Stocking the Pantry

A well-stocked pantry is a wonderful thing and provides the foundation for any number of meals. I try to strike a balance between never running out of essential ingredients while avoiding the accumulation of long forgotten miscellany. Of course, a pantry should be a reflection of what you like to cook and eat, so here’s a collection of my favourite ingredients and my personal thoughts on stocking the pantry.

Essential Seasonings

Dry Seasonings

• Salt – I normally keep two types of salt: Kosher and coarse sea salt (in a grinder). I use flakey Kosher salt for general applications like seasoning dishes and dry brining meats. I use sea salt for finishing (sprinkled on top of sliced steak, for example) or seasoning at the table.
• Black Pepper – My preference is to buy whole peppercorns for my pepper mill.
• Sugar – Simple granulated sugar.
• White Pepper – White pepper is prevalent in Chinese cooking and lends a distinctive flavour to many dishes I grew up with. Contrary to my black pepper preferences, I get pre-ground white pepper, usually from the “Wu Hsing” brand to which my grandmother had a loyalty. I use it in stir-fries and Chinese marinades, as well as add copious amounts to congee and hot and sour soup.
• Cayenne Chili Flakes – Chili flakes are universally useful when you need to add a little heat. I often like to infuse olive oil with chili flakes and garlic before using it for sautés and other applications.
• Cumin – We love cumin in this house. It’s great for seasoning grilled meat (both as a marinade/rub and sprinkled on near the end of grilling). I use it in chili, and it’s also my spice of choice when I’m cooking lamb in any way.
• Basil & Oregano – I always have dried basil and oregano in my spice drawer, mostly for tomato-based pasta sauces. I also enjoy a bit of oregano in meat stews and roasts.
• Thyme – I enjoy adding a bit of thyme to soups and stocks, particularly where chicken is involved.
• Bay leaves – Bay leaves add a bit of earthy complexity to soups and stews. It’s one of those ingredients where you might not know what it does, but you’d probably notice if it was missing.
• Less commonly used seasonings such as smoked paprika, coriander, Sichuan peppercorn, all spice, generic curry powder, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Oils, Vinegars & Sauces

Oils

• A neutral oil – For general usage, I recommend stocking the pantry with a neutral oil such as Canola or safflower, which has a higher smoke point.
• Extra virgin olive oil – For salad dressings and moderate heat cooking. The flavour of extra virgin olive oil degrades when heated to high temperatures, so if I’m paying more for high quality olive oil, I’m mindful of how I use it.
• A toasted sesame oil – Usually for drizzling over dishes as a finishing oil, sometimes added to marinades. I normally buy the Kadoya brand “Pure Sesame Oil” in bulk and decant it myself.

Vinegars

• Apple Cider Vinegar – Apple cider vinegar is super versatile vinegar for stocking the pantry. It’s my preferred vinegar for a simple salad dressing, especially with ripe summer tomatoes. I also love it in barbecue sauces. I’m not here to extol the health benefits of ACV, just its flavour.
• Chinese Black (Chinkiang) Vinegar – Known as Chinkiang or Zhejiang vinegar, is my favourite vinegar on earth, specifically the Gold Plum brand. It is intensely aromatic and sweet (but not sugary). I love it in dressings, in dipping sauces for dumplings, in sauces for stir-fried dishes–I would honestly drink this stuff out of the bottle.
• Balsamic Vinegar – I keep a pretty generic bottle of Balsamic vinegar in my pantry, used mostly for salad dressings where I’m looking for a bit more sweetness. I sometimes mix Balsamic with ACV to get the flavour profile I’m looking for.
• Unseasoned Rice Vinegar – I initially purchased a bottle for sushi rice, but I enjoy using an unseasoned rice vinegar in Asian-leaning dressings that also feature soy sauce and sesame oil. I also find unseasoned rice vinegar to be milder than apple cider vinegar, which is helpful for my acid-sensitive spouse.

Sauces & Condiments

• Light Soy Sauce – Here, I’m referring to Chinese light soy sauce (生抽). This is the most commonly used soy sauce for seasoning in Chinese cooking, and unless otherwise specified, recipes calling for “soy sauce” are calling for light soy sauce. It’s also used for dipping sauces and dressings. I’ll also add a tablespoon or so to soups and stews to add savouriness. You can’t go wrong stocking the pantry with a bottle of light soy sauce. I prefer the Pearl River Bridge brand but will also get the Lee Kum Kee brand if it happens to be on sale. I tend to buy light soy sauce in bulk and decant it myself.
• Oyster Sauce – Oyster sauce is a condiment made from, well, oysters. It’s thick, sweet, salty, and very savoury. I use it to season stir-fried dishes and also to drizzle over blanched greens like Chinese broccoli.
• Chili crisp – My husband eats this stuff on everything. I’m more reasonable about it, but it’s great added to dressings or spooned over fried rice. You can make your own, but I just buy Lao Gan Ma.
• Mustard – In addition to a bottle of yellow mustard (for hotdogs!), I also keep a small bottle or jar of Dijon mustard. I like it for salads (and potato salads).
• Ketchup – Honestly, I rarely use Ketchup, but it is always there, and I feel like every pantry should have some ketchup on principle. I like a bit with my scrambled eggs and with grilled cheese.
• Shaoxing Wine (Chinese cooking wine) – Shaoxing Wine is a Chinese cooking wine made from rice. It features a lot in marinades for meat, and I also use it for deglazing a wok. I find the flavour pretty strong, and a little goes a long way.
• Less commonly used items like Chinese dark soy sauce (老抽) and mirin.

