Here you will find recipes that have their roots in the orient; China, Thailand, Indonesia etc. We can't claim that they will all be authentic, just nice and tasty. Some of the recipes might be strange or unusual but hopefully they will give you some ideas and inspiration. Time to stock up on some spices. Don't buy those silly little glass bottles of spices at ridiculous prices, Hunt out your local Indian, Chinese, or ethnic food wholesaler such as Seewoo. There you will be able to buy a massive range of spices at a fraction of the supermarket price. The same goes for sauces; at the wholesalers you can buy a litre of good quality soy sauce for the price of a teeny bottle at the supermarket.

• Essentials for Oriental cookery:
  • Soy sauce, light and dark. It's also brilliant for normal cookery; marinades and salad dressings.
  • Oyster sauce
  • Rice wine or dry sherry
  • Cornflour
  • Spring onions
  • Ginger
  • Garlic
  • Star anise
  • Dried red chillies or chili flakes
  • Nam pla and its variants

Where to buy?

Try our recommended Chinese suppliers for those hard to find items.

PGI ingredients

PGI stand for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). Under the EU agricultural product quality policy, this "covers agricultural products and foodstuffs closely linked to the geographical area. At least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the area." The following Cambodian ingredients are those which are registered as PGI.

• Click to preview 3 randomly chosen illustrated recipes from within the Oriental cuisine category

ORIENTAL CUISINE