At UCLA, Asian-style cuisine on the menu
Assistant cooks Jose Espenoza, center, and Moses Mendez, right, work behind the counter to serve up a dish of Thai stir-fried pork with long beans at the renovated dining commons at UCLA’s Rieber Hall, which will offer several Asian cuisines. It’s part of a trend of colleges nationwide replacing old-style cafeterias with innovative ethnic fare that’s more healthful.
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Spinach-and-seaweed salad roll is one of the new Asian dishes that will be available at the renovated dining hall. The changes at Rieber are also a response to demographics: About 40% of UCLAs 27,000 undergraduates are Asian American or international students from Asia.
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A bowl of prik dong (Thai chili in vinegar) is offered as a topping at the renovated dining commons at UCLA’s Rieber Hall.
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A dish of Thai stir-fried pork with long beans sits on display at the new dining hall. Compared to previous generations, today’s college students are much more food-savvy.
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Another Asian offering at the renovated dining hall: Vietnamese asparagus and mushroom bao pizza.
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Green tea azuki bean cookies. Nationwide, campuses big and small, private and public have joined the “foodie” trend.
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An Asian-style barbecued chicken bun. The preparation of unusual dishes on a mass scale has proved tougher and more time-consuming than anticipated, UCLA officials said.
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Japanese Kuromitsu is one of the dessert offerings at the new dining hall. At first, about 300 dishes will rotate.
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Students dine during a “soft opening” at UCLA’s new cafeteria in Rieber Hall. Some student leaders have questioned whether this was a good time for the food project while UC is in the midst of a budget crisis.
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UCLA students Eric Itow, left, Vivian Cheung and Alice Li dine in the renovated dining commons. The $5.1-million renovation included new equipment such as rice cookers and a stone oven for flatbreads and was paid for with reserves from dorm and food plan payments, not state money or tuition.
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