Some good Asian food items to learn?

dekaspace

Asian as in Chinese/Japanese etc.


I was thinking miso soup as I bought miso, bonito, tofu but some recipes seem to want dashi.

kboss2010

You make dashi from your bonito flakes & kombu:

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-japanese-dashi-broth-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-57749

Buy some white miso paste (a good Chinese supermarket will stock it in the Japanese section & you can freeze it indefinitely instead of the powdered stuff & use it in stir fries. Miso is like ketchup in that they all taste totally different & if you hate one, you may love another.)

I hate powdered miso soup bases but love white miso paste (which is actually a dark mustard colour but very light & sweet, red miso is saltier & richer in flavour for red meats.

Japanese cooking uses red & white miso pasted as a base with lots of eggs, fish & fresh vegetables & sea vegetables.

I’d recommend Naomi Moriyama’s recipe book as a good introduction to Japanese cooking:

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1071191/the-japan-diet/


Chinese cooking basics:
- ginger, garlic, chilli is the basis of Chinese cooking (use jars of pur!e for convenience if you don’t want to buy fresh ginger & garlic)

- be gentle with silken tofu, treat it like a delicate poached egg while cooking otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled tofu

- store cupboard essentials for Chinese cooking are sesame oil, shaosing cooking wine, dark and light soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce & a flavourless oil like groundnut or vegetable oil for frying.

- invest in a wok (Ikea do brilliant non-stick ones for a few quid)

Softstuff

Dashi is basically fish stock, bonito flakes are dried shaved fish, kombu is seaweed you use to season it. But you can also buy it as an instant powder you just add water to "Dashi-no-moto".

I keep my miso in the fridge (though yes, it keeps better in the freezer), the reason being the fresh stuff is a fermented live foodstuff full of probiotics (a bit like yoghurt). Good for your digestion, but my give you a bit of wind to start. Freezing won't kill the flavour, but it will see off the friendly bacteria.

I like this lady:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/
Lots of nice free recipes here, well explained, I've never had one fail.

VfM4meplse

I'm no expert, but I think Chinese and Japanese food is quite different. I love vegan Chinese food, but despite its growing popularity in the West, I'm not keen on sushi. If I eat Japanese food it's from Wagamamas.

That said, although I have the cookbook (I picked it up from a chazzer for either 10p or 20p) I have yet to consult it...

davidsdesire

I keep soy sauce, mirin and curry paste in my cupboard (as well as tinned coconut milk)...i'm able to throw together a quick Thai curry with chicken, beef or tofu and whatever veg we have malingering in the fridge. I also make Vietnamese foods...right now banh mi burgers are a favorite. A little soy, some ginger, a touch of sugar and charcoal. quick, easy and affordable.

dekaspace

Ah, looking at the bonito it does say "dashino moto"

The miso I have is a red colour and a paste.

I like Asian foods in general, I love the imported noodles and rice and the seasonings just wanted to make something out of it all!


Thanks so far.

mangog

Ramen is easy to make and surprisingly healthy for such a hearty meal! I use this recipe as a base and just adjust as needed depending on what I have in the house.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/722637/japanese-ramen-noodle-soup

MandM90

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I think Chinese and Japanese food is quite different. I love vegan Chinese food, but despite its growing popularity in the West, I'm not keen on sushi. If I eat Japanese food it's from Wagamamas.

That said, although I have the cookbook (I picked it up from a chazzer for either 10p or 20p) I have yet to consult it...

I saw yesterday that Wagamama have introduced a vegan katsu curry! This excited me greatly! :beer: