An Introduction to Asian Cuisine

People talk of Asian cuisine as though it is a monolith. Asia is in fact a massive continent and is made up from a vast array of nations, peoples and cultures. Asia therefore is home to a huge variety of incredible cuisines, making the task of introducing “Asian Food” somewhat daunting. Even if we focus on just one Asian culinary tradition we are still dealing with massive range. Take Chinese food - are we taking about the saltiness of Shandong? Perhaps the hot spicy flavours of Sichuan? Or the light sweetness of Cantonese food culture. And that does not even begin to cover China. The whole of Asia is more varied still.

When we include the cuisines of Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan and all the other food cultures in the Asian continent it is clear we are looking at a subject that we could never even begin to address here. So instead we think it best to dive in and explore our Asian Food Shop to see what catches your eye.

We are the leading Asian online grocery delivery service in the UK and so have a huge array of authentic products and ingredients to offer that we have sourced from across the whole of the Asian continent. Whatever cuisine you want to explore we can deliver the authentic Asian brands and ingredients directly to your door.

The best place to start is rice. A major store cupboard staple in most Asian cuisines, and most Western store cupboards too. To do Asian food the right way the right rice matters. We have the Basmati rice you will be familiar with, but for many Thai dishes you need glutinous rice. Do not worry, we have it. Indeed we have the right rice varieties to use for sushi, and any other of the many and varied rice varieties at the heart of so many Asian cuisines, even black rice, so you never need to compromise.

Noodles are also more varied than you might think. Like rice, noodles deliver the majority of the calories in any dish, but they also deliver both texture and flavour. Whether your dish demands the firm and robust bite of Udon noodles – popular in noodle soups or calls for the more delicately textured fine rice noodles or the simple comfort of Ramen, choosing the appropriate noodle for the dish matters – and at a well-stocked Asian Food Shop you can stock your store cupboard with every variety of rice and noodle you could ever need. These inexpensive staples keep for a very long time, meaning long term storage will not be a problem.

Rice and noodles are the foundation of many Asian cuisines, but they can be underwhelming by themselves. The fabulous flavours of Asian food are to be found mostly in the broths and sauces. Western cooks often assume they should make these from scratch, but just as you would not generally make gravy from scratch, most Asian home cooks buy their sauces from supermarkets. At our Asian Food Shop you can find the same brands of pastes and sauces you would be buying in Tokyo, Seoul or Shanghai.

So whether you are looking for sauce brands from China like Lee Kum Kee and Haday or Thai brands such as Smiling Fish and Maesri or brands from anywhere else in Asia, we can help. When you shop for Asian Groceries with us you can create a store cupboard that would be recognised by home cooks from Pak Kret to Tianjin.

So why not come and explore the spice and the subtlety of Asian food? After all, because many Asian dishes can be prepared quickly it is ideally suited for our modern “time poor” Western lifestyles, and certainly more interesting than a baked potato on a wet mid-week evening.