Before you mentioned Philly, I saw the supermarket and was like "man. All chinese supermarket looks the same. That looks like one I go to" then bam- realization that it's the same underground supermarket
EDIT: Holy shit guys, I think I might've finally figured out what "Erjingtiao" are. I'm not certain, but their similarities to cayenne made me go down a bit of a rabbit hole. I'm 90% sure that Erjingtiao are a variety of cayenne that you can find in the West as "Joe's Long Cayenne". It's apparently also used in Cambrian cuisine in Italy, though I can't seem to find any more information on that front. So - if you need a sub, cayenne pepper or certain varieties of peperoncino might be what we're looking for! God that's a relief off my shoulders lol _______ Hey, so apologies for the insane shakiness in those Chinese supermarket shots. You can uh... tell I'm not exactly a vlogger lol. Unfortunately I only had one crack at it, so I used some stabilization wherever possible. Still very far from ideal though. I also had to cut a bunch of ingredients I wanted to talk about from this video so that it wouldn't run super long or anything. I focused on what I'd consider the *very most* essential ingredients, with an obvious bias towards Cantonese and Sichuanese cuisines. Because of those limitations, wrote out a pretty in-depth reddit post, which's here: www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/82enyj/guide_chinese_ingredients_how_to_use_buy_and_some/ Now even that post isn't quite as detailed as I would've hoped. In the end, I just ran out of hours. If you got anything to add, lemme know and I'll edit it in!
Thanks a much needed video. Since it was hard to see the labels in this video, any chance you could also include the list of ingredients spelled out in Chinese characters with English? The grocers at the two Chinese grocery stores I frequent don't speak English well, so having a list in Mandarin might bridge the gap between me and them. Though I understand the difference between light and dark soy sauce, what I haven't been able to figure out is the difference in Sichuan bean pastes and cooking wines. There seem to be so many types.
Sure! So the brand of light soy sauce we recommend is called 'yipinxian' (一品鲜). Our favorites are actually some of the smaller more local names, but that's a pretty good one. I'm not 100% if it's available everywhere, but it was in that place in Philly. In the discussion on the cooking wine, 'liaojiu' (料酒) is the cheaper grade, and 'shaoxing' (绍兴酒 or sometimes written 'shao shing') is the nicer stuff. Abroad, it seems almost all of these sorts of wines are confusingly labeled 'shaoxing'. If you want to make sure it's a nicer one, try to pick up something that says it's 'huadiao' (花雕, sometimes written 'hua tiao'), or at least make sure it doesn't have any add salt. For the doubanjiang, make sure it's labeled 'Pixian Doubanjiang' (郫县豆瓣酱), or at least otherwise states it has chilis in it. There'll be a more detailed discussion on that in the reddit post. That brand that I was holding was called 'juanchengpai' (鹃城牌) - it's not a nice one, so if your grocer has any recommendations go with that, but I've used it before and I know it's fine and not not overly salty. The Oyster Sauce was Lee Kum Kee. They're a huge brand - generally their Cantonese ingredients are pretty trustworthy.
@@ChineseCookingDemystified I realize this may rankle a few expats out there, but in my experience I've NEVER ONCE had good results with italian peperonchino ... it's invariably in flake form, stale and oxidized to some degree, and without much flavor, savor or heat. Italian cuisine is a beautiful thing, but one area it clearly suffers with is when it comes to availability, proper storage, and proper use of good quality chilies, particularly dried chilies. There are exceptions, but they are sadly rare. It is nearly always best to buy chilies from an ethnic market whose shoppers knows quality chilies when they see it, and use it with love and respect in their cuisine. That means sichuan and hunan provinces, mexico, central america, jamaica, the south western region of the USA (ariz, new mexico, texas), southern india, malaysia and reputable online purveyors with high turnover specializing in same. Always look for dried chilies vaccum packed in cryovac, that are as whole and unbroken as possible. They should be bright red (not brown ... unless they've been hot smoked), slightly pliable (not brittle), and have a decidedly fruity and peppery aromatic.
