The Shun Lee Cookbook - Michael Tong [6]
GROUND BEAN SAUCE. An ancient ingredient, this thick soybean sauce comes in cans or jars. Black bean sauce is another product altogether. Koon Chun makes a good version.
HOISIN SAUCE. This bean sauce is very sweet, with a slightly spicy, garlicky flavor. It packs a lot of flavor and should be used sparingly. Koon Chun is my preferred brand.
HOT BEAN SAUCE. Sometimes called ground bean hot sauce, this is bean sauce flavored with chili peppers. Har Har is a very good brand.
HOT CHILI BEAN SAUCE WITH GARLIC. It is just what it says—bean sauce with plenty of extra spice from chilis and garlic. I recommend Hai Pao Wang.
HOT CHILI (PEPPER) OIL. This fiery red soybean oil is flavored with chili peppers. It is used as a flavoring, not as a cooking oil.
HOT CHILI PASTE. This incendiary paste is made from ground salted, fermented chilies and is sometimes enhanced with garlic and soybeans. It is different from hot chili bean sauce with garlic.
OYSTER SAUCE. This medium-thick brown sauce is made from oysters, water, salt, cornstarch, and caramel. Lee Kum Kee brand has a well-rounded flavor.
RICE WINE. This amber-colored spirit is used in many dishes, so it is worth the effort to search out a good brand from the city of Shaoxing at a liquor store in your nearest Chinese community. Pass up the Chinese rice wine labeled “for cooking” at an Asian grocery, because it is an inferior wine that has been seasoned with salt and/or sugar. Rice wine has a flavor similar to dry sherry, which is a fine substitute; sake, the Japanese rice liquor, is not. Store the wine in a cool dark place at room temperature for up to 3 months. I like the Yuan Hong brand, labeled “Shao Hsing” (the generic Chinese phrase for “rice wine”).
SESAME OIL, ASIAN DARK. The beautifully scented amber-colored oil is extracted from toasted sesame seeds. Don’t use clear, domestic sesame oil, which is expelled from untoasted seeds and lacks character. The dark sesame oil will burn and lose its fragrance over high heat, so use it as a seasoning oil, and add it to food just before serving. Kadoya and Maruhon are especially good brands.
SOY SAUCE. Go to the soy sauce section of a Chinese market and you will find bottle after bottle of this essential sauce, each variety differing in flavor, intensity, and body. The most common are dark, light, double black, reduced-sodium, and mushroom. The darker the soy sauce, the longer it has been aged, and the more likely it is to be mixed with bead molasses for heavier body and a hint of sweetness. I use regular dark soy sauce for most of the recipes in this book. Beware of bargains, as inexpensive imported brands are often oversalted. Once you find a brand you like, remember it and make it a pantry staple. For general cooking, I prefer Old Label Dark Soy Sauce, but Kikkoman is an acceptable substitute. Koon Chun Double Black Soy Sauce, which has a lovely, rich flavor without being overly salty, is used in the Salmon Fillet with Scallions.
Spices, Flavorings, and Colorings
CINNAMON. At Chinese groceries, you will find bags of cinnamon sticks, which are actually pieces of bark from the cassia tree. It is used to season braised dishes, especially red-cooked ones. Ground cinnamon is one of the ingredients in five-spice powder.
FIVE-SPICE POWDER. A blend of warm, aromatic spices, it is used sparingly in savory dishes. The classic blend includes star anise, cinnamon, cloves, Sichuan peppercorns, and licorice root. According to folklore, each spice represents a different element of the Chinese cosmos. The mix can change a bit from one manufacturer to another.
RED RICE. A specialty of Shanghai, this uncooked rice is naturally dyed red. It is used as a food coloring, not as a side