Ani's Raw Food Asia: Easy East-West Fusion Recipes the Raw Food Way [Paperback]

Ani Phyo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2011

You've been to her kitchen, enjoyed her desserts, and mastered the essentials; now go with raw food goddess Ani Phyo back to her roots for the first ever Asian raw food cookbook. Along with recipes from Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and Hawaii and background information on traditional dishes, Ani's Raw Food Asia also offers essential tips on green living, well-being, longevity, fitness, beauty, and entertaining as inspired by a healthy Asian lifestyle.

Recipes include: Mixed Vegetable Skewers with Almond-Butter Sauce, Creamed Curry Saag, Vegetable Tempura with Orange Lemongrass Dipping Sauce, Marinated Shiitake Mushroom Dumplings, Corn Fritters with a Hot and Sour Cucumber Dipping Sauce, Dosas, Moo Shoo Vegetables, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Technorati, 5/20/11
“Ani’s Raw Food Asia is more than a collection of recipes; it is a comprehensive guide to raw living, providing tips about non-chemical cleaning, the environment, and attitudes that will ensure a healthier, happier person.”

VegNews, July/August 2011

“From the undisputed queen of raw comes another in a series of sensational books. Ani’s raw Food Asia blends two subjects about which author Ani Phyo is passionate: raw and her Asian heritage…The book reads like a lifestyle guide that just so happens to house what might be the world’s most enticing collection of Asian-inspired raw recipes.” 

 

Vegetarian Journal, Vol. 30, Issue 4
“Serves up a creative array of raw vegan dishes.”

 

Taste for Life Magazine, 11/1/11

“A true home and lifestyle resource.”

 

Marin Independent Journal, 11/2/11
“Like a journey to intriguing lands.”

Newspaper Enterprise Association, 6/14/12

“Phyo brings a sense of fun and adventure to her uncooking and a balanced tone to her writing.  She also has an eye for beautiful presentation.”

 

About the Author

Ani Phyo is one of the nation's premier raw food chefs and the author of several cookbooks, including Ani's Raw Food Kitchen and Ani's Raw Food Essentials. She lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books (May 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738214574
• ISBN-13: 978-0738214573
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ani Phyo is on a mission to show you how easy it is to enjoy healthy, organic, whole foods that are delicious, simple, and fast to prepare. Using seasonal, local, organic, fresh produce coupled with nuts and seeds, Ani creates tantalizing recipes that taste amazing, are good for you, and healthy for our planet. She teaches us why eating more organic, fresh, whole foods helps us maintain our ideal weight, lowers cholesterol, boosts our immune system, and helps us look and feel our best.

Ani learned these principles as a child. Growing up in upstate New York, her family had their own organic farm. She was raised on fresh, green juices and seasonal produce which cultivated the relationship she maintains with food today. She spent many years in the catering business and stumbled upon raw foods as a gourmet treat. After realizing the impact on her mental clarity and focus, she was hooked. She continued to notice positive changes in her energy level, productivity and sleep, and recognized there was more to raw foods than meets the eye. She's been dedicated to the raw foods lifestyle ever since.

Ani's the author of "Ani's Raw Food Essentials", "Ani's Raw Food Desserts", and "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen," awarded "Best Vegetarian Cookbook USA 2007". Ani has received 4 Best of Raw 2008 Awards for Best Chef, Favorite Cookbook, Favorite Educator, and won Sexiest Raw Vegan Woman in both 2008 and 2009.

Ani is the host of "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen Show", the award winning #1 uncooking show on 'YouTube'. Ani has been seen on the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods, Channel 7 ABC, and has been featured in numerous magazines including Food & Wine, Alternative Medicine, Oxygen, VegNews, Delicious Living, Vegetarian Times, and Get Fresh.

Additionally, Ani has developed living food vegan menus for Carnival Cruise Lines, Adidas headquarters, STOMP, and Whole Foods Markets, amongst others. Adidas fitness center depends on Ani to consult their athletes on how to 'fuel up' with raw nutrition for optimal performance. Being an athlete herself and excelling in fields such as gymnastics and track and field in high school, Ani has a thorough knowledge of nutrition and understands the importance of fueling your body well in order to achieve maximum performance.

Her charity work includes teaching and speaking at events to help raise money and awareness for organizations like In Defense of Animals, Animal Acres, Farm Sanctuary and organizing cooking play shops for children ages 5-16. In addition, Ani volunteers at Project Angel Food, a non-profit organization providing 1,300 free meals per week to HIV and cancer patients, and teaches underprivileged kids how to garden and make food in urban areas at Community Services Unlimited in South Central LA.

