Fruit Sauces, Cooking Spices, and Cooking Ingredients for Asian Food

Thanks to the rising popularity of Asian cooking, many of the once-exotic cooking spices, fruit and chili sauces, pastes and other ingredients are now readily available in your local supermarket. You can also find them in Asian markets that cater to a specific country or region. The variety of cooking sauces and ingredients in Asian cuisine is enormous, but the following short list is a must for a well-stocked Asian pantry.

TERM:
Thai chili sauce (nam prik pao)

DEFINITION:
A common ingredient in Thai cuisine, this thick sauce is made from roasted garlic and shallots, dried red chilies, dried shrimp, fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind juice. It is different from other chili sauces and cannot be substituted for them.

Bean thread noodles, dried

Chinese black vinegar

Chinese five-spice powder