Here is the top arsenal for the majority of all Asian cooking. This is a list which most people may not commonly carry. Armed with these ingredients at all times will make cooking Asian food so much easier - from marinades, pastes, and stir-fry sauces to soup bases and glazes. Most of these ingredients also work in many other genres.

While it may take a few trips to different stores or even a bit of time ordering on the Internet, you or whoever you are cooking for will thank you…in more ways than one. Oh yeah!

The Sauces

• Soy sauce
• Fish sauce
• Teriyaki sauce
• Plum sauce

The Aromatics

• Fresh garlic
• Fresh ginger
• Fresh lemon grass
• Fresh cilantro
• Fresh mint
• Green scallions
• Thai chilies (I freeze them)

The Bases

• Frozen cubes of homemade chicken, pork and beef stock
• Fermented soy bean paste
• Miso paste
• Lemon juice
• Lime juice
• Rice wine
• Rice vinegar
• Sesame oil
• Coconut milk

The Spices

• Ground white pepper
• Kosher salt
• Star anise
• Cloves
• Cinnamon
• Fennel seeds
• Dried red Buddha chilies

Note: This is not the end-all, complete list of everything you need. Keeping everything you need on stock will end up being wasteful. This is merely a consolidated list of all the essentials that are easy to store and that make cooking so much easier. This is a culmination / collection of ingredients I have learned traveling all around Asia.

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