The Ingredient Matrix
Hsiao-Ching Chou
Author's Note: For the month of November, I am participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) and pledge to post once a day. I'm taking this opportunity to articulate some thoughts about my Chinese Soul Food cookbook, which I'm planning to self publish.
Not everyone is able to open the refrigerator and throw together a dish based on instinct. But it doesn't mean you can't develop that skill. One of the features I want to create for my cookbook is an ingredient matrix. The idea is to help cooks view at a glance some of the potential combinations of sauces, proteins and vegetables. This goes beyond sharing a few ingredient variations at the end of a recipe. Cooks can use the matrix as a way to practice combining ingredients, with the goal of internalizing techniques and, eventually, being able to improvise on demand. It also will be a way to understand those ingredient combinations in a broader context.
Shrimp and snow peas, pictured above, easily could be beef, chicken, fish, pork or lamb. Even if the sauce components remained constant, each of those proteins would impart its own flavor to the dish. It wouldn't be hard to change the flavor profile by adding one or two spices: perhaps with the beef or lamb, you add extra black pepper or Sichuan pepper; or you crank up the ginger with fish.
Baby Bok Choy with Chicken
Similarly, this baby bok choy with chicken stir fry is so streamlined in terms of ingredients, but it has plenty of flavor from the wok searing. It, too, can be a protein chameleon and one of those go-to methods that makes putting dinner on the table a cinch. The meatless yu choy with garlic and shallots could also be made with napa cabbage, bok choy, gai lan, Chinese mustard greens – or any number of vegetables.
Regarding yesterday's post about data visualization as it relates to my cookbook, this ingredient matrix is a prime candidate for effective design.