I have been spending quite some time researching and trying to work on a product list for Wong She & Co. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what would be your basic requirements to be able to cook a chinese meal at home. But surprise, surprise! You need a fair few basic ingredients (fresh and pantry) to be able to say you have a well stocked chinese larder! I know this when looking at my own pantry – oh lord it is a mess, but when I look at the sauces, spices and condiments – I think I use all of them! But that is just me – I think we don’t need ALL of these sauces and condiments, (there is a fair amount in the fridge too!). SO I have tried to do a “basics” list and then a more “extras” list that you may find you want to use/start using.
I am also thinking that there is a cross over between cuisines – some ingredients are in more than one cuisine and are not necessarily specific to one country. To that end, I think we need to consider (a) space in your pantry and (b) whether we can choose 1-2 of an ingredient rather than 3 or 4! For example, I would hate to think how many types of soy sauce there are out there – different origins, different flavours, different uses. I feel that if we cut this down to 1-2 to cover most of your needs, then that is a better option. Of course, feel free to correct me if you think I am wrong! Maybe my palette is not good enough to pick out the difference a lot of the time!
And this doesn’t include my herbs and spices! 😅
But back to basics. I thought I would put together a list of basic pantry products, what we use them for and maybe even what the difference is. I need to let you know that this is just MY list of basics! Please let me know if you think I am missing something essential. But I am just looking at the Chinese pantry in this blog and will move on to other cuisines as I go.
Soy Sauce
OK so this is the big one. The basis of so many dishes, so many different cuisines, and is a bit of a no brainer to have in your pantry. But as mentioned, I do feel that you need two. A thick or dark soy and a thin or light soy. The thick/dark soy (is far more viscous – tip the bottle upside down and you’ll note that it is quite sticky). I don’t use an awful lot of dark soy – it adds a lot of colour to your meal – noodles lap it up and it adds flavour. But the light soy, to me, adds more to your meal – more to use in seasoning, marinating and on it’s own if you are going to dip your dumplings, or flavour soups etc. I use more light than dark but in some dishes you might use both. Below is a quick reference. I am hoping to do a blog just on soy sauce and their differences, health benefits, and history so stay posted. But for the purpose of this pantry list, I would suggest one of each. I use the Lee Kum Kee brand mostly, but also have used Pearl River and of course the Kikkoman which is a good all rounder, in my opinion to use as a light soy in chinese and japanese meals.
Oyster Sauce
I always wondered whether there was actually any oysters in oyster sauce, because if there is, I probably wouldn’t use it as I am not an oyster fan. Like a lot of the history of many ingredients, it turns out that oyster sauce was made “by mistake” when an oyster seller left his oysters cooking for too long. So, it is made of oysters (hence maybe I should try an oyster again some time) – or more likely these days it has an essence of oyster or something to give it that flavour. In an interesting aside, it was the founder of famous Lee Kum Kee brand that invented this sauce! So that is why I always buy their brand of oyster sauce! It is full of umami flavour and I use it in stirfries of veggies, noodles, in some marinades. Very useful ingredient.
Shaoxing Cooking Wine
So I have to say that this is a pretty essential ingredient. I use it ALOT (almost as much as soy sauce!). I use it in marinades, in dumplings, in fried rice and stir fries. It is a rice wine made by fermenting rice with water and some wheat (Warning to those who want gluten free!). It does not have a strong alcohol level but there is wine from this region that is heated and drunk (much like sake). Use it in dishes such as kung pao chicken, or steamed or fried fish. Recipes often suggest using dry sherry if you do not have shaoxing wine, but seriously, I don’t know many people who have sherry these days! 🙂
Sesame Oil
I just love the smell of sesame oil – it is so fragrant and it just enhances so many dishes, I fear I consume too much of it! It is, of course, an oil derived from the sesame seed and is used not only in China, but Japan and east Asia, India and the Middle East. There are some differences in the sesame oil from these different countries – there is cold pressed oil, whilst the oil from India is more golden, and the East is usually darker as the seeds are roasted. There is also unroasted oil which is more common in the Middle East. There are two types of oil, one has a lower smoking point and can be used for deep frying, but the more common in Australia and Asia is the toasted sesame oil which is used for flavouring and added to stir fries etc. And the cold pressed oil is also used in Ayurvedic massage. Use it in marinades, with tofu, with dumplings in sauces, soo many uses.
