How to Order Takeout Asian Food

Asian food offers an extraordinary palette of flavors, and takeout gives you a break from the kitchen. But the breadth of choice and the foreign terms can be a bit daunting. Learn what's what, what you like and how to order.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Spread out your ordering preferences. Go with Chinese food one week, Indian the next and Thai food after that. Japanese takeout is less popular outside of large metropolitan areas, but try to that if you can.

2. Keep the paper takeout menus in a drawer for easy access. Spend some time looking at them before you order. Most of them offer a brief descriptions of the food.

3. Get creative with your orders. We're all creatures of habit to some degree, but just because you like the egg rolls and Mongolian beef doesn't mean you should get that every time you order Chinese. Branching out and offering some diversity to your orders helps you learn what some of the more obscure items are.

4. Know what you're getting. "Chow" in Chinese-food items typically means "pan-fried." For instance, Chow Mein is pan-fried noodles with veggies or meat. In Indian food, curry is a nebulous name for the sauce (which can be mild or spicy). There are like to be a number of curry items on the menu, with a variety of foods -- tofu, chicken, etc. -- covered in your choice of curry (Vindaloo is a popular curry dish: curried potatoes with chicken or lamb). Naan, a fluffy Indian bread, is typically a staple side item. Sag (white cheese with spinach and spices) and Samosas (fired patty stuffed with meat or veggies) are also two wildly popular Indian dishes.
   
   Thai food also specializes in curry (among other things), so it can sometimes be confused with Indian food. Try the ever-popular pad thai -- pan-fried rice with sprouts, veggies, tofu or shrimp, and spices. Or get the chicken, beef or pork satays, which is skewered meat, much like kabob.

on 1/13/2006 Soba noodles are brown, not white, and they are the ones that are sometimes served cold with a light soy-based dipping sauce, not udon. The soba served cold is called zaru soba. It is served on a zaru, which is a bamboo collander. The dipping sauce is soy based, and is unsalty enough to drink after finishing the noodles. Zaru soba is served with wasabe and green onions, and the cold soba noodles are topped with shredded nori seaweed.