Essential Vegetables

Pantry Vegetables

• Garlic – I use garlic pretty much every day. I buy it and go through it regularly, and if I am lucky, I receive a gift of garlic from my husband’s grandfather’s garden every fall.
• Onions – I find that you can’t go wrong stocking the pantry with yellow cooking onions and buy the odd fancy onion as you need it.
• Shallots – Speaking of fancy onions, I do enjoy shallots and will buy them. I like shallots in applications such as risotto or my Quick Curry Tofu. I also like to include a bit of minced raw shallot in salad dressings.
• Potatoes – Especially in the winter, I keep potatoes in the pantry to have as an additional carb option.

Fridge Vegetables

• Carrots & Celery – My fridge is never without carrots and celery, and I frequently use them together as the base for soups and stews. Of course, carrots are good for other things too (maple-glazed carrots anyone?) and are delicious simply roasted.
• Ginger – There’s usually a lump of ginger in my crisper drawer. I use it as an aromatic in stir-fried dishes, in Asian stews, and also in ginger-lemon tea.
• Scallions & Herbs – I try to make sure I have at least one bunch of scallions in the crisper. I find that finishing many dishes with a handful of thinly sliced scallions elevates and brightens the eating experience. Other fresh herbs that I normally rotate include parsley, basil (in the summer), and cilantro.
• Broccoli – Broccoli is the default vegetable in my house. I’ll normally grab one from the grocery store, and a side of stir-fried broccoli with garlic goes with pretty much any meal.

Noodles & Grains

• White rice – Rice is the default carb in this house. We keep an 18-lb bag of Jasmine rice on hand at all times. I can’t imagine stocking the pantry without this staple food.
• Other rices – I enjoy rice generally and keep a variety of other rice types and blends that we rotate through. These include Arborio (for risotto), Japanese short grain rice to make sushi rice, a wild rice blend which has very nice texture.
• Barley – We like barley in soups and stews.
• Chinese wheat noodles – I normally have a few different types of dried Chinese noodles in the pantry, ranging from thin ones for noodle soup to extra wide ones for stir-fried noodles and cold noodle salads.
• Chinese rice noodles – I love rice noodles and am partial to the COF brand Jiangxi Rice Vermicelli. My favourite way to cook these noodles is to stir-fry them with jalapeno peppers, leafy greens, and a bit of chicken or pork.
• A variety of Italian pastas – I’m partial to spaghetti and bucatini (big spaghetti!), but we also keep a variety of short pastas on hand, too. Favourites include rigatoni, penne, and shells. I also recommend stocking the pantry with some small shapes for soup, such as ditali and orzo.
• Rice cakes – I technically buy frozen rice cakes, though you can buy them dried. I buy Chinese (年糕; niángāo) or Korean rice cakes (tteok), which are available in slices or tubes. These are delicious stir-fried or added to stews, and stocking the pantry (or freezer) with some can help you scrounge together a quick pantry meal at the end of the week.

Stuff in Cans

• Whole tomatoes – I like to buy canned whole tomatoes and chop them myself. I find their flavour and texture to be superior to canned diced tomatoes. I like them for soups, stews, and chilis.
• Strained tomatoes (passata) – I don’t normally buy ready-made pasta sauces, but I keep a few bottles/jars of passata (usually Mutti brand) in the pantry at all times. I use them for both quick tomato sauces and as the base for longer-cooking sauces.
• Beans – Because I don’t normally have the foresight to soak and cook dried beans, I keep canned beans in the pantry. My go-tos are red kidney beans, black beans, and pinto beans.
• Capers – Technically, I buy capers in tiny little bottles/jars, but anyway. I like to add chopped capers to sauces (like Puttanesca) and soups/stews.

Flours, Starches & Powders

• All Purpose Flour – The flour for all purposes, as they say. I’ve gone through phases of buying specialty flours, and they’ve kind of just sat in the pantry. I’m over specialty flours.
• Corn starch – I primarily use corn starch as a thickener for sauces by making a corn starch slurry to add to stir-fried dishes, among other things. Corn starch also shows up in batters and coatings for fried things.
• Corn meal or polenta – We love cornbread in this house, and we sometimes eat polenta as a side, as well. I also enjoy sweetened polenta as a comforting breakfast porridge, so we normally keep some on hand. I prefer a coarser corn meal generally, but choose the one you like.
• Baking Soda/Baking Powder – If you want to bake or make pancakes, you’ll need to have this stuff in the pantry. They are different, and you do need both.

Miscellany

• Bouillon – I pretty much don’t buy stock anymore. I get jars of Better Than Bouillon (Costco has a great price on these) and keep them in the fridge. Normally, I just stock the chicken variety, but they are available in other flavours. You could get bouillon powder, as well.
• Instant Curry Roux – Instant Japanese curry roux, such as S&B Golden Curry, can make for a really fast weeknight meal. They are quite salty, so I normally use much less than the package indicates. I like to pick these up when they’re on sale and just keep them in the pantry for when I need a quick meal idea.
• Kimchi – Technically, this one lives in my fridge, but it fits the spirit of this post. I always have some kimchi, which I prefer to get from an excellent local vendor. My preferred kimchi features napa cabbage and Korean radish, and when it is fresh, I love to eat it as a condiment. Stored properly, kimchi lasts a really long time, and I like to cook with the older kimchi that has sat in my fridge for a bit.
• Sauerkraut – I was introduced to sauerkraut by my husband’s family, and since I love kimchi, I also love sauerkraut. I do like to cook it, either with bratwurst or in a sauerkraut and pork goulash of Central European origins (Segedin).
• Various pickles and preserves – Polish style baby dill pickles are my favourite, so I try to always have some. I also like to keep artichoke hearts in oil (these are great as part of a charcuterie board and also chopped up in salad), as well as marinated mushrooms. Chinese pickled mustard stems (榨菜) are great as condiments for congee or noodle bowls, and Chinese picked mustard greens (酸菜) are great for flavouring stir-fries and stews.