THE SALADS OF THE ORIENT-
Salads play many different roles in Asian meals in addition to being served as a course or an accompaniment to a main dish. There is almost no limit to the varieties and combinations of vegetables used in the salads. Many of the salad ingredients can be prepared in advance: Vegetables and garnishes cut and dropped into iced water; meats, fish and seafood cooked ahead, sliced and refrigerated; dressings mixed and kept in a jar in the refrigerator. Remember to chill the salad platter as well.
Taking advantage of the make-ahead method, an impressive salad can be assembled, garnished and dressed 5 minutes before serving time. Such fruits in ripe and semi ripe, green form, as melon, bananas, mango, papayas and raisins play a supporting role in different salads. Dressings and sauces for Asian salads can be either thick or thin, and there is no rule of thumb as to whether they are to be used with side dish or main-dish salads. The chief requirement is that they enhance the solid ingredients. At first sight, the most noticeable thing about Asian salads is their attractive presentation.
A tossed mélange of vegetables in a bowl is rare. Salads are presented on platters like carefully composed pictures. Fruits and vegetables are frequently carved to represent flowers, and the component parts of a salad are arranged according to shape and color. The final touch to many Asian salads is the garnish. As many as 5 or 6 different ingredients may be chopped or pounded and sprinkled or carefully arranged over the top. Among the more common garnishes are crushed peanuts, crumbled dried red peppers, chopped hard cooked egg and sprigs, leaves or fragments of parsley, mint basil or coriander. Serrated cucumber slices, tasseled green (spring) onions, cherry tomato and radish flowers, red or white onion rings and carved slices of carrot, turnip or celery will frequently ring a salad platter. The Orients also prepare more substantial salads. These are really cold platters, collations of chilled, cooked vegetables and meats, fish, or noodles, which may be sauced or dressed while still hot or combined with a dressing and tossed when cool. In subcontinents dressings thickens with yogurt, the Indonesians, Malaysians and Thai with thick coconut milk or ground peanuts. The northern Asians, the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans use egg, corn flour or even soybean curd and soybean paste as thickening agents, especially in cooked dressing and sauces.
