Oyster sauce is a thick brown sauce made from oysters, brine, umami flavor enhancers likes MSG and preservatives.
Invented in 1888 in China, oyster sauce is commonly used in Chinese (especially Cantonese), Filipino and Thai cooking. It is popular on steamed vegetables such as broccoli or in stir-fried dishes.
No salt is added to a good-quality oyster sauce, which gets its salty brininess from the oysters, which are simmered until they produce a broth that is then cooked down until thick and caramelized. Inferior oyster sauces may thicken the sauce with starch and caramel coloring.
A satay (or saté) is an Indonesian and Southeast Asian kebab made by threading almost any kind of marinated meat, fish or poultry on skewers and grilled or broiling. It is also very popular in the Netherlands.
Recipes for satay vary from country to country, but it is usually served with spicy peanut sauce, slivered onions and cucumbers, and is often eaten as an appetizer.
Often referred to as "Indonesian soy sauce," Kecap Manis is a syrupy, dark brown sauce sweetened with palm sugar and seasoned with things like garlic and star anise.
Used as a condiment and for marinating dishes like satay (and ribs), Kecap Manis should be kept in a cool, dry place. Though it's generally a little sweeter than soy sauce, you can use the two interchangeably.
(Image courtesy of FotoosVanRobin.)
What is a spice paste good for?
What is a spice paste good for?
You want to add some flavor to a cut of meat. Why use a spice paste over a marinade?
First of all, you need time to marinate, time you may not have unless you've planned things in advance. Because a spice paste clings to the meat and forms a crust when you cook it, you don’t have to give it the waiting time you do a marinade. (You could rub a spice paste on a couple of hours ahead of time, but you don’t have to.)
Once cooked, the pungent, textured crust contrasts the plain, juicy meat. Unlike a marinade, which evenly coats a cut of meat and results in a consistently flavored finished dish, the spice paste comes with surprises: a cluster of ginger here, a nugget of garlic there.
The formula for a spice paste is simple: a few ground spices + puréed aromatics like ginger, garlic, chiles + salt and pepper + just enough oil to hold it together.
Lemongrass is a Southeast Asian grass that has a lemony aroma and flavor thanks to its high content of essential citral oil.
Commonly used in Indonesian, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Thai cooking, the tough, fibrous grass can be bought fresh, frozen (usually minced), or dried and ground into a powder. It can either be finely chopped and integrated into soups and other preparations, or chopped into sticks and bruised and used to flavor dishes while they cook, then removed before serving.
It also makes a nice herb tea -- just add hot water, steep, and serve.
Recipe: Southeast Asian Chicken And Cabbage Soup (Cookthink)
Recipe: Rasa Malaysia's Malaysian Chicken Satay (Cookthink)
Reference: How to prep lemongrass (Cookthink)
