Staple Ingredients of the Chinese Pantry

A couple of days ago, Aileen from Canada wrote to ask me what my favorite brands of some staple Chinese pantry items were. I thought that was a fair question, and is one I have been asked often, so I figured it was high time I got around to actually writing a post listing what […]

Wok Wonderings

I get emails all the time about woks. Where to buy them, what to look for in them, and what to do with them once they come home. Most of them have pretty standard, simple answers, but sometimes I get more complex questions which deserve to be answered publicly. In my experience, for every one […]

Let’s Talk Woks

I have always invited readers to email me with any questions they may have on matters culinary; every now and then the questions I get give me the idea for a post. This is one of those times. I have talked about woks here in the past, holding forth on my opinion that thin Cantonese […]

Uber-Umami, Part II: Beef And Gai Lan with Ground Bean Sauce

So last week, when I posted my recipe for Pork, Tofu and Gai Lan with Ground Bean Sauce, Rose, who is now living in Taipei, (and thus should not have any trouble finding the uber-umami ingredient!) asked if she could successfully substitute chicken or beef in it, as she does not eat pork. With the […]

Uber-Umami: Chinese Ground Bean Sauce

It is thick, salty and looks somewhat like peanut butter. Everything you cook with it tastes better, but only if you don’t overdo it. It is made from ground up fermented soybeans, rather like miso, but has a deeper, less salty flavor. It is Chinese ground bean sauce, and is a “secret ingredient” in many […]

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