Can You Cook Asian Cuisines with Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Choosing the right cooking oil can enhance the authentic flavours of your favourite dishes, and ensure the general wholesomeness of your home-cooked meals. While there are several types of cooking oils suitable for Asian culinary, one that is often overlooked is extra virgin olive oil. In fact, there seems to be a common misconception that extra virgin olive oil can’t handle the high-temperatures which Asian cooking often calls for, and these myths are actually not true. Just read on to find out why!

What is Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Common cooking oils such as canola oil, vegetable oil and rice bran oil are refined from their source ingredients. However, extra virgin olive oil is actually the juice of olive fruits, squeezed and bottled fresh without any additional processing or refinement. So, all the natural components and monounsaturated fats are retained in the oil. This also means that extra virgin olive oil contains a diverse range of natural plant compounds and antioxidants like no other cooking oil.

Can Extra Virgin Olive Oil take the heat?

Extra virgin olive oil may seem to heat up fast, but the truth is, it is also scientifically proven to be highly stable and resistant to breakdowns in high heat. According to research, extra virgin olive oil produces the lowest level of harmful compounds compared to other common cooking oils. This is thanks to the natural antioxidants that are abundant in extra virgin olive oil, which protect the oil’s molecules from degradation when heated.

So yes, extra virgin olive oil is absolutely suitable for high-temperature cooking. It’s also compatible with non-stick pans and the Asian wok.

Is Extra Virgin Olive Oil good for health?

To put it plainly, oil mingles with your food during cooking. Various molecular properties are exchanged, and the cooking oil imbues its unique features onto the food.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a wide range of well-researched health benefits, containing healthy fats, unique antioxidants and other healthy plant compounds – more so than other cooking oils. Extra Virgin Olive Oil also imparts its distinct nutty aroma to your food, and adds extra healthy nutrients to your meals.

Asian Cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Extra virgin olive oil has a mild nutty aroma. Superbly versatile to accentuate all kinds of authentic Asian flavours. From the myriad tastes of Chinese cuisine, the delicate umami-ness of Japanese cooking, the bracing zeal of Korean cuisine, to the plethora of bold, exotic flavours across Southeast Asia – extra virgin olive oil can be used to cook them all.

Extra virgin olive oil’s stability in high heat also makes it perfect for stir-fries, sautéing, deep-fries, baking, marinades and more.

Cook with the best Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Harvested from hand-planted olive groves in regional Victoria, cold-pressed within 4-6 hours to ensure absolute freshness, then vigorously tested for the perfect flavour before being bottled – Cobram Estate delivers premium quality extra virgin olive oil like no other. A proud Australian product that has won over 450 awards at prestigious international competitions.

So, switch to Cobram Estate extra virgin olive oil today, and whip up some amazing Asian dishes! Here’s a delish Thai Red Curry Pork recipe to get you started!