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Rice is one of the most used grains on the planet. It’s a staple food for a large portion of the world’s population with hundreds of varieties. When selecting rice, enthusiasts will look carefully for the colour, fragrance, flavour and texture.

Stir-frying is a method of cooking where ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred. This technique originated in China but has spread into other parts of Asia and the West. To traditionally stir-fry, the most obvious tool you need is a good wok and spatula. However, if you don’t have a wok, that shouldn’t stop you! Simply use a large, wide frying pan with some other basic pantry ingredients. You’ll soon be able to whip up the most delicious stir-fry recipes.

Soy Sauce 

 We can’t talk about Chinese cuisine without mentioning soy sauce! It is foundational to so many Chinese dishes we have grown to love. It’s also used across an array of other Asian countries who use it as a staple for cooking, dipping sauces, marinades and dressings.

Chinese food has influenced many other cuisines, catering to local palates for many years. Food staples are rice, soy sauce, noodles, tea and tofu. Many day-to-day utensils such as chopsticks, woks and rice cookers can now be found in kitchens globally. China has many ethnic backgrounds which have their own preference for seasoning and cooking techniques.

A substance called capsaicin gives chillies their distinctive hot, peppery taste. The chemical stimulates areas of your skin and tongue that normally sense heat and pain, fooling your brain into thinking they are burning! Capsaicin has been found to repel or poison mammals but not birds, according to BBC. These are some main fresh and dried varieties available in Australia.

It’s not that you've formed an emotional bond to your food, 'onion tears' are just caused by a gas called Propanethiol S-oxide. When mixed with an onion’s enzymes, they create a sulphur gas that irritates your eyes.

Our salads have come a long way from a sad bowl of a few leaves of lettuce, onion and unripe tomatoes. These days a salad can be an entire meal with interesting ingredients, textures and flavours! They are a great way to use up excess produce lurching in the depths of your crisper and are an ideal for bulking up your fruit and veg intake too. A delicious salad can transform ordinary ingredients into something exciting and colourful. The use of nuts, meats, pulses and even seafood are great additions. Combining a mixture of raw and cooked fruits and vegetables provides contrast in visual appeal and taste. For every salad you create, there is a perfect dressing!

Thai food is popular all over the world, and the vast assortment of Thai curries are some of the most beloved. Usually served with steamed jasmine rice, yellow, green and red Thai curries can be cooked with all kinds of vegetables, meat or seafood. They’re so versatile that these pastes, made from fresh herbs, spices and aromatics can also be used to marinate, add to soups or give a flavour kick to noodles or rice dishes. The difference between each of these colourful curries may be confusing at first, but we’ll be running through their different core ingredients and flavour profiles to help you find your favourite!

Typically speaking, Thai food uses many of the same core ingredients as other South East Asian countries (chilli, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice). However, it manages to retain an entirely unique flavour of its own. The essence of Thai cuisine is all about balance. The perfect harmony between sweet, sour, hot and salty is the foundation of any Thai dish. Flavourful aromatics, such as galangal and lemongrass, tone down overpowering spices, while salty sauces are mellowed with sugars and offset by acids, such as tamarind and lime.