Thanks for the excellent video. I just had one question: you say that the sichuan peppercorns in the store didn't look good to you. What is it one should be looking for?
abydosianchulac2 If you want really good sichuan peppercorns and other ingredients check out TheMalaMarket.com please. Excellent sichuan ingredients and excellent service
your videos are concise, energetic, and informative. I often watch them in strings of three to six at a time. I take notes, read the recipes, and work towards making them myself. I actually feel as if i am going to Chinese cooking school, because I am learning a lot - and the homework is delicious.
I’ve been an ardent subscriber for awhile but this ranks as my favorite of your videos simply because I finally got to see the face behind the voice. Awesome!
Haha I'm certainly not shy or anything, I make cameos in a couple videos we got here. It's generally Steph on camera because I feel these recipes already have a lot of 'Chris's voice' with my narrating and writing the Reddit posts :)
yeah, for real. It's super refreshing to find a channel like this that actually understands and appreciates the culture instead of the normal "american sexpat" variety.
When I was looking for Sichuan Peppercorns in a big Canadian city, I could find them as I couldn’t read the Chinese. The English said Prickly Ash. Now I take a screen shot of what I’m looking for, that way I can match the characters or ask for help. I love your channel. Thanks!
Love the videos, it would be great if you would document the brands you prefer, since I don't speak mandarin/cantonese or read hanzi and you pass over them rather quickly.
Thank you so much for these series. I am a culinary student and I really want to learn more about the different cuisines of the world besides my own home cuisine. I started with Chinese cuisine and your videos are helping me understand the basics which is the most important part. Thank you!
1:22 "Down in Philadelphia..." You're local! Next time you are in the area we would be happy to host a dinner. As a homebrewer and winemaker for 20+ years, I promise a good selection of beverages.
I'm part Chinese and I cook a lot of Chinese food at home (to my American husband's woe LOL--j/k, he loves them), the content in your videos seem to be on point (based on my home 'education' by my mom and grandmom). I just found your video a few days ago in my recommended. This video is so educational and great :D Keep up the good work.
You covered most of the "essential" things I see my family use, but I'd add in the Chinese "Worcestershire" sauce as well - Kimlan Oriental Worcestershire (Balsamic Black Vinegar). Tastes great in fried dumpling sauce :)
Thank you for sorting this out. The knowledge from this is like my Chinese grocery shopping tool box. We have a very comprehensive Asian market here in Tucson and once you learn it by trying new ingredients and the brands of such ingredients, shopping becomes a valuable learning experience. A point to this: There is a wall of different fish sauce but no Red Boat. After "learning the store" through experimentation shopping, the expensive Red Boat is kept on the coke machine next to the lead cashier where it can be guarded against shop-lifting. There is no one in the store that can tell you that because of the "Bable effect". You just have to know it.
Thanks exactly what I am looking for. Last two trips to Asian market, I spent 30 mins staring at the different options, totally confused. Providing some easy to use recommendations will be very helpful
I used to shop at the underground market every weekend when I lived in Philly! Loved seeing the footage...I was like, wait...is that THE same supermarket?? LOL Just down the street two blocks are my favorite restaurants: Shiao Lan Kung and 4 Rivers Szechuan. Such great memories, and very informative video!
Oh my god, that Chinese supermarket you went to is the first one I ever entered! My friend Katie took me in college and opened up a whole new world of cooking for me
This was very useful for USA shoppers, but it’s a different experience here in Italy. There is by law a label in Italian pasted onto the container, but it’s pretty spare, consisting of the ingredients and sometimes a description such as “cooking sauce” or “spice/flavor mix”. It leaves one trying to gather any information already known to figure out what it is. The presence of soy is always marked, however. These items are not sold in supermarkets, but if you’re lucky enough to live close enough to a big city, there may be a Pan-Asian market. The one closest to me sells some things from almost every Asian country, but never all you find in genuine recipes. The one I can reach also sells some, but not all, ingredients for South American dishes and the same for African dishes. The net result is that you can almost, but not quite, cook from three continents, and it’s a challenge. Of course the stores exist to serve immigrant communities who can read the original labels, but I’m just trying to cook what I used to eat in restaurants, or what I’ve found in cookbooks.
