So, you want to try your hand at cooking Asian cuisine, but you’re unsure where to start? Well, look around your kitchen: Do you have the right tools and ingredients? Because Asian cuisine — in all its umami, savory glory — requires not only a handful of must-have ingredients you might otherwise not know to pick up from the grocery store, but it also calls for certain cooking utensils and vessels, from rice cookers to woks.
Asian cuisine is unique in that many dishes are spiked with a hit of salty umami flavors. And when it comes to Asian cuisine, the key is in the sauce. Typically featuring soy sauce, fish sauce or even chili sauce, Asian recipes also boast sauces such as rice vinegar and ingredients such as peanut oil — a staple cooking ingredient in Chinese, South Asian, and American cuisines.
Ahead, we’ve gathered not only the vital ingredients to always have on-hand when making Asian cuisine, but we’ve also highlighted the must-have cooking tools that’ll make certain dishes a breeze to whip up, from bamboo steamers to hot pots.
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Rice Cooker
Sure, you can cook rice on the stove, but rice cookers are great to have on-hand because they not only automatically cook your rice with the touch of a button, but they also keep your rice warm. And if you’re making rice often, these cooking tools are a godsend. Our favorite? The Aroma Housewares rice cooker.
Rice Spatula
When cooking rice, it’s a must to have a rice spatula to scoop and serve. Growing up, my mom would always have a few plastic spatulas on hand; but we’re loving these natural wood non-stick rice scoopers from EORTA.
Wok
Ideal for stir-frying and quick, fast-paced cooking, woks are an essential cooking utensil. With their high, sloping walls, you can not only easily move food around without spilling over the sides, but woks also usually require less oil. Our favorite is the 14-inch Joyce Chen Carbon Steel Wok — and don’t forget the lid and spatula!
Bamboo Steamer
Used for thousands of years, bamboo steamers are a healthy, fast, hand-off way to cook everything from dumplings and buns to fish and veggies. And one of the most popular steamers on Amazon is Prime Home Direct’s 10-inch, two-tier steamer that also comes equipped with 50 liners.
Cast Iron Skillet
The cast iron skillet is an essential cooking tool — for any kitchen. But when it comes to Asian dishes, this particular heat-retaining vessel is ideal for making stir fry and for deep frying everything from lumpia to tempura.
Fry Rack
Speaking of lumpia and tempura, a fry rack — particularly one that attaches to the side of the wok or other cooking vessel — allows you to drain excess oil grease from your deep-fried foods.
Hot Pot
Great for keeping food, particularly broths and soups, warm, hot pots are typically placed at the center of a table and surrounded by plates of meat, seafood and veggies — all of which will be cooked in the broth.
Soy Sauce
Now, when it comes to ingredients, soy sauce is a staple in any Asian household. Made from fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae mold, soy sauce is used to give any dish a splash of salty, umami flavor.
Tamari
Tamari is also commonly used in Asian cuisine. A type of soy sauce that also enhances dishes with its umami flavor, Tamara is usually gluten-free and used in stir-fries, soups, tofu, and more.
Sesame Oil
A mildly nutty and aromatic seasoning often used to sauté meats and veggies and coat noodles, sesame oil not only considered an essential Asian cuisine ingredient, but it’s also believed to have health benefits, including combating inflammation and helping to improve one’s heart health.
Peanut Oil
With a high smoke point (450 degrees), peanut oil is fabulous for frying. And, as The Washington Post explains, it doesn’t pick up odors and tastes as readily as other oils, either, “and thus can be strained and used again.”
Fish Sauce
Like soy sauce and Tamara, fish sauce is a versatile seasoning that also adds an umami, savory flavor to your dish. Think you’ve never tried the sauce? Think again. You likely tasted the salty ingredient in a variety of Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino or Indonesian dishes.
Rice Vinegar
Made from fermented rice, rice vinegar has a mild flavor and is often used in sushi, fried rice, and marinades and sauces.
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