What are some Vietnamese food pantry essentials?
Looking to cook Vietnamese food? Need to replenish your kitchen’s stock of ingredients? Look no further than our newest handy guide. In this blog we’ll go over what you need for Vietnamese food pantry essentials.
Pantry Essentials Include:
Fish sauce: Fish sauce is the most essential and basic of all Vietnamese ingredients. It is an equivalent to extra virgin olive oil. The first press yields a clear sauce useful for dipping sauces. The second pressing yields a sauce useful for cooking.
- Hoisin sauce: Also known as Chinese barbecue sauce, this is a sweet and salty bean sauce. It is often a popular condiment for pho.
- Rice vermicelli noodles: Available in a number of widths, these rice noodles are not always thin. These noodles are most often included in soups and salads.
- Rice paper and rice: Each sheet of rice paper should be re-dipped in some warm water as you go. The warm water keeps it hydrated. Fillings stay together inside the rice. Rice paper is often used for spring rolls or fried spring rolls. The rice used is just plain jasmine rice.
- Bean curd: Also called tofu, tofu is another staple of Asian dishes outside Vietnam as well. You can make soft tofu or firm tofu. Keep your tofu in the refrigerator and change the water it is stored in daily.
- Dried shrimp, shrimp sauce, shrimp paste: These are all related items. Dried shrimp are very sweet and different from regular, fresh shrimp. They are most commonly found in soups, salads, and condiments. Shrimp sauce is a popular dipping sauce. Dried shrimp paste is produced from fermented ground shrimp that is ground up and formed into blocks.
- Sesame seeds: Sesame seeds are extremely popular, and are a daily staple in Vietnam. Sesame seeds are typically toasted or crushed to produce flavor for dipping sauces and marinades. However, after toasting, they tend to lose their flavor extremely quickly as well.
Why don’t you try putting together some of these meals? Once you finished your meal, look forward to dessert!
Get All Your Asian Groceries at Lotte Plaza Market
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