Cooking with Color

If you've had any chance to study graphic design or paintings or art, you've probably come across color theory. The basic premise is that different color schemes bring about different emotions and balance the artwork in different ways. For example, one might use analogous colors like warm reds in a piece of art to evoke feelings of passion and fervor, or complementary colors to create drama and tension, or triadic colors to conjure boldness and confidence.

I find that this is generally applicable to cooking as well. Not in the sense of plating my food to evoke emotions (this is directly applicable to color theory), but in the sense that ingredients often work together because the colors of the ingredients work together (in a color theoretic way). By no means is this scientifically rigorous, and it sounds ridiculous, but this has been a helpful rule of thumb when trying to combine ingredients at home.

Don't take this principle too far, it doesn't work at the extremes. After all, very few ingredients have cool hues like blue or purple. But, as your feelings for this principle develop and mature, you'll be more prepared to think of different ingredient combinations, the cases where this principle works, and the cases where this principle falls apart. For now, I'll illustrate two styles of cooking with color:

1. Cook with analogous colors
2. Cook with contrasting colors

I've also listed a smattering of ingredients and their associated colors at the bottom for you to get a better sense of how to associate ingredients and their colors.

Cook with analogous colors

Hong shao rou (红烧肉)

It's already in the name (red-braised pork), but clearly it uses a lot of warm colored ingredients: pork (obviously), soy sauce, dark soy sauce, star anise, peppercorns, ginger, caramelized sugar, vinegar. That's generally just the base of the braise. If I wanted to add other things, I wouldn't mind adding things like tofu skin or mushrooms (also warm colors) to complement the existing flavors.

Most veggie stir frys

Since veggies are green, a lot of veggie stir frys focus on presenting that bright green color. Of course you can deviate by adding soy sauce or oyster sauce, but this just becomes an example of cooking with contrasting colors.

Mango habanero

Mangos and habaneros both give warm orange tones, and now it's one of the most popular hot sauce combinations. It's not uncommon to find chili with other fruits either, the Thai like dipping fruit into a chili salt mixture.

Soups

Pork and lotus soup includes pork (red) and lotus root (also red). And it works beautifully.

Oxtail soup includes oxtail (red), tomato (red), ketchup (red), onion (yellow), potato (yellow or brown). Another example of warm colors that work together.

Fish head soup often includes fish (white), and tofu (white). I haven't attempted making this, but I've had it before, so just trust me that it's good.

As you'll see later, soups can also be made with contrasting colors.

Cook with contrasting colors

Cantonese steamed fish

Cantonese steamed fish most commonly includes: fish (white), soy sauce (brown), scallions (green), and ginger (yellow). Optionally you can add pickled chilis (red). The outcome is a beautiful amalgamation of colors and flavors.

Hui guo rou (回锅肉)

Most often, hui guo rou has pork (red), spicy broad bean paste (red or brown), soy sauce (brown), leek (green), green peppers (green), fermented black beans (black). It's spicy, savory, and addicting.

Soups

Just as soups can be created analogous colors, soups with contrasting colors often work well too.

Chinese wintermelon soup is made with pork (red), wintermelon (green or white), and kelp (green). The contrast works together to be a soothing, calming dish to end a meal.

Colors of ingredients

Here's a variety of foods and their colors that I listed off the top of my head. It's not exhaustive at all, but there's generally a bias towards the warmer side of the color spectrum.

Color	Ingredients
Browns	star anise (and a whole host of other spices) soy sauce (and dark soy sauce) oyster sauce Chinese aged vinegar chestnut (also yellow) most nuts mushroom (could also be white or black depending on variety) potato
Reds	red meat (beef, lamb, pork, duck) chili flakes pickled chilis tomato lotus root onion (also orange or yellow)
Oranges	dried shrimp carrots Chinese pumpkin onion (also red or yellow)
Yellows	ginger tofu skin bean sprouts chestnut (also brown) onion (also red or orange)
Greens	scallions leeks most leafy veggies
Whites	fish chicken mushroom (could also be brown or black depending on variety) sesame (also black)
Blacks	mushroom (could also be brown or white depending on variety) fermented black bean sesame (also white)

You can also ask yourself, what feeling does each ingredient give me? Does it make me feel warm? Does it fill me with fervor? Does it calm me down? Can I compile similar feelings together to create another dish? Always be developing your feelings when cooking!

Do I have some form of synesthesia?

No. At least I don't think so.