Every regional cuisine has its back story – its history, recognisable qualities, preferred cooking techniques, flavours and favoured ingredients. But when the region is as large as Asia, the stories really are endless – and endlessly fascinating.
Cuisine across this giant continent is often steeped in history, rituals and traditions. It has been impacted by local religions, lifestyles and landscapes, not to mention the influence of ‘outsiders’ through collaborations, colonialism, conflicts and globalisation.
Yet many Asian dishes have retained a unique identity and are part of distinct world heritage food cultures. The use of traditional Japanese cooking skills and ingredients, known as ‘washoku’, for example; or Korea’s ‘kimjang’, the making and sharing of kimchi, and Singapore’s ‘hawker culture’ are all listed by UNESCO as ‘intangible cultural heritage’.
Flavour favourites
Food is intrinsically linked to the destination it comes from. As one of the region’s leading inflight caterers SATS puts it: “Asian cuisine has captured the hearts and palates of people around the world. Yet the diversity within Asian food is extraordinary, with each country – and even regions within countries – offering distinct flavours and cooking techniques.”
From East Asia, think of sushi, dumplings, noodles, rice cakes, bao buns, tofu and miso soup. From Southeast Asia it’s all about the rice, vegetables, protein and broths with vinegars, shrimp pastes, fish sauces, chilli and fresh herbs prominent. Curries are a big part of South Asian cuisine, with heaps of spices used, often paired with rice, flatbreads and savoury pancakes (dosas) made with rice flour batter.
In Central Asia, where nomadic peoples dominated, herding sheep, camels and horses with little opportunity to farm crops or develop complicated cuisines, meat and dairy products are the specialities, alongside flatbreads and pilafs.
SATS adds: “From the warm, pungent curries of South Asia to the umami and heat of North Asia, the balance of flavours – sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami – combined with the use of fresh, vibrant ingredients makes it a culinary experience like no other.”
Culinary challenge
Bringing authentic flavours onboard can be difficult. SATS says: “Asian cuisine is not only rich in flavours but also in textures. Capturing the full diversity of this cuisine isn’t always possible with traditional cook-chill catering. In addition, commonly featuring gravies or broths, the full repertoire of Asian comfort foods are limited for uplift by airline equipment in Economy and pose a challenge in quality
retention beyond the cold soak process.”
Headquartered in Singapore, SATS is among caterers responding to the challenge with innovation and kitchen/chef teams organised by Asian cuisine specialisation. It has developed several format solutions that help Asian airline menus stay true to the original tastes and textures, and has additionally worked with Global-c to create specially-designed disposable casseroles to suit Asian dishes. It offers signature satay and laksa and is gaining recognition for its Indian cuisine, Asian comfort foods such as congee, and reimagined Asian desserts, all tweaked to suit an international audience.
Locations are key too. Japan – an archipelago – has a close culinary relationship with the ocean, and while the raw, fresh-catch character of the cuisine may be difficult to bring onboard, soybeans, tofu, miso, seaweed, green teas, grains and vegetables give caterers other elements to draw on.
Palate partners
Airlines are increasingly joining forces with local specialists to bring authenticity onboard. Cathay Pacific, for example, partners with Eaton HK’s Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Yat Tung Heen for its Premium Economy and Economy menus. And China Airlines collaborates with Le Palais, Taiwan’s only Michelin three-star restaurant, finding ways to bring lobster with mapo tofu and rice, and red braised East Asia abalone (4 head) lo mein onboard.
Alaska Airlines partners with Mister Jiu’s contemporary Chinese American restaurant for a breakfast of brown rice congee with soy cured eggs and braised pork belly, and mains of roasted black cod or braised duck leg, sesame egg noodles and gai lan.
Cathay General Manager Customer Experience and Design, Vivian Lo, says: “This partnership allows us to transform our inflight dining experience into something even more memorable, enriching the journey by giving travellers a taste of our home city’s iconic flavours.”
The restaurant collaboration launched in January with a reinterpretation of its local chiu chow-style braised duck served with pickled vegetables, and braised beef brisket with chu hou sauce, choy sum and steamed jasmine rice.
Such partnerships show incredible ambition, but there are simpler interpretations too, with Cathay also launching a classic Hong Kong egg tart in all classes – although it took 15 workshops and 450 iterations before the team was happy with the tart inflight.
Likewise, Monty’s Bakehouse and En Route have developed bao buns to bring Chinese street food onboard as a hand-held snack.
En Route highlights just why such products seem to have a sure future: “Asia-Pacific is the largest and fastest-growing air travel market, accounting for over 35% of global passenger traffic (IATA, 2023). The bao buns are a familiar and culturally resonant option in Asia but they also appeal to a wider demographic – a 2022 survey by Mintel revealed that 68% of consumers are interested in trying globally inspired food, with Asian cuisines topping the list.”
