THE ASIAN VEGAN KITCHEN
Hema Parekh interviewed by Claudette Vaughan

The Asian Vegan Kitchen is a cookbook that deserves to be promoted high and low, far and wide. It’s a terrific cookbook for everyone to participate in. I have never found one of Hema’s recipes bland or unexciting and the ingredients are assessable and simple with each unique spice mix not at all difficult to find in your local area. Hema Parekh is the author and chef who has comprised over 200 recipes from nine different Asian countries. In Australia we have a huge Asian community yet this book is for all adventurers and connoisseurs of fine no-lard, no dairy food who choose to add global spice and excitement to their diet.  

The Asian Vegan Kitchen recipes work when even cooking without your experience Hema, it still turns out like the photo that accompanies it. What influenced you to write this remarkable cookbook?

Cooking has always been a passion with me. I started to cook so that my family and friends could enjoy a meal at my home. When the children arrived, my focus shifted to their needs. It was a challenge to give them the required nutrients, keeping the diet vegetarian. I was constantly trying new recipes from new cuisines to keep them happy and make the dining experience fun for them. When they enjoyed my food, it was the biggest reward forme. Our home in Tokyo was an open home where their friends could drop in at any time and find good food. Soon my Japanese friends formed a group to learn Indian cooking. One thing led to another and I was contributing recipes to nutrition magazines. I was approached by the Tokyo American Club to teach their members and soon I was teaching Vegetarian Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Burmese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean, Mexican and Italian cooking through the club. I was very honoured when I was approached by two Japanese publishers to write cookbooks on Indian cuisine. Kodansha International came to me with this book idea and I loved it.

It's a big ask but demystify the great Asian curries for us.  I would like to get the ball rolling and say the essense of a great curry  is slow frying the aromatic herbs separately and right at the beginning for a few minutes.  This releases their enormous power and flagrance, and as the Indians themselves say - if you don't do it the herbs remain "uncooked" or “raw”.

Very True- the essence of a good curry lies in the freshness of the ingredients used - the herbs, spices lend not only the flavour, but also add medicinal value to the food. The vegetables and lentils used help to make it a complete and nutritionally balanced dish.

I don't want to give the impression that your book is only about curries - although they are all delicious and imaginative in their own right. Everything else I've cooked - such as the Burmese Split Pea Fritters  - worked a sensation for the people I was catering for and the tasty snack famous to the area of Gujarati of Tapioca and Potato Patties made for a perfect brunch.

Tapioca patties were a favourite snack, during my school days. When my sister and I returned from school, my mom often had these patties ready for us along with a glass of milk. We dipped the patties into the coriander chutney. It tasted simply heavenly. It still remains one of my favourite snacks.We make the split pea fritters in India too- it is a popular South Indian preparation. Our version is spicier with fresh chillies added. 

Your innocuous sounding "North Indian Curry" was a huge success at my place.  Made with grated onion and poppyseeds this is truly inspired!  Ihave found this with all your recipes. How did you learn to cook Hema?

It may sound unbelievable, but I learnt to cook from my children. I knew no cooking when I married at 19 and went to Japan. I started to experiment with herbs and spices to get the desired taste that was in my mind. My primary aim was to make my children happy. I cooked for the people I loved- my children, my husband, my friends, family and my students. I only wanted to give them something that made me happy. I was constantly challenging myself.I was my biggest critic.

Are vegans adventurous enough to branch out into seemingly untried Asian ingredients even if it's easily found tamarind, rice vinegar, bamboo shoots or lotus root? It was surprising how each recipe has its own set of spice ingredients and each one is an original minus the dripping of fat from dairy products? 

Exactly, each cuisine has a few basic ingredients which add the distinctiveflavour to each ingredient. It is important to be authentic and respect therequirements of each cuisine to get the desired fantastic results.

While walking through an Asian supermarket recently it was alarming to see the misos now being reduced in their advertising to simply "soybean pastes". My own miso’s are still in those old oak wooden casks dripping with enzymes and good health - both miso and natto. I wanted to ask your views on the changing face of good food to fast food in the global market today. 

Unfortunately, it is true that processed foods have become the norm, today.Most foods are packaged to have a longer shelf life.While, it would be ideal to use freshly prepared products, it is not alwayspractical and possible to do so. With strict laws about food preservatives in place, we can only presume that the foods we use in our daily cooking are as good as it can get.Even in Japan, the freshly prepared miso and natto are available only to a small segment of Japanese people living in the villages. The rest of the people are buying the same packaged foods that we are."Soy bean paste", is a loose description of miso and not a completely accurate one. Miso paste is made with rice and soy bean.

Indian curries are traditionally vegetarian yet not vegan. Why vegan?

While certain dairy products are part of vegetarian Indian cooking, we do have a huge variety of dishes that are mostly vegan. With this book we - my publishers and I wanted to reach out a step further and embrace the vegan audience as well. Most of the South East Asian vegetarian cooking is vegan in nature. So without compromising the flavour and taste, I could create this special book.

Name some of your favourite recipes and why? 

I have to name recipes from my adopted home country of Japan as some of my most favourite recipes- only because my children who were born and raisedthere, loved them. It was such a joy cooking these for them.Mushroom Rice, Spinach with sesame dressing, scattered sushi, Braised potatoes & onions, stir fried lotus root and Grilled Tofu with mushroom sauce- to name a few- these dishes were made in my kitchen on a regular basis.

How does each country in Asia - from India to Vietnam differ in taste and spice mixes--and why?

Actually, there are many similarities in the spices and herbs used in cuisines across Asia. For example,  we use the spices of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fresh coriander, coconut milk, fresh chillies, ginger, garlic in Indian cooking. These form the base for Thai cooking as well. They use lemongrass, lime leaf, very hot chillies, galangal to lend the taste which is distinctly Thai. Thai cuisine uses soy sauce which is a common ingredient in Chinese cooking as well. Vietnamese cooking uses a lemongrass & soy sauce along with fried shallots & garlic- both popular with Burmese cooking as well. While there are differences, there are also many similarities in cooking ingredients across Asia. Altering a few ingredients, we can prepare an entirely new Asian cuisine.

I am truly looking forward to cooking your Vegetable Manchurian next as well as that fiery hot and sour mushroom soup!

I love both of these! The Manchurian balls are full of nutrition as it uses many vegetables. The balls are great served as an appetiser too.The hot & sour mushroom soup is a great companion on a cold winter day.