Best products from r/asianeats

Some additions to the Japanese section:

• Dashi Stock Granules (or you could make your own with bonito flakes and some big sheets of konbu). This stuff is the base of almost everything in Japanese cooking.
  
• Sake. The brand I get is Gekeikan. Comes in a green glass bottle. Not just for drinking.
  
• Rice Wine Vinegar. Used in sushi rice, dressings, sauces, and marinades.
  
  As an aspiring cook of Chinese foods, I got a book called "stir-frying to the sky's edge" and most of the recipes in it call for at least 3 of the following ingredients. I had one hell of a time tracking them all down at my local H-mart, but they were all there. It just took a very thorough inspection of the sauce and liquid ingredient isles.
  
  Chinese:
  
  
• Oyster sauce (Okay, just remembered you are vegetarian, but I'm gonna leave this up for the benefit of others.)
  
• Black Bean Sauce (Tenmen Jiang)
  
• Chili Bean Sauce (Douban Jiang)
  
• XiaoXing Cooking Wine (You might find different spellings... along with all of these Chinese ingredients now that I think about it.)
  
• Black Vinegar (ChianKiang Vinegar)
  
• Light and Dark Soy Sauce
  
• Sesame Oil (You can find this anywhere... Just mentioning because I use it all the time)
  
• Hoisin
  
• Red Fermented Bean Curd (Only if you want to make your own char siu. As a westerner I've never read about any other uses for it. This is what you're supposed to use instead of red food coloring).
  
  Don't know shit about Korean cooking (except that it requires good micro).
  
  Thai:
  
  
• I once followed a recipe for a very authentic tasting red curry paste that came out great. The only thing it called for that you haven't listed is shrimp paste. It's pretty foul stuff--smells horrible, tastes bad by itself, overpowering if you add too much. But, I added it anyway and, like I said, it tasted very authentic and I was very happy with it. I might just omit it next time to not have to deal with it, but I thought you'd like to know about it for the sake of authenticity. Gah, I just remembered you were vegetarian AGAIN. Sorry. Anyway, the recipe is here and they give vegetarian substitutes for all the ingredients.
  
  
• Also, if you want to cook Pad Thai, you need Tamarind Paste.
  
  Some posts in here have covered Indian starter spices really well so I wont repeat them, but I will tell you some of my experiences:
  
  
• Buy a coffee grinder to grind spices yourself.
  
• Even after buying tons of spices for indian cooking, it seems like no matter what, whenever I come onto a new recipe I really want to try, it calls for one spice I don't have. Be prepared to either plan your curries out well in advance or settle for omitting one spice from the recipe every now and then.
  
• Buy a cook book. After scouring the internet, all I could find were recipes by non-indians that called for "curry powder". if it calls for curry powder, chances are it's not authentic. I got a book called 660 Curries which is authentic and beginner friendly.
  
• I bought my spices online from Savory Spice Shop They are A+ would shop again. Not sure if they ship outside the US, though. Make sure you know how much an ounce of each spices is just so you don't do what I did... "Hmm, Coriander seeds... 1oz doesn't seem like much at all. Better go with six. OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE."
  
  Anyway, took me about two years to figure all this shit out and I'm still going, so hopefully you wont have to take that long. I find that after the initial cost of investing in these asian pantry items, you can just pretty much buy only meat, veggies, and grains and make nearly anything since you've got all the flavors on hand. Have fun shopping.
  

If you like Thai food, pick up some Golden Mountain sauce. You could always mix brown sugar with a light soy sauce in a pinch, but I like having the real deal on hand.

I love (spicy) banana ketchup on all kinds of stuff, especially non-asian food (my favorite is breakfast street tacos with spicy banana ketchup). nom nom nom

Filipino spicy vinegar is also one that I buy a lot of because it lasts forever. It's great for dipping and marinades or using in place of rice vinegar to spice up a dish.

For hot sauces, I always have sambal oelek or chili garlic at the table. Both are also great for cooking/marinades.

If you can find it for cheap, pre-made bulgogi sauce is great for when you need to whip up a large/fast/delicious meal for friends.

Yummy mango & sticky rice!!
 


