Vegan

Asian
Pantry & Cooking
Essentials Bonus Ebook
Jeeca Uy
Creator of The Foodie Takes Flight
Vegan Asian Pantry & Cooking Essentials
Hello there! If you’re reading this, thank you so much for ordering a copy of my
cookbook. I have put this guide together to hopefully help you build your pantry and
prepare your kitchens with some Asian cooking essentials. This guide is meant to
supplement my Vegan Asian cookbook as well as the recipes in my website but I hope it
can be a good reference for Asian cooking too.

This is also by no means a complete guide to Asian cooking essentials, but merely an
overview of ingredients and tools I use for my own recipes. You may already have some
of these ingredients and tools, but please read on so you can prepare and stock up on
them as you plan to cook some of your favorite Asian dishes.

Some of these ingredients will be readily available in your local supermarket but you
may need to visit an Asian store or grocery or check online for some of the more
specialty ingredients.
Let’s get started!

3
Sauces and Condiments
Chili Oil or Chili Garlic Oil
There are different variants of chili oil—ranging
from different spice levels, depending on the
brand and type of chili used. There is a very
popular brand Lao Gan Ma, well-known for its
chili sauces.
Chili oil can be used for dipping sauces, stir-fries,
and even soup bases. I share a homemade
recipe of a Filipino-Chinese style Chili Garlic Oil
recipe in Vegan Asian that’s perfect to be stored
in your pantry for future use.
Japanese chili oil, or layu, is a very common
condiment for Japanese ramen and gyoza.
I purchase small bottles of layu from the
brand S&B.
Chinese Black Vinegar or
Chinkiang Vinegar
This deep-coloured vinegar has a somewhat
sweet and fruity note. It’s really unlike any other
type of vinegar and is essential in Chinese cuisine.
Curry Paste
There are different Thai curry pastes available
from with green, yellow, and red curry pastes.
Green curry paste is usually the hottest from all
pastes as it uses fresh green chiles while red
curry paste is made with dried red chiles. I find
that the yellow curry pastes are the most mild in
terms of spice even if these are made with some
dried chiles too. Yellow curry gets its bright
yellow color from turmeric and curry powder,
which aren’t present in red and green pastes.
Pastes vary greatly but you’ll want to look for an
authentic Thai brand with a paste composed
primarily of fresh chilis, galangal, lemongrass,
shallots, kaffir lime and coriander. Watch out for
any shrimp paste or fish that might be added.
4 Vegan Asian: Pantry & Cooking Essentials Bonus Ebook
You can purchase these bottled or in sealed
pouches. Once opened, I store any leftovers in
the refrigerator for future use.
My go to brands for Thai curry pastes are Pantai
and Thai Kitchen.
Doenjang (된장
(된장))
This Korean fermented paste is made of
soybeans and brine. It’s salty yet packed full of
umami. It comes in tubs as well, similar to
gochujang, and is used a lot in Korean cuisine.
My go-to brands for Korean products are Ottogi
and CJ Haechandle
Doubanjiang (辣豆瓣酱
(辣豆瓣酱))
This is a hot and spicy Chinese bean paste made
from a mix of fermented broad beans and chilies.
It adds an amazing depth in flavour to dishes and
is a big component in Chinese Szechuan dishes.
Fermented Black Soybeans (豆豉
(豆豉)) Gochugaru (고춧가루
(고춧가루)) Hoisin Sauce
Also known as douchi or fermented black beans Gochugaru, Korean chili powder or flakes, has a This is a thick dark sauce commonly used in
in Chinese cooking, these beans are actually not very distict bright red colour and is traditionally Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. It’s both sweet
like the black turtle beans (like those in South made from Korean red chili peppers. It’s not as and salty in terms of flavour and is usually made
and Central American cuisine). Instead they are spicy as other chili varieties and has a sweet and with soy beans, garlic, salt, sugar and starches to
seasoned black soy beans that were fermented somewhat smokey note to it. thicken. There are other variants that may also
and are most commonly used as seasoning since include some spice.
