INTRODUCTION

Everything you ever wanted to know about Asian food and cooking is contain within this blog, from essential information on ingredients to traditional recipe from every part of the region.
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      Balance is the essence of Asian cooking. From the vastness of China to the island of Indonesia and the Philippines, cooks strive to achieve a harmonious balance of tastes, textures, colours and aromas. Whether a sizzling, stir-fry or mouth-tingling curry.

     Rice is the staple food of the whole of this region. Cultivated in southern Asia for over 5,000 years, it is eaten at every meal, including breakfast, and is the basis of both sweet and savory snack foods, as a being a source for both wine and vinegar. In Japan, vinegared rice is used to make sushi, those delicious titbits that consist either of shape rice and other ingredients rolled in thin sheets of  edible seaweeds.
 

     Fish forms an important part of the diet. Every country, with the exemption of Laos, has miles of coastline, as well as rivers, lakes and ponds, all of which yield plentiful supplies of fish. The lower reaches of the Yangtze River are traditionally known as the " Land of Fish and Rice", a term that is used to indicate the well-being of the local inhabitants.

     The Japanese cook's skill in preparing and serving fish is legendary. This is partly due to the fact that the country has abundant fish stocks and only limited land for grazing, but is also because for many years, meat was off the menu, due to government decree that prohibited its consumption by any but the sick, on the ground that is increased aggression.
     In Thailand, too, fish is of enormous importance. As elsewhere in Asia, it is always served as fresh as possible. in restaurant it is usual for diners to choose their own fish from tanks.