Best store-bought oriental sauces?

Einhard

Hey all,

I'm not much a cook, but have been trying to spice things up in the kitchen and get away from the usual spuds by using various store-bought sauces. I love Chinese and Indian food in restaurants, but the sauces seem to be a pale imitation of those used in restaurants. I used Loyd Grossman's Balti sauce yesterday, and while it was ok, it wasn't anything to write home about. I tried his Jalfrezi sauce today, and it was so bland it was as if I had coated the chicken in water.

I know that sauces from a jar will never reach the standards of homemade sauces, but I'm not ready to start experiementing on that level yet. So, I'd appreciate it if you folk could recommend some good store-bought alternatives.

Thanks in advance.

Chucken

Aw go on and try make your own sauces
Nothing like them! And very easy to make,honestly.

BUT if you want to go slowly and use jars,try the Asian shops. Sorry I cant recommend any,but if you give a look through the recipes here I'm sure you find your kitchen legs soon :)

Melendez

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rubadub

Pataks pastes are well respected by most, I think their sauces are good too, but most go on about the thick pastes more, these would be indian.

Einhard

Thanks for the replies.

@ Chucken....I intend to get around to making my own sauces, but I want to crawl before I attempt to walk!

@ melendez & rubadub...when you say pastes, do you use the paste to make the sauce? How do they work? Told yiz I was clueless!:D

huskerdu

Einhard wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

@ Chucken....I intend to get around to making my own sauces, but I want to crawl before I attempt to walk!

@ melendez & rubadub...when you say pastes, do you use the paste to make the sauce? How do they work? Told yiz I was clueless!:D

The instructions on the back of the jar of Pataks paste are very clear and very easy. Give it a go. Much, much better than a jar of sauce and hopefully will give you the confidence to be more adventureous.

Melendez

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Chucken

There's a range of pastes in Supervalu called "Thai Gold" that are very good and great value. (I got them for 99c)
They all have a recipe printed on the back,very easy to follow.



Let us know how you get on

veetwin

IMHO as some one who has tried nearly shop bought sauce and as a lover of Indian food the best is Aldi's range. They come with a little capful of spices which you add to the browned meat for 1 minute and then add the sauce. I have tried 3 or 4 of their range and all have been excellent.

L Grossman's sauces are all muck imho as are Pataks.

Sharwood's (esp the Madras) are acceptable but nowhere near Aldi's.

I love making my own but the missus prefers the jars:rolleyes:

Howjoe1

THe aldi ones are the best i've come across in ages and very cheap. made a lovely chicken stir fry last night with their oyster & spring onion suace

ukonline

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I make a Thai curry once a week using a brand of pastes called Aroy-D.

The paste comes in a small plastic bag inside a plastic pot. Just pure
spices, veg and seasoning, etc. Available in different varieties. You can
find it in Asian/Chinese stores.

Just add a heaped dessert spoon full to meat and cover with water and/or
coconut milk. Simmer 'till the meat is done. I usually add a splash or 2 of
fish sauce too. The list of ingredients at the back gives the % of each, so
you could make your own paste, fresh.



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Melendez

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livinsane

You could try spice mixes. Like yourself, I usually buy the store sauces but found pre mixed spices very easy to use.

I've bought spice mixes from a crowd called Green Saffron that are divine. They are based in Cork but sell around the country. They have all the normal dishes (jalfrezi/rogan josh etc) and some I wouldn't have thought of (lentil dahl/aloo gobhi). Packs have required ingredients and directions for cooking and its generally tin of tomatoes/coconut milk plus meat and veg plus a few other bits and pieces. I notice a massive taste difference.

vibe666

aisan supermarkets have a huge selection of sauces and pastes that makes some very good meals and a lot of them you wouldn't find in regular supermarkets.

they're also much cheaper than the supermarket equiv. as they will be in bigger jars/bottles meant for actual chinese/indian people to use daily/weekly rather than westerners who want to give them a go once in a blue moon.

you'll also find things like frozen roasted boneless duck halves to use for peking duck (also ready made pancakes etc.) and frozen uncooked tiger prawns for next to nothing as well as a huge selection of frozen dumplings (also, buy a bamboo steamer for your wok) and leads of other stuff, it's like a sweet shop for asian food lovers.

my personal favourite one in dublin is the one behind the jervis centre where the luas stop is, but there's another good one off georges street on one of the back streets there that is also very good and there are plenty of others dotted around if you are in dublin.

my advice is just to give anything that takes your fancy a go and just be adventurous with it and buy anything that catches your eye. it won't always work out well, but you'll find a lot of gems in the process.

pog it

Want to second Patak's. Try the Garam Masala paste. I could only find it in an asian foodstore but it might be more widely available than that. I had it in a chickpea recipe that I came across here actually and it was amazing.
Going to try this next:
http://www.pataks.co.uk/recipes/potato-with-spinach-(aloo-palak).aspx

Bain súp as

Aglomerado

+1 for Patak's pastes. They are excellent, both in flavour and value for money.

For the (very) quick and easy option, I find Lidl's own brand sauces are great, and really cheap to.

Einhard

Hey thanks for all the suggestions. I'll make sure to rey 'em out over the next few weeks.