Benefits of
is started and, while it is cooking,
Asian Cuisine
the ingredients for the “main dish”
are washed, sliced and placed by
the stove. If an accompanying salad, In general, people in Asia eat less
vegetable or dipping sauce is desired, than Westeners, and meat and poul-
that should also be prepared while try play a much less prominent role
the rice is cooking. In keeping with in the Asian diet. The major health
the Asian custom of ending a meal benefits of Asian cooking are due
with fresh fruit, no dessert recipes to an emphasis on plant foods: veg-
are included in this collection. etables, legumes (especially the soy-
Most of these dishes are stir-fried, bean) and starches. Meats play only
a cooking method that takes a mini- a supporting role. Just two or three
mum of time. Stir-frying is not really ounces are used for each portion,
frying, but tossing and stirring foods but it is appetizingly cooked with
quickly in a very hot wok or skil- little fat and lots of vegetables. Rice
let with a small amount of oil. It is is really the heart of the diet and it
a kind of flash-cooking that seals in appears at every meal.
juices and keeps flavors fresh. Fish is The high-fiber content of veg-
moister and more succulent if cooked etables earns another plus for Asian
until barely opaque at the center and cooking. Science now shows that a
vegetables keep their color, flavor, diet rich in vegetables can reduce the
and natural crispness if cooked just risk of certain forms of cancer and
until tender. In these recipes, the help lower cholesterol levels, and the
number of ingredients has been kept omega-3 fatty acids in seafood and
to a minimum, as well as the number seaweed have been shown to keep
of cooking steps. In almost every arteries from clogging. Also, some of
case, the meat, vegetables, and sauc- the same anticancer agents plentiful
ing is done in one pot. in dark green seaweed are found in
To help you quickly find a dark, leafy vegetables such as bok
recipe that fits your dining plea- choy and mustard greens.
sure—whether it’s curried chicken Consider these statistics: American
or vegetarian fried rice—or, more men live an average of 75 years;
prosaically, to find a recipe that uses American women, 80. In Japan, the
ingredients you have on hand, each range is 78 years for men and 85 for
chapter is organized by main ingredi- women, though in Okinawa, a pre-
ents, components, or cooking meth- fecture of Japan, the average lifespan
ods common to that cuisine—for is even higher. For women it is more
example, beef, chicken, vegetables, than 86 years, and there are some
eating healthy in 30 minutes or less
