LITMIR.BIZ

      Eggplant (also known as aubergine) comes in many different shapes, sizes and colors, ranging from tiny pea-sized eggplants (generally lightly pounded and added raw to dips), to egg-shaped vegetables and short or long slender eggplants. The color ranges from white through bright orange to pale green, pale purple and deep purple and there are even streaked green and purple varieties. Apart from the bitter pea-sized eggplant and a round, tough-skinned orange variety which is very sour, most Asian eggplants have the same mild flavor, which lends itself well to all types of seasoning. Try to use slender Asian eggplants, which are less bitter than their Western counterparts and do not need pre-salting; they also have tender, edible skins. Some eggplants, especially Japanese varieties, are very short, about 5 to 6 in (12.5 to 15 cm) in length, while others can be up to 10 in (25 cm). The length is not important, so long as you can obtain slender Asian varieties, you’ll find them much more palatable than the Western type.

      Fish, preserved is preferred to dried shrimp paste in Cambodia and Laos, where it is known as prahok and padek respectively. The Vietnamese call it mam ca sac and use both this and fermented anchovy sauce (mam nem) as a flavoring. Chunks of fresh fish are salted and packed in barrels with a little cooked rice to aid the fermentation. Preserved fish is available in glass jars, often exported from Thailand. The English names vary, from Pure Pickled Gouramy Fish, to Pickled Grey Featherback Fish, to Preserved Mudfish, or something similar; the brand I am currently using also bears the French name poisson en saumure. You can recognize it by the pale beige or grey color of the thick paste, which has a few chunks of fish visible. This should be used sparingly. A jar will keep in the cupboard for at least a couple of years. Anchovy sauce or even fish sauce can be used a substitute.

      Fish sauce is to most of Southeast Asia what soy sauce is to the Chinese and Japanese, the most widely used salty seasoning. Fish sauce has a unique fragrance which gives so much of the regional food its characteristic flavor and aroma. Made from the liquid poured off salted and fermented fish, fish sauce is a clear golden brown color. Thai and Vietnamese brands are usually readily available abroad; in general, Vietnamese fish sauce is slightly stronger in flavor than Thai brands. Keep fish sauce in the cupboard; it lasts almost indefinitely.

      Five spice powder is a Chinese seasoning sometimes used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. This finely ground mixture of cassia, cloves, fennel, Sichuan pepper and star anise has a warm fragrance and flavor and is commonly used in braised dishes, or a pinch added to pork sausages or paté. To keep its freshness as long as possible, store in the refrigerator.

      Galangal is preferred to common ginger in much of Southeast Asia. It is pale cream with delicate pink tips while still young and becomes quite tough and fibrous as it ages. The fragrance of this rhizome seems to embody the smell of the tropics: warm, exciting and faintly spicy with a hint of camphor. Just the aroma alone is enough to get the taste buds going. If you can obtain fresh galangal, scrub it well, peel off any thick papery skin (but don’t worry about the tender skin, which can be left on). Cut the galangal in thin slices and store in a sealed bag in the freezer; use the slices as required while still frozen. Dried galangal slices are sometimes available and can be soaked in hot water for about 30 minutes to reconstitute, but a better alternative to the fresh product is galangal packed in brine, usually sold in jars. This may be labeled with the Thai name, kha, or simply referred to as “rhizome.” (Do not confuse it with Chinese keys or krachai). Avoid ground galangal, which does not have anywhere near the same flavor as other substitutes.

      Garlic chives, also known as Chinese chives, resemble coarse flat blades of dark green grass. When raw, they have a strong flavor, which becomes more delicate after brief cooking. Sometimes, the flowering heads of this are sold as a vegetable and are considered a delicacy by the Chinese. They are also very decorative; a spray or two transforms any dish. Green onions (scallions) are the best substitute.

      Ginger buds are the unopened flowers the of pink torch ginger, known as bunga kantan or bunga siantan in Malaysia and kaalaa in Thailand. It is eaten raw with a dip, added to salads or cooked in soups and curries. When cooked with fish, it has a flavor and fragrance somewhat reminiscent of Vietnamese mint. There is no substitute; if you are able to obtain the fresh buds, freeze whole for future use.

      Green mango is universally loved throughout the region for its sour tang. It is eaten with dips, made into salads and pickles, or stir-fried with other ingredients. The mango should be peeled with a vegetable peeler and the flesh cut away from the central oval stone. Green man-goes should be stored in the fridge and peeled only just before they are needed. Ripe mangoes are generally eaten as they come from the tree, without any attempts to improve them. One exception is the favorite Thai dessert, where slices of ripe mango are partnered with glutinous rice drenched in coconut milk.

      Green onions (scallions) are also known as spring onions or some-times as shallots. Green onions have slender stalks with dark green leaves and white bases. They are sprinkled generously on soups and as a garnish.

      Jicama is sometimes confusingly called a turnip in Malaysia and Singapore. It is a roughly globe-shaped tuber, tapering slightly like a top, with papery beige skin covering crisp white flesh. Slightly sweet and juicy when small and young, jicama tends to become fibrous with age. They are eaten raw (usually with a dip) when young, or cooked when mature.

      Kaffir lime has an unattractive knobbly skin, which earns it the unappealing alternative name of leprous lime. It has very little juice but the fragrance of the grated kaffir lime rind is incomparable. If you can ever lay your hands on fresh kaffir limes, put them whole in your freezer and pull them out to grate (while still frozen) whenever kaffir lime rind is needed. Kaffir lime leaf is one of the region’s most popular herbs, recognized by its double leaf that looks like a figure eight. The intense and inimitable fragrance of the kaffir lime leaf is essential in many Southeast Asian dishes. If you can buy the fresh leaves, store them in a bag in the freezer. The dried leaves are a poor substitute, but you can sometimes find frozen leaves in Asian stores. In most recipes, you could substitute 1/4 teaspoon grated lime or lemon rind for 1 kaffir lime leaf. Fresh kaffir lime leaves are often finely shredded for adding to salads and other dishes. Fold the leaf in half and cut out the tough central rib. Roll up the leaves from the tip to stem, like a cigar, then lay on a board and use a sharp knife to cut into hair-like shreds.

      Lemongrass is one of the most important herbs in Southeast Asia, a type of grass that grows up to 32 in (80 cm) in height. The bottom portion (about 8 in/20 cm) is a tightly packed bulb, a little like a miniature leek, while the top part of the lemongrass has coarse, broad leaves which are not used in cooking. The flavor and fragrance are concentrated in the bulb, which is either bruised and added whole (or cut into manageable lengths), or thinly sliced and often pounded or processed. Usually only the tender inner part of the bottom 3 in (7.5 cm) is used for slicing and pounding; peel off two or three of the tough outer leaves to get to the inner portion. As even the inner stem is fibrous, it must be sliced as finely as possible, or else processed, before being used. Lemon-grass is added raw to salads and also cooked. If you can buy fresh lemongrass,

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