5 Easy Asian Sauces from Pantry Staples

Five INCREDIBLE Asian sauces you can make entirely from things already in your cupboard, no specialist shops or expensive jars required. We are talking a Bang Bang-inspired satay sauce, a budget-friendly stir fry sauce, a Korean dipping sauce perfect for dumplings, a classic Vietnamese nuoc cham, and a homemade chilli crunch that is honestly better than anything you will buy in a jar. All five take minutes to make and between them they will completely transform how you cook at home. Let's get into it!

Why These Asian Sauces Work

Five Asian sauces, all from pantry staples, ready in under 35 minutes total. Four are just mix-and-taste, and only the chilli crunch needs any real cooking, which is mostly hands-off time while the oil does its thing. What makes this collection different is that every sauce is built to flex around whatever you have actually got in the cupboard, not a shopping list. The Bang Bang satay sauce is based on a dish I made hundreds of times at The Ivy in London, and the nuoc cham comes from the menu at Bamboo, The Ivy's sister restaurant where I cooked after that.

Recipe Details

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes (for the chilli crunch)
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Makes: 5 sauces
• Difficulty: Easy
• Special Equipment: Small saucepan, mixing bowls, jar for the chilli crunch

These are restaurant sauces stripped right back to pantry basics, no specialist trip required. The trick with all five is tasting and adjusting at the end rather than trusting the recipe blindly, since things like coconut milk, chilli sauce and fish sauce vary a lot between brands. When I tested the Bang Bang sauce, I found the balance shifts depending on the coconut milk you use, so always taste it before serving and be ready to add a touch more soy or chilli to bring it back into balance. The same goes for the other four: build the base, then taste your way to the right balance of salty, sweet and heat.

Ingredients

Sauce 1: Bang Bang Satay Sauce

• 150ml coconut milk or coconut cream (frozen is fine, just warm it up)
• 1 tbsp peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
• 1 tbsp lime juice (fresh or bottled)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 to 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sriracha, chilli sauce, or fresh diced chilli

Sauce 2: Stir Fry Sauce

• 1 tbsp ketchup (or hoisin sauce if you have it)
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• Good splash of soy sauce
• Lots of black pepper
• Dash of fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice (optional, especially if not using hoisin)
• 4 tbsp water to thin (more if using in a hot wok)
• 1 tsp white pepper (optional, adds warmth)

Sauce 3: Korean Dipping Sauce

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or regular vinegar)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru) or regular chilli flakes or fresh chilli
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• Spring onion ends, sliced

Sauce 4: Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese Dipping Sauce)

• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp white vinegar (or lime juice)
• 1 to 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/2 small red chilli, sliced (or 1/2 tsp chilli from a jar)
• 1 tbsp of water

Sauce 5: Homemade Chilli Crunch

• 150ml vegetable oil
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 25g ginger, sliced
• 1/4 red onion (or whatever you have), sliced
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns (if you have them, if not some crushed black peppercorns are also great)
• 1.5 tbsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds or chopped peanuts
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 to 2 tsp soy sauce, to taste

How to Make These Asian Sauces

Sauce 1: Bang Bang Satay Sauce

1. Warm the coconut milk: If using frozen coconut cream, put it in a small pan over low heat and warm until melted and loose.
2. Add everything in: Add the peanut butter, sesame oil, lime juice, soy sauce and chilli. Stir or whisk together until smooth and glossy.
3. Taste and adjust: Add more lime for brightness, more chilli for heat, or a tiny splash of hot water if it is too thick. It should be silky and pourable.

Sauce 2: Stir Fry Sauce

1. Mix it together: Combine the ketchup or hoisin, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, black pepper and Chinese five spice in a bowl. Stir well.
2. Thin it out: Add 4 tablespoons of water and mix again. If you are cooking over a very high heat, you may want to add a little more water so it does not catch in the pan.
3. Taste and adjust: Add more black pepper for heat, more ketchup for sweetness, or white pepper for extra warmth.

