The Asian Vegan Kitchen: Authentic and Appetizing Dishes from a Continent of Rich Flavors [Paperback]

Hema Parekh (Author), Tae Hamamura (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

The Asian Vegan Kitchen is a collection of recipes from across Asia, featuring the spices and the many tasty ingredients that have made these cuisines popular world-wide. It caters to the growing segment of people of all ages who have chosen to eschew animal products, yet still want to add some global spice and excitement to their diet.

There is one big difference between this and many other vegan cookbooks. These dishes do not use replacement ingredients for traditional recipes. Instead, author Hema Parekh - a noted teacher of vegetarian cooking styles in Tokyo - has selected recipes that were traditionally vegetarian, and have been enjoyed by diners for decades, even centuries. In doing so, she has had to make only minor changes, if any, for these recipes to be deliciously appealing to everyone: vegan, vegetarian or otherwise.

Over 200 dishes have been selected to cover a wide variety of tastes. Here readers will find vegan-ready recipes for everything from Japanss sushi to northern Indian curries, from Vietnamese spring rolls, to red-hot tofu, Chinese-style. Soups, noodle dishes and some desserts are also included.

The recipes are simple, with detailed explanations. Also included are over 50 mouth-watering photos and a comprehensive glossary.

Vegan cooking just became a lot more interesting.

A long-time vegetarian, Hema Parekh has been teaching vegetarian cooking in Tokyo for almost twenty years. She has written two popular books on vegetarian cooking in Japanese A Touch of Spice and Indian Vegetarian Cooking and is working on a third.

Parekh has lived in Japan for 27 years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Because tofu and other vegan mainstays are part of their larders, and since they tend to be dairy-free by design, Asian cuisines lend themselves naturally to vegan cooking, and this handy cookbook does a beautiful job compiling attractive, tasty and uncomplicated vegan recipes from India to China and beyond. Take Japan's Simmered Mixed Vegetables, a deceptively straightforward preparation made complex with a sauce of soy, sake and dashi, a kelp-based stock that's the Japanese equivalent of chicken broth; exotic vegetables, including taro and lotus root, come alive in the salty-sweet braising liquid. Thailand's Sweet Corn Cakes are another example of simple-on-the-outside, intricate-on-the-inside vegan cookery, an addictive spin on traditional corn fritters spiced with ginger, garlic and coriander, and served alongside chili sauce and cucumber relish. Unfortunately, the cookbook is a bit confusing; the recipes are separated by country rather than, say, main ingredient, and the fine, full-color photographs of the dishes are all crammed in the middle of the book. Though cooks may spend extra time searching for ways to use up surplus zucchini, it's an appealing browse full of tasty diversions.
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From Booklist

Chef-author India-born Parekh, now headquartered in Tokyo, learned to cook defensively upon her marriage, after enjoying a Jain childhood of vegetables, lentils, and pulses. She selects the best, most familiar and comforting dishes (200 of them) from eight Asian countries; readers will recognize such favorites as Indonesia’s nasi goring, Korean kimchi (in many varieties), China’s Kung Pao in vegetarian mode, and the well-loved naan and chapati breads of India. Instructions, although relatively brief, are highly reliant on other recipes, like spices, sauces, stocks, and condiments (for instance, tofu mayonnaise, spicy soy-vinegar sauce, and Vietnamese vegetarian stock). Many also demand ingredients not easily found outside major U.S. metropolitan areas—tamarind juice and coriander roots with stems, to name two. Yet gourmet adventures beckon; it’s hard to resist preparing different kinds of meals after seeing a centerfold full of glorious after color photographs. --Barbara Jacobs

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha USA (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 477003069X
• ISBN-13: 978-4770030696
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.5 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #813,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Asian Vegan Kitchen May 14, 2008

By L. Berry

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book has a lot of great recipes in it and I found it quite inspiring. There a limited photos which are all contained in the middle of the book. My only issue with the book was that despite the fact that I have a very diverse collection of spices and herbs, she seemed to come up with things I did not have. So it is up to you to decide if it is worth the effort to track down some odd ingredient if you want to follow the recipes exact.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply amazing..! June 8, 2010

By Lotus Girl

Format:Paperback

I've always been a HUGE fan of "Asian" food (a very general term, indeed), from India to Japan and every country in between. This is the only book that satisfies that desire for such a variety of Asian recipes. Ingredients & cooking styles vary dramatically from one country to the next, and I'd never gotten the grasp of Indian cooking till I tried Hema's recipes. I'd say Hema did an amazing job at bringing a variety of recipes from each country together. I've made a great deal of these recipes, and have never been let down. Better said - I've never tried a recipe in this book that I didn't love. Yes, love. I have re-made most of the recipes I've tried, more than twice. Of course, there will be ingredients that you might not have in your pantry - this is expected of "foreign" cooking. Pick the recipes you want to try, buy the ingredients that you don't have one at a time, and try them out. (If you have a Whole Foods, or even a small organic store nearby, it'll be really easy. But even your regular grocery might carry it... you just may never have noticed it before!) You might be surprised at the new tastes you discover and incorporate them into your everyday cooking. I know I have. Of all my regular cookbooks, I refer to this most often (due to my love of Asian food, lol). You might be disappointed to see very few pictures in the book, but don't let that dismay you - the pics in the centerfold are enough to prove these recipes are worth their weight. And yes, everything is 100% Vegan, and totally authentic. :)

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You don't have to be vegan or Asian September 21, 2008

By Mimi G. Clark

Format:Paperback

In The Asian Vegan Kitchen, Hema Parekh offers readers a virtual International cooking class based on recipes from India, Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Korea. For each country, Parekh offers Soups and Salads, Main Dishes and Rice, Side Dishes and Snacks, and Desserts. With 20 years experience teaching Asian cooking classes, Parekh is a master educator, sharing informative and enlightening morsels before each recipe. In her recipe for Koyadofu Tonkatsu (Fried Tofu Cutlets), for example, we learn that in Japan, Katsu means victory, and fried tofu cutlets are often eaten before sports tournaments, exams, or elections to ensure success. Parekh tells us that Indonesia's Nasi Kuning (Yellow Rice) is the color of royalty, and is usually shaped into a cone to represent the mythical Hindu mountain, Meru. She has also included thirty-two pages of mouth-watering color photos, and a five page glossary of lesser-known ingredients and spices.