Quick & Easy Chinese (2 page)

For insight into the world of wok-cooking, both in terms of traditional culture and of getting a tasty dinner on the table, spend time with
The Breath of a Wok
, by Grace Young (see page 182). Even if you don’t own a wok or plan to buy one, Ms. Young opens a window into the Chinese kitchen, and you will enjoy the view.

This is made from white sesame seeds that are toasted to an aromatic, golden-brown state and then ground to extract their oil. Treasured predominantly for seasoning rather than cooking, this tea-colored oil comes in small glass bottles and is used throughout Asia, a teaspoon or two at a time, to flavor soups, dressings, stir-fried dishes, dipping sauces, and more. I consider it an essential item in my pantry, along with soy sauce; it provides extraordinary and delicious flavor and aroma in the simplest way, a drop or a dollop at a time.

Like tahini, Chinese-style sesame paste is made by grinding up white sesame seeds, but in this case the seeds are toasted first to develop a nutty flavor and handsome café au lait color. Typical brands come in 7-ounce jars, possibly labeled “sesame sauce” rather than “sesame paste.” Expect the paste to be very thick, and possibly with a thin layer of oil on top. Use a fork to carefully mix the oil back in a little, but don’t worry; mixed or not, it will deliver marvelous flavor. Peanut butter makes a very good substitute, with freshly ground unsweetened types providing the closest match. Asian sesame paste keeps for about 2 months on the counter and a little longer if refrigerated.

Made from sticky rice and salt, this robust Chinese vinegar provides a handsome, deep-brown color as well as rich, complex flavor to Chinese sauces, pickles, stir-fries, and dipping sauces. You can substitute red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even balsamic vinegar with good results.

A fiery essence of dried red chili flakes cooked in very hot oil, this condiment is widely available in Asian markets, and also easy to make at home (page 175). You can use the oil only, or a mixture of oil and chilis and seeds right from the jar, in dipping sauces, marainades, and any recipe calling for chili sauce or hot sauce.

This chili sauce is made from fresh hot red chiles mashed up with garlic, vinegar, and salt,
creating a thick, tomato-red puree, fiery and delicious with visible seeds. Asian markets have it, but you can also find it in many supermarkets, sold in small plastic jars with parrot-green lids and a rooster on the label.

See Fermented Black Beans
.

Soft, lacy leaves of cilantro provide bright flavor and aroma to many Chinese dishes, and are enjoyed as a beautiful jolt of color to finished dishes as well. You’ll find it in produce sections around the country, sometimes labeled Chinese parsley, or coriander, since it is the leafy green plant grown from coriander seeds. I keep a bunch on hand and use it often. I like to put its roots in a jar of water and keep it out on my kitchen counter, along with the ginger, garlic, onions, and dried chilies, so that I can use it easily. If you wanted to store it for a few days, put roots or ends in a jar of water, cover the leaves loosely with a plastic or paper bag from the produce section, and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

This is soy sauce with heft and hue, more of an increase in color and richness than in the salty character for which regular soy sauce is valued. You use this by the teaspoons, and a tiny splash turns a stir-fried dish a magnificent caramel-colored hue, while harmonizing with other flavors in the dish. I list it as optional in many dishes, since its role is often (though not always) to be colorful rather than to mediate the flavor. But if you can buy a bottle or two from an Asian source (see page 186) and keep it on hand, you will get lots of service and pleasure from it.

Keep these on hand for scattering into stir-fries when you want a little heat, or a lot. The texture adds beauty as well as a complex heat, better to me than plain old finely ground chilies or cayenne. You can also make chili oil using these chili flakes (page 175), but treat yourself to a fresh supply if yours has been on the shelf for longer than a few months. It stays hot but loses some character, so I like to toss it into the compost and start a new culinary fire with a fresh supply now and then.

Made from small black soy beans that are salt-preserved and fermented to develop a deep, tangy flavor, Chinese-style black beans deliver fantastic flavor to many Asian dishes. Especially popular with clams, whole fish, and other seafood, black beans tend to be chopped up or mashed with garlic and ginger before use, and then added to dishes which are stir-fried or steamed. You’ll find them in cellophane or plastic bags, or in cylindrical cardboard containers. They should be soft to the touch. Transferred to a glass jar and kept away from heat and air, they should last indefinitely at room temperature.

This spice mixture is a signature seasoning of the Western region of China, and is valued as a complement to braised dishes, stir-fries, and grilled food. Made from star anise, cinnamon, Szechuan peppercorns, fennel, and cloves, five-spice powder infuses its sweet-smoky flavor into marinades for poultry and meat, which are then roasted to an aromatic and flavorful perfection.

Keeping fresh garlic handy gives you extraordinary flavor for simple dishes. Many supermarkets carry peeled whole cloves in jars, which make chopped garlic a very quickly produced ingredient for busy cooks. You can also use a Chinese cleaver or a chef’s knife to get into garlic cloves quickly, placing a clove on your cutting board, placing the flat blade of either knife on the clove with the sharp edge away from you, and giving the flat side of the knife a good thump with your fist. The paper will pop open and easily fall away, and the clove will be split open and easy to chop.

