Bill Leung - The Woks of Life: Recipes to Know and Love from a Chinese American Family: A Cookbook

Chinese Ingredients Glossary

Sauces, Wines, Vinegars & Oils

Hoisin Sauce ( hixin jing , ): A thick, dark condiment made with fermented yellow soybeans, sugar, garlic, and sesame, with a sweet, salty flavor. Choose a Chinese brand like Koon Chun or Lee Kum Kee.

Chee Hou Sauce ( zh hu jing , ): A fermented soybean sauce similar to hoisin (less sweet, with a more complex fermented soybean flavor), used primarily in Cantonese braised dishes and roast meats.

Ground Bean Sauce ( m sh jing , ): A fermented soybean paste, used in stewed dishes and Cantonese barbecue sauces. Not to be confused with sweet bean sauce (see next), which may also be called sweet flour sauce, as its (confusingly) made with fermented wheat flour rather than fermented soybeans.

Sweet Bean Sauce ( tinminjing , ): Has a misleading name because its main ingredient is not fermented soybeans but, rather, fermented wheat flour. The result is a dark, sweet sauce that is nonetheless similar to a soybean paste or hoisin sauce.

Spicy Bean Sauce ( l dubn jing , ): A chunky paste made from fermented broad beans and chilies, used primarily in Sichuan cooking. You may also see it referred to as spicy bean paste, spicy broad bean paste, broad bean chili sauce, or simply doubanjiang. Look for Pixian on the label, a town in Sichuan famous for this paste.

Yellow Lantern Chili Sauce ( hung dnglng ljio jing , ): A very spicy, bright yellow chili sauce made with Hainan yellow lantern chilies, which have a heat level similar to habaneros.

Chili Garlic Sauce ( sun rng ljio jing , ): A tangy, spicy condiment (and dim sum MVP) made with chilies, garlic, vinegar, and other seasonings. The most ubiquitous brand is Huy Fong.

Fish Sauce ( y l , ): Made by salting and fermenting anchovies or krill, and pressing out the mixture to get a salty, umami-laden sauce, featured mostly in Southeast Asian cooking (and occasionally, our cooking!).

Clear Rice Wine ( mji , ): Used less often than Shaoxing wine (see ) in our kitchen, with a purer flavor. Better for delicate steamed dishes and seafood.

Rice Vinegar ( m c , ): Also known as rice wine vinegar, used to add acidity to sauces, stir-fries, dressings, and dipping sauces. If the label says seasoned, it contains added sugar and salt. You may also see Shanghai rice vinegar, which is darker in color with a milder flavor.

Chinese Black Vinegar ( zhnjing xingc , ): Black in color with a full-bodied, complex flavor. Used in sauces and dressings, as a dipping sauce for dumplings, and in braised dishes. We use Chinkiang or Zhenjiang vinegar, which is widely available in Chinese groceries.

Chinese Red Vinegar ( d hng zh c , ): Made from red yeast rice (which gets its color from a type of red mold used in fermentation), with half the acidity of regular white vinegar. Used primarily as a garnish for seafood soups, and in roasted and fried poultry dishes.

Sesame Paste ( zhmajing , ): A richly flavored, thick paste made from toasted sesame seeds and used in sauces for dipping, noodles, hot pot, and more. Different from tahini, which is made with raw rather than toasted sesame seeds.

Maltose ( mi y tng , ): A natural sweetener produced from fermented grains with an extremely viscous, almost solid consistency. You can microwave it to soften it and make measuring easier. Used in Chinese desserts and for marinating/basting roast meats.

Spices & Seasonings

Lump Rock Sugar and Brown Rock Sugar ( bngtng , ): Lump rock sugar is made from refined crystallized sugarcane, ranging in color from pale gold to white, and comes in lumps of irregular size. Brown rock sugar still contains the molasses usually removed during the refining process and comes in more uniform wafer-like blocks. Both can be used interchangeably whenever rock sugar is called for.

Sichuan Peppercorns ( hu jio , ): An essential ingredient in Sichuan cooking, with a floral, citrus flavor and numbing effect on the tongue. Only the outer husk is used (the bitter black center is removed). Red Sichuan peppercorns are most common (if we call for them in this book, we mean red Sichuan peppercorns unless otherwise noted), though there is a green variety with stronger citrus-y notes and an even greater numbing effect. Can be used whole or ground into a powder (find it ground at Chinese groceries, or grind it yourself in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder).