Knowledge Base > Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

This event was on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern

Join Chef Eric Wynkoop in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to co… Read More.

Recorded

Question:

I’m WFPB, no SOS. I love to make oriental foods but what can I use instead of sesame oil, oyster sauce, fish sauce, etc.?

— Diane Hunt

Answer:

So Oriental means East. So I take this as East are relative to Europe is being the center of the world. The East was Asia and the Orient versus the oxidant was the Eastern far-reaching Netherlands of of Asia. So I'm thinking Japan Korea China. Okay, when I read this what can I use instead of sesame oil oyster sauce fish sauce Etc. Okay. So this is a great question. It's one of these questions that sort of bumps us up against all these changes that we want to make right in our kitchen and these are restrictive changes that we're talking about and so changes in our our rules of playing the game require. Of changes in our expectations for the finished product. Okay, and for you know, many many years in this part of the world and in East Asian cooking we might even call it, you know, we might say that it's the tradition now, right that oils are used and that salty condiments are used and and plant-based or I'm sorry, you know animal-based or fish-based sauces are used and so as we omit these things we need to make sacrifices as consumers and we need to allow our bodies in our brains much of it lies right here is our expectation and our allowance of ourselves to to enjoy something different. Okay, and that takes time first of all, that's very important. In life, I believe, you know, it's it's a 90% mental game. And certainly when it comes to make changing our food intake and our diet. It is 90% mental. I'm a big believer of that. So if we're going to remove for example sesame oil, then maybe we use sesame seeds toasted or non toasted white or black to bring in different, you know visual stimuli to bring in different Aromas and flavors and and mouth feels okay for these other, you know, salty and items that that stimulate the palate in in a very fundamental way think about acidic ingredients like vinegar and there are many different kinds of vinegar. They're all sour but they all also have a different accompanying flavor try them out and see what you like because that brings the basic sort of a stimulus to the palate like salt does so in the absence of salt these acidic foods can be helpful. um, you know citrus juices, especially the sour ones, you know play a role here as well Citrus zest as a lot of Aroma to our food understand that the flavor experience is about 80% Aroma driven so we can bring more Aroma to our food then we bring more enjoyment in the absence of salt and this is where spices come into play as well as fresh herbs some of these these things You know may not be traditional to regions of this part of the World East Asia, but that's okay, right if we're going to be omitting sesame oil oyster sauce and fish sauce, we're making non-traditional food. Anyway, so go ahead and experiment with the addition of your favorite spices or Citrus zests or fresh herbs, maybe a Sprinkle of a certain kind of vinegar or another and you know also try introducing elements of heat from chilies if you can tolerate them. Okay, I suggest that you make your own combinations of you know sambal is one word that's used to refer to these chilly paste in general. They can be eaten alone. They can be you know, as just a chilly by itself or you can combine them to make a sauce or a condiment. There are recipes that you can look for on the Internet or In a cookbook, or you can experiment on your own where you see salt omit it and see how you like the results, but I think a lot of experimentation will be necessary on your part to to create a culinary environment that will be most enjoyable for you.
Eric Wynkoop

Eric Wynkoop

Director of Culinary Instruction

rouxbe.com