they’re very salty. Gochugaru is what’s used to make kimchi.
Some hoisin sauce brands are watered down
My go-to brands for Korean products are Ottogi and heavily sweetened to be readily used as a
Fish Sauce and CJ Haechandle. condiment. Thicker, purer hoisin sauces are to be
used sparingly since they are much saltier. I
A very important component in Southeast Asian
would recommend purchasing hoisin sauce
cuisine, fish sauce is made by fermenting small Gochujang (고추장
(고추장))
bottled in glass jars with soybeans as a main
fish or krill for months, even years, to give that
Gochujang, or Korean chili paste, is probably one ingredient to use for the recipes on my website
nice umami and savoury punch to dishes. Vegan
of the most important components to Korean and cookbook. Those that are ready-to-use for
fish sauce alternatives are often quite hard to
cuisine, along with Gochugaru. It’s a thick, dark dipping contain mostly sugar, so they’re sweeter
come by so I’ve included a homemade vegan fish
red, fermented chili paste that adds that nice rich and less salty.
sauce recipe in my cookbook, Vegan Asian.
red colour to Korean dishes such as Bibimbap
Fish sauce in Thai: nam pla, Vietnamese: nước and Korean jjigae or stews.
mắm, Filpino: patis.
It usually comes in small tubs and adds a nice
spicy, salty and slighy sweet kick to dishes.
My go-to brands for Korean products are Ottogi
and CJ Haechandle.
Vegan Asian Pantry & Cooking Essentials 5
Miso Paste
A staple in Japanese cuisine, miso paste is made
by fermenting a mix of selected soy beans, rice,
wheat and barley. It adds a unique earthy, umami,
salty and sometimes sweet taste to dishes.
There are different types such as white, red and
awase miso, which is a mix of both white and red
miso. I love to use white miso for its light and
slightly sweet taste that still gives that umami kick.
Oyster Sauce
Oyster sauce is a staple in Chinese cooking
because of the umami flavour it adds to sauces
for stir-fries and braises. It’s dark, thick and
smooth in consistency. There are now various
vegetarian mushroom “oyster” sauces in the
market that don’t use oyster extract, but instead
use mushrooms! The brands Wa Ja Shan and
Leek Kum Kee make a delicious Vegetarian
Mushroom Oyster Sauce.
Another alternative is a Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce
that the brand Lee Kum Kee carries as well. I
have included a homemade “oyster” sauce
recipe in my cookbook, if you’d like to try making
your own.
Rice Vinegar
Rice vinegar, also known as Rice Wine Vinegar,
is made from fermented rice and is commonly
used across East and Southeast Asian cooking.
It’s usually a pale yellow vinegar with a mild
sweet taste.
There is also Seasoned Rice Vinegar or Sushi
Vinegar/Seasoning that is rice vinegar with salt
and some form of sweetener (usually some sugar
or even corn syrup) added to it, making it less
acidic than regular rice vinegar. Seasoned rice
vinegar is great to have on hand to use for
dipping sauces and to make sushi rice with as it’s
already seasoned.
6 Vegan Asian: Pantry & Cooking Essentials Bonus Ebook
Also, rice wine vinegar is not to be confused with
rice wine, which is a different topic altogether!
My go-to brand for rice vinegar and seasoned
rice vinegar is Mizkan.
Sesame Paste
Not to be confused with tahini, Chinese sesame
paste or roasted sesame paste is made with
roasted white sesame seeds, giving it that nice
light-brown colour with a more robust flavour.
Meanwhile, tahini is made with raw white sesame
seeds, that have a nuttier flavour.
I personally wouldn’t replace Asian sesame paste
with tahini especially in recipes that use large
amounts of sesame paste such as in sauces
and dressings.
If you need to, you can substitute for 1 tbsp of
Chinese sesame paste: 1 tbsp plain peanut butter,
1½ tsp of crushed toasted sesame seeds and
1 tsp of sesame oil.
NOTE: Some sesame paste bottles can also
state “sesame sauce.”
Sesame Oil
I use toasted sesame oil, also called pure sesame
oil, which has a rich brown colour since it’s made
from toasted sesame seeds. I love purchasing
Korean toasted sesame oil since I find that it has
a more robust flavour compared to Chinese
ones, but any works fine.
