When I go to my timeshare I take a bag of essential seasonings and sauce makings. ALWAYS take orange marmalade, Asian chili paste (sambal oelek, plain or with garlic), soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and a plain oil. Turns anything into a stir fry, makes a variety of marinades and dressings. Add peanut butter and garam masala (or just generic curry powder) to the travel bag and suddenly the options are doubled.
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Just want to say thanks. I saw a recipe for Pad Thai on Marcus Samuelsson's FB feed a week or so ago, but didn't recognize some of the ingredients. These NYT articles filled in some of the blanks.
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I look forward to experimenting. But I add the caveat that many of the ingredients are high in salt, and then there are suggestions to add butter. Something to keep in mind.
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you can get low salt versions
Many brilliant articles in the food pages today! Thanks for the inspiration!
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these days, my go-to midweek meal is homemade 'ramen.' I use thick brown rice noodles boiled in salt and sesame oil, dark green leaves of kale or collard greens (+ onions, mushrooms, optional) simmered in beef or chicken broth toasted sesame oil, a dash of peanut oil, fiery-hot garlic-chili paste, and a pinch of soy sauce. sometimes, I stew it all together with coconut butter for a creamy, hearty broth. it's so simple, easy to make, and completely satisfying!
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Eilat, you must be peeking in my kitchen window. I love my 'ramen', too (regardless of what noodle I'm using) and love that you can toss in whatever you have on hand. You can use up those little bits of this and that instead of wasting it. You really can't go wrong and Eilat's suggestions are spot on.
I add grated ginger. Ready in 10 minutes and SO satisfying.
I add grated ginger. Ready in 10 minutes and SO satisfying.
This is one of the most useful articles I've read in the NYT in a long, long time.
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Mr Talde,
What do you recommend to families who keep kosher? To vegetarian families?
What would practicing Buddhists (the ones who don't eat animals or members of the Lilly family) keep in their pantries?
What do you recommend to families who keep kosher? To vegetarian families?
What would practicing Buddhists (the ones who don't eat animals or members of the Lilly family) keep in their pantries?
Here's what I do: I keep schmaltz on hand and if a recipe for meat calls for butter, I use schmaltz. For oyster sauce, I add fish sauce to soy sauce, miso and a little hoisin. I have no idea how authentic this is because ,well, oysters, you know. I haven't done this, but some people substitute ground lamb for pork, but I think I'd limit the ginger with lamb. The point is, these are starting points from which to have easy fun in the kitchen and make a delicious meal.
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And somehow I mistakenly thought that India, with its various cuisines (yes, plural), was in Asia.
I guess Indians are not Asians.
Open you eyes wider people! You are missing out on so much!
Do you know what a pinch of toasted cumin, or Garam Masala, can do to a preparation? Including Pasta Sauce?
I guess Indians are not Asians.
Open you eyes wider people! You are missing out on so much!
Do you know what a pinch of toasted cumin, or Garam Masala, can do to a preparation? Including Pasta Sauce?
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Raj, settle down. As you very well know, Indian cuisine and influence spread far and wide in South East Asia, through trade and culture and Indian kings in the region known as Suvarnabhumi. Kampuchea, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, all benefitted from this cultural exchange. The "curry pastes" that are so popular in Thailand, are derivatives of Indian influence. Before Buddhism spread to these countries, places like Angkor were Hindu pilgrimages. To this day, in Thailand and Indonesia, the Ramayana is enacted in street plays and puppet shows, with great gusto. Similarly the Far East countries like China, Japan and Koreas were greatly influenced, peacefully, by Indian culture, cuisine and religion. To this day Buddhism thrives there, its a gift from India.
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Is the American part of this picture the inability to distinguish betwen the Asian cuisines? They are all Asian. Add some Japanese kimchi to Korean sushi for a great American meal. It's like adding a few Thai or Japanese dishes to a Chinese menu so the restaurant can pretend it's upscale.
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Leftover rice is much superior to fresh cooked in many dishes, esp stir fry. Allowing 24 hrs between original cooking and re-use is much preferable. I think it's because the moisture drops over time--not sure of the reason but very sure of the result.
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Most fried rice recipes recommend day-old rice, which doesn't clump. Having tried it both ways, I'm sold on leftover rice. Good call, Jim.
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If you want it to taste/smell like Chinese restaurant fare, use peanut oil to stir fry. I've been to Guangjo (?) (Canton), and we were never served anything resembling American Chinese food.
Nice article, but rice is so easy to make, especially if you have a rice cooker. Why would you bother to cook extra rice, then go to the trouble of putting in a ziploc bag in the fridge, taking it out, microwaving it etc…? It takes about 30 seconds to put some rice, salt and water in a rice cooker and turn it on, so I don't see how having cooked rice to reheat makes a stir-fry about "seven times easier."
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Stir fry is easier to make with day old rice, a little dry.
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Because old rice made into stir fry is seven times better than stir fry made with fresh rice! The best stir fry is made from barely edible old rice ;)
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if you prefer brown rice, and especially if you don't have a dedicated rice cooker, it can take an hour to be ready.
I would recommend having a bunch of five spice powder and a bunch of cilantro around always.
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Make sure you and any quests like cilantro - which is used in may cuisines. To a significant portion of people it tastes like soap. Genetic I believe.
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@westford. design First, I love this article! So many possibilities, so easy, the graph! Also want to say THANK YOU for telling life span of miso. Been thinking of buying it but wondering about keeping time.
Now about the cilantro taste. When I first tasted it , thought it tasted like soap! A couple of years later I began to love it. Not sure if it still tastes like soap but if so, it’s a very delicious one!
