Beansprouts, nonya paste and kefir – whose fridge is this?

Curry leaves
I used to freeze fresh curry leaves, but then [the chef] Romy Gill said you lose all the aroma when you do this. So now I fry them and you get curry leaf oil, which keeps them fresh. You can then crumble them into things like dal.

Tofu
I’m addicted to tofu – I have firm, medium, soft, and puffy. But this is my breakfast tofu in ginger syrup; it’s like junket but made with soya beans. Someone taught me how to make this, but the secret ingredient was plaster of paris, so I get it from the Asian grocers. I’m not a big breakfast person, but I could easily eat a whole tub of this.

Chilli
This is my chilli box, which is on wheels – I’m short and need to get to the back of the fridge! I love Poon’s Everything Everywhere sauce: it’s all I need with poached prawns or chicken, or I might do a splodge on ramen with veggies and tofu. My ethos is: “always have two so you always have one,” although I do forget which one is open.

Lamb, mince, Chinese sausage.
My meat drawer has marinated lamb for the week, mince for mapo tofu, Chinese sausage, but also white anchovies and dried scallops. I also collect parmesan rinds [in a bag] in here, which I always think I’m going to make something with, but they sometimes just sit here.

Kiwi
I’m a two-kiwi-a-day person: one in the morning and one in the evening. It’s something sharp, sweet and puckery to freshen me up.

Black sesame paste
I have this from testing various recipes, but if I’m craving something chilled and sweet, then I make tang yuan [glutinous rice balls] filled with this paste.

Shawarma marinade
I used to make shawarma marinade from scratch, but it was such a pain. We do Friday night dinner instead of Sunday lunch, and last week I smothered a leg of lamb with this marinade from Ottolenghi.

Garlic shoots
When I’ve been away, I just want a load of greens, and quickly. I’m addicted to garlic shoots, which I blanch quickly and stir-fry with Chinese sausage, then I add rice and an egg and I’m so happy.

Kefir
I don’t drink kefir – I just couldn’t – but I use it like buttermilk, which is so good in cakes, but not easy to find here – plus, buttermilk is not always consistent. Kefir is so much better.

Salmon
My son is protein maxxing, so I’ve always got salmon. I squeeze in mayonnaise to oil and protect it, then I toss the fish in soy sauce, shoaxing wine, lemon juice or rice wine vinegar, sometimes wasabi paste, and grill for two minutes per side. That goes into poke bowls, to which I can also add some edamame.

Homemade elderflower cordial
I’ve been experimenting with how little sugar I can put in this. It has come out quite sharp, but it’s very refreshing.

Vanilla essence
Every time I use a vanilla bean, I pop it in here: my seven-year-old vanilla essence. Homemade vanilla essence, cheap vanilla essence, and a good vanilla paste are all different products to me. Sometimes I want that cheap, childish flavour, but this is somewhere in between.

Tamarind
I have both Thai and Indian tamarind. I love using tamarind in baking, if I’m caramelising something, otherwise I’ll add a squeeze to dal (instead of lemon) and curries.

Beansprouts
A friend from Malaysia sent me her World of Nyonya all-purpose spice paste, which if you add coconut milk turns into laksa. I then add beansprouts, fresh egg noodles, and my puffy tofu.