Marie Kondo Your Cooking
What to make for dinner?
Ahh, the perennial question that plagues most households. This blog solves that problem with awesome Asian food.
Make Asian Food Great Again
Well, it was always great, wasn’t it? Just a tad bit confusing and at times mysterious?
Though you might like the idea of cooking at “authentic” Asian meals at home, the actual practice can be defeating with piles of dirty dishes, goose-chasing ingredients, and the perpetual problem known as lack of time.
It just seems easier and a whole more convenient to eat out.
Make it better@home
Don’t you love eating out? However, dining at restaurants poses several drawbacks:
- Often the food is 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 mark up on any type of drink, especially alcoholic ones, is cringeworthy
The result is that in order to use high quality ingredients and make wholesome meals, you have to cook at home.
This blog simplifies Asian recipes so you can make the very best food at home yourself, easily and quickly.
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.
- Woks, since it is not well suited to a flat bottom stove top or low flame gas range at home.
- Deep frying. Too much to clean.
- 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.
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.
Contact
Inquiries can be directed to asiantestkitchen (at) gmail <dot> com.
Happy cooking (and drinking),
Deanna
Check out these Blog posts to get started:
Legit Hawaiian Poke – No Soy Sauce Necessary
Thai Black Rice Pudding: the Superfood You’re not eating
Foolproof Miso-Marinated Black Cod
Easy, Soupy Chinese Egg & Tomato Stir-Fry