How to Stock Your Pantry for Asian Cooking

Stock your pantry to prepare Asian dishes so that when the cravings come, you're ready.

Things You'll Need

• Wonton Skins
• A Variety Of Teas
• Black Bean Sauce
• Chili Sauce
• Coconut Milk
• Cornstarches
• Curry Pastes
• Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
• Dry Sherry Or Shaoxing Cooking Wine
• Egg Noodles
• Egg Roll Wrappers
• Fish Sauce
• Garlic
• Ginger Roots
• Hoisin Sauce
• Oyster Sauce
• Rice
• Rice Noodles
• Rice Vinegars
• Sesame Oils
• Soy Sauces
• Sugars
• Tamari
• Tofu
• Vegetable Oils
• Bamboo Steamers
• Cleavers
• Rice Cookers
• Woks And Utensils

Instructions

1. Always have lots of Asian short-grain or Thai jasmine rice, dry egg noodles and/or dry rice noodles handy. Every Asian delight is accompanied by a filling starch.

2. Store a variety of sauces, such as soy sauce, tamari (Japanese soy sauce), oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, chili-garlic sauce, and black bean sauce, to name a few. These sauces are used in both marinades and stir-frying.

3. For Southeast Asian cooking, stock red or green curry pastes, coconut milk and fish sauce.

4. Keep plain or rice vinegar, dry sherry or Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing), and sugar for stir-fry sauces.

5. Get some dried shiitake mushrooms, which add incredible depth of flavor to stir-fries and other dishes. Plus, after you soak the dried mushrooms in water, the water itself is delicious to use in your cooking.

6. Stock a block of firm tofu at all times for instant protein.

7. Refrigerate pre-prepared wonton skins and egg roll wrappers. These are readily available in most supermarkets and are great for making dim sum, spring rolls, wontons and pot stickers.

8. Keep a variety of oils for use in the wok and to flavor your creations. Vegetable oil is great for the wok; dark sesame oil provides a popular Asian taste.

9. Store garlic, garlic, garlic. It's as popular as rice. Fresh ginger root is great to have around, too.

10. Keep an assortment of Asian teas handy (one green, one black, one oolong) to serve with and after food.

11. Get some cornstarch. It's often used to thicken sauces and hold together the ingredients in wontons and dim sum.

12. Buy a wok and other Asian utensils, such as a bamboo steamer, a rice cooker and a cleaver.

Tips & Warnings

• Prepare your mind before you begin creating your newly appointed Asian kitchen. Asian cooking is founded on the principle of yin and yang, or the balance of opposites: dark and light, soft and crunchy, sweet and sour. Some perfect examples to get you started are: ginger and sesame oil, plum sauce and vinegar, soy sauce and garlic, noodles and bean sprouts.

• For the simplest of stir-fry sauces, combine one part soy sauce, one part vinegar, one part sherry or Shaoxing, a pinch of sugar, a dash of chili oil or chili-garlic sauce, and one to two parts water. Whisk in a few teaspoons of cornstarch.