Check out my blog for tasty pictures and details on the recipe!: https://lyndygates.com/
 


Ingredients:
 


1 cup of sweet rice soaked in water overnight
 


1 mango
 


1 cup of coconut milk
 


3 tbsp of sugar
 


A big pinch of salt
 


Sticky rice steamer basket & pot (linked down below)


Directions:
 


    ⁃    Soak your sweet rice in water overnight!
 


    ⁃    The next day, drain your rice and place in steamer basket
 


    ⁃    Fill a pot with water a little less than half way and place over the stove to bring to a boil
 


    ⁃    Once the water is completely boiled, place the steamer basket with the rice in it over the pot and cover with a bowl or damp towel
 


    ⁃    Let the rice steam for about 20 minutes, checking at 10 minutes to stir the rice to give an even steam
 


    ⁃    Once the texture reaches sticky rice, remove from the pot and place in a bowl or on a plate
 


    ⁃    To make the sauce, place your coconut milk, sugar and salt in a pot and over the stove on a medium heat. You only need to HEAT UP the mixture so DO NOT bring to a BOIL. The coconut milk cooks very fast and will turn into an oil if you over cook it. Just mix everything together and wait till the sugar dissolves and your mixture is heated. Once you see a little steam come out and the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and place in a bowl.
 


    ⁃    Add a little of the sauce to your rice and stir, just to coat the sticky rice and bring out a little more flavor. Don’t pour too much because it will make the rice soggy. Plate your rice however you want and slice your mangos. Place the mangos next to the rice and drizzle a little more sauce over the top. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds if you would like and serve!
 


So simple! This recipe is PERFECT for any occasion, fancy or casual. It is a huge hit for everyone and it’ll having you crawling back for more! I know it might be hard to find the steamer basket and pot so here’s one I found on amazon that’s very similar to what I have (NOT SPONSORED): https://www.amazon.com/Sticky-Rice-Steamer-Pot-Basket/dp/B00019MRRE
 


Enjoy! :)

Hey thank you for your input! I actually tried that recipe yesterday, wasn't from the site you gave me but it's the exact recipe. It was so close but the rice vinegar was so overpowering. I can't tell if its just too much or if that ingredient should be omitted all together. I completely agree with you though and I think your suggestions are great. I'm going to experiment again with what you suggested:

• Japanese mayo (I couldn't find Kewpie, they were out of stock but that had Kenko mayo, which I think is the exact same just another brand)
  
• Srichacha
  
• A little bit of sesame oil
  
  I'm going to do another batch with the same ingredients listed above but with a little bit of sugar as well. I read in one of the recipes that you have to let it sit for a few hours for the flavors to blend together and that really changes the taste. I'll try that too and report back! Thanks again!

Those look great!

I am a tea fiend, so I can help you out most there. :) I personally own the first cup and am personally not happy with it, despite its good looks. (FYI, tea leaves easily get stuck in the drain slits, not to mention it's incredibly fragile.)

I would instead suggest this teapot instead, which is still glass and the filter is good quality. Pro-tip: For tea that expands into much larger leaves (blossoming or oolong teas), no need for the filter so you can see the beauty of the tea expanding. :) Another suggestion would be the Teavana Perfectea Maker for a gravity brewer that lets you see the tea leaves brewing.

I personally recommend All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China, by Carolyn Phillips.

It goes through the different regions of China and describes their food, different influences and flavors.

It has Uyghur food from Xinjiang, Hakka food from the South, Russian food from Dongbei.

It doesn't have pictures like some cookbooks, but the illustrations are charming and will explain how to do some more complicated maneuvers. I checked it out from my library a last year, and loved it so much that I bought it when it went on sale a little bit ago!

Without a doubt, Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop.

She was the first Westerner to graduate from the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine and spent a couple of years cooking at some of the best restaurants in Chengdu. This may be the best cookbook of any type that I've ever used. The recipes are spot on, authentic, and amazing. Her follow up Hunan book is good as well, but Sichuanese style is where it's at!

I would suggest sticking with one region at a time since cooking styles and pantry items are so different. A Chinese cookbook with multiple regions is like having a singular European cookbook with chapters for British, French, Italian, and Greek. You're not going to learn much and I doubt the recipes would be that good.

I would just buy whatever hot pot fits your lifestyle. For example, I don't suggest buying a butane stove if you have bad ventilation. I've used all kinds butane stoves, electric pots, etc. and they really make no difference on cooking the food and yes the elevation can be affected, but not so much where it's not enjoyable.

