Asian Sauces

Sauces from many Asian cuisines, including Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian, have entered the Western cook’s repertoire in recent years. Asia is, of course, a huge continent, and it would take years of study to become familiar with all its varied cooking traditions. This chapter can only begin that familiarization process by providing a selection of popular recipes with sidebars containing background information on ingredients and techniques.

Incidentally, Chinese cuisines have relatively few standalone sauces. Sauces in stir-fried dishes, for example, are made as part of the cooking process by adding liquids and thickeners to the meat and vegetables as they cook. Ready-made condiments such as oyster sauce and hoisin sauce are also used.