It’s also important to note that the other type
of sesame oil, usually called sesame seed oil,
is made from raw, unhulled sesame seeds. It
has a light golden colour and doesn’t have a
strong aroma.
Soy Sauce
A quick note on soy sauces for my recipes: you
can use regular and light soy sauces interchage-
ably when a recipe calls for “soy sauce” but do
not use dark soy sauce unless the recipe specifi-
cally calls for it.
Light: Sometimes has a lighter colour compared
to regular soy sauce but is similar in terms of
sodium levels to regular soy sauce. It really varies
per brand. Some are noticeably lighter in colour
and are perfect in dishes that you don’t want to
have a brown colour.
Regular: An all-purpose soy sauce. This is what I
usually what I use for my day-to-day stir-fries,
soups and sauces, without them having that
overwhelming soy taste and dark colour.
Dark: Dark soy sauce comes to play when you
want your dish to have that nice dark brown and
rich, almost caramel-like color. I use it mostly to
give dishes a darker color. Some dark soy sauces
can be very salty despite its sweet notes, so use
it sparingly.
There is also a variant of dark mushroom soy
sauce that is infused with mushroom extract for
that extra umami kick. I find that this variant is
also less salty. A few brands I love are Pearl
Bridge River, Guan Ji, and Lee Kum Kee.
Sweet Soy Sauce: Also known as kecap manis,
this soy sauce hails from Indonesia and is a
staple in Indonesian cuisine. It’s sweet in taste
and has a rich dark color with a syrupy consisten-
cy due to the sugar content. I have a recipe for
homemade kecap manis in my cookbook Vegan
Asian, but you can also find bottled kecap manis
from brands such as ABC.
Rice Wine & Cooking
Wine
Mirin (みりん
(みりん))
Mirin is a sweet rice wine that adds a sweetness
and umami depth to dishes. It’s very similar to
sake, except that it cotains less alcohol than sake
and more sugar. Because of its sugar content,
mirin has a slighly syrupy consistency when
poured but is not as thick as sweeteners such as
maple syrup or honey. It is most commonly used
in Japanese cuisine for soup bases and teriyaki.
There are a few different varieties of mirin,
depending on the alcohol level and source, but
the following are the two types of mirin you’ll
encounter in my recipes.
Note: When a recipe calls for mirin, I would
recommend using hon mirin if you can for the
best and most authentic flavor. But if you’re
unable to purchase hon mirin or “true mirin”
then regular mirin can be a good substitute.
Hon Mirin (本みりん): Hon mirin literally translates
to “true mirin.” It contains around 13 to 14% alcohol
and no salt. It’s made from the fermentation
process of glutinous rice. Hon mirin should only
have 3 ingredients: glutinous rice, rice koji (malt)
and shochu (Japanese distilled alcohol). Hon mirin
is more expensive than plain mirin since it doesn’t
contain any added salt, sugars or syrups. So
anything labeled with “hon” that contains salt or
sugar is not really hon mirin. This should be stored
at room temperature since the natural sugars can
crystallize when refrigerated.
Vegan Asian Pantry & Cooking Essentials 7
Mirin (みりん): If you cannot find hon mirin, mirin
is another good option. The main difference
between mirin and hon mirin is that mirin uses
sake instead of shochu.
The brand Eden Foods makes mirin without any
added corn syrups. Kikkoman also has a variety
of options for hon mirin and mirin.
Mirin-Type Condiment: This variant of mirin
contains very little to no alcohol at all and often
contains corn syrups to get its sweetness.
Opened bottles of mirin condiment usually need
to be refirgerated upon opening.
Sake (酒
(酒)
A type of Japanese rice wine, this gives dishes a
naturally fruity flavor along with some umami. For
my recipes, I use cooking sake, or ryorishu (料理酒).
It is made especially for cooking, so it’s much
cheaper and a small amount of salt is added to
this type of sake. You can use drinking sake for
cooking as well, but this could be a waste of
really good sake (which is why I purchase
cooking sake in particular!). There are inexpen-
sive brands of good drinking and cooking sake
such as Gekkeikan.

