Afro-Asian Diaspora Food Profiles

Afro-Asian Diaspora food flavor profiles can create culinary game change in your kitchen. I spent the whole summer exploring Japanese, Korean and Creole cuisine, especially vegetable side dishes. Although I am more experienced with Soul-Chinese food, I thought it would be helpful to post a comprehensive list of Diaspora food profiles. Hopefully, this list can be useful to your ethnic food cooking journeys!

I grew up in a multicultural family eating a mix of food from my Chinese, South Indian, Caribbean, Southern Creole and African ancestors. The Transatlantic Slave Trade, indenturedness, migration and immigration dispersed the African and Asian peoples throughout the Americas. As a result, these food cultures intersected and intermingled with Native tribes and European colonizers to create double and triple Creolizations. In my family, we jokingly refer to our home cooking as Afro-Asian-Indo-Caribbean-Soul food. My husband calls my food ‘Creole Chinese.’ The essence of Afro-Asian Diaspora food is found in ingredients and flavor profiles. Merging various ethnic flavor profiles, seasonings and ingredients into one pot can change your life! What’s amazing is that many Afro-Asian ingredients can be found in your local Chinatown. Okra, yams, pumpkin, chow chow, ginger, cilantro, and hot peppers are always there.

What is Flavor Profiles? “A flavor profile includes the overall attributes and tastes of a particular food product or cuisine. Due to trade and globalization, numerous cuisines around the world use many of the same basic foods, but may season those foods in distinctive ways. In the United States, enslaved Africans brought their native foods such as okra, black-eyed peas, and yams, and also incorporated corn and other local ingredients. Especially in the South, many typical foods have strong ties to this African tradition.” (EcoLiteracy)

What is Diaspora? The term ‘diaspora’ comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “to scatter about.” Many of us are descendants of Diasporan people — scattered from our homeland over generations to places around the globe. We spread and intermixed our culture organically. The Bible uses the word Diaspora to describe the Jews who were exiled from Israel by the Babylonians. But the word is used to describe me and you and many people and cultures in America.

 Here is our list of Afro-Asian Diaspora flavor profiles:

gumbo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cajun & Creole

  • Andouille sausage
  • bell pepper
  • blackberries
  • blackening seasonings
  • Cajun spice blends
  • cayenne
  • celery
  • collard greens
  • corn
  • crab
  • cucumbers
  • dark roux
  • figs
  • garlic
  • green pepper
  • Gumbo File
  • lemon
  • lime
  • mirlitons
  • okra
  • onions
  • parsley
  • pecans
  • scallions
  • shrimp
  • squash
  • Tabasco peppers
  • tomatoes

 

IMG_8320

 

 

 

 

 

peppers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caribbean Islands

  • allspice
  • banana
  • black-eyed peas
  • brown sugar
  • cassava
  • chiles
  • coconut
  • corn
  • fig
  • grapefruit
  • nutmeg
  • orange
  • pigeon peas
  • pummelo
  • lime
  • lima beans
  • salt fish
  • sweet potatoes
  • taro root
  • thyme
  • yams

 

IMG_8285

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brazil

  • avocado
  • black beans
  • cassava fruits
  • chiles
  • cilantro
  • coconut
  • dried shrimp
  • guava
  • lime
  • malagueta pepper
  • manioc (cassava)
  • palm oil
  • passion fruit
  • pineapple
  • rice
  • sweat pepper

 

Peanuts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West African

  • allspice
  • black pepper
  • chiles
  • coriander
  • cubeb berries
  • ginger
  • lemon
  • okra
  • onions
  • palm oil
  • peanuts
  • plantains
  • thyme
  • tomatoes
  • white pepper
  • yams

 

IMG_8326

 

 

 

 

 

North African

  • almonds
  • anise
  • caraway seed
  • cardamom
  • carrots
  • cayenne
  • chickpeas
  • chiles
  • cinnamon
  • cilantro
  • cinnamon
  • coriander seed
  • cumin
  • dates
  • eggplant
  • figs
  • ginger
  • green bell peppers
  • ground ginger
  • Harissa sauce
  • honey
  • lemon
  • lentils
  • mace
  • mint
  • nutmeg
  • olives
  • onion
  • paprika
  • parsley
  • raisins
  • turmeric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South African

  • barbecued meat
  • cassava leaves
  • chiles
  • chili
  • curry
  • garlic
  • ginger
  • groundnut powder
  • lime
  • maize
  • okra
  • onions
  • palm oil
  • peanuts
  • potatoes
  • tomatoes

 

IMG_8303

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chinese

  • cashews
  • dark soy sauce
  • dried shiitake
  • garlic
  • ginger
  • jasmine rice
  • mirin (rice wine)
  • oyster sauce
  • peanuts
  • ponzu
  • samal oelek (chile garlic sauce)
  • scallions
  • sesame oil
  • sesame seeds
  • soy
  • sriracha
  • tamari

 

IMG_8324

 

 

 

 

 

Indian

  • Basmati rice
  • black mustard seed
  • cardamom
  • cilantro
  • coconut milk
  • coriander
  • cumin
  • curry
  • dried chiles
  • fennel
  • fenugreek
  • fresh chilies
  • garam masala
  • garlic
  • ginger
  • lentils
  • nonfat plain yogurt
  • onions
  • potatoes
  • pulses
  • saffron
  • spinach
  • tamarind
  • tandoori spices
  • turmeric
  • whole cardamom
  • yogurt

 

IMG_8337

 

 

 

 

 

Japanese

  • bonito flakes
  • dried shiitake
  • garlic
  • ginger
  • kombu
  • mirin
  • miso
  • nori
  • ponzu
  • rice vinegar
  • sake
  • scallions
  • sesame seed oil
  • sesame seeds
  • short-grained rice
  • soba
  • soy sauce
  • udon
  • wasabi

 

IMG_8308

 

 

 

 

 

Korean

  • kimchi
  • fermented soybean paste (doenjang)
  • fish sauce
  • garlic
  • ginger
  • green onion
  • onions
  • pepper paste (gochugang)
  • rice vinegar
  • rice wine
  • scallions
  • sesame oil
  • sesame seeds
  • short-grained rice
  • soy sauce
  • sweet potato
  • vegetable side dishes
  • vegetables fermented in brine

For examples of Afro-Asian Diaspora recipes, click on these links:

JJ Johnson’s Pork Suya with Kimchi

Carribean-Asian Recipes

Afro-Asian Rice Treat (vegan)

Afro-Asian Salad (vegan)

Note: Thank you to Vivian Lee of Mt. Holyoke, for contributing research, photography and writing for this post.

What’s in your ethnic food cupboard?