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Essential Asian Ingredients

Posted by helen 
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helen
Essential Asian Ingredients
June 08, 2017 06:29AM
I have just composed a list of what I think to be essential ingredients for SE Asian cooking.
Can you shout if you think I have missed anything that I shouldn't have?

thanks..

Essential Ingredients for SE Asian Cooking
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Lorna
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 08, 2017 11:59PM
I'm not sure if they're SE Asian, but certainly Asian, but I always have Oyster Sauce an Hoisin in my cupboard. Full of umami, but both quite different.
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helen
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 09, 2017 07:14AM
Ah yes Hoisin sauce is always in my pantry.
Interestingly I hardly ever use oyster sauce which is why I left it out.
I know it is delicious with stir fried greens etc... but I just hardly ever seem to use it.
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Vanessa45
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 11, 2017 12:41AM
Sugar in particular palm sugar, to get the sweet/salty/sour balance
Vanessa
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helen
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 12, 2017 01:28AM
Vanessa yes you are right with sugar but I guess along with salt I just assumed that people would have some form of sugar. Not always now though i guess.
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Vanessa45
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 16, 2017 11:43PM
True, however I dont use salt in asian cooking, usually fish sauce or rely on the salt in other sauces and have been known to use the disks of palm sugar (how good is having a nibble of these!!!!) in curries and do prefer them.
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Lorna
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 18, 2017 02:18AM
My palm sugar is in little plastic trays, like small ice cube trays, but I find it very difficult to remove the cubes without resorting to a knife or scissors.
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Beverley
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 19, 2017 05:45AM
Helen,
It may interest you to know that my Chinese neighbour,who often brings me a Chinese home cooked meal to taste, tells me that she never uses Fish sauce, always Oyster sauce.
Her food is wonderful tasting, full of flavour.

Beverley
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TPANDAV
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 19, 2017 06:46AM
Beverley, fish sauce is mainly used in South East Asian and Korean food, not much in Chinese food. It is not equivalent to oyster sauce, but quite different.
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Beverley
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 19, 2017 09:50PM
Thanks ! That explains it then.
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helen
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 20, 2017 03:51AM
Yes I do accept that missing oyster sauce was an oversight as it is used extensively in Chinese cooking and is in many recipes.
As soon as I left it off I then needed it for a recipe. smiling smiley
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Beverley
Re: Essential Asian Ingredients
June 20, 2017 10:32PM
You are far too young to be having a "senior moment", Helen !

My favourite cuisine is Japanese. Having been hosted there 4 times and eaten in the best restaurants in Tokyo and beyond, it was easy to get an appreciation of this whole culture of enjoying food.

Beverley
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