Mirin condiment is a lot sweeter than hon mirin
as it contains more sugar and very little to no
alcohol. If using mirin condiment for cooking and
making sauces such as teriyaki, you may need to
lessen the amount of mirin used or lessen the
sugar added to mellow down the sweetness
depending on your desired taste.
You can find cooking sake in your local Japanese
of Asian stores, online,= or even in the Asian
section of large grocery stores. As for drinking
sake, you can check your local liquor stores.
Good substitutes for sake would be Shaoxing
wine, hon mirin and dry sherry.

I use Mirin-Type Condiment mostly to make

sauces and dressing due to its sweetness and Shaoxing Wine (绍兴酒
(绍兴酒))
almost syrupy consistency. This is a brown caramel-coloured cooking wine

Other Pantry Staples Curry Powder

My preferred brands are Mizkan for a mirin-style
condiment that has no alcohol and Kikkoman’s
Manjo Aji-Mirin that has some alcohol.
commonly used in Chinese cuisine to add a nice
depth to the flavors. It’s actually a type of rice
wine hailing from Shaoxing in the Zhejiang
province in China. Shaoxing wine that’s used for
cooking is quite salty due to its added salt
content and not to be consumed as is. This is the
ingredient that makes dishes taste like what you
would eat at Chinese resraurants! It’s fermented
from rice.
A good substitute for this would be dry sherry
or sake.
NOTE: If you cannot consume alcohol, simply
leave out the wine in the recipes or subtitute
these with some broth to add some umami to
your dishes.
5 Spice Powder
This aromatic blend usually contains cinnamon,
fennel seeds, star anise, Szechuan peppercorn
and cloves. You can purchase this as a mix or
even create your own.
Black Salt or Kala Namak
Himalayan black salt or kala namak has a
pungeant smell, almost like eggs, because of the
sulfur it contains. It’s perfect for recipes that call
for a vegan “egg” such as in fried rice.
Curry powder is a blend of different spices, which
varies depending on the brand and country of
origin. There are Japanese, Indian, Cambodian
and Filipino curry powders, and more. Common
components for a really aromatic curry powder
blend are coriander, turmeric, mustard, cumin,
fenugreek and cardamon.
Rice Flour
There are two common types of rice flour: white
rice flour and glutinous rice flour or sweet rice flour.
White Rice Flour: This comes from regular long
or medium grain rice and is the flour used to
make fresh rice noodles, cheung fun or rice
noodle rolls, and more.

Glutinous Rice Flour: Also called sweet rice flour,

it comes from glutinous short grain rice or sticky
rice, which is solid white and has a much higher
starch content than regular rice. Sweet rice flour
is used to make mochi.

