It's not just in Asian cooking, but I'm a firm believer in the fact that the cheaper the cut of meat (eg: shoulder vs leg) the better the flavour and and the more "melt in the mouth" it is. Don't run any kind of restaurant unfortunately, but if I did, I could see that being a problem with customers perceiving chicken thigh, lamb shoulder, beef shin etc to be "inferior", "fatty" ingredients when in reality they are superior and the reduced cost is just a bonus.
If I eat out, I avoid anything with chicken breast like the plague (Indian and Chinese tend to not be so bad)- almost always cooked to within an inch of it's life!