Sauce 3: Korean Dipping Sauce

1. Combine everything: Add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, chilli flakes and sesame seeds to a bowl and stir together.
2. Add the spring onion: Scatter the sliced spring onion ends over the top.
3. Taste and adjust: It should be salty, slightly sweet and spicy. Add more chilli if you want more heat.

Sauce 4: Nuoc Cham

1. Warm the sugar: Add the sugar, vinegar and water to a small pan over a low heat and warm it up. This helps the sugar to dissolve.
2. Add the garlic and chilli: Stir in the sliced garlic and chilli and let them infuse for a minute or two.
3. Add the fish sauce, and lime: Pour in the fish sauce and lime juice. Stir everything together.
4. Taste and balance: It should be salty, sweet, spicy and acidic in roughly equal measure. Neither element should outweigh the others. Add more fish sauce for salt, more lime for acid, more sugar if needed.

Sauce 5: Homemade Chilli Crunch

1. Prepare your bowl: Add the sesame seeds, Chinese five spice, sugar and salt to a heatproof bowl. Set aside.
2. Fry the aromatics: Heat the vegetable oil in a pan over a medium-low heat. Add the sliced garlic and cook gently until it starts to turn golden. When it is starting to crisp a little, add the ginger and onion and continue cooking until everything is golden.
3. Add the whole spices: Add in the cinnamon stick, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns and fry for another minute or so until fragrant.
4. Pour over the bowl: Once everything is golden and the oil is hot, carefully pour the whole lot over the ingredients in the bowl. It will sizzle immediately. Stir everything together.
5. Season: Add soy sauce to taste and stir again. Leave to cool slightly, then taste and adjust the seasoning.
6. Jar it up: Once cool, transfer to a clean jar. Label it and pop it in the fridge. It will only get better with time.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• All from your pantry: No special trips to the shops. Soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, vinegar, peanut butter and a few spices cover you for all five.
• Totally adaptable: Every sauce has swaps built in. No Korean chilli flakes? Use regular. No peanut butter? Tahini works beautifully. No lime? Lemon or vinegar will do the job.
• Ready in minutes: Four of the five sauces are just a matter of mixing everything together. The chilli crunch takes a little longer but is mostly passive time.
• Keeps in the fridge: Make a batch, jar them up, and you have got sauces ready to go all week.

Chef's Tips for These Asian Sauces

The Bang Bang sauce loves heat: Warming this sauce up slightly, especially if you are using frozen coconut cream, makes it silkier and easier to pour. When I tested this with a few different brands of coconut milk, I found the balance changes depending on how rich or watery the coconut is, so always taste it before serving and be ready to add a touch more soy or chilli to bring it back into line.

Thin your stir fry sauce for a hot wok: This sauce is quite thick. If you are cooking over a high heat, add extra water so it does not burn in the pan before the flavour has time to coat your ingredients.

Taste as you go with nuoc cham: The key to this sauce is balance. Salty, sweet, spicy and acidic should all be present in roughly equal amounts. Neither should dominate. Keep tasting and adjusting until it feels right.

Fish sauce smells stronger than it tastes: If you have never used fish sauce before and the smell puts you off, trust me on this one. In a sauce like nuoc cham it adds incredible saltiness and depth without any fishiness at all. Give it a go.

The chilli crunch improves with age: Do not worry if it is not quite right on the day you make it. The flavours deepen over time and it will taste even better a few days later. Keep it in the fridge and it will last for months.

Go gently on the garlic: You want crispy golden garlic in your chilli crunch, not burnt garlic. Keep the heat medium-low and watch it closely. The moment it starts to turn golden is when to add the ginger and onion.

