I bet you’ve got certain jars, packets, seasonings and sauces that you buy again and again right? I certainly do. For fun, I thought I’d take a look and share the 10 cupboard staples I can’t live without. It actually took me some time to narrow this list down but after some thought, these are the items I use the most and really couldn’t do with out!
So, in no particular order, here are the 10 cupboard staples I can’t live without:
Soy sauce
We eat a lot of Asian food in this house and get through a fair amount of soy sauce. I’d say we use it around 3-4 times a week. Our collection includes both dark and light soy, for stir fries and seasoning through to dressings and dipping sauces. I usually buy a large bottle of Sempio Korean soy sauce which lasts us a few months but at the moment we have Lee Kum Kee (dark and light) which I was lucky enough to win in an instagram competition along with plenty of other Asian ingredients from Oriental Mart!
Tom Yum paste
This stuff is magic. I’ve no doubt that Thai cooks up and down the globe will wince when they see all the ways we eat Tom Yum paste but it’s just SO GOOD. The brand in my picture above is the best one we’ve found and we usually have a couple of jars in stock at any one time. It’s so potent and the flavours are full of sunshine and warmth. Even when you’ve got nothing in but a limp carrot and a soft onion, a spoonful of this and you’ve got yourself a tasty soup. A must have!
Vegetable stock cubes
These are just so useful right? I often save homemade stock and freeze in jars but these are useful to have for emergencies and when you just can’t be bothered. I crumble them into stews, use them in water to cook cous cous and of course, use them for stock in recipes. The reason I’ve chosen vegetable stock cubes is that often, a recipe calls for a beef or lamb or chicken stock. Replacing it with a vegetable stock won’t drastically alter the flavour whereas, using a meaty stock cube when a recipe asks for vegetable does. So, regardless of what other stock cubes I have in, I always make sure to never run out of vegetable ones!
Cider vinegar
To be honest, this could read white wine / cider / red wine… vinegar. I’m not fussy as to which we have although we always have one of them in. I use this as a base to my salad dressings, mixed with a little olive oil, salt, wholegrain mustard and minced garlic. Delicious. I also like to add it to coleslaw and even marinades. The Aspall’s range is particularly lovely.
Maldon sea salt
What can I say? Why have grains when you can have flakes? Look out for their smoked sea salt. It’s magnificent, although the regular stuff is just as lovely. I use this for finishing dishes and seasoning at the table. I wouldn’t use it for things like seasoning pasta water or brining vegetables (unless I won the lottery) but it’s lovely sprinkled on buttered new potatoes, roasted and grilled meats, fresh tomatoes and so much more. Wonderful, magical stuff.
Dried chilli flakes
I probably dip into this jar at least three times a week and usually buy a big bag of chilli flakes and refill as I need to. I use them in pasta, stir fries, stews, tagines, curries. When you’re out of fresh chillies, they’re perfect for adding a bit of warmth to a dish.
Indian curry powder
The battered old curry powder pot in my header picture has been refilled more times than I care to remember. We tend to buy a bag of curry powder from Indian shops back home in Leicester and then refill the pot in our cupboard. Curry powder is something of a catch all – referring to a mix of spices and so, the flavour does vary each time (unless you go for a supermarket brand which is more uniform). Curry powder is most often made up of chilli powder, turmeric, chilli, coriander, ginger, cumin and pepper. We use it in stews, curries, beans (yep!!) and most recently in the amazing singapore noodles from Meera Sodha’s East.
Sesame oil
Again, as we cook a lot of Asian food in our house, sesame oil is an essential cupboard staple. It’s another item we tend to buy a big version of. This Korean Ottogi sesame is really great and we’re on our fourth or fifth vat of it. It’s quite expensive (this size is around £12-14) but worth it in my opinion. We use this in stir fries, dressings and sauces, most often for Korean food or Chinese noodle dishes.
Instant gravy
Gravy is my favourite liquid. I can literally drink the stuff. I do occasionally make my own gravy, especially if I’m roasting a joint of meat. But let’s be honest, if you get the good ones, instant gravy is pretty great these days. I really rate the Bisto best range. It’s more of a powder than the granules of old / cheaper gravy which means less lumps. The chicken version is nice bu for me, it’s beef all the way, regardless of what I’m eating it on!!
Dried mixed herbs
Who doesn’t have dried mixed herbs in their cupboard? I sprinkle them in everything! Not unlike the vegetable stock cubes, dried mixed herbs act as a catch all when you don’t have the exact dried herbs listed n a recipe. Often you’ll see a requirement for thyme or marjoram or perhaps parsley. Not got them? No worries, mixed herbs will do the trick.
So there you have it – the cupboard staples I can’t live without. What are yours?
Most of these are also always in my pantry, but one more I always have is Oyster Sauce. When I’m lazy and don’t feel like chopping things like onion etc. It’s the one ingredient you need to make quick stir fry.
I agree with most of them, except I would have no problem living without Indian curry powder. It’s just not my spice. 😉
I’ve recently become a convert to vinegars – Aspall’s is really good. I did laugh that gravy is your favourite liquid though!