Get to know fresh ginger if you don’t already consider it part of your elementary kitchen essentials. Sliced in thin coins, cut into shreds or slivers, or finely chopped for adding to stir-fries and stews, fresh ginger is an incomparable powerhouse of brilliant, cool, and astringent flavor that makes an extraordinary difference in simple dishes with very little work. I use it constantly in all kinds of dishes, and keep it out on the counter with the garlic, dried chiles, and onions so that I won’t for-get
I have it on hand. I buy it often in smaller amounts since I can always find it at my supermarket, where it is stored at room temperature. To keep it long term, you could trim away any soft or tired-looking portions, wrap it loosely in paper towels, and put it in a paper bag or open plastic bag in the crisper.

Keeping a bunch or two of these familiar produce items makes great sense when you’re cooking Chinese and Asian food. You will use them often, for their color, flavor, and beauty; it’s an item to pick up often at the store.

As thick as apple butter and endowed with a deep, plush sweetness, hoisin sauce is an adored member of the family of bean sauces, which have been valued in Chinese cuisine since ancient times. Made from fermented soybeans ground to thick paste with garlic, sugar, and an array of spices, hoisin sauce serves many kitchen purposes, adding its color and sweet-salty flavor notes to marinades, glazes, dipping sauces, stir-fries, and barbecue sauces for roasted and grilled poultry and meat. Keep it in its jar in the refrigerator for about 6 months.

Dark soy sauce or dark sweet soy sauce. Fortified with a deep sweetness by the addition of molasses, this mahogany-colored essence is used extensively in the cooking of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Use it in place of dark soy sauce in recipes. A treasure any time you want to add deep, rich color to a dish; start with ½ teaspoon, as even a little bestows gorgeous brown hues to any food. Look for it in tall bottles in Asian markets. It keeps indefinitely at room temperature.

This lustrous dark-brown essence is a salty signature of Cantonese cooking, though it is known and enjoyed throughout the cuisines of China. Made from an extract of dried, salted oysters, it is enjoyed directly as a condiment and sauce as well as in combination with other ingredients for cooking. Unlike soy sauce and many other Asian
seasonings, oyster sauce is perishable and should be kept in the refrigerator.

This looks like a rough gemstone right out of the quarry, with its translucent amber color and hard yet crumbly texture. It’s actually much softer than it looks; you can break or cut it fairly easily, though it seems at first to be indeed a kind of rock. It is cane sugar and honey combined in a crystallized form, and is also called yellow sugar and yellow lump sugar in various translations. Especially cherished in northern Chinese cooking, it contributes an incomparable lush texture and gloss to red-cooked dishes, which are meat, poultry, or fish braised in dark soy sauce, rock sugar, and rice wine. Don’t worry about smashing it down to a state you can measure in a table-spoon—just break it up into reasonable chunks and eyeball it. A little extra will never be a bad thing, and I consider a walnut-sized lump to be pretty close to a tablespoon. Buy a box, since the packaging is charming and low-tech, the cost is minimal, the look is fascinating, and the flavor is divine, whether you dissolve it in your tea, lemonade, or red-cooked chicken braise.

See Asian sesame oil
.

Made from sticky rice and named after the town where it is traditionally made, Shaoxing rice wine is an amber-colored fortified wine, widely available in Asian markets. One standard brand is sold in brown bottles with a big red label. If you can visit a Chinese-owned liquor store, ask about various versions of the spirit; you could use any of them in your cooking.

Dry sherry, such as amontillado, is a very good substitute for Shaoxing rice wine, a traditional component of countless Chinese dishes. You could also use white wine or chicken stock if neither sherry nor Shaoxing rice wine is available or if you need a substitute.

If you’ve kept a modest little bottle of soy sauce in the cabinet or on the fridge door, it’s time to move up. You will use soy sauce often in these recipes, so consider the biggest bottle you can find at the supermarket lest you run out at suppertime. Soy sauce is an ancient seasoning made from salted, fermented soybeans. It adds color and depth as well as its specific salty flavor to an array of dishes in this book, and belongs among your everyday seasonings if it’s not already there.

The powerfully flavorful berries of the prickly ash tree, Szechuan peppercorns provide a zingy, intense and pungent flavor to numerous dishes originating in the Western Chinese provinces of Szechuan and Hunan. As prickly ash berries ripen to a rusty red, they split open and curl back like petals, exposing an ivory interior with tiny dark seeds. Adored for their oddly wonderful and numbing sensation of heat and flavor, Szechuan peppercorns pair wonderfully with rich and luscious dishes made with pork and duck. Usually toasted before being ground to a coarse or fine powder, this distinctive spice is mixed with warm salt to make a tasty dip for grilled meat.

This salty-hot pickle is fermented with chilies, garlic, and salt in great tubs, and then preserved in brine. Rinsed before use, it is chopped up and added to stir-fries, soups, and braised dishes for its contribution of tangy crunch and intense salty heat. Sold in plastic packets, it should be transferred to a jar and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.