A woman who attended one of my cooking classes recently emailed an excellent question: her daughter kept kosher, and she wondered whether any Chinese pantry staples can be purchased kosher.

I was curious about this myself. So to start, I went through my own pantry for the OK and OU symbols. Then I dug a little deeper online. Not surprisingly, Soy Vay was one of the top brands that surfaced on Google (During my undergrad days at Brandeis, I cooked with their Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce religiously....pun completely accidental.)

Here's a list of pantry ingredients I commonly use for Chinese cooking and where to find them kosher.

Soy sauce - My big bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce carries the kosher parve symbol. And Kikkoman is pretty much available everywhere, in many different bottle sizes. They also have kosher low-sodium and gluten-free versions. Lee Kum Lee, a brand found in every Chinese market, also fits the bill.