8 Vegan Asian: Pantry & Cooking Essentials Bonus Ebook Vegan Asian Pantry & Cooking Essentials 9
Seaweeds
Kombu (Dried Kelp): This is a really thick, tough
seaweed that needs to be rehydrated. This is an
essential component to making a good dashi or
stock in Japanese cuisine.
Wakame: This is the seaweed you see in miso
soups. There is cut wakame that is usually
already washed and dried so you can easily just
soak it in boiling hot water to rehydrate. Each
rehydrated pieces becomes 10 to 12 times bigger
than its dried state, so a small amount of the
dried wakame goes a really long way! This type
of wakame is perfect for mixing in soups or even
making into a wakame salad.
Nori: Sheets of ready-to-eat seaweed that are
usually used to wrap sushi and onigiri. There are
also seasoned nori sheets that come in smaller
snack-sized packs.
10 Vegan Asian: Pantry & Cooking Essentials Bonus Ebook
Szechuan Peppercorns
This type of pinkish-red pepper is an essential
ingredient in Chinese Szechuan cooking. It’s truly
unlike any other type of pepper as it produces a
tingling, mouth-numbing spice and warmth but
doesn’t burn your tongue when consumed.
I love to purchase these whole and grind them
up myself and store to use for my recipes.
Togarashi or Japanese 7-Spice Blend
This is a mix of seven difference spices with the
main ingredient being ground red chili pepper
and the other six being sanshō (Japanese
pepper), roasted orange peel, black sesame
seeds, white sesame seeds, hemp seeds, ground
ginger, nori and poppy seeds. This is a common
condiment you’ll find in Japanese cuisine
because it’s delicious to sprinkle over your
ramen, udon, soba, donburi (rice bowls) and so
much more.
My go-to brand of togarashi is S&B.
Noodles
Buckwheat Noodles or Soba
These noodles usually come in bundles and can
vary in colour depending on the type of buckwheat
flour used. The noodles with a grey colour are
made made from grinding the whole buckwheat.
To prepare: Boil the noodles until chewy and
then run these through water to wash out
any starch.
Ramen Noodles
These be purchased either dried and packaged
individually or freshly made from Asian markets.
I love to purchase dry instant ramen noodles
without the sauce packets and create a ramen
broth or base of my own to cook the noodles in.
Preparation for ramen noodles can depend on
the type you’re purchasing. For fresh ramen
noodles, you may just need to quickly blanch or
boil these. For dried, you’ll need to boil these in
water to cook until chewy.
Rice Sticks or Noodles
These come in different thickenesses, ranging
from 1mm to 10mm. They are a staple in Thai and
Vietnamese cuisine and are a perfect gluten-free
alternative to wheat noodles.
To prepare for stir-fries: Place the noodles in a
large heatproof bowl and pour over boiling hot
water to cover. Leave the noodles to soak in the
water for 8 to 10 minutes or until chewy and the
noodles have turned into a solid white color.
Remove the noodles from the water and then set
aside to use for stir-fries such as Pad Thai and
Char Kway Teow. I have recipes for both in
my cookbook.
Vegan Asian Pantry & Cooking Essentials 11
To prepare for noodle soups: You can immediate-
ly just cook these directly in the soup. Another
alternative is to do the soaking method (as if
preparing for stir-fries), so you can run the
noodles through water to wash off any starch
before adding it to the soup.
Vermicelli
There are various types of vermicelli noodles—
some made with rice flour, mung bean starch,
potato starch, or even tapioca starch. These
store very well and can easily be used simply by
soaking them in boiling hot water until chewy
and cooked through.
To prepare for stir-fries: Place the noodles in a
large heatproof bowl and pour over boiling hot
water. Leave the noodles to soak in the water for
6 to 8 minutes or until chewy.
To prepare for noodle salads: I love making
noodle salads using vermicelli because I can do
away without cooking them! I simply place the
noodles in a large heatproof bowl and pour over
boiling hot water. From there, leave the noodles
to soak in the water for 8 to 10 minutes or until
chewy to your liking. Drain the water and then
add some ice cubes before running through
water to cool down the noodles to use for your
refreshing salad.
NOTE: Some vermicelli such as bihon used in
Filipino cuisine can be cooked directly in a
pan or wok with some vegetable broth. There
is no preparation needed for it.
Wheat Noodles
There are countless varieties of wheat noodles
when you enter an Asian store, or simply the
noodle aisle at your grocery. It’s ultimately a
personal choice what size and thickness of
wheat noodles you’d like to enjoy! It’s great to
stock in your pantry as these dried noodles can
last months, even years.
Vegan Asian Pantry & Cooking Essentials 13
My personal favorite wheat noodles to
cook with: Kuan Miao or Guan Miao noodles
from Taiwan, Somyeon and Wide Knife Cut
Ribbon Noodles.
I also love using udon or thick round Japanese
noodles. I purchase instant fresh udon that come
