I always recommend using good rich stocks for enhancing the flavors of food. I have a few recipes for making stocks and I encourage my readers to use them…

http://redcook.net/series/stock-making/

I am also aware that many commercially made sauces such as oyster sauce and bean paste have added MSG in the products. But short of making these sauces yourself I do not have any other substitution recommendation.

I did find a Chinese brand oyster sauce that did not list MSG in the ingredients list. But I am skeptical about the reliability of this claim.

I do admit that my experience in cooking is heavily biased towards southern Chinese cooking. But it is possible to create many basic northern dishes with the same kid.

Again what I’m suggesting is never supposed to stock a complete Chinese pantry. The list would have been endless if I were to include every possible ingredient for making every cuisine of China.

Based on my experience, MSG is a shortcut ingredient that instantly gives you a balanced sweet/salty and “full body flavor.

A lot of oyster sauces have MSG and you can achieve similar results of sweet/salty by simply not shortcutting and simply use brown/white sugar as appropriate, soy sauces, and rich meat flavors.

Most Chinese people believe that a good Chinese chef does not need to use MSG at all to achieve great taste.

Being from Singapore, I would assume that your Chinese cooking is heavily biased towards Southern Chinese cuisine. I say this because of your “starter kit” inclusion of oyster sauce. In many traditional kitchens in the Chinese north, oyster sauce is not a common condiment.

In fact, Chinkiang (a specific brand of black rice) vinegar is arguably as important as soy sauce itself in the north where dishes tend to be heavily biased towards salty and garlic-onion and bread/wheat-heavy. Other staples in the northern Chinese pantry include sesame sauce, and fermented tofu ru both red and white.

Thought it was worth clarifying.

You are right re: food products from China. They have been “faking” and “shortcutting” lots of foods and sauces these days in order to cut costs and undersell competitors. A lot of these brands should be approached with some skepticism.

That being said, brands from Taiwan and USA tend to be a little bit safer since their products and markets are more mature and have generally stricter health controls. Nevertheless, it’s not like the FDA knows what the heck goes into “Tian Mian Jiang” anyway, so always be go to a grocery store with a keen eye and a few brand recommendations in mind.

I also live in NYC and cook Chinese.I see that we both use the same Shaoxin. I use Pearl River soy sauces, although I’ve recently tried experimenting with Taiwan aged soy sauces to “meh” returns — not seeing any difference at all.

I would also suggest using corn starch over tapioca starch. I’ve been using more tapioca starch recently and have noted its especially “starchy” consistency compared to corn starch. Basically, if you add even a medium amount of tapioca starch, the dish can get “gloopy.” Corn starch seems to be more forgiving with a slightly lower starch content, meaning that it’s harder to overstarch.

I like the list that you’ve put together. I was wondering if you could recommend brands for the soy sauce (or at least identify what’s pictured).

Thanks,
Michael

I lived in a building with electric stove once. I have to admit that it was rather challenging to stir-fry on it. My advise is to go ahead and use a flat bottom carbon steel wok.

Heat the wok on high setting until very hot. Test by holding your hand palm down about an inch above the bottom of the wok. It should feel too hot to keep your hand there. Swirl about two tablespoons of cooking oil and continue to heat for about 30 seconds. The oil should almost reach smoking point. That’s when you want to start stir-frying.

A problem with electric stove is that once you start cooking the temperature immediately drop. One solution is to cook in two smaller batches per recipe.

I hope this will help you.

Kian

I love your blog and how well you demystify Chinese cooking. I have an equipment question for you – my condo building only has electric, no gas. What’s your experience with electric woks? Or should I stick with my cast iron pan?