The Essentials of a Taiwanese Pantry

Posted in Chinese, Condiments on April 10th, 2007 by mei| | .

You’ve got to be kidding. Who cooks any more here in Taipei? Granted that yours truly is an epicure who loves to cook, I have to say that the cooking experience in this Taiwan capital can be very tiring, trying and tumultuous even for the gung-hoed.

Why? Oh, let me count the ways…
For starters, the average Taiwanese kitchen is tiny. Next to no counter space. Yours truly is lucky enough to even have a kitchen some say. Moreover, most (low brow) dwellings are not equipped with western amenities such as ovens (which I promptly fixed right after I signed my lease by going out and buying one… albeit a small one where I could make only six cookies at a time).
And if you are living like a true Taipei-ren, you must be working those loooong unpaid overtimes (加班） so where does that leave time for people to go home early in the evening to cook up a nice family meal? Eating out in restaurants is fairly cheap and fast and if this is not cheap or fast enough, there’s 7-11… 真好.
Fresh produce selection isn’t bad here but truth be told I don’t find it that cheap. It usually comes out to be more expensive to cook my own meals than to eat out. I do tend to shop at fresh markets rather than my neighborhood Wellcome which helps cut down cost and bulk but who wakes up early morn in dreary Taipei rain for veggie shopping when the some supermarkets open 24 hours?
Erm. I do.

I haven’t even covered the banes of small Taiwanese kitchen sinks, cocroach control and fresh trash separation and disposal but without further ado… I present The Essentials of a Taiwanese Pantry.

The must-haves

Rice (米 - uncooked rice; 飯 - cooked rice)- “To have a meal” in Mandarin is 吃飯 which literally means “to eat rice.” This alone should show how important rice is to most Asian cuisines. Polished, white medium-grain rice is standard but more and more health conscious Taipei-rens are opting for multi-cereal and unpolished rice options.

gourmet_soysauces.jpgSoy sauce (醬油) - Hail to the mighty swarthy liquid. It’s used in pretty much everything. I have a friend here who is allergic to soy and frankly I wonder how she survives. Japanese soy sauce and Chinese soy sauce are pretty much the same but being a proponet of buying local do allow me to suggest getting yourself a bottle of the Kimlan brand （金蘭). *Recommendations from my mom’s friend who always bring us her yummy culinary creations： Four Seasons High Grade Soy Sauce (四季醬油　高純釀）; Ve Wong’s “Whole Ve Wong” High Grade Soy Sauce　（全味王）. They are both the more expensive soy sauces of each brand. Check the thumbnail to the right.

Rice wine （米酒) - First hand experience taught me to never drink this straight. Indispensible for cooking but don’t. drink. it. straight.

Sesame oil （芝麻油) - Very frangrant. Could be overpowering. To be used sparingly.

Sugar & Salt - Standard in any pantry, non? My ma always used the crazily refined white stuffs but many traditional Chinese recipes (stews, soups and desserts) do call for “rock” or “crystal” sugar （冰糖). Basic iodine salt is what i think most local Taiwanese grew up with but I see supermarkets stocked with more and more coarse grain sea salts… produced locally, of course.

Grounded white pepper （白胡椒粉）- Till this day I have yet seen people ground up white peppercorns fresh. Pity.

Cornstarch （太白粉）- Used as a thickener for stews and stir-frys and for coating meat pre-cooking to give it a chewier texture. It’s very similar to potato starch (katakuriko/かたくりこ) that my college Japanese roomie used for cooking.

Garlic Chili Sauce （蒜蓉辣椒醬） - Being raised on incendiary Thai food, I found Taiwanese food pretty bland when I first got here. Garlic chili sauce helped. There are dozens of variations: garlic chili sauce with shrimp, with shallots… experiment. I think they are all winning combos.

Oyster Sauce （蠔油） - Usually used for flavoring stir-fry dishes and to give them a slightly thicker consistency. It’s milder in saltiness when compared to soy sauce. It doesn’t taste anything like oysters to me but…

White vinegar / Black vinegar （白醋 / 黑醋) - If you have to choose one to get, I would say get the white. It’s used more often in cooking. I feel that black vinegar is used more to finish a dish, say, a splash of the latter goes very nicely with my favorite shrimp stew vermicelli. And you just can’t have proper xiao long baos without having them with thinly julienned ginger saoked in black vinegar. I change my mind. Get both.

Not-so-important-but-nice-to-have

Thick soy sauce （醬油膏） - I don’t really use this for cooking much but I like to use this as a sauce for rice dumplings （粽子）.

Soy Bean Paste/Miso （豆瓣醬/味噌） - These are actually two different products but I’m putting them together because they are both variations of soy bean pastes. I am not altogether too familiar with them but what I do know is that the former is quite lumpy and the latter is more like Japanese miso but unlike its cousin the soy beans are usually still intact and not completely pulverized into a smooth paste.

chinese_bbqsacue.jpgChinese Barbeque/Sate Sauce （沙茶醬） - I am almost tempted to put this in the top list. Usually you’d find this used in dipping sauces for hotpot. I love my mom’s stir-fried beef with bell peppers （沙茶牛肉青椒）using this. Funny thing is I don’t think had it for any BBQ or sate. I believe it contains fish ingredients but there are vegetarian versions as well.



Five Spice Powder （五香粉） - Unless you are going to be making fancy Chinese food I doubt you would need this. The five spices are star anise, cinnamon, fennel, cloves and schezuan peppercorns. (On a slightly non-sequitor note, I’ve actually check the label of some five spice powder only to find that there are four ingredients listed so check! Just note that star anise is usually considered the main ingredient.)

Fresh Stuff

Ginger, garlic, shallots, green onions, corriander, tofu - there, easy.
Old ginger keeps for a long time (leave them out on the counter, not in a bag) and so do garlic and shallots so there’s really no reason not to have them on hand at all times.

Dried and Preserved Goods

Dried Shitake Mushrooms （香菇）- It’s used in so many Chinese dishes and the fact that the mushrooms are dried makes them very easy to keep. Just soak them in water a few hours before use.

Dried Shrimp （蝦米）- Used mainly for giving dishes a more robust flavor. Not that important to have around (as with the items after this listing) but they have a long shelf life.

Salted Eggs （鹹蛋）- I LOVE the yolks. I find the whites way too salty but I use chopped up egg whites to season congee.

Thousand Year Old Eggs “Pi Dan” （皮蛋）- It’s usally a love or hate relationship with this one. I like them with silken tofu (a common Chinese appetizer) and congee. Not that many uses with this one IMHO but it’s distinctly Chinese.

This post is written after having read Maki’s “Back to Japanese Basics: The essentials of a Japanese Pantry.” Her foodblog is actually the first foodblog I’ve ever read. All good stuff!

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