Asian dishes top takeaway

Asian food has edged ahead of fish and chips as New Zealanders' favourite takeaway.

The country consumes 7 million servings of hot chips every week, says the Heart Foundation, b ut a Herald-DigiPoll survey reveals that Asian food has taken first place in takeaway tastes.

In the survey, 31.6 per cent said that when they bought takeaways, Asian food was their most common choice, compared with 28.7 per cent who ordered fish and chips.

Asian takeaways are the clear leader for adults under 60 in the Auckland region, but fish and chips still dominates in the rest of the country and among the elderly.
A year ago, fish and chips held a slight national lead, on 29.5 per cent, to 27.8 per cent for Asian dishes.

In the latest poll, the rest of the pack remains well behind, led by pizza on 10.9 per cent, hamburgers on 8.9 per cent and KFC on 5.8 per cent.

Jennifer Yee, food technologist and restaurant reviewer with canvas, was not surprised by the results. The proliferation of Asian takeaways meant they probably outnumbered any other category.

"But also New Zealanders are very quick adopters of different tastes, and people are travelling widely and tastes have become more adventurous through that travel. They want to have those dishes when they get home."

Ms Yee said the liking for Asian tastes was also reflected in shopping habits. "We now have Asian food aisles in our supermarkets, so what we are eating at home is a lot more varied. It has probably also been influenced by the influx of new immigrants, and there is a bigger melting pot of ethnicities in major centres."

Anan Patel, owner of Oh Calcutta Indian restaurant and takeaways in Parnell, said butter chicken was by far the most popular Indian dish.

"It is about 85 to 90 per cent of our business.

"It's unbelievable. When someone rings to order takeaways we can almost programme butter chicken in before they even speak."

He suggested people try the restaurant's own dish of Chicken Makhanwala as a safe next step up the ladder of Indian taste. If they wanted to be really adventurous, they could opt for sweet chili duck or a vindaloo.

Out on the streets, Peter Brough was having it both ways - he had fish and chips for dinner on Thursday and was having Indian for lunch yesterday. "I like it all."

But Stewart Rod said you could not go past the old favourite.

"I like a good bit of fish with plenty of salt on it. I know it's not the healthiest food, but, yeah."

Trina and Gary Norris were Thai green curry fans, saying fish and chips was "fatty and greasy".

Kate Hebenton had the same reasons for preferring Chinese noodles or sweet and sour pork. But her friend Jo Duyvestyn liked buying a feed of chips and chicken nuggets and eating it smothered in tomato sauce at the beach "because it's more Kiwi".

Some diet experts say the trend towards Asian meals may be a healthy one, but the cuisine ranges from creamy curries to dishes rich in vegetables and the poll does not reveal which Asian meals are preferred.

"It's a step in the right direction," said Auckland Regional Public Health Service dietitian Christine Cook.

Surveys have found that stir-fries contain on average about 6 per cent fat, curries 10 per cent, deep-fried battered fish 20 per cent and chips 11.5 per cent.

"A lot of Asian dishes can be based around steamed rice or vegetables," said Heart Foundation national dietitian David Roberts.

"So it may be that while the fat and salt content could be equivalent between fish and chips and Asian meals, the Asian may be more nutrient-dense, providing more vitamins and minerals, particularly those dishes based around vegetables."

Celia Murphy, of the Obesity Action Coalition, said some Asian meals could be healthier than fish and chips if people chose those high in vegetables and without coconut cream, and steamed rather than fried rice.

New favourites

Butter chicken (Indian dish, creamy and tomatoey)
Chicken Korma (Indian)
Pad Thai (Thai noodle dish with peanuts)
Laksa (Malaysian curry soup with noodles)
Green curry (Thai)
Teriyaki chicken (Japanese)
Sushi (Japanese)
Chow mein (fried noodles, Chinese)
Pho Bo (Vietnamese beef noodle soup)
Sweet and sour pork (Chinese).