Fermented Black Beans are beans that have been transformed into a condiment for cooking. They will look a bit like small, black raisins and are slightly moist. They have a very salty, pungent flavour. To make Fermented Black Beans, cooked black soybeans are fermented in the water they were cooked in, then drained and mixed…
Chinese Food
Five Spice Powder
Five Spice Powder © Denzil Green Five Spice Powder is used in Chinese cooking as a spice mix. The following makes 5 teaspoons: 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon; 1 tsp Ground Cloves; 1 tsp Fennel Seed; 1 tsp Star Anise; 1 tsp Szechwan Peppercorns Sometimes, ginger, galanga and black cardamom are added.
Fortune Cookies
Fortune Cookie © Denzil Green Fortune Cookies are crispy cookies, that are hollow in the centre. Or rather, they are a shell formed of cookie, folded into a bow shape. Inside the cookie, there is a strip of paper. On the paper is printed a sentence or two telling your “fortune.” Fortune Cookies are a…
Fried Chow Mein Noodles
Fried Chow Mein Noodles are curly, crisp, brown noodles that come in packages or in tins to keep them crunchy. They are egg noodles that have been cut into short lengths, cooked through boiling in water, then deep fried. This is a North American invention, and is completely foreign to China. They provide a crunchy…
Gai Lan
Gai Lan is related to Bok Choy, but is grown more for its stalks and florets than for its leaves. It looks somewhat like Broccoli, but its leaves are broader, the stems are longer, and the floret heads are smaller. It has dull grey green waxy leaves. It also has a flavour similar to Broccoli,…
Gau Choy Sum
Gau Choy Sum is a variety of Flowering Chinese Chives. The small buds are green, instead of yellow (as they are with Flowering Chinese Chives), and the taste is slightly different. The chives are sold and used before the buds open. The buds are edible.
Hoshi Shiitake
Hoshi Shiitake are large, flat, dried Shiitake mushrooms. They have a more concentrated, meaty flavour than fresh Shiitake mushrooms, and cook up chewy. They are dark brown on top, and tan or orangey-brown underneath where the gills are. The more cracking and crazing in the caps, and the thicker the caps, the better the quality…
Hot-Pickled Mustard Root
Hot-Pickled Mustard Root is a preserve made from the stem of the Swollen Stem Mustard plant. The smell is a bit like sauerkraut and chile mixed together. It has a crunchy-tender texture, like cucumber pickles, with a salty, sour, spicy taste. Different brands may emphasize one taste more than the other. It is used as…
Jujube Fruit
Jujube Fruit has no connection with the candy called Jujube. The fruit size varies depending on the cultivar but ranges from 1 inch (2 1/2 cm) wide to 2 inches (5 cm.) It has thin, edible, pale red skin with yellow dots on it. The flesh is yellow and crisp, like that of an apple,…
Koji Yeast
Koji Yeast is a fermenting aid used in China and Japan in creating products such as miso sauce, soy sauce, sake, shochu, huangjiu, natto, etc.It is a mould with long, dark green spores. [1]A separate species, “Monascus purpureus”, is red The mould creates enzymes which in turn convert long starch molecules in food items such…
Kumquats
Kumquats are a citrus fruit about the size of a quail’s egg or no bigger than a large olive. The fruit can be round or oval. The Kumquat bush is a very slow grower, but can grow up to 14 feet tall (4 metres.) Its leaves are light green underneath, and a darker glossy green…
Lotus
Lotus is a perennial water plant. It grows throughout the Middle East and Asia. In China, it is cultivated in Hunan, Fiangsu, Fujiang, and Zhejiang provinces. Its first leaves float on surface of the water like a water lily, then subsequent leaf growth reaches up into the air. The leaves are round, and can be…
Lychee Fruit
Lychee Fruit © Denzil Green Lychee fruit trees will not reproduce true to seed. They must be propagated by grafting. They grow slowly to a maximum height of about 40 feet (12 metres.) Evergreen, their leathery leaves start off red and turn bright green when the trees are older. The trees blossom with yellowish green…
Napa Cabbage
Napa Cabbage originated in China. The cabbage is 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 cm) tall and 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) wide. Its crinkly, crisp leaves will be pale green at the top of them, lightening to almost pure white at the bottoms, with a definite rib in the middle…
Oyster Sauce
Oyster Sauce is a thick, salty-tasting savoury sauce with a mild oyster flavour to it. It is usually made from a large oyster species called Crassostrea sp. It has no fishy taste, despite its name. It is used a great deal in Chinese restaurants as it is a standard ingredient in Chinese cooking. It is…
Pea Jelly
Pea Jelly is a Chinese jelly that is served chilled, cut up in squares. The peas used can be any colour. Some commercial makers like to use only white peas. To make it, dried peas are ground, boiled and strained. Only the liquid is kept. A gelling agent is added to the liquid, and it…
Peach Blossom Salt
Peach Blossom Salt is a coarse salt harvested in Tibet, where it is called “Tears of Droma.” It is described as a red salt, but it is actually more pinkish or “peach” coloured. It’s harvested from the Lancang River gorge, on the border with China’s Yunnan province. Production is centred on the village of Yanjing,…
Peking Duck
Peking Duck is a roast duck dish, rather than a bird. The bird of similar name is Pekin Duck. It also happens to the duck almost always used for this dish, in China at least. The full name is of the dish is Peking Roast Duck. The dish, which originated in north-eastern China, is really…
Pigeon-Egg Dumplings
Pigeon-Egg dumplings are a soft Chinese dumpling made in the summer. They are formed in the shape of an egg, and about the size of a pigeon egg. Each dumpling weighs about 1/2 oz (15 g.) To make them, you wrap rice paste around a filling of osmanthus and mint sweetened with sugar. The paste…
Pork Bao Buns
Pork Bao Buns are Cantonese savoury rolls filled with pork. The rolls can be baked or steamed; the baked ones come out golden-brown and shiny; the steamed ones white and slightly rubbery. The recipe starts with barbequed pork, cubed small. It is stir-fried with some other ingredients in a glaze which may include soy sauce,…
Preserved Mustard Greens
Preserved Mustard Greens are a form of pickled cabbage in China, where it is called “Suan Cai”, meaning literally “sour vegetable.” They are not like American mustard greens at all. Preserved Mustard Greens are used as an ingredient in dishes, or they can be served as an appetizer. They are often eaten with congee for…
Red Rice Vinegar
Red Rice Vinegar is brownish-red. It has both a sweet and sour taste with a bit of saltiness. It can be used on its own as a dipping sauce, or as an ingredient in dishes. Substitutes White rice vinegar, cider vinegar History Notes Red Rice Vinegar was traditionally made in north-western China.
Rice Vinegar (aka Rice Wine Vinegar)
Rice Vinegar (aka Rice Wine Vinegar) is a vinegar made from either fermented rice or from rice wine. There are three different kinds: red, white and black. Red rice vinegar is used as a dip for foods. It has a sweet and sour taste; Black rice vinegar, aka “Jinjiang”, is used in stir-fries and dressings….
Sea Cucumber
Sea Cucumber © Iain Sinclair A Sea Cucumber is an animal that lives on the ocean floor. It has no real flavour; rather it is appreciated for its “squelchy rubberiness” that Chinese call “kou gan” (“mouthfeel.”) Many Westerners can’t get their heads around eating it, saying it has the consistency and texture of a squelchy,…