Asian Greeting Custom

Along with Western countries with hugging, kissing or shaking hands are considered as the typical greeting custom, many Asian countries also have many way to express etiquette in greeting each other. 

Greeting in Thailand

Greeting in India

For example, In Thai culture, the traditional greeting is called the wai. The custom holds that the younger person begins the greeting by putting his palms together at his chest and gives a small bow. However, not all wais are created equal. The placement of your hands, how high your fingertips are on your chest, indicate the social prestige of the person you are greeting. The highest wai is reserved for royalty and monks. If someone greets you with a wai, it is polite to return the greeting. Make a note of the position of their hands on their chest and mimic it.

 Greeting in Korea

Greeting in Japan

Bowing is one aspect of each culture that most assume is the same, but in fact, it has evolved in each country over the years. In Japan and Korea, a slight bow when greeting each other and a deeper bow in more formal situations is still considered appropriate.

Some interesting Asian Food Recipes (Part 2)

I have been to Thailand and had a change to try an interesting dessert dish called Sticky rice with mango. This dish is extremely easy to make and the ingredients are very to find in the market. Besides that, I would like to introduce a dish from Singapore which is Singapore noodle style. 

1. Thai Mango Sticky Rice

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups glutinous (sweet) rice
• 1 1/3 cups well-stirred canned unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted lightly
• 1 large mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin slices (at least 24)

PREPARATION

In a bowl wash rice well in several changes of cold water until water is clear. Soak rice in cold water to cover overnight.

Drain rice well in a sieve. Set sieve over a large deep saucepan of simmering water (sieve should not touch water) and steam rice, covered with a kitchen towel and a lid, 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender (check water level in pan occasionally, adding more water if necessary).

While rice is cooking, in a small saucepan bring 1 cup coconut milk to a boil with 1/3 cup sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and remove from heat. Keep mixture warm.

Transfer cooked rice to a bowl and stir in coconut-milk mixture. Let rice stand, covered, 30 minutes, or until coconut-milk mixture is absorbed. Rice may be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead and kept covered at room temperature.

While rice is standing, in cleaned small pan slowly boil remaining 1/3 cup coconut milk with remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Transfer sauce to a small bowl and chill until cool and thickened slightly.

To serve, mold 1/4 cup servings of sticky rice on dessert plates. Drizzle desserts with sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Divide mango slices among plates.

2. Singapore Style Noodle

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces dried rice vermicelli, soaked in water until pliable
• 24 small tiger shrimp, heads removed, peeled and deveined
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1/2 cup fresh shelled green peas, or frozen peas, thawed
• 2 teaspoons Indian curry powder
• 6 ounces Cantonese roast pork or thick slice of ham, diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 sprigs cilantro, trimmed

PREPARATION

Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat and cook the noodles until tender yet firm, about 10 seconds. Use a strainer and tongs to pick up the noodles and transfer them to a bowl. In the same water cook the shrimp until opaque, about 1 minute, and drain.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Stir-fry the onion until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, the noodles, and peas, and sprinkle the curry powder over the top. Toss well, making sure all of the noodles become yellow. Add the pork, shrimp, and fish sauce, and continue to stir-fry until the noodles are heated through, about 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary, and serve garnished with cilantro.

Some interesting Asian Food Recipes (Part 1)

There are many Asian foods that I like. However, the following Asian recipes I found in the Internet are the two dishes that I think very easy to make yet still tastes delicious. Besides that, they are good for your health as well with the vegetable included. They are Bibimbap, a typical Korean dish with beef, eggs and many different vegetable. Another dish is Summer Roll, a famous street food in Viet Nam. Let's start with Bibimbap!

1.Korean Bibimbap 

Ingredients

Meat and meat sauce

• 100g beef mince
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sugar - I used brown sugar
• ¼ tsp minced garlic

Vegetables and other

• 200g mildly seasoned spinach
• 350g mildly seasoned bean sprouts - (You don't have to use them up if you think it's too much but I love having lots of vegetables on my Bibimbap!)
• 100g shiitake mushroom
• 120g carrots (1 small)
• 1 tsp ground salt (1/2 tsp each will be used when cooking shiitake mushroom and carrots)
• 3 to 4 serving portions of steamed rice
• 3 or 4 eggs (depending on the serving portion)
• Some vegetable oil to cook the meat, mushroom, carrots and eggs - I use rice bran oil.
• (Optional) Korean seasoned seaweed, shredded (long thin cut)

Bibimbap sauce - The below sauce might be only enough for 3 servings if you like eating it spicy.

