Tropical Asian Cooking. Wendy Hutton
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For centuries, some of the most precious produce of the region has been sought by the West: pepper and cardamom from India, nutmeg and cloves from Indonesia's Spice Islands, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, and galangal from mainland Southeast Asia. Today, there's a lot more than spices on supermarket shelves. Thanks to increased international travel, and to migration and the consequent opening of ethnic restaurants, Asian markets, and specialty shops, the diverse flavors of tropical Asia can be recreated in kitchens around the world.
This collection of recipes includes the major cuisines of tropical Asia. While some classic dishes are included, most incorporate a new approach to the region's cuisines. No longer confined by tradition or isolated by limited communications, Asian cooks are happily borrowing the cooking styles and ingredients of their neighbors, or from even further afield. Many traditional dishes have been modified for a fresher, lighter taste, adapted to suit today's health-conscious gourmets.
Luxurious hotels in tropical Asia — such as the highly esteemed Four Seasons properties — have been at the forefront of the evolution of the "new" tropical cuisine. Their chefs come from a wide range of backgrounds, and their sharing of knowledge and experience has led to exciting adaptations and variations. A Balinese may work together with a Swiss who happens to have spent time in Tokyo to create new types of sushi; a Singaporean chef and his Thai colleague may jointly create a new twist to a classic laksa noodle soup; a Maldivian chef may discuss with his French counterpart how to improve a traditional vegetable curry, or decide to use olive oil rather than saturated coconut oil. In this collection of fabulous recipes, chefs of Four Seasons properties around the region share with us just such recipes which have been carefully adapted for use in the home kitchen.
The recipes featured in this book are inspired by the cuisines of tropical India; of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives; the islands of Indonesia and Singapore, and — on the Southeast Asian mainland — Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Tropical central and southern India have produced a style of cooking that has not only spread into nearby countries such as the Maldives, but which has traveled with Indian migrants as far as Singapore and Malaysia. Yet the influence has not been one way, for centuries earlier, some of the spices of Indonesia's Moluccan islands — especially cloves, nutmeg, and mace — found their way into Indian spice chests.
Apart from the liberal use of spices, the food of India and the Maldives is often pungent with chilies, although their heat is frequently soothed by the rich coconut milk added to gravies and sauces. Yogurt, too, adds a cooling touch to sides, salads, and drinks.
Tropical seasonings not found in cooler regions of India — including the inimitable curry leaves and pungent brown mustard seeds — add a distinctive note to many dishes. Borrowed from northern India, widely popular seasoning mixes or masala such as the spicy flavorings of tandoori food are quite happily incorporated into tropical-style grills.
Surrounded by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, the inhabitants of the Maldives naturally enjoy fish as their major source of protein. This appears in many guises, such as fish curry with pineapple and coconut milk; grilled fish cubes marinated in tandoori spices; pan-fried fish cakes with a herb-laden curry dip; and grilled tiger prawns with a typical vindaloo sauce from Goa.
The major cuisines of Southeast Asia — Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Singaporean, and Indonesian — have all been influenced to varying degrees by the culinary genius of China. Ingredients such as noodles, tofu (bean curd), soy sauce, and fresh bean sprouts are just some Chinese ingredients found in almost all of tropical Asia.
Tempura oysters with hot sauce; Wok-fried clams with chili and Chinese sausage; Soft-shelled crab with chili dip; Raw fish salad with flavored oil
In addition to a wide range of Chinese seasonings and local spices and herbs, the food of most of tropical Asia is full of aromatic roots and members of the onion family (onions, garlic, shallots, scallions). The huge botanical family of gingers includes many edible varieties, including the common ginger known throughout the world. Brilliant yellow turmeric, galangal (used medicinally in Europe in the Middle Ages), camphor-scented aromatic ginger, and the edible pink bud of another wild ginger are all used fresh, their intense flavor adding to regional cuisines.
Singapore, a tiny but vibrant metropolis just north of the equator and off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, is largely populated by ethnic Chinese. In addition to its wide array of southern Chinese dishes, Singapore offers the food of its indigenous Malays, and the flavors of the Indian Subcontinent brought by 19th-century migrants. If there has to be one place in all of tropical Asia where it is possible to enjoy both traditional and creative new dishes from the entire region, it is Singapore. Often well traveled and, for the most part, familiar with international cuisine, Singapore's chefs have actively worked at evolving a new pan-Asian cuisine based on the wide range of local dishes already found in the country. It's not just East meets West, but East meets East in Singapore, where the philosophy seems to be "if an ingredient works, it doesn't matter where it's from, just use it."
The creation of a cross-cultural cuisine is nothing new for Singapore. More than a century ago, the blending of Chinese and Malay cultures and cuisines in Singapore and the Malaysian centers of Malacca (Melaka) and Penang (Pulau Pinang) led to the evolution of what is known locally as Nonya food. This clever blending of Chinese ingredients and cooking styles with the local spices, herbs, and fruits is without doubt one of tropical Asia's finest culinary offerings.
The cuisine of Malaysia (where the major races are Malay, Chinese, and Indian) shares much with neighboring Singapore and with Indonesia. Both Malay and Indonesian food (particularly that of Sumatra) are robustly spiced and enlivened with chilies. Large fresh red or green chilies, dried chilies, and tiny fiery fresh chilies known as bird's-eye chilies all have their individual flavor, fragrance, and color, and are used accordingly.
Of all the Indonesian islands, it is Bali that has most enchanted the world. With its incredible physical beauty and unique culture that is an integral part of daily life and not just something paraded for tourists, Bali is also home to a distinctive cuisine. And because some of its chefs— like the tourists — come from around the world to work side-by-side with Balinese chefs, Bali has become another center where a creative new cuisine based on traditional dishes is evolving.
Many of the fresh herbs which enhance the food of Malaysia and Indonesia also add their almost head-spinning aroma to the food of Thailand and Vietnam. Redolent of the jungle, they include lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, Indonesian salam leaf, a range of basils, fresh cilantro, regular mint, long-stemmed or "Vietnamese mint," and fragrant pandan leaves.
The cuisine of Thailand and Vietnam is admired throughout tropical Asia, and some of its most distinctive ingredients, such as salty, pungent fish sauce, are borrowed by neighboring cooks. Thailand has several different regional cuisines but, overall, the food can be described as intensely flavorful. It is often hot, yet mild dishes soothed by coconut milk or reflecting Chinese origins can also be found. Lovers of fresh vegetables, the Thais are masters at producing superb salads. In Vietnam, salads may consist of a large platter of fresh herbs which are eaten together with cooked food ranging from fresh or deep-fried spring rolls to grilled meats. Less spicy than the cuisine of Thailand, Vietnamese food is generally fragrant, sometimes slightly sweet, and as it is rarely deep-fried — ideal for health-conscious food lovers.
To discover more of the fresh new flavors of tropical