For soup base recipes, I highly suggest just buying premade soup bases. Premade soup bases are both convenient and taste delicious. Unless you cook a ton of Chinese food, you won't have to buy a ton of ingredients in large quantities just for your hot pot broth.

If you are going the typical Chinese hot pot flavors (herbal and spicy), my favorites premades are:

Herbal

Spicy

The spicy I linked is hard to find at times and sometimes I just grab whatever one I can find at the Chinese grocery store. I usually find most spicy premade ones to be pretty good across various brands, though herbal ones tend to be more hit and miss and I highly recommend you use the one I linked for herbal! The spicy one I linked is "mala" spicy, so that means it's a numbing spicy which can be unpleasing to a lot of people. If you want just normal spicy and no numbness, look at the ingredients and make sure there are no szechuaun peppercorns.

If you go the premade route and have a half/half pot, be sure to only use half of the seasoning! Each pouch is made for a full size pot. If you are going to go non traditional with your hot pot soup broth (tomato, tom yum, etc.), you might have to make your own hot pot broth as I don't really see much variety beyond spicy and herbal at the grocery store.

I bought this pho base, it is actually really good! It is the equivalent of "that other pho place, you know, the one that's not as good as your favorite" in quality. Each box is enough to make something like 6-8 quarts depending on how strong you want it. I make half batches and it is plenty for two humongous servings.

I grew up eating hotpot cooked on a portable induction cooker. I got mine from Amazon similar to this one.

Rosewill Induction Cooker 1800 Watt, 5 Pre-Programmed Induction Cooktop, Electric Burner with Stainless Steel Pot 10" 3.5 QT 18-8, RHAI-15001 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UNOSLYU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8fgCDbVQ41EY2

I like having the pot and cooker separate because I can make the hotpot on stove and then transfer to the induction stove on the table when ready. You can also get a single pot and a divided pot to switch things up between Chinese hotpot, Japanese sukiyaki etc.

Bonus, I use the induction cooker outdoors to sear me steak so I don’t trigger our smoke alarm.

This. I have this version: http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Cuisine-Wei-Chuans-Cookbook-Huang/dp/0941676080/ref=pd_sim_b_1 and it is a great book with traditional recipes. You'll definitely enjoy this book.

I make my broth with less oil than I think is common - more soupy and aromatic. It's not as good as homemade, but when I'm feeling lazy, I like this mix: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001X93UTA

For dipping sauce, I mix sesame oil with a little msg, minced garlic, and a little salt.

My favorite hot pot foods are bok choy, enoki mushrooms, thin sliced lamb, spam, and then noodles at the end (gotta save the starch for near the end, otherwise it'll thicken the broth too much). Other nice additions: most any other kind of small or chopped up mushroom, baby corn, fish balls, little frozen precooked dumplings, other thin sliced meat (beef, chicken), broccoli, little quartered potatoes, snow peas, bean sprouts, etc.

I'm from Texas (USA).

In his accompanying video at 12:00, he says that the dark soy sauce is similar to kecap manis, which is a sweetened soy sauce used in Malaysian and Indonesian foods. If you are not sure of the Healthy Boy items, you might look for kecap manis. I can recommend the ABC brand. Or if it helps, you can look up the ingredients in the Healthy Boy products and compare them to kecap manis -- on my bottle of ABC, the ingredients are listed as: Palm sugar, water, salt, soybean, wheat, sodium benzoate.

Definitely Lao Gan Ma chili oil. Fun fact: also endorsed by John Cena
https://www.amazon.com/Lao-Gan-Chili-Crisp-Sauce/dp/B0051D84JU

For those interested in reading more about Filipino cuisine, some great books on the subject include Memories of Philippine Kitchens, The Adobo Road Cookbook, and Kulinarya.

First thought is that it could be one of the Japanese "roux-sauces", though those usually come in little bricks, not powders. Most common are the Japanese curry sauces, but others include things like Hayashi rice or just plain beef stew. It might have also had something like tonkatsu sauce or yakisoba sauce in it.

You might try books published by Wei-Chuan Publishing, they have several bilingual, English-Chinese, editions. Chinese Cuisine features dishes from several regions, and Chinese Snacks has many of the goodies you find on the street or at a dim sum restaurant.