20 Pantry essentials for pressure cooking success
Winter is the season of comfort food, and comfort food is squarely the domain of the pressure cooker. The recent cold weather in Melbourne has led me to discover the joy of pressure cooking, facilitated by my blossoming love affair with the wonderful Tefal Cook4Me Multi Cooker. Kinky? No. Steamy? Yes.
My steamy relationship with cooking under pressure has led me to realise that there are some food item that are must-have pantry staples for the avid pressure cooker gourmet. Ursula has been pressure cooking since the 70s, so we put our heads together and created what we think is the definitive list of pantry essentials for modern pressure cooking success. If you own a pressure cooker, whether its an electric model like the Instant Pot or Cook4Me, or a classic stove-top cooker, don’t come home from the grocery store without these items:
Liquid Stock (vegetable, chicken, beef) - in Australia we like Campbells as it is good quality and affordable
Stock / bouillon powder, gel or cubes (vegetable, chicken, beef, mushroom, etc) - we like Massel cubes and Knorr gel concentrate. Jeffrey over at Pressureluck Cooking swears by Better than Bouillon, Aussies can order it from iHerb - my first order is on its way and I’ll review it here when it arrives).
Old Bay or “Season All” seasoned salt - a go to for so many dishes (I must have been from below the Mason-Dixon in the US in a previous life). Australians can order Old Bay spice mix from USA Foods.
A decent spice rack - It is well worth investing in a selection of decent quality single and mixed spices. You can start with the basics and build progressively. With most spices, a little goes a long way, and they tend to keep well. We recommend ensuring you have on hand Italian herbs, Cajun spices, Moroccan Spices, Indian Spices, Garam Masala, Chinese five-spice, paprika, star anise, onion powder, cracked pepper, Himalayan rock salt, garlic powder, chilli flakes, cayenne pepper, curry powder, cinnamon, cloves (both whole and ground), nutmeg (whole and ground)
Plain and Self Raising flour - White and Wholemeal (Wholewheat)
Cornstarch/Cornflour - used primarily to thicken sauces
Seasoning and colour helpers - Kitchen Bouquet (Aussies can order this from USA Foods), Maggi seasoning, Worcestershire sauce (we love the Japanese Bull Dog Brand Worcestershire), Hot Sauce (we love Huy Fong Sriracha), Soy Sauce, and one of Vegemite, Marmite or Promite
Minced Garlic (Costco is the place to go for this - we use this liberally, and you can’t beat Costco for their bulk packs)
Minced Ginger - used frequently in many asian dishes; our love of this Asian flavour means that it is a foundation in many of our “Aussie Fusion”recipes
Vinegar (Apple cider, white, and Asian rice vinegar)
Fish Sauce and Oyster Sauce - used in many asian cuisines
Soup mix, and/or split peas, barley, lentils, dried beans (we really love the Frontier range of soup mixes. Aussies can order these from USA foods)
Rice - a selection including long and short grain white rice, brown rice, and wild rices.
Onions - nature’s umami bombs when fried in oil or butter
Brown Sugar - adds flavour, richness and colour to many sauces
Honey - like brown sugar, a touch of this can round out various sauces and glazes. Go for a quality organic brand.
Maple Syrup - lends its lovely rich sweetness to a number of desserts and breakfasts. Don’t skimp out on a cheap imitation - but the real thing.
Tinned crushed tomatoes & Tomato Paste
Tip - we recommend buying organic spices and staples where possible. Many of these ingredients are subject to heavy pesticide use in non-organically produced variants. Since these products are foundation elements of your meal, you should build your food with as pure a base as possible. You are what you eat!
Do you have any pressure cooking must-haves that we have missed? Let us know in the comments!