Asian Ingredients
Info, Photos and Tips
The Asian ingredients mentioned on this page are as follow. For more items, please browse our main Ingredients Glossary.
Peh Kuey (dialect name) - See Ginkgo nut.
Prawns (called Xia in mandarin) can be cooked in many ways including steaming, boiling, stir-frying, deep-frying, etc. If you have lots of fresh prawn shells, you can use them to make delicious soup base too. The variety of prawns in the world is great and they come in different shapes, sizes and colours. Some are caught from the sea while some are reared in farms.
Where possible, ask the prawn seller which type of prawn to choose for the dish you wish to prepare as some prawns are more suitable for steaming, some more suitable for deep-frying, etc.
In general, choose fresh prawns with their entire shells still nicely attached together, like those in the pictures above. Those that are loose are not as fresh. The prawns should feel firm too. If the shells cling to the meat when cooked, they are not fresh.Prawns get cooked pretty quickly, especially if they have been shelled beforehand. After shelling, de-vein them too so that they don't taste sandy. Prawns will curl up beautifully and turn pink and white when cooked. Do not cook them for too long as they will become tough and not as sweet. Try our delicious prawn recipes below:
- Chicken and Seafood Macaroni Soup
- Prawn Fried Eggs
- Stir Fry Asparagus with Prawns
Red Date (also called Chinese Date, Jujube or Hong Zao) is sweet in taste and warm in nature. Good dried red dates should be wrinkled and dark red in colour. Do not choose those which are smooth in texture or yellowish in colour.
Chinese like to use dried red dates as a secondary ingredient to cook soups (e.g. Lotus root soup) or desserts (e.g. White fungus, Ginkgo nuts and Longan dessert soup). Remove the seeds before cooking them. Red date snacks are available in the market too.
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