One thing is a lot of asian recipes tend to be more modular. Also, the middle/lower range asian restaurants can't afford to print menus each day. So for insta

One thing is a lot of asian recipes tend to be more modular. Also, the middle/lower range asian restaurants can't afford to print menus each day. So for instance, if the shrimp don't look good that day, they'll gladly throw in the littleneck clams that just came in. Same with green leafy vegetables, where they're pretty much interchangeable. "We have ong choy instead of a choy. Deal with it." Whereas in a lot of western cuisines, if you need endive in a dish, it has to be endive. Especially in higher end restaurants. They care so much about the flavor that substitutions are not possible. Maybe this green is slightly more bitter than this other green, and it throws off the whole flavor of the dish. Whereas, in a lower/middle end asian restaurant, nobody really cares.