Who knew that the one question that would haunt us everyday of our lives would be “what’s for dinner?” I face the same challenge that you face every single day but keeping a well stocked pantry is key. I hope to help you create delicious homestyle Cantonese meals that are not necessarily restaurant quality but will feed your family well and help you save money. My recipes are quick, simple and tasty. If I can do it, so can you!
My great grandparents immigrated to Canada from Guangdong province in Southern China. The Cantonese homestyle meals I grew up eating were light and tasty, not heavy or intensely flavoured. My grandmother never gave me measurements when cooking. But she would essentially use the same ingredients in every recipe, a little bit of each: oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt and sugar. I’ve added a couple more ingredients to level up my recipes that were inspired by the homestyle meals I grew up eating.
(I have linked to some of the ingredients for reference but it is always better to buy locally if you can.)
Soy sauce
In my recipes, I use light soy sauce. Light soy sauce is basically regular soy sauce. It is used for flavour and saltiness. Every brand is slightly different from one another in flavour and saltiness.
Dark soy sauce
Dark soy sauce has a deeper flavour, is slightly sweet, and not as salty as light soy sauce. It is also slightly thicker and darker and often used for colour. You can always substitute it with a small amount of regular soy sauce and a bit of sugar or omit it altogether.
Oyster sauce
Oyster sauce is made from oysters but, in my opinion, does not really taste like oysters. The consistency is thick like ketchup and is slightly sweet but not as salty as soy sauce. It adds depth of flavour to recipes but can also be used as a condiment on the side of blanched Chinese leafy greens.
There are also vegan versions made with mushrooms. A good substitute would be to use soy sauce, mixed with a bit of sugar and a few drops of worcestershire to use in recipes but personally, I would not use the substitute version as a condiment.
Rice wine
Cooking rice wine adds depth and complexity in flavour. It’s like using red wine in a beef bourguignon recipe. The clear one is not as aromatic as ShaoHsing wine that is often used in Northern Chinese recipes. A good substitute is sherry or sake but I have also been known to substitute it with bourbon or whiskey.
We have liquor stores where we live as alcohol is not available in our supermarkets. But rice wine can be found in the supermarkets as it is not a drinking wine. The alcohol content is not very much and will burn off with the cooking.
Cooking oil
I always recommend a neutral cooking oil like avocado, peanut, corn, vegetable or canola oil as they all have a high smoke point since a lot of Chinese cooking happens over high heat. Olive oil is more delicate and does not have as high a smoke point.
Sesame oil
I often use a drizzle of roasted sesame oil to finish off some of my recipes. If sesame oil is added to the cooking process, it may burn off the sesame flavour and aroma so it is most effective when drizzled at the end.
Cornstarch
Cornstarch is used to thicken sauces. Always dissolve cornstarch in cool or room temperature water. It will not dissolve in hot water. Substitutes for cornstarch include potato starch, arrowroot and tapioca starch.
Jasmine rice
We prefer long grain and fragrant Jasmine rice from Thailand. It is our rice of choice to eat with Chinese food and we find it best for fried rice.
When preparing Chinese meals, it is best to get the rice started first so that everything will be ready for dinner around the same time.
Noodles
It is a good idea to keep some noodles in the pantry for a quick option, especially if you’ve forgotten to make rice or just want noodles instead. Most of the options I keep in our pantry only take about 3 minutes to cook. We like a variety of white wheat noodles in different widths and egg noodles as options. You could also use instant noodles without the flavour packet.
Aromatics
The essential aromatics to always have on hand are onion/green onion, garlic and ginger. With these three ingredients, the flavour of your dish will always be balanced and delicious. You can’t go wrong!
Other
I always keep a package of Chinese sausage ready to go in the fridge. First of all, they last quite a long time and they add such a great flavour for fried rice. But I remember as a kid that my mom would sometimes just throw in a couple of Chinese sausages to flavour the rice in case we didn’t have enough meat at dinner.
I hope you found this list helpful in stocking up your pantry so that you are always at the ready to cook some amazing Cantonese homestyle meals.
I’m looking forward to using a lot of you delicious recipes.