Meal Prep Series: Essential Aromatic Pastes

Master mealtime with Essential Aromatic Pastes! Simplify weekdays with versatile pastes, making meal prep a game-changer.

In this post, we’re diving into the heart of your kitchen—essential aromatic pastes that promise to be your weeknight heroes! A lot of my recipes start with onions, garlic and ginger. The one pain point I have with cooking is preparing aromatics. So I started doing myself a huge favour by cutting out some time every couple of weeks to batch make these aromatic pastes!

There are four pastes that I will share in this post, and they are all considered to be essential pastes for Singaporean Malay, Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine. With Ramadan just around the corner, I have been kicking meal prepping on overdrive – a great time to also share my must-have aromatic pastes that basically live in my fridge.

Onion, garlic and ginger pastes are must-haves, but I have to include dried chilli paste in this repertoire too! These pastes are not JUST for the Malay kitchen; these ultra-versatile pastes are going to be useful in your kitchen no matter what your cuisine of choice is! Best of all, all of these take just 15 minutes to prepare, and will save you a lot of time and give you extra motivation to cook on busy days.

Why Meal Prep Aromatic Bases?

• Time-Saver: Say goodbye to tedious chopping! Having these pastes ready means you’re just a scoop away from cooking delicious dishes.
• Versatility: These pastes work wonders for various purposes, and in various cuisines!
• Consistent Flavours: Achieve consistent and balanced flavors in every dish. No more worrying about uneven distribution of aromatics.

Meet the Aromatic Quartet

The four pastes I batch make are onion paste, ginger paste, garlic paste, and dried chilli paste!

If you’re making them at one go like me, a quick tip is to start with the onion, ginger or garlic pastes first, and blending the dried chilli paste last. With the onion, ginger and garlic pastes, you can give the blender a quick rinse in between each blend – a little hint of garlic in onion paste is not going to hurt it!

Onion Paste

• 1 cup onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup water

1. Peel onion and chop to rough pieces for easier blending.
2. Add to a blender with water. Blend to a smooth paste.

Measurement equivalent:

1 tbsp onion paste = 1 tbsp minced onions

Garlic Paste

• 1 cup garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup water

1. Peel garlic, there is no need to chop them.
2. Add to a blender with water. Blend to a smooth paste.

Measurement equivalent:

1 teaspoon of garlic paste = 1 clove minced garlic

Ginger Paste

• 1 cup ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup water

1. Peel ginger and roughly chop for easier blending.
2. Add to the blender with water, and blend to a smooth paste.

Measurement equivalent:

1 tablespoon of ginger paste = 1/2-inch ginger

BONUS: Dried Chilli Paste

If you’ve been lurking around here a while, you would know that dried chilli paste (cili giling/cili kisar/lada kisar/cili boh) is an essential ingredient in a Malay household! This is a fiery chilli paste that adds so much richness and creaminess to a dish, with a deep, almost roasty flavour to the dish that is quite inimitable by fresh chillies. The way to prep these are different with the rest.

• 2 cups dried chilies (spur, byadgi, kashmiri, guajillo, fresno, serrano, or any dried chillies of medium heat)
• 1/2 cup water

1. Cut dried chillies for easier blending. Shake off any seeds to minimise bitterness.
2. Pour hot boiling water over the dried chillies. Let it soak for 10 minutes or until rehydrated and soft. Usually I let it soak while I prepare the onion, ginger and garlic paste.
3. Drain the chillies and give a quick rinse. Add to the blender, and water. Blend to a smooth paste.

Dried chilli paste will require to be cooked down to a sambal before consumption, also known as ‘pecah minyak’ in Malay. This enriches the flavour, while removing the raw flavour and prevent any potential tummy aches. For more information on how to do this, see these posts:

• How to Make Basic Dried Chili Paste
• How to Cook Dried Chilli Paste | “Pecah Minyak” or ‘Oil Splitting’
• Basic, Versatile Sambal
• The BEST Sambal for Nasi Lemak! (a TOP hit on my blog!)

FYI, I also like to make an additional dried chilli paste, blended with onion, garlic and ginger! This paste is perfect for my Malay dishes!

Recipes with Dried Chilli Paste

• The BEST Beef Rendang Recipe | Indonesian slow cooked beef curry stew
• Authentic Ayam Masak Merah Recipe | Malay Tomato Chicken Stew
• Easy Sambal Goreng (with an Air Fryer!)
• Singapore Chilli Crab
• Laksa
• Mee Siam

What are these Aromatic Pastes Used For

These aromatic pastes are SO VERSATILE. These can be used for:

• Curries
• Stir Fries
• Soups
• Marinades
• Sauces
• Salad Dressings

Using Water vs Oil

Some recipes prep with a neutral-tasting oil. I have always preferred using water to create the pastes for the following reasons:

• Easier Blending: Water will smoothly blend the aromatics a lot easier than oil, thus making it easier on your blender or food processor. It cleans easier too! Water-blended pastes are also a lot more versatile than heavier oil-blended pastes.
• Neutral Taste: Using water keeps the taste of the pastes neutral – and yes, even when you use neutral-tasting oils – allowing the natural flavours of the ingredients to shine through.
• Low Rancidity Risk: Water reduces the chances of the pastes turning rancid, ensuring a longer shelf life.

