Far Eastern
One of the 3 global regions we have focused in our everyday culinary practice, Far Eastern food should be mastered by three basic means; common ingredients (and flavor palettes), proteins and essential cook techniques.
The prime ingredients/proteins
- Alliums - onions, garlic, leeks, chives, etc.
- Legumes - beans, soy, peas, lentils, peanuts etc.
- Noodles - flours of rice, bean strands, potato (and other tubers such as yams - "soba") and wheat flours (mostly wheat and egg style, hence 'egg' noodle)
- Sauces - soy (or tamari), rice wine/vinegar, fish sauces (oyster), chili/chili garlic sauce (sriracha), curry/miso paste, sesame oil and coconut milk
- Popular fusions - ginger, lime and cilantro
- Proteins - pork, chicken and seafood
The main cooking techniques are:
- Stir-Frying - a cast iron wok is a must
- Deep-Frying - same wok will do
- Steaming - grandma's big stew pot and a in-expensive bamboo steam basket
- Red Stewing - i've done this in a crock pot (shudder) with some success. A cast iron dutch skillet is better
- Boiling - universal, but cast iron is better (same dutchman) as it can boil at much lower temps, and less un-even cooking
- Roasting - a hot, hot oven. Most Asian dishes are heat blasts on heavily infused proteins - high value is place don crisp skin finishes (even some fish)
- Braising - same wok will do; its a high blast and then a slow simmer
