PlantAsia
Asia's Vegetable Wisdom in Recipes, Stories and Techniques
Pamelia Chia’s celebratory cookbook PlantAsia draws on vivid childhood memories of hawker stall food and extensive travels to proffer encyclopedic knowledge of Asian culinary techniques and ingredients.
Eschewing the environmental impacts of meat-heavy diets, these recipes elevate their vegetable bases by adding pops of flavor from fermented, aromatic, and umami-rich ingredients; through careful cooking methods (sometimes several methods in a single dish); and by adding contrasting textures. Among the colorful and appealing recipes are those for Watercress Noodles topped with Split Pea Fritters, Mushroom Adobo Spaghetti, and Beet Curry with snowy Coconut Sambol.
Organized by cooking technique, the book begins with raw recipes. Its cooking instructions get more complex in subsequent chapters that cover steamed, fried, roasted, braised, and charred dishes. The book incorporates cooking methods and flavors from multiple corners of Asia alongside original creations like Spinach Leaf Chaat, an appetizer of battered fried spinach leaves crowned with several chutneys and crunchy garnishes that has over-the-top visual appeal.
Interviews with cooks, food writers, and food producers, paired with joyful, sparkling watercolor portraits, contribute to the book’s multitude of perspectives about plant-based cooking in places including Tibet, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Sri Lankan Chef Gayan Pieris describes how Buddhist practices shaped meals centered around plant-based ingredients, and Chef Jihee Shin elucidates how numerous small plates of food, banchan, are central to the Korean table.
Clear instructions and color photographs make it easy to re-create these innovative dishes, and multiple photographs accompany recipes with more involved preparations, like hand-shaped dumplings. An extended Asian pantry list with photographs describes dozens of items that add vibrant flavor and mouthfeel, including salted duck eggs, preserved mustard stem, and Korean plum syrup.
PlantAsia is a fantastic cookbook that introduces an adventurous, innovative cooking philosophy alongside a wealth of extraordinary vegan and vegetarian dishes.
Reviewed by
Rachel Jagareski
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
