Asian food incorporates a few significant provincial cooking styles: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. A food is a trademark way of cooking practices and customs, usually associated with a specific culture. Asia, being the largest and most populous continent, is home to many cultures, many of which have their own characteristic cuisine. Asian cuisine is considered the “culture of food within a society” because of the beliefs, cooking methods, and the specific ingredients used throughout the entire process. Asian cuisine are also famous about their spices. A main taste factor to Asian cuisine is the “umami” flavor. Umami is a strong savoriness that is a prominent taste among Asian cooking that can be made through fermented food or meat extract.
Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines as well as Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Traditional Kazakh cuisine is the traditional food of the Kazakh people. It is focused on mutton and horse meat, as well as various milk products. For hundreds of years, Kazakhs were herders who raised fat-tailed sheep, Bactrian camels, and horses, relying on these animals for transportation, clothing, and food. The cooking techniques and major ingredients have been strongly influenced by the nation's nomadic way of life. For example, most cooking techniques are aimed at long-term preservation of food. There is a large practice of salting and drying meat so that it will last, and there is a preference for sour milk, as it is easier to save in a nomadic lifestyle.
Tatar cuisine is primarily the cuisine of the Volga Tatars, who live in Tatarstan, Russia, and surrounding areas.
Uzbek cuisine shares the culinary traditions of peoples across Central Asia. There is a great deal of grain farming in Uzbekistan, so breads and noodles are of importance, and Uzbek cuisine has been characterized as "noodle-rich". Mutton is a popular variety of meat due to the abundance of sheep in the country and it is a part of various Uzbek dishes.
Turkmen cuisine, the cuisine of Turkmenistan, is similar to that of the rest of Central Asia. Turkmen seminomadic culture revolved around animal husbandry, especially sheep herding, and accordingly Turkmen cuisine is noted for its focus on meat, particularly mutton and lamb. One source notes,
The nomadic past has left a very noticeable trace in Turkmen cuisine - the basis of the diet is meat: lamb, meat of gazelles, non-working camels, wild fowl, chicken. Beef is consumed much less frequently because this food appeared on the table much later, Turkmens don't eat horse meat at all.
Uyghur cuisine is the cuisine of the Uyghur people, which are mainly situated in the autonomous region of Xinjiang.
Beshbarmak is a dish from Central Asian cuisine. It is also known as naryn in Xinjiang, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, as turama in Karakalpakstan and North Caucasus, as dograma in Turkmenistan, as kullama in Bashkortostan and Tatarstan. It is one of the main national dishes of both Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java.
Naryn, neryn or norin is a Central Asian dish with horse meat and different kinds of noodles.
Pashtun cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Pashtun people and is covered under both Afghan and Pakistani cuisines. It is largely based on meat dishes including mutton, beef, chicken, and fish as well as rice and some other vegetables. Accompanying these staples are dairy products, various nuts, local vegetables, and fresh and dried fruits. Peshawar, Islamabad, Kabul, Bannu, Quetta, Kandhar and Mardan are centers of Pashtun cuisine.
Sundanese cuisine is the cuisine of the Sundanese people of Western Java, and Banten, Indonesia. It is one of the most popular foods in Indonesia. Sundanese food is characterised by its freshness; the famous lalab eaten with sambal and also karedok demonstrate the Sundanese fondness for fresh raw vegetables. Unlike the rich and spicy taste, infused with coconut milk and curry of Minangkabau cuisine, the Sundanese cuisine displays the simple and clear taste; ranged from savoury salty, fresh sourness, mild sweetness, to hot and spicy.
The Crimean Tatar cuisine is primarily the cuisine of the Crimean Tatars, who live on the Crimean Peninsula. The traditional cuisine of the Crimean Tatars has similarities with that of Greeks, Italians, Balkan peoples, Nogais, North Caucasians, and Volga Tatars, although some national dishes and dietary habits vary between different Crimean Tatar regional subgroups; for example, fish and produce are more popular among Yaliboylu and Tat dishes while meat and dairy is more prevalent in Steppe Tatar cuisine. Many Uzbek dishes were incorporated into Crimean Tatar national cuisine during exile in Central Asia since 1944, and these dishes have become prevalent in Crimea since the return. Uzbek samsa, laghman, and plov (pilaf) are sold in most Tatar roadside cafes in Crimea as national dishes. In turn, some Crimean Tatar dishes, including Chiburekki, have been adopted by peoples outside Crimea, such as in Turkey and the North Caucasus.
Betawi cuisine is rich, diverse and eclectic, in part because the Betawi people that create them were composed from numbers of regional immigrants that came from various places in the Indonesian archipelago, as well as Chinese, Indian, Arab, and European traders, visitors and immigrants that were attracted to the port city of Batavia since centuries ago.
Jarma is a cold beverage made from ground grains found in the cuisine of Kyrgyzstan. While related to the fermented drink maksym, it is not fermented, and is instead often mixed with ayran to result in a similar fizzy sensation.
Mizo cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Mizo people of Mizoram, India. Mizos are traditionally rice eaters.