in vacuum-sealed pouches that are ready-to-heat
and can easily be used for Yaki Udon or other
recipes. You can also purchase frozen udon from
local Asian groceries that are ready to be used
as well.
Preparing dried wheat noodles usually requires
boiling them in water until chewy to your liking.
You can opt to use them directly from the pot
or run them through water to remove any
excess starch.
To prepare udon: If using instant fresh udon, you
can quickly boil these to separate the noodles.
You can also soak these in boiling hot water for
the noodles to carefully separate before using. If
using frozen udon, you may need to boil these or
microwave them in a heatproof bowl until cooked
and separated.
Cooking Tools
Wok
Possibly the most important tool in a Chinese
kitchen is a wok, but don’t fret if you don’t have
one! All the recipes in Vegan Asian can be
cooked without one. BUT, if you have one or can
purchase one at your local Asian store or online,
then I can’t recommend it enough. Using a wok
in cooking and heating it until smoking is what
gives dishes in restaurants that added flavour
and char aroma from wok hei, which literally
translates to “breath of a wok.” My dad swears by
using woks to cook the best stir-fries.
14 Vegan Asian: Pantry & Cooking Essentials Bonus Ebook
There are various types of woks in terms of what
material they’re made of, such as carbon steel,
aluminum, stainless steel and cast iron woks. I’ve
stumbled upon non-stick woks, but I’m not sure
how well these work.
I personally have no preference for the material
of woks, but instead I find it more important to
note the shape of the woks and the handles.
Some woks have a much rounder bottom while
some have a flat bottom. Wok handles also vary
in length and size. Some have handles on both
sides, while some just have one long handle.
Those I use at home are aluminum and stainless
steel woks with rounded bottoms. I have woks
with very short handles while some with longer
handles that are heat resistant. I personally find it
easier to work with my rounded bottom wok with
a long handle since I can easily hold the handle
whenever I’m mixing something or want to toss
something on high heat. Those with shorter
handles I usually use for deep frying.
Do note that woks are usually not compatible
with electric and induction stoves due to their
rounded bottom. There may be some new
flat-bottom woks manufactured now that are
compatible with electric or induction cookers, so
it’d be best to check locally for options.
I also use a wok ring or stand to put over my gas
range, so my wok doesn’t wobble around while I
cook. It’s also important to care for your woks
and I’ve found that seasoning them well with just
a light coating for oil before and after every use
really helps. Our woks at home have been
around for years as they’ve been passed on from
my grandma!
If you want that desired restaurant-level wok hei,
then getting a wok is a really great investment.
Clay and Stone Pots
Traditionally these vessels go directly on fire and
are best for braises, soups and stews. There’s
something about cooking a dish in a clay pot or
stone bowl and being able to serve it as-is too!
Clay pots are commonly used in Chinese and
Japanese cooking, while in Korean cuisine there
is a ttukbaegi, a usually black-coated earthen-
ware pot used to cook stews ( jjigae) and stone
bowls known as dolsot used to make mixed rice
bowls (dolsot bibimbap).
If you’re looking for a good clay pot to invest it
but don’t know where to start, I recommend
looking for Japanese ceramics since these are
fired in high heat using food-safe glazes and can
withstand very high temperatures. I actually
purchased my clay pots from Japan Surplus
shops that have a lot of good quality, ceramic
pieces. It’s good to check your local Asian
groceries as well. I purchase my Korean ttukbae-
gi and dolsot from my local Korean grocery and
carries these in different sizes.
Steamers
Bamboo steamers are extremely handy when
you want to steam dumplings and buns using just
one pan or wok—I have a few pieces of the
bamboo base and one cover so I can just stack a
few layers at a time depending on how much I
need to cook. They come in various sizes and
will be up to you depending on your needs, but
my bamboo steamers are 8” (20 cm) in diameter.
An important feature to note in the use of
bamboo steamers is how the bamboo material is
able to absorb excess liquid during steaming so
moisture doesn’t build up at the lid, unlike when
using steamers with glass covers. This way your
dumplings or buns won’t sog and gather too
much moisture.
As an alternative to bamboo steamers, if you
already own a steamer with a steel or glass lid or
other materials aside from bamboo, then you can
simply wrap the glass lid of your steamer with a
towel to help absorb the moisture while you use
it to steam your buns or dumplings. Additionally,
if you have a rice cooker with a steaming option,
you can also place the food on the steaming
basket to steam these.
Vegan Asian Pantry & Cooking Essentials 15