I definitely prefer the Lee Kum Kee douban jiang to the one shown in the video. I found the one shown to be super salty and not quite as deep as some of the other brands. Qiao Niang Fang is the brand I go for generally, but Lee Kum Kee is more readily available in the States. LKK has some extra garlic in it, but I put more garlic in most dishes so it works fine with my taste.
is that heaven facing chili a little weirdly small/thin compared to others? the ones i got at my chinese market listed as chao tian jiao are not that thin and look more squat
Great videos - perhaps you could occasionally slow down and close up pictures on some of the names/ingredients - my head is spinning with the Chinese names - but thank you so much for all your videos and an intro in an ancient culture of great cuisine 😀👍
That 2018 sign gave me the chills. If you only knew back than how awful things are going to get.... Great guide. I wish we had an Asian grocery store where I live. I have to work with subs and be very cleaver when I cook.
I have virtually everything on your list on hand in my kitchen, except for the dried scallops, dried shitake, and 3 of the fresh chilies. As for the hot oil ...always best to make your own. I usually whip up a 12 fl oz jar once or twice per year. I also double infuse ... once for flavor (spices discarded), and again to reinforce the flavor (that time theyre left on).
Thought you folks might want to know: I live in Philly and actually dropped by that market 2-3 weeks ago. They were closed, possibly permanently (the shelves on the ground floor were gone, and also it was like 2 pm on a Saturday). Whether this was the pandemic or the looting I don't know, and I suppose they might come back, but as of now they're no longer there.
It's amazing how many of the "I couldn't find..." ingredients are easy to find on the West Coast Thoughts on peppers.... If you're having trouble finding a "red mild pepper" remember that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A RIPE GREEN PEPPER. There just isn't. Get mild green peppers and ripen them. Keep them in a paper bag with a banana to help them ripen faster.
Ah, makes sense of course, guess I've just never thought about ripening chilis off the vine! The mild chili that's used in Cantonese cuisine is *super* similar to an anaheim, so grabbing those and leaving it out seems like it's probably the path of least resistance (I don't know about you but often I prefer the taste of mild chili to bell pepper).
For sure. The difficulty comes in that many Cantonese dishes use a mix of red and green mild chilis for color + a little flavor... and fresh mild red chilis seem to be AWOL from a lot of Western supermarkets. So our best recommendation is to simply use a mild green chili like an anaheim in conjuction with a red bell pepper when ppl need that combination :)
TWO SAUCES I LOVE FOR ONE PARTICULAR DISH BRAISED PIG'S FEET. I LOVE BEAN SAUCE AND FERMENTED BLACK BEAN SAUCE. ONE OTHER DRY SPICE MIX MY DAD ALWAYS HAD WAS EIGHT SPICE. I CANNOT FIND THIS ANYWHERE ON THE 'NET BUT FOUND THE THREE MISSING SPICES FROM 5 SPICE. THIS MIX I NEVER GRIND UP AS I USE IT IN MY DAD'S BBQ DUCK RECIPE. LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!
Thought I recognized that supermarket sign in the beginning! Small world. Been watching your videos for the past few months. Keep it up they are great. I'm born and raised in Cherry Hill. Still here and I always go to philly.
Cheers! Family lives (and I went to high school) on the other side of the river... around West Chester, if you're familiar with the area. Last year me and Steph were cooking a little Chinese New Year meal for my family, and we were honestly surprised and how much that little Chinese supermarket carried - produce excluded, really like 95% of what you'd find here in China. That place's sorta been our 'mental map' of sorts for the kind of things that'd be available outside of China - I'm sure there's better Chinese supermarkets, I'm sure there's worse, but that one was decently solid enough.
I've been to that exact super market and the restaurant right next to it when I used to work in Philly. That was awesome to see again! I need to go back there and get some sate beef ho fun.
I've heard people absolutely rave about 99 Ranch. One of these year's I'll have to swing by the west coast, see some old college friends, and see what exactly 99 Ranch has to offer. What's the produce situation there?
Nice, I was pretty surprised at the selection of stuff that was available the first time I went there. That store's sorta been our 'mental map' of what ingredients are available outside of China, so if you shop there you should be able to source stuff for 90%+ of stuff we use in these recipes. FWIW, people more knowledgeable about Philly than me've been saying that they prefer other places. Another commenter who used to work sourcing stuff for restaurants was saying that he greatly preferred "the First Oriental" on Washington Ave between 5th and 6th streets. Never been there myself, just passing along info :)
Great video ☺. I don't read chinese, for authentic xiao shing wine, the "huwa geow", is that what I'm looking for? Or is it mostly in chinese on bottles?
