Shandong is one of the four main kinds of white garlic in China, another being Tai Cang White Garlic. Shandong has bulbs that are about about 7 cm (2 ¾ inches) wide, or wider. The outer bulb wrapper is pure white, with no purple coloration. Cooking Tips The taste is very hot when the garlic…
Chinese Food
Shanghai Bok Choy
Shanghai Bok Choy is often confused with Baby Bok Choy. It looks similar to Baby Bok Choy in size and leave colour, though the leaves are a bit lighter and the stalks are a pale green. It is just a little less sweet than Baby Bok Choy. It is often harvested young; if let grow,…
Shantung Purple Garlic
Shantung Purple Garlic has flaky, bluish-purple skin. The bulbs have inside them 6 to 8 tightly-packed cloves with cream-coloured skin with reddish-beige flushes. The garlic has a sweet flavour with moderate heat, though it sometimes can be very hot depending on growing conditions. Shantung Purple Garlic belongs to the Turban sub-group of the Artichoke group…
Shao Mai Dumplings
Shao Mai dumplings are a steamed Chinese dumpling often served at Dim Sum. They are hard to find in Beijing, but they are popular in Japan, particularly Yokohama. They are ground meat inside of Shao Mai wrappers, which are made with wheat flour and water. The small bundles are pinched at the top into pleats,…
Shiitake Mushrooms
Shiitake Mushrooms © Denzil GreenShiitake Mushrooms are one of the two most popular mushrooms in the world, the other being Agaricus Mushrooms (white button mushrooms.) Physical description The stalk of a shiitake mushroom can be 4 to 5 inches tall (10 to 12 cm.) The cap can be 2 to 4 inches wide (5 to…
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce is a dark, pungent thin sauce used as both a cooking and table condiment in Asian cuisine. To make soy sauce, defatted, steamed soybeans are ground together with roasted crushed wheat. This is allowed to ferment, then salted and aged for up to a year. Sometimes, to speed up production and make a…
Soybeans
Soybeans are rarely consumed on their own as a plate of plain, boiled beans just simply adorned with perhaps oil or vinegar, as one might do with other beans. Soybeans don’t really have much of a taste: they don’t seem to absorb taste as other beans do, nor do they have any kind of intrinsic…
Spider Strainers
A spider strainer is a low, shallow, round basket on a handle. It is called “spider” because it looks a bit like a metal spider web.
Squid Balls
Squid Balls are not the testicles of a squid, but rather cooked balls of puréed squid, often served as part of a Dim Sum selection. The raw squid is puréed, mixed with some flour and spices, formed into a ball and then steamed or fried. Language Notes If you hear or see someone referring to…
Stir-fry
Stir-frying is an Asian cooking method that involves tossing food items in a high-sided frying pan called a wok with some heated oil over very high heat, to cook the food quickly. In Shanghai, stir-frying is done over a medium heat and more slowly, as they want to emphasize overall texture. The heat used is…
Straw Mushrooms
Straw Mushrooms are the third most popular mushroom in the world, after Agaricus Mushrooms and Shiitake Mushrooms. They grow in the wild in Asia, but most commercial production is cultivated in Asia on cotton waste mixed with a small amount of straw and agricultural limestone (calcium carbonate.) They are not yet cultivated (as of 2004)…
Suey Gow Wrappers
Suey Gow Wrappers are round, about 3 ½ inches (9 cm) wide They are used to make dumplings that will go in soups. They are usually sold in chiller section at supermarket. Cooking Tips Cover with a damp towel or paper towel while working, or they will dry out on you. Use a mixture of…
Sweet-and-Sour
Chinese Sweet-and-Sour Sauce © Denzil Green Sweet-and-Sour is a term used to describe a dish whose taste contains elements of both a sweet taste and a sour taste. Usually the balancing is done with an added sauce. The sweet can come from something such as sugar, syrup or fruit. The sour can come from something…
Swollen Stem Mustard
The Swollen Stem Mustard plant is a member of the cabbage family, as other mustard plants are. Specifically, it is a member of the sub-family called “brassica juncea”; the family that brown mustard seeds are harvested from. The plant could be grown and used for its brown mustard seeds, but it is cultivated primarily for…
Szechuan Peppercorns
Szechuan Peppercorns are called peppercorns because of their flavour, not because of any actual relation to pepper. They are actually dried berries from a tree (a shrub, actually) which grows in parts of Asia called the “Prickly Mountain Ash” tree.The shrub is deciduous, with brownish-black bark. It’s called Prickly because the trunk, branches and leaf…
Szechuan Peppersalt
A seasoned salt used in Chinese Szechuan cooking. It consists of 1 part salt to 1 part ground Szechuan Peppercorns. Cooking Tips To make 2 tablespoons of Peppersalt: 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon Szechuan Peppercorns Toast salt and the peppercorns in a pan over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, let…
Tai Cang White Garlic
Tai Cang White Garlic is one of the four main kinds of white garlic in China, another being Shandong. The skin of the bulb is white. Inside, there will be 3 to 6 cloves with pale purple skin. Tai Cang White belongs to the Asiatic sub-group of the Artichoke group of garlics, itself a subgroup…
Thread Egg Noodles
Thread Egg Noodles are Chinese noodles made from egg, salt and wheat flour. They are thin and narrow like spaghetti, but they come rolled up and dried in nests. The word “thread” refers to them being narrow, as opposed to being broader. They cook up quickly, and are used in stir-fries and soups. Cooking Tips…
Tofu
Tofu © Denzil GreenTofu is a fresh coagulated curd product made from soy beans. To make Tofu, soy beans are soaked for up to 8 hours in water. Then they are ground in the water (making soy milk, basically), and the mixture is heated until it reaches 212 F (100 C.) It is then let…
Water Spinach
Water Spinach is a perennial vine that belongs to the morning glory family. The leaves can be cooked as spinach is. It grows with its roots in water, and with the leaves above the surface. It can also be grown outside of water in soil. The vine can grow up to 9 feet (2.7 metres.)…
Well Salt
Well Salt is salt made in China by boiling down brine obtained from wells, particularly in Sichuan.Cooks in Sichuan prefer their own local well salt in cooking. They say that sea salt, for instance, gives pickles a bitter taste. [1]Sichuan Cuisine. China Internet Information Center. Retrieved June 2009 from http://www.china.org.cn/english/imperial/26133.htm The historic centre of production…
Winter Melon Squash
Winter Melon Squash is not actually a squash; nor is it actually a melon, though it is related to both. In an effect to distinguish it, some English synonyms draw on the word gourd instead. It is treated as a vegetable in Asian cooking. For the most part the melons are round, though they can…
Wok
A wok is an all-purpose pan. It can be used for braising, deep frying, frying, roasting, stir frying, steaming and stewing. In northern China, a wok is more likely to be used for braising or stewing than for a quick stir-fry.
Wok Hay
“Wok hay” is a Cantonese expression that describes capturing into the food the “hot breath” of a seasoned wok. Hay means “breath”, “energy” or “spirit” in Cantonese. Wok hay describes food that has been “wokked” properly. The food must have the right aroma (“heung mei”); The flavours are concentrated; Meat is juicy, and almost tastes…