Favorite Asian Cuisines | Asian American Poll

FAVORITE ASIAN CUISINES
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:20:07 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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I like that "pizza" dish from Japan that is like a pancake with w/meat and veggies cooked inside. Yummy. I think there is a Korean dish that is similar.
Hapa Chick Sunday, December 16, 2001 at 15:09:15 (PST)

food--

there is no conclusive evidence that hot peppers entered to Korea directly by the Portuguese, Japanese, or Chinese sources. What is CERTAIN, is that hot peppers were from the "new world"-- Just as there were no horses in north america prior to christopher columbus(who incidentally never set foot in north america.)

Sichuan may have had hot peppers prior to Korea--that I do not know.

But as points out, Koreans have been fermenting vegetables for a long time--but the same can be true for almost any culture.

for the purpose of this discussion, we may as well call "korean" food or "japanese" food to be whatever food that is popular in that region.

Even though "jja jjang myung" is universally known to be Chinese food in Korea, it might as well be called Korean. Just as Chicken with Broccoli might as well be called American food. (afterall, isn't california rolls really American?)

It would be sorta silly to try to "segregate" food when cultural diffusion has been affecting these regions for centuries.

anyway, just my 2 cents.
ka Sunday, December 16, 2001 at 14:38:56 (PST)

Steamed white rice seems to be the staple of all Asian diets. Why is that? I would like to know why.
Rice Cooka Sista Saturday, December 15, 2001 at 17:01:44 (PST)

Food,

Do some research before you post your arguments. The fact is our global love affair with hot spices is a relatively new thing.

For your information, hot peppers DID come from Mexico and Central America and WERE distributed throughout the world by european traders in the 1500s.
You speak of South East Asian cuisines famous for their hot foods, well, they too did not use hot peppers in their cuisine before the mid 1500s. Even India was introduced to hot peppers during that time. Before, India had only "fragrant" spices such as cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper. They became so enchanted with these new foods, and consume such vast quantities of it today, that generally most believe India must have been the cradle of hot pepper cultivation.
So it was the love affair with the hot stuff that made most Asian cultures embrace it when introduced to it. Not the fact that it always existed as you seem to suggest.
And the "love" affair grew. Spreading hot cuisine to other parts of South East Asia and then to places such as China, Corea, and Japan.

I'm a little disturbed by the recent responses to my original post. Many posters seem to be defensive to the fact that modern Kimchi may contain foods of foreign origin. I mean who cares where the food came from or whether it took us Coreans to create such a wonderful food. Please relax a little!
The "foreign connection" of Kimchi does not take away it's respect. It does the opposite.
My original intention was never tarnish our food's origins, but to discuss it, and find out if other Coreans knew of other influences to our wonderful cuisine.
So why should we be so defensive? The only upsetting thing is that those early Mexicans had exclusive access to such flavorful peppers for a long long time. Not fair, not fair!
Other than that, please keep the food discussion going.:-)
Gotta love the hot stuff Saturday, December 15, 2001 at 08:11:59 (PST)

Coffee comes form the Middle East. Muslim sheperd snoticed that when their flock ate beans from a certain plant they were not able to fall asleep at night time. That bean turned out to be the coffe bean.
Makadu Friday, December 14, 2001 at 09:04:39 (PST)

Peppers weren't brought to Korea from Portugal. The Southwestern areas of China have had a very spicy cuisine (sichuan, hunan) for as long as Chinese history. They are famous for it, and the same for many SE Asian cuisines.
food Thursday, December 13, 2001 at 18:23:45 (PST)

wasup,

"sushi" is a very loosely used term to describe an ingredient (fish/egg/vegeatbles) plae on top of a piece of packed/vinegared rice. It doesn't necesarily HAVE to have a pieve of seaweed around it. I'm sure there is a connection between kimbap (transalte lieterally to 'sweaweed' and 'rice') and sushi, but whether once originated from the other is up for conjecture. Your statement has nothing to back up the claims. Go edu-muh-cate your self!
Duh.... Thursday, December 13, 2001 at 17:52:29 (PST)

Gotta love hot stuff--

Korea also didn't invent "Rice." Tomatos, potatos, corn, and coffee are from the new world. Native Americans never had horses, chickens, or wheat before they met Europeans.

