Please teach me how to cook asian food!

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

1 - what kind of rice should I buy at the asian market?

Flying horse brand jasmine rice, buddha brand jasmine rice.

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

2 - what are the different kinds of asian rice and flour noodles? Ho fun is the wide rice noodle, shanghai/udon noodles are the thick flour ones? What else is there?

Probably the best kept secret in the world of noodles. Nissin brand instant noodles are probably the best thing you can get. I am not even kidding you, a bunch of restuarants in Hong Kong won't even hide the fact that they serve you those instant noodles. But they put it into their own soup etc. etc. it's got a japanese kid on the front with a latern running.

Remember with Ho Fun you have to peel them apart otherwise you get clumps of noodles. And really there is very little diffrence between noodle types. It's the same reason as to why the italians have a million cuts of pasta.

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

3 - what are the typical spices used in Thai, Chinese and Indian foods?

There are two diffrent types of soy sauce Chinese people use, old and fresh. Old is for cooking, fresh is for dipping. Old is A LOT stronger and you definately don't want to dip food in it unless you absolutely love the taste of soy sauce. Simple way to tell the diffrence is old is a lot blacker than fresh, and it comes in a bottle rather than a vat. Otherwise, garlic, ginger, oyster sauce, etc.

And Indians? What don't they use??? Bay leaf, cumin, curry powder, yogurt, milk, coconut milk, salt. If you find it on a spice rack on this planet they probrably use it.

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

4 - How do I make that oily chilly stuff that the guys at the restaurant use when I order my beef ho fun stir fry extra spicy?

You don't, it's called Chili Oil, best brand (as with all other sauces and marinades) Lee Kum Kee.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Tritoch

Is it possible to cook regular rice (not just sticky) without a rice cooker?

I've been considering learning how to make fried rice at home for awhile, but decent rice cookers seem kind of expensive. I don't typically cook much since I live alone and don't usually find it to be worth the effort, but if I can make fried rice and have it come out okay a few times then I'd be willing to buy one.

The usual rule of thumb is to add an extra cup and like three quarters water with each cup of rice. So two cups cups rice three and three quarter cups of water. But of course each brand and personal tastes vary so you need to tweak it yourself.

So you add the rice, wash it just douse it with water and stir it with your hand until it is this murky creamy color DO NOT FORGET THIS STEP!!

Next you get as much of the water as you can out, and you add water. You know for absolute sure when the water completely covers the rice with a bit of room to spare, if you did the rule of thumb i told you earlier you should have done it right.

Next bring the rice and water to a rolling boil, after that turn the heat all the way down to minimum and have it simmer for 10-15 minutes. You'll know it's ready when the rice doesn't look shiny anymore. But try not to check on it too much cuz you're trying to steam it, and if you let the steam out you're just baking the rice and than you're gonna burn it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.