B and I both like to cook so we have never been unwilling to spend time in the kitchen. I didn't realize we were so set in our ways. And I really didn't realize how often we cooked/ate Mexican food.

There are no Mexican ingredients to be found over here. No jalapenos, no corn tortillas (or masa so I could make them from scratch), no tomatillos, no Cholula, no sour cream, no Mexican cheeses/queso... Even the selection of tortilla chips is underwhelming (and expensive). My two groceries do sparingly stock canned enchilada sauce or hard taco shells and we can easily find packets of taco seasoning but these ready made foods aren't what I want.

So instead of variations of Mexican two or three times a week like we used to do (enchiladas, fish tacos, or Mexican chicken soup) we have shifted into Asian dishes two or three times a week instead. We may not be able to find Mexican food but of course we can easily find all kinds of Asian ingredients.

I mentioned a while ago that we had not been eating salads because greens are super expensive and we were just getting to know our temperamental refrigerator. Not to mention the measly selection of salad dressings available. We were really starting to miss a daily salad! I was completely addicted to Paul Newman's Sesame Ginger dressing in the USA and am still searching for the recipe for homemade Asian style vinaigrette that will be "the one". But for creamy dressings, Greek yogurt has come to the rescue! I have been using that stuff in so many recipes with great success.

You can find Hidden Valley Ranch here but it's way expensive. And store bought ranch always grosses me out with all the oil and unpronouncables (is that a word?) in the ingredients list. I used to eat lots of ranch dressing until we really started making the move into whole foods and then it was just something I chose to not buy any more. So now I am excited to have (homemade!) ranch back in the fridge.

Kitchen tools/ingredients I never used too much in the USA but could not live without here:
my wok!
and therefore canola and peanut oils (olive oil doesn't fare too well in a super hot wok)
food processor attachment on my immersion blender
meat tenderizer hammer
cornstarch
Fage Greek yogurt
lemons, limes and oranges (turns out when you are making salad dressing and Asian sauces from scratch, some kind of citrus is always in there.)

I'd love to share some simple recipes for sauces that we've tweaked into our personal perfection. All of this stuff is really easy to make and will keep in the fridge for at least a few days. I've found that I mostly had all these ingredients on hand in The States--it's nothing too scary.

---------------------------------------------------
Stir Fry Sauce (compiled from many recipes and further tweaked so I guess it's ours)

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 birds eye chili, leave it whole (minus stem) or chop it up for lots of spicy heat
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl dark brown sugar
1/8 tsp sriracha
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch (dissolved in 1-2 Tbl water)
1 T rice wine vinegar

In a small sauce pan heat the sesame oil and briefly saute the ginger and chili until fragrant. Add the rest of ingredients except cornstarch and rice wine vinegar. Let it come to a boil and then bring it back down to a simmer. Then add cornstarch and vinegar and let it simmer until thick. This will make enough for a meal with 2 huge portions or 4 small portions.

Add this to fried rice, noodle stir fry, whatever.

-----------------------------------------------------
Peanut Sauce (again this is compiled from many different recipes)

In a food processor or blender place the following:
1/2 Tbl chili oil
1 1/2 Tbl sesame oil
scant 1 Tbl fish sauce
2 Tbl soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbl rice wine vinegar
juice from two limes, maybe 3 Tbl (have more reserved to add after tasting)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 inch cube ginger, grated
1 birds eye chili, coarsely chopped

Blend that up until it's smooth and adjust lime. Serve warm or chilled in noodle salad or as satay sauce. Garnish with TONS of thai basil--that is what makes it work so don't leave that out! (Italian basil would be better than no basil at all.) And top with fresh chopped peanuts too.
-----------------------------------------------------

Give me some feedback here if you want to see more recipes. I will probably keep them coming whether they are related to what I am writing about or not. I feel like we are coming up with all sorts of stuff that's worthy of being shared. If you try anything let me know what you think!