More Asian Food Coming to Mainstream Menus

[SuzySushi]

From the April 1, 2007 issue of Restaurants & Institutions:

The next wave of Asian menu items is ready to come ashore, gathering momentum as consumers embrace foods of Korea, India, Malaysia and more.

Americans are still infatuated with dishes like kung pao chicken and teriyaki, writes the trade magazine, but "Diners are ready to graduate to the next class of Asian recipes filtering down to mainstream menus."

I don't know whether to be elated or dismayed! And you?

(Article includes recipes for two "fusion" dishes: Korean Kimchee Beef [sushi] Rolls, and Nyonya Chili Prawns.)

[coquus]

From the April 1, 2007 issue of Restaurants & Institutions:

(Article includes recipes for two "fusion" dishes: Korean Kimchee Beef [sushi] Rolls, and Nyonya Chili Prawns.)

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The only Korean sushi I would eat would be the spam kind. Asian food has been here for a long time, I don't know what to think of fusion 2 however, but maybe the call has already been made more guinea pigs are needed to test on. I would leave the fusion to the experienced however, and hope people would at least have the sense to think for themselves when they get Asian food. Who knows though maybe some kid eating Korean Kimchee Beef sushi will one day won't be afraid to venture into a Korean restaurant and eat some Jigue and bop?

[DCP]

"The next wave of Asian menu items is ready to come ashore, gathering momentum as consumers embrace foods of Korea, India, Malaysia and more.

Americans are still infatuated with dishes like kung pao chicken and teriyaki, but diners are ready to graduate to the next class of Asian recipes filtering down to mainstream menus."

I don't know whether to be elated or dismayed! And you?

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Dismayed. primarily. I have visions of even more Americanized (or bastardized?) dishes that don't hold a candle to the authentic fare, altered so much to appeal to [the perception of] an American palate as to be unrecognizable.

In its defense, the article does talk about diners with more refined and global tastes, but I lean more towards pessimistic on the potential implementation when it filters down to restaurants below high-end. We are, after all, discussing the mainstream.

[Busboy]

Anything that is deemed a trend by Restaurants and Institutions is necessarily suspect, just given the nature of their target audience: the people who run chain restaurants and prison cafeterias.

Nonetheless, before you get too upset about creeping Asian influence, ask yourself: "Was there some old Italian crank sitting around saying 'what's with this tomato thing?' It can't be good for our cuisine. Or some old French chef bemoaning the growing influence of the potato? Or, indeed, a primitive Chinese web space where a gang of mossbacks sat around criticizing the arrival of peanuts and hot peppers from 'that New World place.'"

Bad food will always be bad food. Good food will be better for the broader spread of Asian ingredients, techniques and authentic dishes. The glass is half full.