The word chef in asian cooking is generally ‘Itamae’ and ‘Shokunin’. The former means the chef is skilled in sushi and shokunin means they ae skilled at a profession. it is not actually necessary to be japanese to be considered an itamae, but as you might imagine, a non japanese has quite a mountain to climb proving themselves worthy of such a title. Asian cookery includes simmering, grilling, steaming and frying. Whilst oilis are used minimally apart from for deep frying, japanese food is cut into bite sized pieces so as to facilitate chop sticks and vegetables are lightly cooked tomaintain a high level of crunchiness. Japanese cookery is considered very healthy, on a par with mediterranean.
Asian foods fall generally into one of five flavour patterns: savoury, sweet, bitter, sour and spicy. This means that each ingredient and the way they are cooked will be hugely important. Chinese cookery for example suggests ten basic pantry essentials including soy sauce, sichuan peppercorns; black rice vinegar or chinkiang vinegar; toasted sesame oil; hoisin sauce; fermented beans; oyster sauce; all of these items ensure a very tasty meal to be had.