Last weekend, Cooking Channel joined the LUCKYRICE Festival to celebrate the very best of Asian cooking. With a Culinary Council featuring some of the most respected chefs in the industry, each event covered a different aspect of Asian food and culture.
At Friday evening’s chef-studded Grand Feast, fabulous bites were served and paired with signature cocktails. We tasted them all, and picked up a few tips along the way.
Here’s a sampling of some of our favorite bites.
Red Roast Duck with Puffed Rice from Clebrity Chef Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger:
Indian salmon recipe to try at home: Bal’s East Meets West Grilled Salmon
Makes 1 cocktail
- 2 ounces Gin
- 3/4 ounce Cointreau
- 2 ounces Pineapple juice
- 1/2 ounce Apricot brandy
- 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
- 1 teaspoon Yuzu juice (substitute fresh lemon juice if yuzu is unavailable)
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with 1 cup of ice.
Cover and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve immediately.
If you’re interested in cooking authentic Asian cuisines at home, start with the basics: a well-stocked pantry. These Asian shopping lists will get you started.
Pantry Staples for INDIAN COOKING:
- Cardamom Pods – armoatic and sweet, best used in small quantites
- Dried Chiles - fiery, slender, red dried chilies can be simmered whole or ground and combined with other spices
- Coconut Milk – used in various Indian regions for its richness, creaminess and sweetness
- Coriander Seeds – the seed of the cilantro plant adds a bright flavor to curries, pickles, and chutneys
- Cumin – buy pale or black whole seeds: both have distinctive warm, musky flavor
- Ghee – clarified butter adds rich nuttiness to Indian dishes
- Mustard Seeds – throw into hot oil for nutty flavor
- Tamarind Paste – leds fruity tartness to any dish
- Turmeric – responsible for the warm yellow color in many Indian dishes
- Nutmeg – best grated fresh on a kitchen rasp to impart its warm, tingly flavor
Chef Tip: Buy spices in small quantities and keep them in airtight containers in a cool, dark space. While spices will stay fresh from 3 months to a year, but use ground spices within 3 to 4 months.
Pantry Staples for KOREAN COOKING:
- Dried Anchovy – salty and crunchy, these add intense flavor to soups, stocks, and side dishes
- Dwaen Jang – this pungent Korean miso paste is best is sauces, stews, and soups
- Fish Sauce – this potent liquid provides savory saltiness
- Gochu Garu – Korean chili flakes
- Gochu Jang – feemented red chili pepper paste used to add sweet, spice heat to meats, kimchi and bibimbap
- Rice Vinegar – weaker and sweeter than other Western vinegars
- Salted Shrimp – adds a fermented, salty and sour flavor to soups, stir-fries and condiments.
- Toasted Sesame Oil – this nutty oil keeps best in the refrigerator
- Sesame Seeds – darker than their Japanese counterparts, these don’t needed to be re-toasted
- Soy Sauce – use light soy for seasoning and darker soy for stews and marinades
- Black Chinese Vinegar – this dark, aged vinegar has a complex flavor
- Dried Chiles – hot, fried chiles are used with abundance; deseed them to adjust heat level
- Five-Spice Powder – spice blend of cassia bark, star anise, Szachuan pepper, ginger, and clove
- Rice Vinegar – can be substituted with half as much cider vinegar
- Toasted Sesame Oil – use this nutty oil sparingly, as its flavor can easily overwhelm
- Shaoxing – fermented Chinese rice wine
- Soy Sauce - use light soy for seasoning and darker soy for stews and marinades
- Star Anise – licorice-flavored spice
- Szechuan Chili Bean Paste – used as a secondary source of salt and lends a rich fermented flavor
- Sczchuan Peppercorns – this variety of peppercorn lends sharpness and mild numbing quality to many dishes
The Mandarin Oriental Ballroom was packed with international foodies and award-winning chefs.
Hungry for more? Get More Asian Inspiration from Cooking Channel:
- Best Chinese Recipes
- Spice Goddess: Indian Recipes
- WATCH: Lee Anne Wong’s Korean BBQ Beef Summer Rolls
- More Chinese Pantry Essentials
- How to Cook with a Wok
