Blogs

Chinese Pantry Essentials: What You Need to Cook Authentic Chinese Food at Home

Stocking your pantry with the right ingredients is the first step to unlocking the bold flavours of Chinese cuisine. Whether you’re diving into stir fries, soups, dumplings, or braised dishes, having the right pantry staples makes all the difference.

At Otao Kitchen, we teach thousands of people each year how to cook authentic Chinese dishes. Here’s a breakdown of the essential ingredients we recommend to start your Chinese cooking journey at home.

A Regional Journey Through Chinese Food Culture

China’s Four Great Regional Cuisines

China's food culture is famously diverse, with four primary regional styles — Chuan (Sichuan), Lu (Shandong), Yue (Cantonese), and Huaiyang (Jiangsu) — representing the west, north, south and east of the country. These cuisines differ in flavour, technique, and ingredients, but all honour the traditional Chinese emphasis on colour, aroma, and taste. 

China has 4 main regional food groups: Chuan, Lu, Yue and Huaiyang, representing west, north, south and east Chinese cuisines. Colour, smell and taste are the three traditional aspects used to describe Chinese food. In another way, Chinese chefs classify eight regional Chinese cuisines according to their distinct tastes and local specialties. Perhaps the best known and most influential cuisines of China are Cantonese, Shandong, Jiangsu and Sichuan. Many traditional regional foods also feature basic methods of preservation such as drying, salting, pickling and fermentation.

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. 

For an even deeper classification, Chinese chefs recognise eight major cuisines, each shaped by geography, history, and climate. Among the most influential are:

• Cantonese (Yue): Known for delicate techniques and fresh seafood.

• Shandong (Lu): Salty, savoury dishes featuring wheat, soups, and seafood.

• Jiangsu (Huaiyang): Elegant and balanced, with precise knife skills and stewing methods.

• Sichuan (Chuan): Bold, spicy and aromatic, famous for Sichuan peppercorns and hotpot.

Many regional dishes also feature traditional preservation methods like drying, salting, pickling, and fermentation, ensuring ingredients were available year-round.

Want to cook your own regional Chinese feast? Join our Chinese Cooking Class in Melbourne »

A Hot Guide to Chillies in Australia: Types, Heat & Handling Tips

Whether you're whipping up a spicy Thai salad, crafting a zingy salsa, or garnishing your favourite Vietnamese dish, chillies bring fire and flavour like no other ingredient. The heat comes from capsaicin, a natural compound that tricks your brain into thinking you're burning – even though you're not!

At Otao Kitchen, we love using chillies in our hands-on cooking classes, from Thai and Vietnamese to Mexican and Indian cuisines. Here’s your guide to the most popular chillies in Australia—fresh and dried—as well as tips for handling them safely.

How to Prevent Onion Tears

No, you're not getting emotional—those tears are thanks to Propanethiol S-oxide, a gas released when onion enzymes are broken down. When this gas reaches your eyes, it forms a mild sulfuric acid that makes them sting and water.

Luckily, there are a few clever tricks to stop the sobbing:

How to Make Salad Dressings That Transform Your Meals

Gone are the days of the sad, limp salad—those lonely bowls filled with pale lettuce, sharp onion, and hard, underripe tomatoes. Today, salads are vibrant, diverse, and satisfying enough to take centre stage at the dinner table. Whether you’re eating light, reducing food waste, or boosting your fruit and veg intake, salads are a colourful canvas for creativity—and the right salad dressing brings it all together.

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!