Josh Kim from Level One at Electra House reveals his favourite Asian sauces and pastes
Simon Wilkinson talks to a top chef to discover what you really need in the pantry
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A SIZZLING wok pungent with the smells of chilli, garlic and ginger. The lemongrass and galangal that make a Thai curry or tom yum sing. Satays and beef rendang. A chilli sauce that goes on everything from fried eggs
to hamburgers.
The firework flavours of Asia have become part of our everyday diets but few home cooks have the time to chop, grind and blend all the ingredients needed for many of the pastes and sauces.
That’s where the colourful array of bottles, jars and packets in the aisles of an Asian supermarket come in, providing a shortcut solution for midweek dinners that doesn’t have to break the bank, as many of the products are priced under $5 and most keep in the fridge for months.
But with such a vast selection to choose from, and many of the labels confusing, where do you start? The SourceSA sought advice from chef Josh Kim, whose broad Asian repertoire at Level One at Electra House flows through into the range of dishes he prepares at home.
And while he will make everything in the restaurant from scratch, at home he is often looking for a quick flavour hit.
“It’s very hard to have all the fresh ingredients (at home) to make something like a curry paste or tom yum paste,” he says. “But if you have a good product to use to make flavour for a meal, it is really good. With a few vegetables, noodles or rice, they can make an instant dinner.”
Josh spent 10 minutes scouring the shelves of Kim Wang Supermarket, in the Market Plaza, to come up with these suggestions.
SEASONED OCTOPUS SALAD
The only purchase from the freezer, this little packet of dainty lengths of octopus tentacle, mushroom, bamboo shoot, seaweed and sesame can simply be defrosted, open and eaten as part of a selection of snacks.
However, Josh says, because the flavour isn’t too strong, it could be combined with other sauces, included in a stir-fry or mixed through rice.
“It has an interesting, chewy texture,” he says.
YANAN BRIDGE FERMENTED BEAN CURD
Don’t be put off by the pong when you open the jar,
Josh says.
These little blocks of fermented bean curd can be used to make a smooth, creamy sauce that is great with stir-fried vegetables.
“It reminds me of salty, whipped butter but with a tang,” Josh says. “It has a creamy, smooth, paste texture but when you open the jar it smells really funky.
“That doesn’t mean it is off. And once it is cooked, the smell goes away. But you still have that nice fermented flavour.”
He says Chinese and South-East Asian restaurants will often serve stir-fried vegetables with fermented bean curd sauce.
Josh recommends blending the curd until smooth and then using it “like you would for something like oyster sauce” with garlic, chilli and other flavours.
CLH SICHUAN PEPPERCORN OIL
The first advice here is “be careful”. A little of this oil, that captures the numbing, mouth-tingling, prickly quality of sichuan pepper, can go a long way. Too much could easily spoil a dish.
Using the oil is a time-saving way
of introducing the unique sichuan flavour, Josh says, and also avoids
any potential grittiness of the
ground product.
“The first time when you try it you might not like it, but when you get used to it, it is good,” he says.
“I really like to drop some of that oil in my Korean-style instant noodles, maybe with some sliced meat. If you want to go crazy with it, that’s fine, but start with a little bit.”
Josh says the oil will also work well in any sichuan-leaning stir-fry that also uses dried chilli, or to give extra seasoning to sliced meats from a Chinese/Vietnamese barbecue shop quickly stir-fried with garlic, salt and maybe oyster sauce.
JIMMY’S SATE SAUCE
Who doesn’t love satay/sate sauce and its sweet, nutty, slightly spicy taste? While the one made from scratch might still be best, this is a great shortcut alternative, Josh says.
“This brand is one of the best you can get,” he says.
“It has more texture and flavour and I think it has a little dried prawn in there. It’s not really hot but it is quite rich.”
Josh says he like to use the sauce with a hotpot or as a dipping sauce. But you could also used with skewers of grilled chicken, beef or lamb, both in a marinade before cooking and a sauce afterwards – basically, anywhere you would use a satay sauce.