Hoisin Sauce
OK, so I made some of my own hoisin sauce just recently and I swear I could just eat spoonfuls of it – the main difference I think (besides from my sweat and tears!) was the recipe I used contained peanut butter which just added more nuttiness, and less sweetness to the end result. However, I digress. Hoisin means “seafood sauce” in chinese, which is very misleading as it does not contain any seafood, and doesn’t usually get eaten with seafood. It is more common to consume it in marinades and as dipping sauce (often with Peking duck pancakes) . I read that the seafood reference is due to the szechuan phrase “fish fragrant” … Hoisin is actually made of a fermented soy bean and is the base ingredient of chasiu bbq pork – the sweetness of it adding to the crunchy edges of the pork on barbecueing – much deliciousness!
Chinkiang Vinegar
Rice vinegar is one more essential to add to this list. It is the most common of the 3 vinegars often used in Chinese cooking, the others being red rice vinegar and white rice vinegar. It is black in colour as it is made from fermented black sticky rice. It isn’t quite as sour as normal vinegar, slightly sweet and is mostly used in dipping sauces as well as in marinades and dressings.
Doubanjiang – Broad Bean Paste
This one might come from left field a bit, but seriously it is so delicious I often add it to my meals. It is a spicy salty paste made from fermented broad beans, soy beans and chillies and it probably most well known for mapo tofu – an all time favourite of mine! In fact most tofu dishes benefit from doubanjiang but it is also good with rice and noodle dishes. Even added to your instant noodles is a hit.
Chilli Sauce
Oh so broad is the term “Chilli Sauce”! Sooo many different types of chilli sauce from so many different cuisines, different types of chillies used, some are super hot, some are sweet, some are simple and some are far more complex. As I have a non chilli eater in my house, we tend to use chilli sauces that we can add on top of our meals (in fact on most things – eggs on toast, cheese on toast, instant noodles, ham sandwiches!). And if I am adding chilli to our meal it would probably be in the form of the aforementioned doubanjiang. However sometimes fresh chillies are all that is needed! Our go to chilli sauces in this house are the infamous and always tasty Lau Gan Ma. I love the one with the peanuts as it adds a bit of spice, it’s crunchy and it’s delicious on anything (as mentioned above!). The sriracha is always good for a more stinky hit of chilli (of course it depends how much you add). So I am not claiming any superior knowledge on this but to say these are the two chilli sauces that we have in constant rotation. Chilli oil is also an option for adding heat to your meal.
Other fresh and dried ingredients you will need to complete your basic pantry :
Of course there are so many other things you can add to your pantry and grow it (you have seen mine – maybe you can show me a photo of your pantry?). But I thought I would just give you a quick list of fresh items you would also think about having in your fridge as well as a few other basic staples you would want :
FRESH
- Garlic and ginger
- Shallots (spring onions)
- Coriander
- Chillies
- Asian veggies – bok choy, gai lan, snake beans
- Tofu, tofu and more tofu – hard, soft, puffed, you name it!
- Mushrooms
FROZEN
- Dumplings and wonton
- Noodles – udon, ramen, hokkien, egg (any or all in dried or frozen/fresh form are good!)
PANTRY
- Stock (or fresh in the fridge or frozen – all good)
- Sesame seeds
- Five spice and also a salt and pepper spice mix
- Cumin and coriander
- Aniseed and other spices
- fried shallots and garlic
- Dried chillies
- Rice – how could we not include this! I tend to use jasmine rice for chinese
- Dried noodles
- Szechuan peppercorns
Oh boy the list could go on and I could also show you a photo of my spice drawer which is a nightmare no matter how hard I try to keep it in some form of order. I hope this has been of some help to those who don’t know where to start with stocking your pantry.