Cultural diffusion makes what one has borrowed from others, their own. Kimchi for example, is very popular in Japan--it is called Kimuchi, and is much more toned down. Is Kimuchi Korean or Japanese? What about Mandoo? Is that really Korean or Chinese or Manchurian? Bulgogi might have a mongolian root. The chinese also eat cold noodle like Korean neng myun--did the Chinese copy the Korean version or vice versa?

I remember talking to my German friend about how I needed to buy American Cheese. He said, "What the heck is *american* cheese?" (meaning america has no cheese of it's own) So i showed them my block of Kraft singles--and he said, "this isn't *american* cheese, it's just cheese!" Heh, figures~

I think instead of thinking that Kimchi isn't totally *korean* food, it's better to think that kimchi is wholly korean food--but not being exclusive, it is now wholly japanese and american food as well.

ka Wednesday, December 12, 2001 at 13:02:11 (PST)

No I never heard the story that Portugese traders introduced hot peppers to Corea. It could very well be true. However, that does not show its "forerign origin" necessarily.

For example, just because tomato was introduced from America, doesn't make pizza or spaghetti an American food. What we know as modern kimchi may have used ingredients from different places in the past, but they all added to the basic idea of pickling vegetables, which have been recorded since ancient times.

So having said that, that makes it a uniquely Corean cuisine since there is no dish that resembles kimchi in Portugal or anywhere in the world.

Here are two views on history of kimchi:

http://www.kimchi.or.kr/english/story/index.html

http://soback.kornet.nm.kr/~pixeline/heeyun/ korea/kimchi.html

and one on history of tomato

http://www.nmsu.edu/~molbio/plant/tomato.html

* And by the way, Corea was referred as the Hermit Kingdom as recently as the Josun dynasty.
Gotta get back to work! Jae jsong@penguinputnam.com Wednesday, December 12, 2001 at 11:54:53 (PST)

Gotta love hot stuff,

I must say that the Korean "kimbap" is totally derived from the Japanese sushi. Many Koreans deny it, but I know it must be true. Japanese have been eating sushi for a long time.
wasup Monday, December 10, 2001 at 21:16:27 (PST)

There are different types of kimchi. Perhaps you are correct in asserting that the current popular version of kimchi came about in the mid 1500's. Maybe the actual practice of pickling vegetables for the cold winter months originated before then. For example, I think kimchi in North Korea generally does not use the hot peppers...but I might be wrong.
KM, 24 Monday, December 10, 2001 at 13:56:26 (PST)

I just tried this Chinese dish, called "mu shu rou." It is so similar to the Arabic and Turkish pita wrapped with shawarma or kabob meat. Are there any links between the two? The Chinese is more sweet with the plum sauce.
yummy Saturday, December 08, 2001 at 17:26:50 (PST)

I grew up on American and Korean food in my house. It kills me that in this little East Texas town that there is no way for me to get Korean food. I have to go all the way to Houston in order to hit a Korean grocery store or restaurant. I love my food to be spicy...the spicier the better!
zay zay73@yahoo.com Friday, December 07, 2001 at 13:07:16 (PST)

Yes, I, too, think Spam is good... Dim sum is the best!!!
China Girl Wednesday, December 05, 2001 at 19:47:12 (PST)

I love Kimchi as much as any Corean but I was surprised to learn recently that Kimchi (which is our national pride and joy) isn't actually a totally Corean food.
It seems the hot peppers which give Kimchi it's distinct flavor were introduced to Corea by Portuguese traders in the mid 1500s.
My mom never told me that and was VERY surprised (she's so pro Corean, lol)
I was wondering if other Coreans knew of this and if anyone knows of other foreign influences in Corean cuisine (besides Chinese of course).
If anything, Kimchi's foreign origin shows we Coreans have always been an international and innovative people.

Gotta love hot stuff! Thursday, November 29, 2001 at 05:33:12 (PST)

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