Ani lives in Los Angeles with her Rhodesian Ridgeback, Kanga, who she rescued 9 years ago. Fifty pounds underweight at the time, Ani healed Kanga back to health with raw foods, applying the same principles that she uses for humans to her dog. She is currently working on her next book along with planning projects for TV, DVD, and Web. To watch Ani's videos, for free recipes, and to keep track of her latest projects, visit her at: http://www.AniPhyo.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tasty! May 11, 2011

By Nerdygrl

Format:Paperback

I'm not a raw foodie and I love this book. I've only had it for a week but I have tried the following so far:

Cashew nut rice
Spicy Sesame Oil Dipping Sauce
Shiitake Mushroom Namul

I combined all three with shredded carrot and nori sheets to make nori rolls, it was so tasty that my cubicle mate at work kept sneaking pieces while I was on the phone. I have spent most the week reading the book; it's really beautifully done with lots of recipes that look delicious and easy to make. I originally bought the book because I suck at asian cooking; I don't know how to make the sauces and the ones in the grocery stores are normally full of crap. In this book Ani provides a lot of information on how to make all types of asian sauces from scratch and I can't wait to start making more. I can't wait to make Korean gochujang sauce and bi-bim-bop. And curries!

The book is gorgeous to look at with plenty of food photos but it also showcases a lot of cool scenes from a variety of asian locales. She provides information on techniques and interesting nutritional facts about ingredients like mushrooms and seaweed. Her food philosophy is very easy going; she isn't preaching perfection. She doesn't press for anyone to go 100% raw and recognizes that eating raw "part time" still has it's benefits. She recognized that some people might need to baby step into raw cuisine and provides icons in the book that indicates if you would prefer to (slightly) warm a particular recipe up, go right ahead. I'm seriously considering getting a dehydrator, but you don't need it for most of the recipes in this book. Highly recommended.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ani had me at Wasabi Mayo June 26, 2011

By Kurt

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

From my experience with Ani's first three raw food books, I had the highest of expectations for Raw Food Asia. She easily exceeded them. First I tried the Red Curry sauce on kelp noodles. It took less than ten minutes to prepare and was fantastic. I saved the extra curry sauce and used it on a prepackaged bag of veggies from Wholefoods the following day. Second I made the Jicama rice. Let me just say that is now my new favorite type of "rice." Finally I tried the Wasabi Mayo. WOW!!!
Having tried those amazing recipes, I can't wait to whip up the Garam Masala, Vegetarian Pho with Hoisin Sauce, and Chai Ice Kream with Chocolate syrup. And there is seemingly countless more after that.

Ani is a gifted writer, and her recipes are inventive and elegant. The book has a conversational tone. It's almost as if she is talking you through each dish. In addition, Ani threads much life-improving wisdom throughout her book.

Ultimately, this is a gift of a book. Never let it be said that healthy can't be tasty. This book clearly shows otherwise. Highly recommended.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic edition to the raw food library! June 9, 2011

By Belinda B

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have a few raw food books now - and this one looks to be a great edition. The sturdy soft cover format is large enough to be handy in the kitchen without being over large. The binding bends well without causing the spine to fold so I see this as being good for the longevity of the book.

The title of this book intrigued me because from my experience, most asian foods are generally cooked - even if it is just a quick stir fry - so I was interested in the idea of raw samosa and rice dishes. This book, in the week that I've had it, has given me many ideas to expend my repitoire of raw vegan cuisine. I am by no means 100% raw but I believe in healthy whole foods and eating mainly raw, unprocessed foods most of the time.

I have Ani Phyo's other books and I have seen a huge improvement in the way she presents her work. Don't get me wrong, her first book and the ones after are also great buys but this book presents itself so well in that there are more photos of finished recipes and it is beautifully set out. There are photos of the author and many great lifestyle tips and information about the more obscure ingrediants. She encorages substituting ingredients and altering recipes to suit tastes. There are no hard and fast rules. Here, she offers her take on raw asian cuisine and with her Korean heritage, she does a fantastic job of this.

Curries, noodles and rice dishes are the heart of this book but also covered with just as much care are accompaniments such as pickles, salads, soups, desserts and even fermented foods like kimchi! You have the ability to orchestrate a full asian style banquet of raw cuisine - and menus are suggested at back of the book by the author for anyone wanting to do this.

Most of the recipes can be made easily with very little preparation - as is Phyo's style - but certain things like dosa and kimchi may need to be prepared ahead of time as they require fermenting or dehydrating.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to add an extra dimension to their raw food kitchen or even if just to enhance their healthy eating options. It's easy to read, navigate and full of gorgeous photos and information from a truly original chef.