• 2 Tbsp gochujang
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp sugar - I used raw sugar
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp vinegar - I used apple vinegar
• 1 tsp minced garlic

Instructions

1. Prepare and cook ingredients as below.
   - For meat, mix the beef mince with the meat sauce listed above. (You can leave the marinated meat for about 30 mins while you are working on other ingredients to enhance the flavour.) Add some vegetable oil into a wok and cook the meat on medium high to high heat. It takes about 3 to 5 mins to thoroughly cook it.
   - Spinach and bean sprouts per linked recipe.
   - Clean/rinse the shiitake mushrooms and thinly slice them. Add some vegetable oil and ½ tsp of ground salt in a wok and cook the mushrooms on medium high to high heat until they are all cooked. (It takes 2 to 3 mins.)
   - Rinse, peel and julienne the carrots. Add some vegetable oil and ½ tsp of ground salt in a wok and cook the carrots on medium high to high heat for 2 to 3 mins.
   - Make fried eggs. (While sunny side up is common, you can make them per your preference.)
   - Mix the Bibimbap sauce ingredients in a bowl.
2. Put the rice into a bowl and add the meat, assorted vegetables, seasoned seaweed, egg and the Bibimbap sauce on top of the rice. Serve it.
3. Mix the ingredients well in the bowl and enjoy!

2. Vietnamese Summer Rolls 

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE SUMMER ROLL

½ tsp fish sauce (substitute with soy sauce)

½ tsp freshly grated lemongrass

freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp sugar

24 small sized shrimp, shelled and deveined

6 oz dried rice vermicelli

12 round rice papers (8" diameter)

1 head of butter or Boston Bibb lettuce, leaves separated

1 cup julienned or shredded carrots

½ cup julienned red bell peppers

½ mango, sliced into thin slivers

24 mint leaves

FOR THE CASHEW BUTTER DIPPING SAUCE

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, finely minced (about 3 teaspoons)

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce

3 tablespoons cashew butter

1/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, lemongrass, pepper and sugar. Add the shrimp and stir to coat. Marinate shrimp for 10 minutes. In meantime, boil a pot of water. Add vermicelli and cook for 4 minutes. Drain immediately, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Try to remove as much water as possible. Set aside.

Grill the shrimp in a large skillet with 1 tbl cooking oil on high heat until cooked through, about 2 minutes. You could also skewer the shrimp and grill on your outdoor grill. When shrimp is cool enough to handle, bisect each shrimp down the middle of its back so that you have two identical halves of shrimp. This makes the shrimp thin enough to wrap evenly.

Grab a pie plate or rectangular baking dish and fill it with about 1" of warm temperature water. Dip one rice paper round in the dish for a quick 2-seconds. Lift round and let the water drip off. Place on clean, dry work surface. Blot the top of the round with a paper towel. You'll work one roll at a time.

Now it's time to roll. The wrapper will still be a little stiff. By the time you finish piling on the ingredients, it will have softened enough to roll. Lay 4 halves of the shrimp in a line near the bottom 1/3 of the round. Top with some lettuce, vermicelli noodles, carrots, bell pepper, mango, and finishing with 2 mint leaves. Try to keep the ingredients compact and piled on top of the shrimp. Starting with the side closest to you, roll up the roll tight, stopping halfway to gently tug back on the roll to tighten. The wrapper is self-sealing. You can use a sharp knife to cut off the two ends to make it look neater.

Transfer to platter and cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Wipe counter or plate dry and repeat with remaining.

