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by Tamar Love
Publication date: 03/05/2003
Print newspaper article in The San Francisco Examiner
This month, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival celebrates its 21st year, offering up a selection of hundreds of Asian-produced films from more than 15 countries. Before exploring the festival's filmmaking bounty, take a moment to get to know the rich, varied cuisines native to Asia.
Chinese
Chinese food, arguably the most popular type of Asian food in America, encompasses cuisine from four main provinces, with Cantonese being the most commonly eaten in America. The first type of Asian food brought to the West, Cantonese cuisine has unfortunately been Americanized over the years. Food from the region, however, is some of the finest Asian cuisine made. Often stir-fried or steamed to preserve the natural flavor of the ingredients, Cantonese food utilizes the region's great bounty of seafood and vegetables and is also famous for its roast meats and dim sum.
According to Rhonda Parkinson, About.com's guide to Chinese cuisine, food from China's Szechuan and Hunan provinces are similar in many respects -- both are fiery hot with interesting flavor combinations. Hunan food, though, relies on a greater variety of vegetables, meat and fish and is often even hotter than Szechuan cooking. In dishes from China's northern regions, the staple grain is wheat, not rice, with noodles made from wheat flour comprising many meals. The region's cold, dry winters have contributed to the nature of the north's heartier fare, such as steamed dumplings, mutton dishes, Mongolian hot pot and the ever-popular mu shu pork.
Eastern China is famous for "red-cooking," which involves slowly simmering meat in dark soy sauce, imparting a reddish tinge to the final product.
Thai
Thai cuisine, essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences, reflects French, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese influences, as well as the original characteristics of Thailand's Buddhist water-going lifestyle, which eschews large chunks of meat for smaller, shredded cuts laced with herbs and spices. Best known for its fiery curries and coconut-based soups, Thai food is characterized by its use of lemongrass, peanut and cucumber, and by hot, spicy foods balanced by cooling, un-spiced dips, fish and vegetables.
Vietnamese
Staples of Vietnamese cooking are rice supplemented with vegetables, eggs and small amounts of meat and fish.
Although similar to Chinese cooking, Vietnamese cooking uses little fat or oil for frying, relying instead on steaming, boiling and cold preparation. "NuocMam," a spicy fish sauce, is a principle ingredient in almost every Vietnamese dish, including cabbage salads, pho (a soup dish) and cold noodles accented with grilled meats and fresh, uncooked vegetables.
Burmese
Burmese food, which borrows elements from its geographical neighbors -- India, Thailand and China -- has a unique flavor.
Joycelyn Lee, one of the owners of Clement Street's outstanding Burma Superstar, is careful to point out that Burmese cuisine does not merely serve Indian or Thai dishes, but utilizes flavors and cooking techniques from all three regions in each dish.
For example, Samusa Soup, one of the restaurant's specialties, is made of broken-apart samusas, falafel, lentils cabbage and tamarind, all served in an onion-based broth.
"All the flavors coming together ... cooked and fresh flavors at the same time ... that's Burmese food," says Lee.
Indonesian
Another island country whose cuisine reflects its wide ethnic diversity is Indonesia, the fifth-largest country in the world, containing more than 250 different ethnic groups. Most Indonesian restaurants in America focus on the foods of Java, Sumatra, Padang and Bali, which use meat, fish and vegetables as condiments designed to flavor the native staples of rice, sago palm flour, sweet potatoes and cassava. Rijsttafel, or "Rice Table," is a good way to sample Indonesian food: a variety of different meat and vegetable dishes, each in a small, tapas-sized quantity, are served to the entire table, allowing each diner to taste the many different flavors.
Filipino
At Filipino restaurants, diners are likely to enjoy a variety of finely prepared dishes with flavors from the many cultures that have influenced the Philippines over the centuries: Malay, Chinese, Spanish, American, Arab, Indian and French. Peter Harper and Laurie Fullerton, authors of Moon Publications' "Philippines Handbook," say food from the Philippines is centered around rice, which is served at breakfast, lunch and dinner and is often accented with coconut milk, garlic and ginger, as well as combinations of major ingredients, such as chicken and shrimps, pork and fish.
Other Asian regions, each with its own unique cuisine, include Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Taiwan and Laos; to sample these "flavors," check out the Asian Film Festival, which runs from March 5-16.
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