Substitutions & Variations

• No peanut butter? Tahini works brilliantly in the Bang Bang sauce and gives it a slightly different, equally delicious flavour.
• No coconut milk? Swap it for an extra tablespoon of peanut butter loosened with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. The texture is a little different but still delicious.
• No Korean chilli flakes? Regular chilli flakes, fresh chilli, or chilli from a jar all work in the Korean dipping sauce. The colour will be slightly different but the flavour is just as good.
• No hoisin? Use ketchup in the stir fry sauce instead, or vice versa. Both add sweetness and body. If using ketchup, add a little Chinese five spice to get some of those deeper flavours.
• No rice wine vinegar? Regular white vinegar works in both the Korean dipping sauce and the nuoc cham. The flavour is slightly sharper but still delicious.
• No fish sauce? For a vegetarian nuoc cham, use soy sauce instead of fish sauce. It will change the character slightly but will still be full of flavour.
• Want more heat in the chilli crunch? Add cayenne or smoked paprika to the dry ingredients in the bowl before pouring over the hot oil. This also gives it a deeper red colour.

Storage

Best eaten fresh: The Bang Bang satay sauce and the Korean dipping sauce are at their best freshly made, but both will keep happily in the fridge.

Fridge: All five sauces keep well in the fridge in sealed jars or containers. The Bang Bang sauce and stir fry sauce will keep for up to a week. The Korean dipping sauce and nuoc cham will keep for one to two weeks. The chilli crunch will keep for months and only improves with time.

Freezer: The Bang Bang satay sauce can be frozen in portions and defrosted in the fridge overnight. The others are not recommended for freezing as the texture and fresh elements like garlic and chilli do not hold up well.

Avoid: Do not store the chilli crunch at room temperature once it has been made. Keep it in the fridge, especially if your kitchen is warm. And make sure whatever jar you use is clean and dry before filling it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make all five sauces ahead of time? Yes, absolutely. All five can be made in advance and stored in the fridge. The flavours on most of them actually improve as they sit, especially the chilli crunch and the nuoc cham.

Can I double the recipes? Yes, all of them scale up easily. If you are making a big batch of chilli crunch, just make sure your heatproof bowl is large enough to handle the extra volume when you pour the hot oil in.

What can I use the Bang Bang satay sauce for? It is brilliant drizzled over grilled chicken, stirred through noodles, used as a dipping sauce, or poured over a simple rice bowl. It works just as well as a dan dan noodle sauce.

What if my stir fry sauce burns in the pan? It is quite a thick sauce so it needs to be thinned out before it hits a hot wok or pan. Add four tablespoons of water to the sauce before cooking, and if your heat is very high, add a little more. This gives the water time to evaporate without the sauce catching.

I have never used fish sauce before. Do I have to? Fish sauce is the only slightly specialist ingredient in this collection, and I promise it is worth having in your pantry. It does not make your food taste fishy at all. It just adds incredible depth and saltiness. If you really do not want to use it, soy sauce is a reasonable substitute in both the nuoc cham and the stir fry sauce.

Can I adjust the spice level in the chilli crunch? Yes, completely. Use less chilli flakes for a milder version, or add more for extra heat. You can also add cayenne for a sharper, more intense heat, or smoked paprika if you want more colour and a slightly smoky flavour.

How do I know when the garlic is ready in the chilli crunch? You are looking for a light golden colour. It should look cooked and starting to crisp but not dark brown. The moment it turns golden, add the ginger and onion. If it goes too dark it will taste bitter.

What if I don't have a heatproof bowl for the chilli crunch? A sturdy ceramic or glass bowl works perfectly well. Just avoid plastic. Have everything measured and in the bowl before you start frying so you are not scrambling when the oil is hot and ready to pour.

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Homemade Pork Dumplings - These are part of a budget meal plan, all homemade and delicious!

These five Asian pantry sauces are the kind of thing that once you make them, you will keep going back to again and again. The Bang Bang satay is creamy and punchy, the nuoc cham is bright and fresh, the chilli crunch is deeply savoury and addictive, and the Korean dipping sauce with dumplings is honestly one of the best things going. Make them all, jar them up, label them, and your weeknight dinners will never be the same.

Enjoy!

Del x

Five easy Asian sauces, all from your pantry staples, all ready to completely transform your weeknight cooking.