Some rice rounds are made thicker than others. If you find your wrapper is a little too stiff by the time you need to wrap, either blot less water off the rice round next time, let it sit for a few seconds before adding ingredients or dip in just slightly warmer water (but not hot!) Just remember to let the water drip off and wipe your working surface dry each time - a dry surface allows the rice paper to stick to the surface and create a little tension so that you can wrap.

Also, I've found it's best to work one roll at a time - since it only takes a few seconds for the rice round to soften, you really aren't saving a lot of time by dipping all your rice rounds at once. In fact, if 2 rounds touch each other - they will stick and you'll have a heck of a time getting them apart without tearing or wrinkling. If you must dip all at once, separate each wet round with a damp paper towel.

Traditional Asian Holiday

1. Lunar New Year (Tet)
The Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year as it’s been called since the 20th century, remains the most important social and economic holiday in China. Originally tied to the lunar-solar Chinese calendar, the holiday was a time to honor household and heavenly deities as well as ancestors. It was also a time to bring family together for feasting. Lunar New Year is celebrated in many countries such are Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Viet Nam and so forth.

 Celebrating Lunar New Year in China

2. Mid Autumn Festival
 the second grandest festival after the Lunar New Year in China. It takes it name from the fact that is always celebrated in the middle of the autumn season. The day is also known as the Moon Festival, as that time of the year the moon is at its roundest and brightest. In Viet Nam, in Mid Autumn Festival, children like to carry their lanterns around and eat moon cake with their families. 

 Vietnamese Children playing with their lanterns 

Moon cakes

Lantern are sold in Hoi An, Viet Nam

3. Holi Festival 
It is a spring festival, also known as the festival of colours or the festival of love. It is an ancient Hindu religious festival which has become popular with non-Hindus in many parts of South Asia, as well as people of other communities outside Asia. 

4. The Songkran Festival 
This holiday is celebrated in Thailand as a traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. It coincides with the New Year of many calendars of South and South East Asia. People believe that dump water to others will bring happiness and fortune to them. 

Traditional clothing of some Asian countries

Traditional clothing is always an interesting topic to talk about. Today, I am sharing with you several traditional clothing of some Asian countries which are Thailand, Viet Nam, China, Japan and Korea. Each country has their own beauties, they not only can be seen through foods, landscapes, but also can be recognized through traditional clothing. Let;s take a look of them so that we'll an overall look to the beauty of each country.

1. Kimono (Japan)

I would like to started off with the Land of the rising sun, which also known as Japan. As a fan of Japanese comic books, I am so in love with clothing the characters wear in manga, especially Kimono. Kimono is made from a colorful fabric and made a woman looks extremely elegant while wearing it. There are many different types of Kimono, it depends on occasion, season, and even a person status to wear an appropriate gown. 

Uchikake (worn by a bride in wedding day)

Yukata (usually worn during summer)

Furisode (the most formal kimono for unmarried women)

Komon ( both married and unmarried women may wear Komon)

2. Qipao (China)

As a traditional dress, Qipao is like a wonderful blossom in China's bright-colored fashion scene. Because of it unique charm, many women wear it to show their special grace. 

 A bride wearing red Qipao on her wedding day

A woman can also wear scarf with Qipao to create graceful look 

3. Ao dai (Viet Nam)

Ao dai is a Vietnamese traditional dress. The áo dài is a Vietnamese national costume, now most commonly worn by women. In its current form, it is a tight-fitting silk tunic worn over pants. Especially, ao dai can be worn as a uniform of high school students in Viet Nam. 

 A Vietnamese girl in Ao dai

 Vietnamese brides in ao dai

Vietnamese high school student wearing ao dai to school

4. Hanbok (Korea)

 It is often characterized by vibrant colors and simple lines without pockets. Although the term literally means "Korean clothing", hanbok today often refers specifically to hanbok of the Joseon  period and is worn as semi-formal or formal wear during traditional festivals and celebrations.

A bride in her wedding Hanbok 

Girls wearing colorful Hanbok

Children in adorable Hanbok

5. Thailand

Traditional Thai attire are worn by men, women, and children, and consists of several elements. Thai traditional clothes comes with many different names such are Pha Nung, Chong Kraben, Sin and so forth. 

 Thai Sinhs

Thai wedding dress

Chong Kraben