water. Start with 7 minutes and check. When I know I’ll be using dried mushrooms in a dish, I’ll actually soak them in water overnight. The soaking water is flavorful (discard the sediment at the bottom) and you can use this water when steaming vegetables, making rice or just adding to pot when making soup.
Noodles, dried Buckwheat (soba) noodles. This mushroom-colored thin noodle, which is popular in Japan, is made from buckwheat flour. It’s usually served chilled with dashi-soy-mirin dipping sauce (yum) or in a hot broth. Rice noodles or rice vermicelli. This noodle is made from rice flour. It’s one of the most popular noodles in Asia and come in many widths. The thin rice stick noodles are great for Vietnamese spring rolls and salads. The medium and wide widths are often found in stir-fried noodle dishes (Shrimp Pad Thai, page 137) and noodle soups (like the Quick Vietnamese Chicken Pho, page 58). Soak rice noodles in warm water and briefly boil. Egg Noodles. This pale yellow noodle is made of eggs and wheat. They are available fresh, frozen or dried. The dried egg noodles are dried in little bundles or coils. You’ll have to soak them in warm water to loosen the coils before cooking. These egg noodles are used in Wonton Noodle Soup (page 60). See page 23 for information on fresh or frozen egg noodles. Mung bean noodles. These slippery noodles are made of mung beans and are gluten free! They are white when dried and clear when cooked. They are also known as glass noodles or cellophane noodles. They can also be deep-fried (my kids’ fav!) and they magically puff up in just a few seconds time and great as a top-ping for salads or a stir-fry. Potato starch noodles. These Korean noodles are also sometimes called glass noodles and are used in the dish Korean Jap Chae Noodles (page 135). They are made from sweet potatoes and do not contain gluten. The noodles are called “dangmyeon” in Korean and are grayish in color when dried; they transform to clear color when cooked. Somen. This very thin, delicate Japanese noodle is made from wheat flour. They are usually served chilled with a dipping sauce and they are also served in broths.
Chinese rice wine, Sriracha hot chilli sauce, oyster sauce, sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce, coconut milk, sesame oil, Chinese black vinegar, fish sauce and hoisin sauce.
Noodles, fresh Fresh Rice Noodles. These are my favorite noodles of all time, especially the wide rice noodles used in a Chinese stir fry. If I can find fresh rice noodles, I’ll use them for Quick Vietnamese Chicken Pho (page 58). You can also find them in sheets that are rolled up; you can unroll them, fill them and then steam them. They don’t keep that long—they’ll dry out in the refrigerator, so use them quickly or freeze. Egg Noodles. Fresh egg noodles are sold in plastic baggies or containers and are in the refrigerated section. They are also frozen in the package and store very well. The noodles are very quick cooking, and perfect for a hearty stir-fried noodle dish like Quick Noodle Stir-Fry (page 136) and the Garlic Butter Noodles (page 134).
Nori is Japanese for thin sheets of dried seaweed, usually sold in sealed packets of ten to fifty sheets. These are for sushi making, but their crispness doesn’t last too long once you open the package. If you have a gas stovetop, turn on the flame, take one sheet of nori and wave it over the flame to toast and crisp up the seaweed for a shatteringly crisp texture. Nori also comes in other shapes—smaller squares and strips. I love to sprinkle seasoned nori on soup (Ochazuke Rice with Crispy Salmon Skin and Nori, page 59), plain rice, french fries or popcorn (page 53). Seasoned nori is usually seasoned with salt, and you’ll see that right on the package.
Oil, Cooking For my everyday stir-fry or pan-fry cooking, I use canola oil as it’s healthier than some of the other oils and it does have a high smoking point and a neutral flavor. I also recommend vegetable oil or peanut oil, however, with so many kids with peanut allergies (what’s up with THAT by the way?) I’m just afraid to use it in my cooking. Toasted sesame oil, which has dark amber color, has a very low smoking point but a pungent/distinct odor when using more than just a few drops or a dribble in a dish. Olive oil is fine to use for cooking, but the oil has a pretty strong flavor and you’ll end up noticing the olive oil taste in your Asian food.
