Cooking With the Staple Ingredients of the Chinese Pantry

After my rant on the inadequate editorial treatment of Asian recipes in Cook’s Illustrated, a number of people commented that there was a great need for Chinese recipes that used a minimum of unfamiliar ingredients, used raw materials primarily available at the average American grocery store and yet which taught the neophyte cook how to […]

Inspired by Kylie Kwong: Bok Choy With Oyster Sauce, Ginger and Fermented Black Beans

Now that I have posted a list of basic Chinese pantry items, I think the next step is to create a series of simple recipes using a minimum of ingredients which just about anyone can recreate. The goal is to simplify Chinese cooking for Americans who have limited access to Asian markets while still making […]

From Simple Chinese Cooking: Chicken with Cashews

Chicken with cashews is a perennial favorite on the menu of Chinese restaurants all over the world. Being that I love both chicken and cashews, by all rights I should love it. However, far too often in my experience, it is a disappointing dish. Overcooked, bland chicken and soggy cashews drowning in puddles of oil […]

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 […]

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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