October 2012
Sakura’s Futomaki, Sawatdee’s Holy Basil
Supreme, Supatra’s Silver Bean Thread Noodle Salad, Quang’s Sea Bass Noodle
Soup, Leeann Chin’s Chicken with Mango, and David Fong’s Chow Mein with Shrimp
are just a few of the 160 recipes featured in the new four-color
history/cookbook Asian Flavors: Changing
the Tastes of Minnesota Since 1875. Published by the Minnesota Historical
Press Asian Flavors is now available
in bookstores and on amazon.com.
We went into the kitchens of several
dozen area Asian restaurants and talked with the chefs, owners and people
responsible for bringing the food of the Asia Pacific Rim to Minnesota. It all
started in 1875 when the first Asian immigrants came to Minnesota from China
and we feature a dish from the first Asian restaurant in Minnesota, the Canton
Restaurant opened by the Woo brothers in 1883. It became John’s Place and
operated on Sixth Street next door to Murray’s until 1967. Woo Du Sing’s
granddaughter and great grandson recreated the recipe for the original John’s
Place Special Chow Mein, a delicious combination of chicken and vegetables
without using a single drop of soy sauce.
We also went into the kitchens of Asia
Pacific Rim home cooks who share their traditional cooking with friends and
neighbors to bring you the food of the Philippines including Chicken Adobo,
Putos, Vegetarian Egg Rolls, Empanadas and Ube Cake.
We included a variety of recipes used in
teaching programs by the Asian Culinary Arts Institutes such as Wok Smoked
Duck, Steamed Buns, Pearl Balls, Hunan Pepper Sauce, Noodles with Sesame Sauce,
Cantonese Shrimp, Green Beans in Mustard Sauce, Lamb Curry, Spinach Masala,
Rice Noodles with Toasted Coconut, Poori, and dozens more.
We illustrated Asian Flavors with more than sixty four-color food photographs and
on-site photos by the talented Tom Nelson of tnphoto.com. Jedlicka Design Ltd.
designed the book to be attractive, readable and a treasure for years to
come. We added a timeline of the
introduction of Asian food to Minnesota including familiar names such as Jeno
Paulucci, Reiko Weston, Betty Crocker, and the Huie family of Duluth.
Asian
Flavors
is a culmination of my twenty years as food editor of Asian Pages and the more than 500 articles I wrote for the paper.
It is in collaboration with my culinary partner Raghavan Iyer who is also part
of the story of Asian food in Minnesota.
The book is a tribute to the Asia Pacific Rim community and the wealth
of traditions it has brought to Minnesota. We are very excited about Asian Flavors and hope you pick up a
copy soon.
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