by Milan Singhal

Created on: March 30, 2007   Last Updated: May 04, 2007

Asian cuisine is fast making its way into the American way of eating. According to a report by the U.S market for Asian food ,the $400 million market for shelf-stable, refrigerated, and frozen Asian foods embraces not only the growing number of Asian-American consumers, but also Americans of diverse backgrounds who have come to crave the products of these diverse and flavorful cuisines.

The following are the main Asian cuisine, which I have tried to compile in nutshell (with reference from various sources)

Chinese food- With presence of food chain like Panda Express and other Chinese reataurants, this cuisine has become one of the favorites among Americans. The food mainly includes -
Chow mien- It is stir fried noodles which comes with bits of meat, vegetables, beef pork or chicken.
Chop-suey means "left over" in Chinese, is mainly a mix of vegetable and meat in brown sauce.
General Tso's chicken- Mostly served with steamed broccoli; this chicken is deep fried and seasoned with garlic, ginger, seaseme oil, scallions and hot chili peppers.

Other dishes which normally shows on a typical American Chinese menu are-sesame chicken, chicken salad, chicken fingers, egg rolls, fried rice, some soups and fortune cookies etc.
The Chinese restaurants here in America, do not serve the authentic Chinese flavored food which is somewhat pungent so it has adapted to American taste. The restaurants can be classified into:
Sit-down dining Here one can can sit in dining area, order from menu and enjoy meals. Buffet - One can choose a dish of his own choice from a large variety at a nominal price of 20-30$.
Take-out This option is slowly becoming popular and is convenient to people who are always on the go.
Chinese food is cooked very quickly and requires lots of oil and salt. Stir-fry, deep fry, pan fry are the most common techniques of preparation. Recently there's lots of debate going on the nutritive value of Chinese food as it has lots of salts in it. According to a report, a plate of general tso's chicken, for example, is loaded with about 40 percent more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day.

Thai food-Thai cuisine is a blend of Chinese stir fries and Indian curries but with its own unique flavor. For example, instead of the use of pure spices, as used in Indian food, Thai uses fresh herbs a lot. The dishes tend to contain lots of coconut milk or lemon juice. The other ingredient found in almost all Thai dishes is fish sauce and shrimp paste
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Rice

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