OT TUONG PICKLED GROUND CHILLI
A base for any dish where you would normally start by frying finely chopped garlic and chilli, this paste also adds a little pickled flavour and saltiness, Josh says.
Use for a stir-fry, in dipping sauces such as nuoc cham or nam jim, or even to add some bite to a sweet chilli sauce.
WADAKAN SEASONING SAUCE
Ordinary soy can look a little dull when compared with this Japanese condiment that adds flavours such as dried seaweed (kombu), mushroom and bonito into the mix for extra complexity and umami punch.
“A drop of this can really enhance the flavour,” says Josh, who likes to use it in dumpling fillings, for seasoning soups or even to give a boost to a tomato sauce to go with pasta. “When I’m not getting enough flavour from the tomatoes, a tablespoon will add a little
natural MSG.”
LAO GAN MA FERMENTED SOYA BEANS WITH CHILLI OIL
The brand translates to “Old Godmother”, a reference to its founder, who developed a global following for the chilli sauces she started selling to local students.
“Lao Gan Ma is famous in China and around the world for its jars of chilli paste,” Josh says. “There are lots of different versions, some with peanuts or mushrooms in there. But this is the black beans one which has a more salty and deep flavour. It has lots of secret ingredients in there so we don’t know everything it is made from.”
Josh says you can just mix it with rice, perhaps adding spring onions and other vegetables. Add a spoonful or two to a stir-fry to make it spicy and add lots of extra flavour.
It can also go into soups or the base of a hotpot. It is a basic, master ingredient.
MIZKAN SESAME SAUCE
A ready-made dressing for salads and steamed vegetables.
“It’s terrific with a Japanese-style slaw of cabbage on on a simple mesclun leaf salad,” Josh says. “You can use it on steamed beans but it’s even better on grilled broccolini or asparagus, where it picks up the toasty, nutty flavour. Just open it and it’s ready.”
BULL-DOG VEGETABLE & FRUIT SAUCE
While this Japanese tonkatsu sauce is designed chiefly to go with fried food, such as crumbed pork, or drizzled over the thick savoury pancake okonomiyaki, it can also take the place of a standard barbecue sauce in your fridge door.
“The difference between western sauces is that (this one) uses vegetables, such as carrots, tomatoes and apples, for the sweet flavour and not as much sugar,” Josh says. “So it could be a bit healthier and it has way better flavour.” Use it on steak, sausages or wherever else you like barbecue sauce.
PANTAI CHILLI PASTE WITH SOYBEAN OIL
Another chilli paste, this jar comes from Thailand and contains dried shrimp and fish sauce, making it good for South-East Asian cooking.
“When you open it you can see flaky meat of prawn in there and you can smell the fish and prawn,” Josh says. “It gives you extra flavour in a stir-fry and a curry, when you need more than just chilli.”
He advises this will work better in Thai- or Indonesian-style cooking, rather than Indian or Chinese.
“But you can also use it when you cook pasta with prawn,” he says. “Add a teaspoon of this and it makes it taste as if you have made up a special prawn butter.”
SAMBEL ASLI CHILLI SAUCE
Josh makes a big call here: Sambel Asli, he says, is a better chilli sauce than sriracha, the condiment that has people around the world addicted.
“Sriracha has a big kick at the start and in the end you are left with an MSG flavour,” he explains.
“This one doesn’t feel all that spicy in the beginning but it has a richer flavour and more body to it. It’s only when it’s finished in your mouth then it starts
to burn.”
Made in Indonesia, Sambel Asli can be used anywhere you might find sriracha, perhaps with wings, in a dipping sauce or blended into mayo.
LEE KUM KEE XO SAUCE
The only product to break the $10 barrier (it was $11.50), this sauce in a stylish hexagonal box is kept on a shelf at the front of Kim Wang, near other higher-priced items, such as royal jelly. The XO name denotes its luxury status (like XO cognac), as its ingredients can include dried scallop, dried shrimp and ham.
“Some other brands you can’t see the dried seafood, but this one you can,” Josh says. “It’s really strong essence of flavour.” He likes to use XO in a stir-fry with pipis, fish or vermicelli style noodles.
