5 Asian ingredients that add authentic flavours to your home cooking

While Asian cuisine is based on hundreds of ingredients, there are some basic ingredients that can give your Asian home-cooked meals their essence. Let's see what they are!
Oyster sauce

Oyster sauce is the ultimate flavour harmonizer in a blend of sweet and savoury dishes, so much so that it is often referred to as "liquid umami".
This Japanese favourite is a balanced blend of flavours, with a rich taste and unique aroma. The basic sauce itself is made from umami extract from oysters, combined with a high quality soy sauce. The result is a thick, silky sauce that is the perfect ingredient for Asian and fusion cuisine.
Oyster sauce is perfect for flavouring ramen recipes or just drizzled over a roast chicken.

Galanga

Galanga, or Thai ginger, is a relative of the classic ginger and turmeric, with a slightly more peppery flavour. It is a staple in Asian comfort foods and a flavour enhancer in a variety of soups and curries.
You can basically add galanga to any dish where you need a strong flavour-taste combination without the lingering pungency of ginger. Some recipes such as Tom Ka Ghai (Thai galangal chicken soup) and Satay (Indonesian chicken on skewers) use galangal as a primary ingredient, one of their key staples.
Although it is usually used sliced or chopped for most recipes, you can also use it finely grated or pureed to a pulp to add texture to soups.
Overall, galanga is ideal for all dishes that need ginger as a main flavour enhancer, especially if you want to add extra peppery flavour to your dish.

Shrimp paste

Shrimp paste is arguably the king of seafood pastes, an ideal spice to add a salty, fishy flavour to otherwise simple dishes. There are two different types: the savoury is the best known, the slightly spicy-sweet is less common.
Dishes made with shrimp paste include curries, soups, fried rice and fried rice. However, be careful when using it: it contains a lot of salt, so calculate the additional salt accordingly.

Lemongrass

Lemongrass has an incredibly fresh and citrusy scent that can add a refreshing aroma to salads or other dishes.

It is a key flavour-centric ingredient in Thai cuisine, but is also added to many regional dishes across Asia, such as Sate Kerang Hijau (Thai clam satay), Vietnamese lemongrass chicken and Bun Ga Nuong (Vietnamese chicken noodle salad).
It's also used to make lemongrass tea, which easily rivals any herbal tea you've ever tasted!
Although fully edible, lemongrass is difficult to chew, but the stems can be ground into a paste to add to curries or spicy sauces.
The best thing about lemongrass is that, unlike real lemons, it doesn't lose its citrusy freshness even after cooking over high heat. If you're looking for a longer-lasting alternative to lemon zest, this is it, look no further!

Fish Flakes

These feathery Japanese fish flakes are the perfect seasoning for soup-based dishes.
Known as Katsuobushi in Japan, the flakes are made from smoked, fermented and steamed tuna. A primary ingredient in seafood dashi, they can also be used in many broths to impart a wonderful fishy flavour without the fishy smell.
Bonito flakes have some regional variation, particularly in what they are mixed with. There are varieties that are used with soy and sesame for a richer flavour, and some that are sliced even thinner than breath.