asian cuisine

i thought i would share the different sauces/seasonings i use when cooking asian cuisine. you might find this post boring, but one of the reasons i blog, is to be able to turn my blog into a scrapbook of sorts for my kids. one of the things, i hope to give my kids when they leave home is a cookbook of all the recipes we have loved over the years. both my kids love asian cuisine! i took them the other day to an asian market to buy some things that you just can't find at a regular grocery store. it was a culture experience for them! my little lady loved looking at all the unusual ingredients, like jelly fish for an example. i enjoyed it too, because it reminded me of all the places i've lived and i saw familiar things from each of those countries.

so here is a breakdown of some of the important ingredients in asian cooking...at least according to me, whatever that is worth...
soy sauce...it's an essential in asian cooking. it can also be a base for making different types of sauces, like teriyaki.
sesame oil...used to flavor the food as your cook it. it's what evoo is to italian food.
garlic...it flavors any dish!
ginger root...i use my zester to cut it up and it adds a big punch of flavor. eating it will also help relieve motion sickness.
rice vinegar...it is used in not only hot dishes but salads too. often times you can use it to make asian salad dressings. it gives a nice tangy taste.
oyster sauce...i use this sauce to add flavor to my mixture that i use to make egg rolls or dumplings.
hoision sauce...i use this when cooking kung pao chicken.
black bean garlic sauce...i use this when cooking kung pao chicken.
fish sauce...i use when making pad thai.
ground fresh chili paste...i mix about 2 teaspoons of this with 1/4 cup of soy sauce and it becomes our dipping sauce for dumplings or egg rolls. it's got a nice kick to it and is so good!
it would also add red pepper flakes and dried red chili's too. they turn up the heat on any dish!