BUMBU RENDANG
This is a good base for a rendang-style curry, Josh says, with plenty of flavour.
“It has a beautiful, aromatic smell and you could also use for a stir-fry, soup or even a secret dipping sauce.” The paste contains ginger, galangal, lemongrass and turmeric, so stick to South-East Asian-style dishes.
PENTA TOM YUM PASTE
The same could be said for this tom yum paste, a good base for the Thai soup.
“When I ask my Thai friends, this is the one they go for,” Josh says.
He uses it to make a sauce for stir-fried vegetables, such as mushrooms and gai lan, or fried rice.
WJT SPICY SANSI
Chilli-hot pickled vegetables that are ready to use as a snack or accompaniment. They could also be added into a salad, stir-fry or sour-style soup for extra texture and flavour.
COCONUT NAHM-JIM SALAD
Serves 2
1carrot, julienned
1 green papaya, julienned
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
½ bunch Vietnamese mint
½ bunch coriander
½ bulb fennel, thinly sliced
½ lychee in syrup, halved
½ Telegraph cucumber, julienned
DRESSING
50g palm sugar
25g fish sauce
20g lemongrass, chopped
5g birds eye chilli, chopped
15g garlic, chopped
2 Kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
Extra coriander, chopped
100g coconut cream
50g fresh lime juice
METHOD
1. FOR DRESSING: Dissolve palm sugar in fish sauce. Mix in lemongrass, chilli, garlic, kaffir lime leaves and coriander. Add coconut cream and lime juice.
2. Place all vegetable ingredients in a bowl and add 60 ml coconut nam jim dressing.
Steamed fish with ginger and shallot
Serves 2
2 bunches spring onion
400g mulloway fillet (or other white fleshed fish fillet)
100g ginger
250ml vegetable oil
150g sugar
150ml water
150g white soy sauce (or use regular soy)
2 stalks coriander
METHOD
1. Cut the spring onion to separate top and bottom. Julienne the top part.
2. Peel ginger, then julienne. Keep all the off-cuts.
3. Place ginger off cuts in a small pot with vegetable oil and boil until the ginger turns to brown. Once the ginger has changed colour, turn the heat off and add spring onion bottom. Set aside to infuse.
4. Mix sugar, water and soy sauce.
5. Cut the fish into serving size portions.
6. Strain the ginger shallot oil.
7. Place the fish on gastro tray with julienned ginger. Steam for approximately 4-15 minutes, depending on size.
8. When the fish is almost ready, heat up the ginger and spring onion oil until it is smoking hot.
9. Once the fish is cooked, place on plate and sprinkle spring onion julienne on top of fish. Pour the smoking hot oil over to wilt it.
10. Add soy dressing and coriander, for garnish.
Deep fried funky lamb
Serves 2
350g lamb cutlet or lamb neck fillet
1 jar white fermented bean curd
70g garlic
60g soy sauce
120g Xaoshing Chinese cooking wine
1pkt water chestnut powder
1pkt tapioca flour
1pkt glutinous rice flour
1pkt rice flour
Water
Vegetable oil to deep fry
GARNISH
1 lemon
2 stalks coriander
1 long red chilli
3 cloves garlic
SPICE SALT
20g fennel seeds
40g cumin seeds
40g pink salt
10g sugar
METHOD
1. Place the white fermented bean curd, soy sauce, garlic and Xaoshing in food processor. Blend until smooth.
2. Marinate lamb in the bean curd mixture for 20 minutes.
3. Toast fennel seeds and cumin seeds until you can smell the aroma. Allow to cool. Blend pink salt, sugar, fennel seeds and cumin seeds to make spice salt.
4. Cut lemon into wedges. Pick coriander. Chop the chilli and garlic.
5. Mix tapioca flour, glutinous rice flour and rice flour. Add water to the flour mixture to make a batter.
8. Dip the lamb meat in batter and crumb with water chestnut powder.
9. Deep fry in heated vegetable oil to cook – approximately four minutes.
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