How to Cook Asian Food Like a Boss

Adam Liaw, Aussie master chef and all ‘round nice guy, has teamed up with AYAM to reveal his best-kept secrets and tricks. Behold – five tips to cook Asian food like a boss.

Toast your paste

Let’s be real. Where would we be without curry paste? Put your wok over a medium heat; add some oil, coconut cream or water and your curry paste. Fry your paste off and make sure you stir constantly. The aroma of the curry paste will fill your nose – and your entire house (we see this as the major benefit).

Start with aromatics, finish with sauces

According to Liaw, aromatics (aka ingredients that should be cooked at the start of the dish so the depth of flavour within the ingredients can mature) like garlic, ginger and chilli should be added at the beginning. Sauces like soy, hoisin and oyster should go in toward the end. This also ensures there isn’t too much liquid in the wok a the beginning of the cooking process.

Less is more

You don’t need to add 101 ingredients to make a boss Asian dish.  Choosing fewer ingredients will help craft a dish that has a distinctive flavour, opposed to that typical vegetable stir-fry everyone knows that taste of. We love adding snow peas and red capcisum.

Don’t crack the coconut

Okay so not crack literally – in this case we mean coconut milk or cream will separate when it’s cooked on a high heat for too long. If you want to create some creamy goodness be sure to add your coconut milk or cream towards the end of the cooking process.

Never overcrowd your wok

The classic cooking snafu: adding too many ingredients to your wok. They’ll stew rather than fry. The key to success? Cook your ingredients in batches, and keep them separate in bowls before combining at the end.

Go forth and conquer!