Oh boy. What a rollercoaster of a Chinese cooking part 1 it was.
Now that you have your wok seasoned, pantry filled up with garlic, ginger, both types of soy sauce and corn starch (not to mention the 20kg of jasmine rice you’ve stocked up), we need to find a way to start making more delicious (stress-free style, of course) food. Today we’ll be talking about sauces.
Yep. Sauces. And you know, since the Germans like it saucy (I mean they like sauce, lots of it) I’ve had to come with ways to make sauces. Lots of it. Here in part 2, we’ll talk about some really simple, stress-free way (why would anyone do it any other way?) of Chinese cooking.
Straight-from-the-bottle
Soy sauce: light and dark
Ah. The proverbial soy sauce . Probably the most often mentioned and ingested Chinese sauce of all time. Totally yummy and versatile and yet it suffers from some form of identity crisis: light vs dark.
| Light Soy Sauce | Dark Soy Sauce |
|---|---|
| Brown in colour | Dark brown, almost black |
| Thin and salty | Thick and caramel-y |
| Adding umami, savoury flavour | Adding colour and depth to a dish/sauce |
We use soy as dipping sauce often. However we usually find standard light soy sauce a bit too salty when used directly as a dipping sauce.
Oyster sauce
Oh my. Where do I start? Rather, how do I describe it? It’s salty, it’s sweet (and no, it’s not a sweet and sour sauce in a bottle).
Oyster sauce can be used by itself or in combination with other sauces. More on this later.
Sesame oil
For Chinese cooking, you are after the roasted sesame oil. These are a lot darker in colour compared to the cold-pressed types. It’s nutty, fragrant and simply yum in a bottle.
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Yes, it’s Thai. But it’s soooo good I must have it in my cupboard. In fact, I just picked up a bottle to travel with me…. It’s so good I’ve used it with:
- Chicken
- Chips
- Pork
- Make sauces
- In sandwiches
- In wraps
- Drizzle all over kebabs
- Burgers
- And many more…
Make-it-yourself Dipping sauces
Garlic soy dipping sauce
To make a basic (yet yummy) dipping sauce, you’ll need:
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Light soy sauce | 3 tablespoons |
| Dark soy sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| Water | 1 tablespoon |
| Sugar | 1 teaspoon |
| Garlic | 1 clove |
| Sesame oil | 1 teaspoon |
To make the sauce, mince the garlic (chop with a knife or two, garlic press, sledge hammer…) and throw the rest of the ingredients into a bowl or some form of sauce receptacle, stir and serve.
You can add more or reduce the amount garlic to your taste. Alternatively adding boiling water to the garlic before all the ingredients will mellow it out a bit as well as release the fragrance to make it more irresistible! Want to kick it up a notch? Add freshly chopped chilli peppers. You can even add some rice vinegar for a bit of zing or oyster sauce for extra depth in flavour.
This sauce is so versatile, you can use it for just about anything. I’ve used it on anything from blend roast chicken, blanched broccoli to simply pour it over steaming bowl of rice!
Oyster and ginger
It really is as simple as the title suggests: you thinly slice some ginger and throw it into some oyster sauce. I love it!
Sesame chicken sauce
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sesame oil (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| White sesame seeds | 1 tablespoon |
| Garlic | 2 cloves, minced/finely chopped |
| Rice vinegar | 1 tablespoon |
| Honey | 2 teaspoon |
| Sweet chilli sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| Tomato ketchup | 3 tablespoon |
| Brown sugar | 2 tablespoon |
| Light soy sauce | 4 teaspoons |
Instructions
Add all the above into a hot wok/pan/pot and cook on high heat. Stir regularly until the sauce thickens. Yummy! You can add or reduce the amount of sweet chilli sauce depending your tastebuds.
Dishes
Ray’s Cheating Stress-free Sesame chicken
Ingredients
- 500g chicken nuggets
- Sesame chicken sauce from above
- Lots of rice as you are going to love this!
Instructions
- Cook the rice
- Make the nuggets
- Either mix nugget in sauce or serve separately
- Look for a gym. Because you are going to over eat. I was there. Multiple times.
Wow. Don’t think I could make the recipe any shorter 🙂
Oyster sauce Pak Choi
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pak choi | 1 - 2 pieces person |
| Oyster sauce | 3 - 6 tablespoons |
| Oil | 1 tablespoon |
| Ginger | 1 - 2 cm |
| Chilli | Optional |
Instructions
- Quarter the pak choi and chop the ginger into thin slices or Julienne
- Heat up your pan/wok then add oil
- When the pan is hot, add ginger and chilli pepper, if desired
- Throw in the quartered pak choi and toss it around the hot oil
- Add oyster sauce and 1 tablespoon water
- Stir-fry for a few further minutes and serve
End of part 2
And that concludes Part 2 of our stress-free Chinese cooking series! We’ve covered a range of delicious sauces, from the classics like soy sauce and oyster sauce to homemade dipping sauces. We also shared two mouthwatering recipes: Cheat’s Sesame Chicken and Oyster Sauce Pak Choi.
Whether you’re a beginner in the kitchen or a seasoned cook, we hope these recipes and tips have inspired you to try your hand at Chinese cooking. Remember, the key to stress-free cooking is preparation and having a well-stocked pantry.
Stay tuned for Part 3, where we’ll delve into more essential ingredients, cooking techniques, and exciting Chinese dishes. Until then, happy cooking and enjoy your culinary adventures!
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