Culture Plates - East Asian Cuisine

Fill ½ of your plate with vegetables and eat fruits. Vary your veggies and focus on whole fruits. Fruits can be consumed as dessert.

Vegetable choices: bok choy, Chinese cabbage, carrot, celery, corn, tomato, leafy greens, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, string beans, cauliflower, onions, green peas, radish, luffa, mushrooms, lotus root, bamboo shoots, and others
Fruit choices: apple, oranges, bananas, pears, plums, papaya, melons, cherries, pineapple, kiwi, grapes, peach, pomegranate, mango, and others

Fill ½ of your plate with grains, tubers, and protein. Make half your grains whole grains. Vary your protein routine.

Whole grain choices: rice, wheat (noodles, steamed buns, Chinese pancake), millet, Job’s tears, barley
Tuber choices: potato, yams, taro, squash
Protein choices: tofu, tempeh, peas, beans, edamame, peanuts, tree nuts, seeds

Get adequate hydration (6-8 cups/day) from unsweetened beverages such as: water, green tea, white tea, oolong, jasmine, soymilk, and others

Sample Menu for Mainland Chinese

Steamed buns
Rice congee or millet congee
Scallion pancake
Vegetable omelet
Soymilk or lactose-free milk
Served with cucumber salad, celery with boiled peanut, preserved vegetables, boiled eggs
Noodle soup

Stir-fry dishes paired with steamed rice or buns Mapo tofu, tofu with vegetables
Cold dishes (cucumber salad, seaweed salad, tofu skin salad)
Vegetable dumplings (Gyoza/Pot stickers) or buns
Noddle dishes
- Noddle soup
- Veggie Lo mein
- Dried mixed noodle with soy sauce, sesame oil, and vegetables
Stews and soups
Braised tofu and mushroom casserole

Sample menu for Hongkongers

Noodle dishes
- Tofu Dandan noodle soup
- Vegetables “cart” noodle
- Wonton noodles with vegetables
- Hong Kong style crispy noodles with mixed vegetables (e.g. zucchini, broccoli, carrots), tofu, and mushrooms
- Cantonese soy sauce pan fried noodles
Bitter melon stir fried with scrambled tofu
Steamed vegetable bun
Vegan dumplings (e.g. chives dumplings, mushrooms and cilantro dumplings)
Rice dishes
- Paired with stir fried vegetables (e.g. eggplants, chinese broccoli)
- Claypot rice with mushrooms and vegetables (e.g. bok choy)
- Tofu fried rice
- Mapo tofu with rice
Soup
- Watercress soup
- Hong Kong style Borscht soup

salt, sugar, garlic, chili pepper, ginger, Sichuan pepper, star anis, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster source, vinegar, rice wine, chili bean paste

tea, juices, soft drinks, fermented dairy beverages, coconut milk

Regions	Vegetables	Fruits	Grains	Tubers	Protein
Northern China	Bok Choy \| Mushrooms Cabbage \| Potato String beans Radish Cucumber	Apple \| Bananas Pear \| Melons Peach Grapes	Wheat (noodles, steamed buns, Chinese pancakes) White rice Millet	Potato Yams Squash	Tofu \| Beans Peanuts \| Peas Seeds Soybean milk
Southern China	Bok Choy \| Leafy greens Eggplant \| Lotus root Bamboo shoots Mushrooms	Oranges \| Bananas Cherries \| Pineapple Mango \| Papaya	White rice Wheat (noodles, steamed buns, Chinese pancakes) Purple rice \| Barley Job’s tears	Yams Taro Squash	Tofu \| Beans Peanuts \| Tree nuts Peas Soybean milk
Taiwan	Bamboo shoot \| Spinach Sweet potato leaves Eggplant Taiwanese cabbage	Banana \| Papaya Guava Dragon Fruits Java apple	White rice \| Purple rice Brown rice Barley Wheat	Yams Taro Squash	Tofu \| Tofu curd Soybean sheets Red beans Edamame
Hong Kong	Watercress \| Pea tips Bitter melon \| Amaranth Sweet potatoes	Starfruit \| Pear Lychee \| Mango Persimmon	White rice Wheat Brown rice Barley	Yams Taro Squash	Sesame seeds \| Soybean milk Chestnut \| Tofu Soybean sheets