Cutting across all ethnic boundaries from India to Indonesia to Japan, Korea, China and everywhere in between, Asian Cuisines make up over half the world's population.  When modified or mollified by western preferences, Pan Asian Cuisine reflects the assortment of foods and the fusion of ingredients available to mainstream diners in American restaurants.

Six Factors Driving Growth of Pan Asian Cuisine

Immigration---about 2 million new Asian immigrants arrive every ten years

Taste---travel and curiosity have created a craving for spicy fare 

Prepared Foods---variety of Asian packaged foods has exploded in supermarkets  

Asian Chains Growing---Pei-Wei Asian Diner, Pick Up Stix, Noodles & Co, PF Chang's, others

Mainstream Chains Adopting---38% have an Asian menu item

Non-Commercial Venues Sustain Interest---Asian items in colleges, B&I and healthcare

Asian Cuisine on Chain Menus

Currently, 38% of chains menu Asian items, up from 35% in 1998.  Midscale chains have increased incidence to 55% (from 48% in '98) and QSRs to 21% (from 9%).  Incidence of Asian in casual chains went to 45% from 48%.

The average number of Asian Cuisine items per chain menuing has grown to 5.3 items from 4.8, with the greatest gain occurring among Casual Chains (5.6 items in 1998 vs. 6.7 items in 2004).  Asian items in Midscale Chains are up slightly to 2.4 items per chain menuing as are Asian items in QSR Chains (currently averaging 7.4 items). 

Non Asian chains average 3.7 items per chain menuing.  Non-Asian QSR chains average 2.2 Asian items per chain, while QSR Asian chains have increased their number of items from 26.2 to 33.0.

What Chians Are Doing

Menuing of Asian Items, By Menu Part

Over half of Asian Items are Entrees (56%). Appetizers make up 15%, Salads 13% Sandwiches 6%, Soup 2% and all other menu parts 8%.

Menuing of Asian Items, By Cuisine

Asian cuisine items from China (55% of items) and Japan (27%) are most common, followed by Thai at 8%, Indian at 2% and all others (8%).

Leading Asian Sauces 

Top Sauces are Teriyaki, Chili Sauce and Sweet & Sour. 

(Source MenuMine database)

Leading Proteins

When a protein is used in an Asian menu item, 44% of the time the meat is Chicken. Shrimp and Beef are tied at a 16% share of menu items, with Pork at 10%, Fish at 8% and other Seafood at 6%.

Asian Carbs

Typical of Asian carbs are rice including basmati and jasmine.  Asian noodles are made from either rice, wheat or beans.  Asian noodles include soba (buckwheat), rice noodles, glass, lo-mein, flat rice noodles, crispy noodles, shanghai noodles and wheat noodles.  Rice is menued 8 times more often than noodles, however, the volume of rice consumed is estimated to be many times greater.

Flavor Enhancers Add Authenticity

Spices, herbs and seasonings in sauces, curries, marinades and other flavor enhancers make each Asian Cuisine unique.  For example, Hoisin sauce in Chinese dishes is a combination of soybeans, garlic, chile peppers and Chinese spices.  Soy sauce is the result of fermenting soybeans with roasted wheat and barley. Ginger, Mint, Cilantro (Coriander leaves and seeds) and Peppercorns are essential across virtually all Asian cuisines. Rice, of course, is also the basis for ingredient staples like Rice Wine and Rice Vinegar.  Lemon Grass, Peanuts, fermenting fish lead to the sauces particularly common in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. 

Cooking Methods

By far the most typical cooking method is Stir Fry or Wok, making up 34%, most often associated with Chinese cuisines.   Next is Grilled including Satay (22%), then Fried (14%), Baked (8%), Broiled (4%) with the balance (18%) including simmering, sauteing and searing.

Bottom Line

Looking ahead, given the increasing influx of Asian population, the American appetite for new and different, and the room for Asian items to grow, operators, especially non-Asian chain operators, will be well served to look closely at adding more Asian items. Certainly the components are available.  In short, everyone knows egg rolls, stir-fry, teriyaki and fried rice, but not everyone has yet tried Crab Rangoon, Mongolian Beef, Chicken Satay or Shrimp Tempura.  But, the opportunity is there and growing.