About

Easy to make
Easy to clean up
Asian recipes from scratch
Usually dairy-free, often vegan, and always tasty

Make it better@home

Don’t you love eating out? However, dining at restaurants poses several drawbacks:

The food may be too sweet, too salty, too greasy, not salty enough, etc.
You don’t really know what goes inside the food, eg. type of oil, where the meat is from, how much sugar/salt there is
The steep mark up on any type of drink, especially alcoholic ones

The result is that in order to use high quality ingredients and make wholesome meals, you have to cook at home.

What you will find out on this blog:

Recipes with 10 ingredients or less
How to instructions
A nod to authenticity with an explanation of ingredients and where dishes come from
An emphasis on whole grains rather than white rice
Use of pasture-raised meats and sustainable seafood

What you won’t find on this blog:

Dairy products, for the most part. Really love grassfed butter and cheese is used occasionally for fusion recipes.
MSG and artificial ingredients. Avoided whenever possible, except when there is no substitute, such as in a store bought sauce.
Perfect. Instead, we tell people it’s rustic.

Who am I?

Asian Test Kitchen is curated by me, a former professional kitchen laborer for over a decade. I started at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and have since traipsed through all manner of restaurant kitchens, including 2 and 3 Michelin star ones, and almost every Asian country to taste the food for myself, including Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, and Hong Kong. I also won a scholarship to study Chinese cuisine and traveled to Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing, Guilin, and Yangshuo. Most places I worked held to the farm to table philosophy of using fresh, local ingredients, so I continue to do the same.

Author of Asian Test Kitchen at Kittea Cat Cafe

I would much rather be out and about like here at Kit-tea in San Francisco, where they serve 4 kinds of green tea alongside live cats.

Why is it a test kitchen?

Cooking is often done by taste rather than measurement in restaurant kitchens. As such, I’m testing out recipe writing and quantifying ingredients.

I’ve also never once used an instant pot, slow cooker, or air fryer. Since I was in the kitchen all day and all night, there was no need for such remedies found in a home kitchen with working adults. So it’s me testing out these gadgets to get the best tasting, quickest cooking recipes.

Asian cuisine is also not often paired with wine, but just because two things seem like an odd couple doesn’t mean they can’t be together. Thus, more testing wine pairing combinations to see what works and doesn’t (and you know what kind of research that involves).

Eat better, Learn More

I hope you will find this blog a useful resource to learn more about the cuisines of Asia, along with some inspiration to make your own healthful, home cooked meals with high quality ingredients.

Thank you for coming!

There are so many places you could visit on the internet. I’m so lucky and honored that you happened to stumble into mine. Thank you sooooo very much for taking the time to read this and any part of this site.

I really, really appreciate every visitor, reader, and clicker, even if you’re just passing by. I hope you found or will find whatever it is you’re looking for out there.

Comments, questions, and queries are always welcome. 🙂

♥ Deanna