Asian, the largest and most populous continent, is the home of diverse cuisines. The cuisines associate with culture, local specialties, and climate. There are 48 counties in Asia, and most of the nations have its unique culture and language. People in each nation have their particular receipts, which are deeply influenced by climate. For instance, eastern China and Japan belong to the temperate monsoon region. One character of this region is the dry winter and low temperate. People in the area tend to have hotpot and other types of hot food in the winter. However, part of Indonesia and Malaysia belong to the equatorial region. There are seasonal rainfall and small temperature range. In this way, Indonesians cuisine includes fruit and vegetable dishes. The climate difference causes a divergence in cooking.

This paragraph is about common cooking techniques in Asia, aiming to help readers to recognize Asian dishes better. Stir-frying is a classic Chinese cooking method, using wok and wok spatula. Stir-frying uses meat, vegetables, tofu, or seafood. All ingredients are sliced or shredded into the same size so that pieces are able to be heated evenly. Cook heats wok on a stove and adds oil to swirl around wok’s surface. When the wok is hot enough, cook adds meat and quickly stir-fried it. Then, adding vegetables or tofu. Finally, seasoning by soy sauce, salt, and sugar. Another conventional technique is deep-frying. Ingredients are frying in hot oil to create a crunchy exterior. Grilling is widely used in Southeast Asian. Ingredients are stringed together with a particular sequence. Food is cooking above or below a heat source, and it is either heated directly or wrapped in leaves or foil. Braising is a slow-cooking method. The ingredients, spices, seasoning, and water are adding in a casserole. The casserole is heated at a high temperature to boil the water; then it is simmered at a low temperature or placed without heating. This cooking process usually lasts for hours.

Figure 1 Stir-frying (Partyzan_XXI, 2009)

Figure 2 Gilling (Graves, 2018)

Figure 3 Braising (Nguyen, 2018)

Based on geographical location, there are East Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian cuisine, South Asian cuisine, Central Asian cuisine, Middle East cuisine, and North Asian cuisine. In this blog, the author mainly talks about Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thailand food. In another word, this blog is about east and southeast Asian cuisine. The list below is the restaurants near the University of Pittsburgh that are recommended by the author, classified by cuisine types. The restaurants are either traditional Asian food, or fusion cuisine.

Chinese cuisine:

• Szechuan Express
• Hunan Bar
• Sichuan Gourmet – Oakland
• Tong’s Cuisine

Japanese cuisine:

• Oishii Bento
• Sushi Fuku
• Mount Everest sushi

Korean cuisine:

• Chick’n Bubby

Thai cuisine:

• Thai Hana Restaurant
• Spice Island Tea House

References

Graves, H. (2018, May 29). Thai-style Pollock Grilled in Banana Leaves. Retrieved from Food Stories: http://www.helengraves.co.uk/thai-fish-grilled-in-banana-leaves-recipe/

Nguyen, B. (2018, June). ca kho to. Retrieved from ethnic seattle: https://ethnicseattle.com/2018/08/06/clay-pots-an-ancient-way-of-cooking-that-more-should-know-about/ca-kho-to/

Partyzan_XXI. (2009, 1 3). ginger chicken. Retrieved from flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/78011127@N00/3168342551/