Oyster Sauce Yes, it’s made from dried oysters. But no, you can’t really taste the oysters! It’s dark broth, thick and smooth; salty, smoky and slightly sweet at the same time. Oyster sauce is used to enhance the flavor of many stir-fries, noodle dishes and braises. There is a vegetarian version made from mushrooms, too. Once opened, keep it in the refrigerator, where it will last a long time. There’s not really a good substitute for this sauce, however it’s a very popular Chinese ingredient and you’ll probably find it at your grocers.
Plum Sauce is sometimes called “duck sauce” because it’s often served with roast duck in Chinese-American restaurants. It’s a sweet, slightly tart dipping-sauce made of plums, apricots, vinegar and sugar. It’s good as a dip and as a substitute for Sweet Chilli Sauce and even as a glaze for grilled chicken.
Rice There are so many different types of rice—jasmine, short grain, broken, sweet, brown, red and even black! The most popular rice is the long grain (I prefer jasmine rice and the short grain (used in sushi and popular in Japan and Korea). The long grain Asian rice (not basmati) is popular in China and Southeast Asia. The jasmine rice (popular in Thailand) has a beautiful aroma. Long grain rice is fluffier when cooked and the grains separate better. The short-grained rice is starchier, stickier and heartier. When mixed with a bit of seasoned rice vinegar, its texture is perfect for sushi, which requires the rice grains to stick to each other to form a ball. To cook rice, you must rinse the rice in several changes of cool water to get rid of excess starch and just to cleanse the grains. See page 129 on how to cook rice.
Rice Vinegar There are two types of rice vinegar (also called rice wine vinegar): seasoned (or sweetened) and regular (or un-sweetened). Rice vinegar is less acidic and tart than regular white distilled vinegar. The seasoned rice vinegar is perfect for dressing sushi rice or for salad dressings as it includes sugar already in the mix. Substitute the regular rice vinegar with cider or white vinegar. To make sweetened rice vinegar, take 1/4 cup (65 ml) unsweeteend rice vinegar, cider or white vinegar and add 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Salt Like the spelling of chilli (page 18) there is much confusion about salt! Not the spelling, but the fact that foodies and chefs are definitely passionate about their salts and there are different types of salts. The most common in households is table salt, but it’s also my least favorite. The granules are very fine, the taste is bitter, the anti-caking agent just sounds gross, and the added iodine is sooooo 1920s. I’m a natural sea salt and kosher salt gal. Most restaurant kitchens will use kosher salt in its everyday prep and expensive sea salt in finishing a dish, sprinkling it right after the dish is plated. I do the same. Kosher salt’s larger granules are easier to use and feel (instead of spooning salt, I always use my fingers and hands to salt) and it’s not as salty as table salt. And you can’t beat sea salt’s natural taste and flakey texture. I don’t know what kind of salt you use at home, (and since the measurements of these different salts are so different), instead of putting exact measurements, like “ 1/2 teaspoon of salt”, I’ve used “generous pinch of salt” throughout the recipes. I’m a big advocate of “season to taste” as your “salty” may be my “bland”. Start with a generous 3-finger pinch of salt (probably twice for kosher and sea salt). You can always add more.
Sake is Japanese fermented rice wine and the best sake is drunk chilled. The so-so sake is served warm to mask its inferior quality. Sake has a higher alcohol content than beer or wine, and like wine, there are many different types and price points. Daiginjo is the top quality stuff (I’d use this for drinking and not cooking). For cooking, you can always substitute with dry sherry or dry vermouth.
Sambal The word sambal refers to a Southeast Asian (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singaporean) relish or condiment made with ingredients like chillies, salt, garlic, vinegar, sugar and others. Sambal is usually served
