Asian Cooking Made Easy With These 4 Pantry Essentials

By Devi Poojari

Fresh, light and delicious are some ways to describe Asian food – which has become the rage for how high on flavour it is. You can recreate your favourite meals at home by stocking up on four key ingredients that make any homecooked Asian meal a joyful experience.

NOODLES

From the variety of options like egg noodles, flat rice noodles or the fresh hand-pulled ones, choose your preferred noodle and add it to your favourite khao suey, rich pork broth or veggie stir fry.

FISH SAUCE

The thin consistency of the fish sauce can be quite resourceful as it can be used across multiple applications as a marinade for meats, dressing for salads and even as part of dipping sauces for Asian-style rolls.

CURRY PASTE

A few spoonfuls of this flavour-packed concoction is ideal to add to soups, barbecues, marinate meats before grilling and of course, the obvious, in curries.

SESAME OIL

Apart from its nutritional benefits, sesame oil is most commonly used in dressings and to add finishing touches to Chinese hotpots, dipping sauces and drizzled on top of fresh chopped salads.