Vegetable was very dull, typically comprising mainly some staple product made from rice, rye, barley, wheat, millet or maize. The addition of vegetable matter provided some variety to the diet. The staple diet of the Aztecs in Central America was maize and they cultivated tomatoes, avocados, beans, peppers, pumpkins, squashes, peanuts, and amaranth seeds to supplement their tortillas and porridge. In Peru, the Incas subsisted on maize in the lowlands and potatoes at higher altitudes. They also used seeds from quinoa, supplementing their diet with peppers, tomatoes, and avocados. In Ancient China, rice was the staple crop in the south and
Vegetable soups in Filipino cuisine Vegetable soups in Filipino cuisine Vegetable soups in Filipino cuisine, called "utan", "utan bisaya", "sinabawang gulay", "law-oy" or "laswa" in various regional Philippine languages, are vegetable soups usually served with steamed rice. The dish usually consists of leaves of "Moringa oleifera" (known in the Philippines as "kamunggay", "marunggay", "balunggay" and "malunggay"), okra, pumpkin or squash ("kalabasa" or "calabasa"), leaves of "Basella alba" ("alugbati"), the long, slender oriental variety of "eggplant" ("talong" or "tawong"), ginger root ("luya" or "luy-a"), tomatoes ("kamatis"), yard long beans ("sitaw", "batong" or "balatong"), taro root ("gabi"), scallion ("sibuyas dahon") and may contain Chinese cabbage or headed