My Top 10 Must Have Asian Basic Pantry Seasoning
7:22 PM
Singapore is known as the melting pot and you can see a wide variety of food sold in the streets, malls and restaurants. You name it, we have it! I am very well adapted and familiar with food. Therefore, I like to use different type of seasoning to cook! Seasoning helps to enhance and flavours a dish accordingly. When used right, it can save your dish. I remember there is a couple of time when i accidentally put sugar instead of salt. No matter how much I added salt to balance the taste, the broth doesn't come out right! Furthermore, i wouldn't want to throw away a 8hour beef broth right?! I was like f*** care and added oyster sauce and soy sauce. To my delight, the umami from the seasoning deepens the broth and give it a richer taste. I was relieved and glad. In this post, I want to share with you my top 10 must have Asian basic pantry seasoning.
Counting down at num 9: Five Spice Powder, Great For Roasting
Yeah... It is a good seasoning but i don't use it often. Five spice powder is a blend of five different spices: star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seed. It has a strong smell. Usually it helps to flavour and remove the odour of the meat. Pork and duck are such examples. A tip: cook off the five spice powder or it will taste disgusting as hell!
Counting down at num 8: Maggi Seasoning, A Versatile Seasoning
I am telling you.... this is magic! It goes well with many dishes. Do you something feel that the food does not have a 'body'? Well, a few dash of Maggi Seasoning and you are good to go! In culinary school, i was asked to make vegetarian thai food. However, many Thai cuisine have fish sauce in it. I realise that Maggi Seasoning is a good substitute seasoning!! It smells similar to fish sauce, I got A+ for my project :) A tip: do not use too much, it can overpowder the dish easily.
Counting down at num 7: Maggi Oyster Sauce, Smell Ridiculously Nice
A life saver seasoning. The sauce is extracted from oyster and they add in flavouring in it. We often use it to fry our vegetables. Also, it can be use to marinate meat, fish and seafood. It is sweet and salty. Teriyaki Sauce and Oyster Sauce is like (cucumber and donut). They doesn't sounds right, but they are meant to be together *wink*
Counting down at num 6: Thai Chili Sauce, Everyone's Favourite
Well, i know that most people love this sauce. It is good by itself. It can be use for dipping, marination, gravy and flavouring. Thai people really do it right. It is sweet, tangy and spicy. It is not overly spice but still give you the kick you need. It is pretty, vibrate and most importantly, delicious.
Counting down at num 5: Vegetable Stock, Shine Bright like a Diamond
Damn, this is hard to find! The only place i see selling is ShengSong. It is so good you can slap a person ass and say 'you go gurl' ! It is full of umami. My chef tells me that this is the secret ingredient that all industrial chef uses. Try it on aglio oilo. Believe me, it works and worked wonders.
Counting down at num 4: Fish Sauce, The Celebrity
I know you all must have heard of fish sauce! It is so right but so wrong! Fish Sauce smell funky and taste disgusting on it's own. Somehow, when fish sauce is put together with other food, it taste amazing. It is often use in Thai and Korea cuisine. People either hate it or love it! For me, i loved it!
Counting down at num 3: Sesame oil, The Finishing Touch
Sesame oil is a great pantry seasoning to have! It smells nice and nutty. It gives a nice shine to your food. Koreans go wild with sesame oil. Literally, sesame oil makes everything taste better. Try it, you can use it for your Asian salad dressing or you can fry your meat with sesame oil!
Counting down at num 2: Soy Sauce, God of Seasoning
Whoever invented this is a genius.
Counting down at num 1: Chinese wine, aka Hua Diao Jiu 花雕酒
This is bloody good! I use it on everything. Like most alcohol, it tasted sweet. All Chinese food uses this Chinese wine. It helps to perfume the dish and flavour the dish ever so gently. At the back of your throat, you can taste the subtle sweetness of the wine and it amazing increase your amazing. It uses in many Chinese cuisine as it helps to create the flavour (we call it wok hei).
So, what’s your favourite Asian Seasoning? Leave a comment below!
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