Asian Pantry List: Essentials for Asian Cooking
For Asian cooking, the basic kit is rice, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, a neutral cooking oil, plus fresh garlic, ginger and scallions. Depending on whether you prefer Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Southeast Asian cooking, you add five to eight ingredients from the matching list below.
The base for all cuisines
With these ingredients you can cook fried rice, simple noodle dishes and marinades:
- Rice: jasmine rice for Southeast Asia and China, short-grain rice for Japan and Korea
- Soy sauce: a light all-purpose soy sauce; more on the types in light and dark soy sauce
- Toasted sesame oil: for flavoring at the end, not for frying
- Neutral oil: peanut, canola or sunflower oil for stir-frying in the wok
- Rice vinegar: mild, for dressings, sushi rice and sauces
- Cornstarch: for thickening sauces and marinating meat
- Sugar: white sugar is enough to start
- Fresh: garlic, ginger, scallions, limes
Noodles and the freezer
Dry noodles keep for a long time and quickly turn the base into a meal. Keep two types on hand: wheat or egg noodles for fried noodles and soups, plus rice noodles for Southeast Asia. Glass noodles made from mung bean or sweet potato starch are a good third candidate.
In the freezer, dumplings, peeled shrimp, frozen udon and fresh roots in slices are worth having. You buy tofu fresh, but firm tofu can also be frozen, and afterward it turns spongier and soaks up marinade better.
Chinese cooking
- Dark soy sauce: for color in braises and fried noodles
- Shaoxing rice wine: for marinades and stir-fries; dry sherry as a substitute
- Oyster sauce: for vegetables and wok beef (contains mollusks)
- Doubanjiang: spicy bean paste from Sichuan, a must for mapo tofu
- Sichuan pepper: for the tingling feeling on the tongue, for example in dan dan noodles
- Black rice vinegar (Chinkiang): for dipping sauces and tart dishes
- Star anise and five-spice powder: for braises
Japanese cooking
- Japanese soy sauce: a little sweeter and rounder than Chinese
- Mirin: sweet rice wine for glazes and teriyaki
- Sake: for cooking, a simple cooking sake is enough
- Miso: one light type covers most things; overview in miso varieties
- Dashi powder or kombu and katsuobushi: base stock for miso soup and noodle soups (katsuobushi contains fish)
- Panko: coarse breadcrumbs for fried food
- Nori: seaweed sheets for onigiri and sushi
Korean cooking
- Gochujang: spicy-sweet chili paste, the base for bibimbap
- Doenjang: fermented soybean paste for doenjang jjigae
- Gochugaru: coarse chili flakes for kimchi and stews
- Toasted sesame seeds: for sprinkling on almost anything
- Korean short-grain rice: sticks lightly and suits banchan
Southeast Asian cooking
Thailand and Vietnam
- Fish sauce: the salt of Southeast Asia (contains fish)
- Coconut milk: canned, for curries and soups
- Curry paste: red or green, for green curry and quick stir-fries (often with shrimp paste)
- Palm sugar: caramelly, for curries and dressings
- Tamarind paste: for the acidity in pad thai
- Rice noodles and rice paper: for pho, bún and summer rolls
- Fresh or frozen: lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaves, Thai basil, cilantro
Indonesia and Malaysia
- Kecap manis: thick, sweet soy sauce for nasi goreng
- Sambal oelek: a simple chili paste for heat
- Shrimp paste (terasi or belacan): intense, a small piece is enough (contains crustaceans)
- Peanuts: for sauces and as a topping
How to build your pantry
- Buy the base and one cuisine you want to cook right now. Ten bottles at once rarely get used up.
- Cook three to four dishes from that cuisine before you tackle the next list.
- Choose small bottles and jars for ingredients you rarely need, such as Chinkiang vinegar or shrimp paste.
- Write the opening date on the lid with a marker.
- Buy fresh herbs and roots in larger amounts and freeze them in portions.
With the base plus one cuisine list you get far. One example: the base plus doubanjiang, Sichuan pepper and dark soy sauce is enough for mapo tofu, dan dan noodles and fried rice. The base plus fish sauce, coconut milk, curry paste and palm sugar is enough for green curry, pad thai and many soups. Many sauces overlap: you use soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar in almost every list.
You can get almost everything on this list at an Asian grocery store. Well-stocked supermarkets carry soy sauce, coconut milk, rice vinegar, fish sauce and curry paste, often also miso and gochujang. Online you find specialties like doubanjiang or gochugaru.
Shelf life and storage
| Ingredient | After opening |
|---|---|
| Soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar | pantry or fridge, many months |
| Oyster sauce, hoisin, kecap manis | fridge |
| Miso, gochujang, doenjang, doubanjiang | fridge, many months |
| Toasted sesame oil | cool and dark, turns rancid over time |
| Coconut milk | fridge, a few days; freeze leftovers |
| Curry paste | fridge, with plastic wrap on the surface |
| Sichuan pepper, gochugaru, sesame | airtight and dark; gochugaru in the fridge or freezer |
Typical pantry mistakes:
- Sesame oil for frying: Toasted sesame oil burns at wok heat and then tastes bitter. Cook with neutral oil and add sesame oil only at the end.
- Only dark soy sauce in the house: It colors strongly and salts less. As your only bottle, the light type is the better choice.
- Pastes in the cupboard: After opening, miso, gochujang and curry paste belong in the fridge, or they dry out or spoil.
- Stocking up on spices: Sichuan pepper and chili flakes lose aroma after a few months. Buy small bags.
Follow the information on the label. If a jar shows mold or oil smells rancid, throw it away. If you have allergies, check the ingredient lists: soy sauces mostly contain wheat, oyster and fish sauce contain mollusks and fish, and many pastes contain soy.