He only mentions vinegar in passing--which I find surprising in a Filipino cook. Standard white vinegar works fine in most recipes, though rice vinegar is more basic to the Asian kitchen. I'd also add sesame oil--a little goes a long way in recipes or as a condiment, and has a wonderful smoky flavor.
Jarred, chopped ginger is available in most grocery stores easy to use, as is jarred chopped garlic--no matter what the cuisine, you should always have some of each in your fridge.
And if you don't have a rice cooker, I'd get one. It only takes 20 minutes for rice to cook while you're doing the rest of dinner, and while my Filipino-American spouse will microwave leftover rice, he vastly prefers it freshly cooked, and is part of our dinner routine most nights.
Jarred, chopped ginger is available in most grocery stores easy to use, as is jarred chopped garlic--no matter what the cuisine, you should always have some of each in your fridge.
And if you don't have a rice cooker, I'd get one. It only takes 20 minutes for rice to cook while you're doing the rest of dinner, and while my Filipino-American spouse will microwave leftover rice, he vastly prefers it freshly cooked, and is part of our dinner routine most nights.
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You're right about the liberal use of vinegar in the Filipino and Fil-Am kitchen. But I'd just add that Talde's excellent new cookbook is more of a riff on different Asian themes crossed with "American" food, rather than a straight-up Filipino cookbook. His delicious short rib kare kare looks nothing like what my lola would put in my bowl, but it is amazing nonetheless. I find it very freeing to see someone having so much fun playing with the different traditions.
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Once you try Lao Gan Ma chili oil, you'll be hooked! It's a wonderful condiment and adds complexity and heat to sauces and marinades.
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The great thing about Asian condiments is the versatility -- it can easily be used across lots of meats/seafood/poultry. I.e. Sriracha is now readily available in half the kitchens in NYC (or so it seems so). There's some trial and error of course but isn't that what makes cooking fun?
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if you have a fish/seafood allergy or are otherwise vegetarian, how are you substituting for fish sauce, oyster sauce, shrimp paste etc?
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We cook often without oyster sauce and even more often without fish sauce. Hoisin sauce adds lots of flavor to the dish and corn starch flurry helps create texture similar to oyster sauce. We also use fermented black bean paste usually one which has garlic and chili in it, ie spicy black bean chili sauce. Bigger problem for us is sesame seed and oil allergy in the family, so we avoid condiments that have sesame oil added as an ingredient.
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Soy sauce is the obvious answer for a general all-purpose provider of salinity and is more diverse than many people think: it differs by culture (Thai soy sauce is noticeably different in my opinion from Japanese soy sauce, for instance) and also by type (thin soy sauce, thicker "dark" soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, mushroom-flavored soy sauce, etc.) Hoisin as petey tonei mentioned is a good option, though it can be quite sugary so if that's an issue watch out; and there are mushroom-flavored vegetarian "oyster" sauces as well, though check your ingredients to be sure.
Aside from soy sauce there's also a number of fermented vegetarian products that could work: Chinese black beans (douchi) and Thai soybean paste (tao jiew) are also nice "umami bombs," as well as miso which coudl also work.
Aside from soy sauce there's also a number of fermented vegetarian products that could work: Chinese black beans (douchi) and Thai soybean paste (tao jiew) are also nice "umami bombs," as well as miso which coudl also work.
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A vegetarian version of oyster sauce is available, made with mushrooms.
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A bit more caution on the "they will last forever" issue. They will, but only if you are careful about not contaminating them. Be sure to use a clean implement when you scoop them out of their containers. No double-dipping after you mix them into something else. It's that "something else" that will go bad and potentially ruin the condiment.
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Definitely like those jars which have pouring lid spout kind of feature.
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I find canned Thai curry pastes to be essential for soup, stir fries and braising. Don't even need to chop onion or garlic or ginger, just vegetables and a protein and fish sauce. Basil or cilantro or mint before serving is nice. Canned coconut milk is good sometimes too. Yesterdays version: ground beef, turnips and turnip greens. Added a little sugar as the greens were bitter. Yum. There are at least five different pastes and I cycle through them for variety. I think my favorite is in a green can and the paste is red.
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The article deals not with Asian as a whole, but with Far Eastern condiments and ingredients. Asian would include those of many other countries, to say nothing that the term "Chinese food" is a misnomer for a great variety of regional cuisines.
But it would be nice if the author embarked on the similar subject for African and South American "essentials".
But it would be nice if the author embarked on the similar subject for African and South American "essentials".
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Well, fish sauce and shrimp paste are not East Asian. It sounds like the cookbook includes other Asian sources.
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We do Asian meals often. With ease and the outcome is super delicious, finger licking, umm chopsticks licking! Easiest fish dish my Taiwanese friend made for us and we make as often as possible: in a microwave safe glass dish cover salmon or halibut or your favorite fish with soy sauce/tamari, julienned fresh ginger, finely sliced scallions and green chilies. Marinade for 15 mins or so. Then microwave for 10 mins, covered. Remove and garnish with fresh cilantro. Season with red chili flakes drenched in sizzling hot oil. Serve on hot white or brown steamed rice. Squeeze of lime if you like.
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Oh...a slurry of 2 tbsp oyster sauce 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp corn or tapioca starch 1 tsp black bean chili paste works wonders for a quick baby bok Choy stir fry or Chinese broccoli or baby spinach or water cress! Works marvelous for home made lo mein (noodles like thin spaghetti if you don't have Chinese fresh noodles). Works well for a quick fried rice with day old rice. We usually add sliced carrots, peas, sliced egg omelette, steamed shrimp to make a one pot meal with a side of greens mentioned above, Shanghai bok Choy being our favorite.
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Well, this just answered the question of what to do with the rockfish for tonight's dinner. Yum! Thanks! :-)