Ethnic Brides and Cooking

[MrMan]

My wife was in her early 20's when I married her. She was interested in cooking, but didn't really know that much about it. I hardly ever cook anything. After trying her liquid spaghetti sauce made with ketchup, I made a thick, garlicky sauce for her once. That's the only time I ever remember doing anything like that. I can't really cook. My wife is so good at it now. That sauce may be the only thing I've made that complicated that tasted good.

As newly weds, we went to eat lunch at someone else's house. The lady of the house was a fantastic cook. My wife resolved that she would learn to cook like that. Now, she's a fantastic cook. She can cook dishes from 12 or 15 or whatever... countries. She can cook Indonesian food, of course, 'American' (European?) dishes, Thai, Korean, Indian food, etc. She can taste stuff and tell you what's in it.

I used to go to church with a lot of Filipinos. Some of their food is okay, but it can't hold a candle to well-prepared Indonesian food. Indonesian food uses more spices and just tastes better, at least based on my experience. Filipino food is plain. Some of it is greasy. I've never tried Mindinoa cuisine. I hear it is spicier. A Filippino dishes were the same as Indonesian dishes. They have a chicken and rice porridge that is basically the same thing. But Indonesian flavors tend to be bold, especially from the region closest to the Filipines, ironically.

As far as Asian brides go, Filipinas seem to be a 'popular' choice. Language and cultural connections through the military are probably the top regions. The US has bases in Korea, but marriages to Koreans seem a bit less common. Koreans tend to be richer and marrying a white isn't as big of a status symbol for them, based on what I know of the two cultures.

As far as food goes, if you get a wife who can cook, marrying an Indonesian seems like a good choice. If you marry a Korean cook (as in wife), and she just cooks Korean food, you will be eating that red pepper, garlic, leak, and anchovy taste all the time. If you can marry a Chinese woman who can cook, that might be good. They have lots of good food there, but flavors vary based on region. Personally, I think Filipino food is okay, but probably closer to the bottom of the list as far as tasty Asian cuisines go.