Book Review: Ani’s Raw Food Asia

I have been writing raw Asian recipes for some time now, thus I was really nervous when I saw that Ani Phyo would be coming out with a new cookbook titled Ani’s Raw Food Asia.  Why nervous, you may ask?  As silly as it may sound, I was a little apprehensive that some of Ani’s recipes would be too similar to the ones I have developed – after all, there seems to be only so many ways to create a raw version of a particular food.  Nevertheless, after waiting months for Raw Food Asia to finally launch, I Amazon’d the book and found it waiting for me in the stairwell of my fourplex some three days later.

Immediately I flipped to the “wraps” section in order to compare my Thai spring rolls with Phyo’s.  Sweet relief was mine when I saw that, while quite delicious sounding, her spring rolls were nothing like my own!  After having checked the ingredient lists of a few more recipes and finding all but maybe one quite satisfying, I was finally able to relax and enjoy the book that Phyo had undoubtedly worked quite intensely on.

Organization of the book was a little peculiar to me at first.  I had expected that it would be divided by region: Japan here, China there, etc., etc.  Instead there were sections for noodles, wraps and pancakes, rice dishes, soups, and so on.  Nearly every other page hosted a gorgeous full color photograph of either a food dish or a travel scene.  There were so many in fact, that one could easily forget they were reading a cookbook – a far cry from Ani’s first (apparently nervously published) raw-book.

Though the book itself is beautiful and the recipes expertly crafted, I can’t help but find issue with just a few of the book’s features.  Throughout the chapters are scattered essays on life, spirit, and the environment, as well as quick tips and quotes, both of which are accompanied by little category symbols.  While this will not be an issue for most readers, I found it quite distracting when looking at or for recipes.  The more I gave these elements thought however, the more I realized they were quite appropriate.

Ani’s Raw Food Asia is more than a cookbook.  Phyo has done her time sweating over recipes, appeasing publishers, doing TV circuits and news clips – she is now at a place in her raw career where she can write the book she’s always wanted to write.  That is why Raw Food Asia reads more like an essay collage on a holistic, Asian inspired, enlightened lifestyle.  It is a journey into sights, sounds, smells, flavors and sentiments that only a Californian Korean-American like Phyo could impart.  While I would not recommend it as an actual cookbook for new raw foodists, I feel that it is an excellent addition to a raw food library.  Thank you, Ani!