Agar-agar Powder

Over here we can buy agar-agar powder at Asian groceries and at some health stores. If possible stick to the Asian stores as it’s much cheaper to buy. I used the ‘Golden Trophy’ brand imported from Thailand as it’s good quality.

Agar-Agar is a plant-based powder made from red algae, a type of seaweed. So unlike gelatine, which is made from animal parts, Agar-Agar it is vegan friendly.

Agar-Agar must be well mixed with cold water before boiling. The agar powder will clump up if mixed into boiling water.

Halloumi cheese

Halloumi is a popular cheese originated from Cyprus made from sheep, goat or cows milk. Stores sell hard blocks of halloumi with a small amount of brine.

This cheese is often cooked by pan/deep frying or grilling. Once cooked it has a delicious savoury salty flavour and will keep its shape and soften in texture without completely melting.

‘KNORR’ Chicken Powder

KNORR brand Chicken Powder is my absolute favourite brand of chicken flavouring. It very flavourful and doesn’t taste as artificial as other brands. It’s very handy to have this in the pantry as I can create a chicken stock, I usually dissolve 2 teaspoons of this powder with water. KNORR Chicken Powder can be purchased in Asian grocery stores.

Ingredients: Salt, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Spice, Flavour Enhancers (E621, E635, E631), Corn Starch, Chicken Meat Powder, Flavourings (Contains Milk, Egg), Chicken Fat, Vegetable Oil, Yeast Extract, Soy Sauce Powder (Contains Wheat, Soybean).

Maldon – sea salt flakes

Maldon is a coastal town of England where they harvest the sea salt from. It’s a premium product and you will pay for it with a price tag of $9 (US 6.30) for 125gms. Their sea salt is crunchy with a delicate and subtle flavour.

Oyster Sauce

Oyster sauce does contain oysters, however, it doesn’t have a strong fishy or seafood flavour. It is thick and slightly sweet but mostly salty. It adds a rich savoury flavour when added to stir-fries.

Soy sauce – Light and Dark

Dark soy has been fermented longer than light soy. It also darker in colour and is commonly used in Asian cooking to blacken the sauce, meat or noodles. Dark soy is also thicker, sweeter (contains sugar or molasses) and less salty than light soy sauce.

It’s best not to substitute light soy for dark soy but you can substitute light soy to dark soy by mixing in a small amount of molasses and sugar. Luckily you probably don’t need to as both varieties of soy sauce are easy to find in supermarkets.