Wok Cooking Pantry Basics | Woo Can Cook

Hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today (as you might notice) we’re not in the kitchen but in my studio instead, cause we’re doing something a little different and kicking off a brand new series on the channel dedicated to the fundamentals of wok cooking. More specifically, we’ll be starting off with maybe the single most requested video in the history of this channel, which is a guide to pantry essentials.
As most folks that have attempted any of the Woo Can Cook recipes will tell you, there are certainly quite a number of pantry sauces and elements that come up in a lot of our ingredient lists, and I know this can be a bit intimidating for those just starting to dip their toes into wok cooking. What do all of these sauces and ingredients do? Why are there so many of them in a single recipe, and what purpose do they serve? Finally most importantly, is it really necessary to include all of them, or can we omit stuff if needed, and if so, when?
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0:00 Hello, hi everyone!
1:56 Essentials
4:10 Cooking Oils
6:03 Dry Pantry
9:25 Acids
11:13 Sweet Umami
12:52 Heat Umami
14:13 Intense Umami
16:09 Soft Tofu With Nori
16:55 Thanks For Watching!

[@WooCanCook]

EDIT: Oyster sauce is *reduced*, not fermented! How embarrassing. My bad, everyone.

[@mikedavey1996]

Cooking wine usually has added salt and is labelled for cooking only so the product doesn't get taxed at the much higher rate of drinking alcohol products.
Really like your videos.

[@WooCanCook]

Huh, TIL!

[@treywest268]

Informational and succinct. You have covrred the basics in this and covered everything needed. One thing i might add is to have lots and lots of bowls of various sizes to prep and contain everything required to cook the dish.

[@WooCanCook]

nice!!

[@Foifede]

Thank you Wesley for creating this series! My cooking has been elevated thanks to your channel. Looking forward to learning more from you, keep up the awesome content.

[@WooCanCook]

Yay thanks!

[@jameshowcroft321]

Awesome video s thanks champ

[@WooCanCook]

Thanks!

[@carlosquintero8279]

Great video thanks for explaining those must have pantry

[@jameshowcroft321]

Hi Woo what is a breakfast dish that is common for Chinese. And also your favourite family dish, thanks so much , thanks for sharing your skills I am just so enjoying learning how to cook Chinese style, as a kid I remember eating at local Chinese restaurants, a funny story, I did a roof repair for William a local Chinese , he said how much do I owe you . I said I would love just a meal in return , it was the best form of pay . I do you want me to do repairs weekly, 😜😜😜😜😜🙏🙏.

[@WooCanCook]

oooh fun! I'd say probably the most common breakfast meal is a rice porridge or "congee." i like it with a little bit of dried rousong shredded pork, but you can throw whatever you want in it really, though. We actually did a whole video dedicated to congee a while back, too!
Congee
th-cam.com/video/aE4g8Lv1-Qo/w-d-xo.html

[@optionout]

GOOD STUFF! Exactly what I needed to get started.

[@WooCanCook]

yayy nice!

[@yep_2431]

Does anyone know of all the ingredients which ones need to be refrigerated after opening? I filled my pantry with all these and I don't know

[@WooCanCook]

ooh good question! I'd definitely defer to whatever it says on the packaging of each ingredient. as a general rule of thumb though, soy sauces, vinegars and oils (like regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and etc) don't need refrigeration. The thicker fermented stuff like oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, and fish sauce do need refrigeration, but only after they've been opened. Then the same is true for the fermented chili ingredients like sambal oelek, gochujang, doubanjiang, and miso paste, which all need refrigeration after opening.
Then some other surprising ones ive found don't need refrigeration, like sweet chili sauce and chili crisp oil, both of which are stable when stored in a cool dark place. Same with rousong and nori/furikake, which all actually do better when stored in a cool/dark pantry, because it'll be safer from moisture. good luck!