Cheese is rarely found in East Asian dishes, because it is perceived as not being a fresh ingredient, and because dairy products in general are rare. However, Asian sentiment against cheese isn't universal.
Cheese made from Yak's or Mare's milk is common on the Asian Steppes and cheese is used in India, where paneer curries are popular. Even in China, cheese consumption is increasing, with annual sales more than doubling from 1996 to 2003 (to a still quite-small 30 million US dollars a year).
Strict followers of the dietary laws of Judaism and Islam must avoid most hard cheeses, which are made with rennet from animals not slaughtered in a manner adhering to kosher or halal laws. Both faiths allow cheese made with vegetable-based rennet or with rennet made from animals that were processed in a kosher or halal manner.
Many less-orthodox Jews also believe that rennet undergoes enough processing to change its nature entirely, and do not consider it to ever violate kosher law. Under kosher rules, cheese is a dairy food and so cannot be eaten in the same meal with any meat.