If there is a con, it would be that water-blended pastes may not last as long as oil-blended pastes. I don’t have any issues with this, since I don’t mind making a new (easy) batch every couple of weeks. Oil-blended pastes also run the risk of turning rancid if not stored properly. The flavour of the aromatics might also change from the oil.

Some pros to using oil to blend is that oil acts as a preservative, extending its shelf life. You also have a richer and creamier texture with oil, and there is usually no need to add more oil when you’re making the dish. The oil is also flavoured, which might result in a more aromatic dish.

Using just water is also the way my Mom makes her pastes – and I see tubs and jars of it lasting very, very long in the fridge! The fresh pastes that I purchase from the market are also always blended with water.

Do not add more water than you need! The lesser liquid is in the pastes, the better. If the blender is not blending smoothly, add water bit by bit until a smooth paste forms.

Key Equipment to Make Aromatic Pastes

To make your meal prep a breeze, all you need is:

• Blender or food processor: For smooth and consistent pastes. A strong blender will process the aromatics without much liquid, but my cheap Philips blender have lasted on me for a long time! I have a separate blender jar specifically for blending aromatics, I highly recommend you have one too – the smell can linger and I don’t think you’d like a spicy smoothie.
• Glass Jars: Or any airtight containers will work. I like using glass jars such as this mason jar set, or this basic glass jar, for best preserved pastes.
• Labels (optional): Optional, but I’m a huge label nerd! Label your jars so you know what paste is in each jar (I still can’t immediately recognise ginger and garlic pastes). You can also include dates on the labels so you know when to discard. I love this Niimbot label maker – it’s affordable and so easy to use!

How Quickly Can You Prep?

With the right equipment on hand, you can whip up these aromatic pastes in under 15 minutes. Yes, you read that right—15 minutes to transform your cooking game!

How to Store Essential Aromatic Pastes

Storing these aromatic pastes is a breeze. Pop them into airtight containers and keep them in the fridge for easy access. The secret ingredient? Water! Unlike oil, using water for blending keeps the taste neutral and reduces the chances of them turning rancid.

Shelf Life:

These pastes can last up to two weeks in the fridge – they should be used up anyway at this point! That’s two weeks of hassle-free, flavour-packed meals at your fingertips.

I’ll be honest though, I’ve kept these in the fridge for way longer than 2 weeks!

Of course, if they smell off or rancid, or develop white mold, discard immediately.

More Resources

Explore more about meal planning and prep by checking out these additional posts:

• How to Meal Plan Like a PRO!
• 5 Asian Chicken Marinades (freezer-friendly!)
• 5 Asian Salmon Marinades (freezer-friendly!)

Meal Prep Series: Essential Aromatic Pastes

Recipe by Sha

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Asian, Easy Weeknight, How-Tos, Malay Cuisine, Recipes, Sauces u0026amp; Condiments

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

0

minutes

Ingredients

• Onion Paste

• 1 cup onion, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1/4 (60ml) cup water*

• Garlic Paste

• 1 cup garlic, peeled

• 1/4 cup (60ml) water*

• Ginger Paste

• 1 cup ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1/4 cup (60ml) water*

• Dried Chilli Paste

• 2 cups dried chillies

• 1/2 (120ml) cup water*

Directions

• Onion Paste
• Peel onion and chop to rough pieces for easier blending.
• Add to a blender with water. Blend to a smooth paste.
• Pour onion paste to a clean jar. Give blender a quick rinse before moving on to the next paste.
• Garlic Paste
• Peel garlic cloves, there is no need to chop them.
• Add to a blender with water. Blend to a smooth paste.
• Pour garlic paste to a clean jar. Give blender a quick rinse before moving on to the next paste.
• Ginger Paste
• Peel ginger and chop to rough pieces for easier blending.
• Add to a blender with water. Blend to a smooth paste.
• Pour ginger paste to a clean jar. Give blender a quick rinse before moving on to the next paste.
• Dried Chilli Paste
• Cut dried chillies for easier blending (you can use scissors for this). Shake off any seeds to minimise bitterness.
• Pour hot boiling water over the dried chillies. Let it soak for 10 minutes or until rehydrated and soft.
• Drain the chillies and give a quick rinse. Add to the blender, and water. Blend to a smooth paste.
• Pour dried chilli paste to a clean jar.
• Optional: Label each jars with names and dates of when they were made.

Notes

• *If the paste is not blending smoothly, add water bit by bit, until a smooth paste forms. Do not add more water than is necessary, this will make cooking it off longer and result in inconsistent measurements! The less water used, the better.

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