cast iron wok! Oh, make sure that you also get a wok lid with your wok! Wok Spatula: In Chinese, it’s called “wok chuan” and basically it’s a spatula shaped specifically for wok cooking, it’s shaped like a bent shovel! Look for ones with a wooden handle on the end, so that it doesn’t get too hot to grab. You’ll use a wok spatula to move, flip, toss and scoop food around in your wok.
the ingredients
I live about 20 minutes away from a good Asian supermarket and some of you even further! The way I approach Asian ingredients is to choose those that store well, like canned pastes, jarred sauces, dried aromatics and frozen goods. This way, I can make one trip every few weeks and stock up on things like coconut milk, oyster sauce, dried shrimp and frozen noodles . . . and then visit my regular local supermarket for any fresh veggies, seafood or meats. Now, a spontaneous Thai curry dinner is really simple and literally ready in 15 minutes!
Here’s a list of the most common ingredients that I’ve used throughout the recipes in the book. Take note that this is not an exhaustive list of Asian ingredients. For that I would need a volume of three more books to fill! But these are the ingredients that I use most in my home cooking: from curry pastes to fresh herbs and dried mushrooms.
My approach to Asian ingredients is that sometimes you’ve got to make do with whatcha’ got. For example, fresh Thai basil is not always available in my local supermarket, and while I normally grow this in my garden, sometimes I’ll just sub with sweet Italian basil. Same with chilli peppers—I often will use jalapeno chillies because that’s what my market carries. (And also because the spice level of jalapenos suits me perfectly!) If you don’t live near an Asian market, take a look at your grocer’s “Ethnic” aisle, and you might be surprised to find many of the jarred, canned and dried ingredients there. I’ve also tried to provide you with as many substitutions for ingredients as possible in the recipes. The Resource Guide provides sources for ordering ingredients online. And for my gluten-free friends, I’ve included notes for your diet as well. (By the way, there are SO many Asian recipes that don’t use gluten, so this is a perfect book for you if you are watching your gluten intake).
Bean Sprouts Bean sprouts, oh bean sprouts, how I love you now that I have my own kidlets to assign tail-pinching duties to! (Mom used to make me do this chore). Of course, you don’t have to pinch the tails off, the tails are certainly edible, and most restaurants and cooks will cook the bean sprouts with tails-on. Bean sprouts are the sprout of the mung bean and are one of the quickest vegetables to cook! Just a minute in the wok or blanched and it’s ready to eat. Personally, I love bean sprouts raw as a crunchy topping in my Shrimp Pad Thai (page 137), Miso Ramen (page 66) or Thai-style Chicken Flatbread (page 37). Look for white stems that snap! Here’s a tip to keep them fresh in the refrigerator. Wash the bean sprouts, discarding any that look a little soft or sad. Use a salad spinner to spin dry, or lay them out on a towel and gently pat to absorb the water. Store them in a plastic bag and also put a dry piece of paper towel in the bag. Close the bag. This is the best way to store bean sprouts . . . keep them as dry as possible! If you don’t have bean sprouts, you can just omit them from the recipe or sometimes what I do is take a long celery stalk, peel the stringy outer layer with a vegetable peeler and julienne into thin strips. The crisp-crunchy texture is very similar.
Bean Sauce or Paste Chinese bean sauce is made from fermented soybeans and different spices. There are a few different kinds of bean sauce, the brown bean sauce comes smooth or with whole beans (preferred) and is an essential component of northern Chinese cooking. It’s pretty salty, so use just a bit at first and add more after tasting. Bean sauce has an incredible flavor—both salty and savory. Black bean sauce is made from fermented black beans and is used in Clams Sautéed in Garlic and Black Bean Sauce (page 77).
Cilantro, green onions, lemongrass, Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves in the small bowl.
Bok Choy is Chinese cabbage and I love cooking with the beautiful spoon-shaped leaves (Simple Baby Bok Choy and Snow Peas, page 116). It’s commonly used in Chinese cooking and the stalks are mild and crunchy while the leaves taste like cabbage. It’s very healthy for you, full of vitamins A and C and a fab source of folic acid. My parents eat bok choy at least once a week! This is one of those vegetables that you can add to any stir-fry—you can cut them up into 1-inch (2.5-cm) sections, add the thicker stems into the frying pan first, followed by the leaves. My favorite part of the vegetable is the super-tender centers of each bok choy.
Breadcrumbs, Panko These are unseasoned Japanese breadcrumbs made from crustless bread and once you use panko, there is absolutely no wanting to go back to regular, heavy, soggy breadcrumbs. Panko are more like “flakes” than crumbs and the end result is airy, super-crisp coating on whatever it is you’re coating. You can use it to bread seafood, meats or vegetables and you can deep-fry, pan-fry (Asian Crab Cakes, page 83) or even bake for a healthier dish, like in Baked Crispy Chicken with Citrus Teriyaki Sauce (page 105). You can find panko at any Asian market and even at your regular grocer. Check the “Asian” section or the section that sells bread-crumbs. If you can’t find panko, just use regular, unseasoned breadcrumbs.
Chili, Chile, and Chilli I’ve had fiery debates going on via Twitter and email on the correct spelling of chilli pepper (the fruit from the plant . . . I’m not talking about chilli con carne). In the past, I’ve always spelled the pepper “chili”, my friends Elise and Matt spell it “chile” (as do many in America and in Spanish-speaking countries). But many of my Asian cookbooks use the spelling “chilli”. Sigh . . . how confusing! Well, I asked my friend, Michael Ruhlman, for his opinion and he cited late food historian, Alan Davidson’s Oxford Companion to Food and Harold McGee, NY Times food writer and author of many chefs’ food bible On Food and Cooking. Both believe that the double “ll” spelling is the way to go, pointing out that it is the original romanization of the Náhuatl language word for the fruit (chīlli). Whatever spelling you see in other books, on grocer’s shelves or jar of hot sauce, just remember they all refer to the fiery hot members of the Capsicum genus.
Chilli Sauce I don’t think I could ever be without chilli sauce. Wait. I think I say that about a lot of ingredients! Chilli sauce is a blend of chillies with other ingredients such as garlic, salt, vinegar and sugar. Chilli sauce is so popular in all countries of Asia, and it’s very easy to make your own from fresh or dried chillies. Of all chilli sauces, there are two that are the most popular in the U.S., one is called Sriracha and the other is the Indonesian sambal oelek—a chilli-garlic combo. A staple at many Vietnamese restaurants (though originated from Thailand), Sriracha is like ketchup with a kick! I use it for everything, yes, even dipping in french fries (mix Sriracha with mayo). Its bottle is easy to spot—look for a green cap and a rooster logo—and you’ll find it. Chilli garlic sauce, or sambal oelek, is thicker and great to add to a bit of soy sauce for a simple dipping sauce for dim sum. I also sometimes add a spoonful of chilli garlic sauce to stir-fries. Once opened, keep chilli sauce in the refrigerator. For a discussion of sambal, see page 24.
Chillies, dried You can find whole dried chillies at most Asian markets and you can soak them in hot water for a few hours to blend with some garlic or other seasonings to make a great chilli sauce, or you can throw them whole into your cooking. Of course, if you use them whole, you’ll get the lovely flavor of chilli without all the heat. I personally like to cut each dried chilli in half, empty out and discard the seeds and add the halved chillies to my dish. This way, my kids aren’t surprised with a zinger of a bite if a chilli seed (the source of most of the heat) is hidden in their food! The whole dried chilli is about 1 1/2
