Asian recipes can be quite intimidating; which could include ingredients that you may or may not be accustomed to, like medicinal herbs grown by blind Buddhist monks on the foothills of the Himalayas, baby tiger shark pancreas, unicorn tears and good ‘ol thinleaf milkwort root. In reality, most Asian pantries (more particularaly Chinese pantries) consist of a handful of staple ingredients that when used in different combinations with each other, make up the backbone of most of your favourite Chinese recipes. To help you narrow down the items that are versatile that are guaranteed to be used more than once, here’s my list of essential Asian pantry items for common Chinese recipes
My family and I have been making this recipe for who knows how long. I’ve always known it as stir fry beef and it wasn’t until I went out to eat with some non Asian people (who did the ordering) did I find out that our family recipe (or something quite similar) was an actual legit thing! Commonly known as “mongolian beef”, popularized by “western-Chinese” restaurants, this simple beef dish is simple to make that incorporates a velvety gravy that tastes great over white rice.
I love dumplings. I don’t know many people who don’t like dumplings – that’s only because I don’t have time for people like that in my life and can’t be bothered to befriend them. I will go where the dumplings are; near or far, if there are delicious bundles of meat wrapped in flour dough and served with sauce, you’ll probably find me there, pulling out a seat for you. I’m a dumpling gypsy – not a gypsy dumpling; I can only imagine those things being made with lots of yak cheese and questionable meat. So roaming the city and following my nose for my next dumpling haunt, you can imagine how surprised I was when my nose led me into a repurposed sports bar in a neighbourhood known for Indian restaurants.