Food
Roy's Pantry Staples
Lesson time 12:45 min
Roy walks you through the items he likes to keep on hand at all times: a blend of Korean, Latin, and Asian ingredients. In Roy’s mind, it’s the ultimate American pantry.
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Topics include: Roy's Pantry Staples
Preview
ANNOUNCER: Warning, this class contains some bad --ing language. ROY CHOI: It took me a long time, a lot of life lessons, a lot of journeys in my life to figure out who it was within my pantry that would represent me. And so if you cut me open or hit me like a pinata and everything fell out, this is probably what will fall out. [MUSIC PLAYING] I grew up with soy sauce, doenjang, tofu, pozole, noodle, tacos, fruit cocktails, and spam and egg. These are your friends. These are your allies, your role players, your spot-up shooters in the corner that you kick the ball to, and they hit that 3. If you've got these things right here, all you got to do is put some dried oregano in there, a little chili flake, a little splash of vinegar, a splash of hot sauce, maybe a little sambal. Shit Even cooking my shoes would still taste good. Really figure out who your friends are in this world. And that means a lot more than just cooking. No fake friends in this motherfucker, OK? [MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to my pantry staples. It took me a long time to figure out what it was that was my pantry. Because when you grow up, sometimes when you hear that word "pantry" or your ingredients, you think that there's supposed to be a standard pantry that we're all supposed to be pulling from. My generation-- we have feet in different worlds. You have to go to school and be as American as apple pie. But then you go home, and things are very private. And it's hard to bring friends to your house, because opening the refrigerator to your homies-- that was like the worst thing ever, man. Because the Asian household-- you go, no, no, don't go to the fridge. I'll get the drinks for you. Because when they open the fridge, there's dead fish in there. There's bubbling fermented cauldrons of stuff. Then as you grow through it, you realize that we're all different. And one standard of cooking in one pantry or one cupboard doesn't determine your cupboard. And just remember that yours doesn't have to look like this. So I'm going to show you what's in my pantry. It's got some Asian ingredients, some Latino ingredients, some American ingredients. And really, it's just representative of the food I grew up with in Los Angeles. For me, we can start with the fresh. Ginger, garlic, scallion. These are what's called aromatic vegetables. This is the basis to any Asian-type cooking. You start your stir fries, your marinades, your sauces, your vinaigrettes. As soon as these things hit a hot pan, you're going to smell it. And once it becomes fragrant, then you can start to add all this other stuff. And you start to build layers and layers and layers and layers of flavor. As you move from your aromatics and your vegetables here, I think all you really, really need is salt and pepper. It's always good to have two different types of salt. Have a coarse finishing salt, which is usually called a sea salt, and then have a kosher salt,...
About the Instructor
Roy Choi wasn’t trying to start a revolution when he took tacos, kimchi, and more to the Los Angeles streets with the Kogi BBQ taco truck. He just wanted to make what he loved and knew by heart: immigrant-influenced all-American food. Now he’s teaching you his recipes, sauces, and techniques. Learn how to cook with your instincts using equipment you already have—and start adding your own twist to tried-and-true favorites.
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Roy Choi
Food truck “godfather” Roy Choi teaches you his signature recipes and mother sauces—then empowers you to make them your own.
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