Feast logo

ASIAN COOKING - Tips, tricks and ideas

Cause cooking is supposed to be fun

By Axelle T. MarchesinPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
Like
ASIAN COOKING - Tips, tricks and ideas
Photo by Matthieu Joannon on Unsplash

Hello everyone. Here is a little back story about me. As a Wasian (half French, half Pinay), I love Asian food. It is the type of food that makes me feel the most at home. My mom is Filipino, she is the one who raised my sister and me, so we grew up with Asian food. And my dad, although French, lives in China and so whenever I go to China and see him, I have the opportunity to try delicious dishes there too.

Here are some tips and tricks I have leant throughout the years, from my mom and travels to Asia.

- Clean the rice. That must be obvious for some, but before cooking rice, you want to wash it a couple of times under cold water. For that, I just put the amount of rice I wish to cook and rinse it with cold water then I tip out the water. I do that a couple of times until the water is clear.

- Use your fingers to measure the water you put in the rice. My mom taught us that and I always thought it was her thing - But after watching a few videos of Uncle Roger recently (the ones her comments about fried rice), I realised that pretty much all Asian people do that. Basically what you do is that you put a finger in the water until it reaches the rice and you add water until the water comes to the first phalange. And that is how much water you will need.

- Onion, garlic and ginger - This is the Asian trio of seasonings. Every Asian dishes will have if not all of them, at least two of those. I have those ingredients at home all the time because I can't cook without them. Or it doesn't taste right.

- MSG - Or also called Chinese salt - Makes all your dishes better. Honestly, if there is a dish that you're cooking and it misses that little... Something, try to add MSG.

- Soy sauce, oyster sauce and brown sugar (or honey) will work wonder if so many dishes. If you don't know what to cook, just mix those 3 ingredients and use them. You can marinate chicken or fish in there. Use that sauce for a stir fry with some veggies and noodles. It works like wonders.

- That means that your pantry must-haves are the following 5 - Soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, siracha and white rice vinegar. These are my go-to for Asian cooking. Other people might add sesame oil and maybe Shaoxing wine - I have them - but I could survive without those two. The other ones on the other hand. Difficult to cook nice dishes without.

- Asian food doesn't have a proper measurement. Sure you can look at recipes online and everything - I do too to get inspiration - But in Asian cooking, it is also about how you feel. Try the dishes when you cook. Add a little more salt, pepper, sugar if you feel like it, there is no rule, and this is why it is so fun to cook.

- Green onions are always a nice touch in the end. It gives that "fresh" feeling and gives a little contrast on the dishes that you cook.

- Fried rice is not difficult. You just dump every leftovers that you have. Proteins, veggies, you name it. Add the cold rice leftover and some soy sauce and TA-DA. Done.

- Garlic fried rice is the bomb. If you have leftover rice and garlic, I definitely recommend cooking that. I basically chop garlic as small as I possibly can, then I fry it until golden and I add the cold rice. I add some salt and pepper and a bit of soy sauce and BAM. The best rice dish on the whole planet. If you haven't tried that I would give it a go, it is just so good and so homely. Would recommend eating that with things like fried chicken or saucy dishes.

- Add ingredients in your ramens. I love ramens, I have a whole cupboard of ramens. But I don't eat them just as it is with the seasoning sachet. I love adding things in there. For example, I love adding peanut butter in the dry noodles, it makes it taste a bit like satay, it is so good. In the soup based ones, I love adding eggs or siracha, and sometimes I try adding cheese on the very spicy noodles, it helps with the heat. Oh and of course, green onions.

Hope all that gives you some ideas of dishes or of things to try. Asian food is all about fun and flavours so don't be afraid to try new things and see what you like and don't like. Enjoy!

You can also read the article I wrote about Thing you know if you are a Wasian

I have also written an article about 10 SIGNS YOU WERE RAISED BY A FILIPINO MOTHER

cuisine
Like

About the Creator

Axelle T. Marchesin

Hi, my name is Axelle, I am a 25 year old French girl who lives in The UK. I am passionnate about travelling, cooking and music. I have also started painting - Still a work in progress. Hope you guys will like my posts :)

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.