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OneToCook

19 Jun 2026

Stock these 8 sauces and you can cook almost any Asian dinner

Most quick Asian dinners come down to eight bottles. Get these onto one shelf and you can turn eggs, rice, noodles and whatever vegetable is in the drawer into dinner without a shopping trip. Here’s what each one does and where to point it.

The eight to keep

  1. Light soy sauce — your everyday salt-and-savour. Seasons stir-fries, fried rice, soups and dipping sauces. If you buy one bottle, buy this.
  2. Dark soy sauce — thicker, less salty, deeply coloured. A teaspoon gives noodles and braises that glossy brown look. It’s what makes Pad See Ew and char kway teow look the part.
  3. Oyster sauce — sweet, savoury, a little thick. The fastest way to make plain greens taste like a restaurant: see stir-fried bok choy in oyster sauce.
  4. Fish sauce — funky and salty; a few drops add the savoury depth (umami) behind most Thai and Vietnamese food. Don’t be put off by the smell — it mellows in the pan.
  5. Kecap manis (sweet soy) — thick Indonesian sweet soy. Sticky, molasses-dark, essential for nasi goreng and ayam kecap.
  6. Sesame oil — a finishing oil, not a cooking one. A teaspoon off the heat makes noodles, soups and dressings smell toasty and complete.
  7. Chilli paste or sambal — your heat-and-flavour shortcut. Fry it in oil first to wake it up, then build a sauce around it.
  8. Sugar — not a sauce, but the quiet balancer. A pinch rounds off salt and acid in almost every dish here.

How they work together

Almost every stir-fry sauce is a small mix of these: something salty (soy or fish sauce), something sweet (sugar or kecap manis), something savoury-thick (oyster sauce), and a finish (sesame oil). Learn that ratio once and you stop needing recipes for the sauce — you just taste and adjust.

A few combinations to memorise:

  • Everyday stir-fry: light soy + oyster sauce + a pinch of sugar.
  • Sweet-savoury braise: kecap manis + light soy + water, simmered down.
  • Spicy-sweet glaze: chilli paste + sugar + a splash of soy.

If a dish tastes flat, it usually needs salt (soy/fish sauce) or a little acid (lime). If it tastes harsh, a pinch of sugar or a knob of butter softens it. For more on that balance, see the cooking glossary.

Got the shelf stocked? Tell OneToCook what’s in your fridge and it’ll suggest dishes that use what you already have.