Ten ingredients from Asia that you can no longer do without

Asia is a culinary treasure. In recent years, Chinese, Japanese or Southeast Asian restaurants have become an ideal alternative to dining out. Now the time has come take a step further.

Today Summum, We explain to you which are the most special and exclusive Asian foods and condiments to revolutionize your pantry and give an unexpected touch to your next evening.

Soba: the most versatile noodles

They’re coming from China and they are very popular in Japan. The noodles called soba have a peculiarity: they are made with buckwheat flour (in different percentages). Quite a feat, since it is a difficult flour to work with.

La room it is long and quite thin (unlike udon, which is a thick type of noodle). It can be served cold, dipping it in a sauce or broth. Or rather hot, dipped in a broth like ramen, one of the most fashionable Asian dishes.

Azukis sauce: all the flavor of sweet beans

What are beans doing on a cake? Pasta azukis It is one of the most extravagant Asian condiments, at least on this side of the world.

It is a sweet paste made by adding sugar or honey to boiled azukis beans. The azukis They are a variety of red bean native to East Asia. Its peculiarity is that they have a rather sweet taste and an intense red color.

Originally from China, azukis paste has become an irreplaceable ingredient in Japanese and Korean cuisines, as a filling for cakes such as dorayakis, baos, and dumplings. It is also known as anko and there is creamy or with whole beans. Easily found in Asian produce and ingredient stores.

Miso: all the colors of an indispensable condiment

As a base for soups, as a dressing for countless dishes, to marinate, to pickle. The miso It is one of the pillars of Japanese cuisine. It is a soybean paste fermented thanks to the action of the koji fungus.

The mixture, based on boiled and crushed soybeans, cereals and salt, is left to ferment for a long time, acquiring an increasingly intense color and flavor. The shiro o white miso It is one that has one year of fermentation, the aka or red miso, with two years and the kuro or black miso, with three years.

miso it means something like “Source of flavor” and kome, the miso made from soybeans and rice, for many centuries was an exclusive delicacy for aristocrats and samurai.

Tapioca pearls: chewy bubbles

They are the essential ingredient to make bubble tea or silly. In fact, they are the chewy bubbles of this trendy drink.

Companies that tapioca pearls They are obtained by gelatinizing tapioca, a starch from cassava, a tropical plant. Unlike other starches, tapioca has no flavor and aroma, something that makes it a good ally in the kitchen if what you want is purely texture.

Apart from bubble tea, tapioca pearls are used to absorb moisture and flavor, in puddings and cakes. From now on, you will not be able to do without them.

Panko: pure texture

El panko It is a Japanese breadcrumb that is slowly making its way into western kitchens. Without going any further, the current best croquette in Spain, made in the restaurant Tobiko, in Toledo, has the peculiarity of being battered in panko.

Unlike the breadcrumbs we are used to, the panko It is made up of thick and impalpable flakes that provide crunchier texture and light to endless elaborations.

Bok choy: the “supercol” ​​china

Surely you have heard this name more than once. The bok choy It is a green leafy vegetable of Central Asian origin. Although its appearance is more reminiscent of a chard than a cabbage, it does belong to the cabbage family, the Brassica.

As a good cruciferous that it is, bok choy boasts a high content of phytochemicals, minerals, vitamins and fiber. It is also very well positioned, with a value of 865, according to the ANDI index that measures, on a scale of 1 to 1.000, the nutrient density of a food (that is, how many nutrients it contains per gram).

It can be eaten raw, in green juices, for example, in the pan or cooked in soups.

Rambutan: an exclusive fruit

It is similar to lychee – in fact, it belongs to the same family – and is originally from Malaysia. He rambutan It is a fruit rich in vitamin C and very widespread throughout Southeast Asia. It has a peculiar appearance. If on the inside its pulp is almost transparent and sweet, on the outside it is covered by long curved red spines.

It can be eaten in syrup or rather fresh and peeled. Could be the exotic touch you were looking for your fruit salad. And the most exclusive, since a kilo of this fruit is around the 20 euros.

Galangal: there is life beyond ginger

If ginger seems too much of a sight to you, try the galangal. Regarding ginger, galangal is hard, spicy, with notes of pine, cloves and eucalyptus rather than lemon. East “default” It is usually compensated by accompanying the galangal with citronella, for example, which is another Asian ingredient that you should always have ready in your kitchen.

You can buy galangal powder in Spicy Yuli, one of the most beautiful stores in the capital where you can make gourmet purchases. By the way, the galangal has aphrodisiac fame.

Edamame: the perfect appetizer

Edamame (mao dou in Chinese) are the unripe soybeans. They show off a sweeter and more delicate flavor, a bright green color, and a crisp, fresh texture. Boiled and flaked with salt, edamame is the perfect appetizer to surprise your guests with something different.

They are usually sold frozen, raw or previously boiled.

Star anise: the scent of China

Es the quintessential chinese spice. He anise stellate is the seed and seed pod of a tree native to southwestern China.

Each filtering bag fruits They are brown and hard and boast a peculiar eight-pointed star appearance (where the seeds are found). Powdered or whole, star anise is an essential ingredient in the blend of the five Chinese spices.

It is also used for flavor to meat, especially pork, or to dress infusions, soups and stews. Also try it in sweets, desserts and creams or to give an original twist to the fruit.