Hope you had a great time in Philly! Never been but I've heard it's a very interesting city. Enjoy your vacation and we'll be here when you get back. Jenn 💖 in Canada 🍁
Thanks for the video. Will pick some stuff on my next Taobao buying trip. I would love to see more videos like this, maybe reviews for some other popular Chinese sauces\pickles in jars. Also I think r/HotPeppers might be interested in more detailed traditional Chinese chili varieties review. Er Jing Tiao (二荆条), Deng Long Jiao (灯笼辣椒), Xiao Mi La (小米辣 C. Frutescens), Chao Tian Jiao (朝天椒), Bullet head (子弹头), Shizhu Red Pepper (石柱红), Indian Devil King something (王魔鬼), Yunnan Wrinkled Skin Pepper (云南皱皮辣椒) and even Yunan Shabu Shabu (云南涮涮) - it would be interesting to know in whish dishes they usually used and in what form (some are just for decorations, some in powder, etc).
Are these industrially produced soy sauces and chili-bean pastes fermented using actual microbial cultures? I think they are not, but made with ready enzymes, that are supposed to do the very same job as fungi like Aspergillus, but obviously have much less complexity and not as much flavours.
Mostly the imports here are Lee Kum Kee brand. Should be ok, I assume? This goes for all the products basically, not just oyster sauce. Also no chinese cooking wines anywhere, and dry sherry which I'm told works as a substitute is expensive, at around $25 and up for a normal sized wine bottle. I presume Sake would be too different
Wow! I just found your channel and am an instant subscriber. I look forward to going through all your videos and also seeing more from you in the future. Thanks!
You came up in my recommend. I quickly subscribed Midway this video. Thank God English speaking directions on authentic Chinese cooking. Yes I'm Chinese but of decent not native. I love my descendants food however I am clueless about all the spices and ingredients they are so wide and varied and I am so very very lost I'm looking forward to creating some authentic dishes with you guys in time.
Thank you for your suggestions... as I can see Chinese cuisine use "wine" & "rice wine vinegar".. but any kinds of "wine" & "wine or alcoholic flavors" are no no for me.. please advise me what can I use for "wine" or "wine vinegar"??? Thank you..
So it's really tough... a lot of Chinese cuisine's gunna be difficult without alcohol, as it's a hyper-common addition to... basically everything. So a general sub, I think, would be impossible. Feel free to comment on any of the vids on this channel that you're interested in though, alcohol's more important in some dishes than others and we'd prolly be able to help :) Northwest Chinese cuisine would be completely open to ya, as they're Muslim and don't use alcohol in cooking. Unfortunately, we only have two NW recipes on this channel :/
Also a good idea to check out similar products from Japan, such as soy sauce and sesame oil, as they are of superior quality to the ones from China. Same goes for some of the dried seafoods, like dried shrimps and dried scallops.
While I can't speak to the Japanese ingredients, one important thing to note is that the really excellent/artisinal stuff in China is generally made by small workshops and thus can't be exported. Like, I know that Japan has a reputation and all, but there's some absurdly excellent first press soy sauce that's produced here that I would confidently put up against Japan's finest. If you look at our Char Siu video, the Mianchi that's produced by the workshop in Zengcheng blew the mass-produced Japanese akamiso out of the water quality wise. While a more fair comparison would be artisinal artisinal, I'd disagree with the statement that Japanese ingredients are universally better than Chinese. What I could give you is that perhaps it's more legal/possible to import high-end Japanese ingredients than Chinese ones.
Very true, and I am not trying to knock the Chinese ingredients. I am only comparing similar products from the 2 countries which are available in the Asian supermarkets in North American cities. Japan also has high end stuff too (e.g. high-end soy sauce from Kikkoman, some of which are available online), rather expensive, and in very small formats.
Could you please make a video on Tofu? I live in London and I am unable to find my favourite ingredient Tofu pi. ( my Chinese not so good so can’t make the Chinese shopkeeper understand here) I tried by saying Tofu Skin but still they don’t understand it. Please help if you could.🙏
A few days ago I bought sesame oil and I loved the taste and aroma it has, however I wonder how it should be kept, since I have heard that you have to consume it quickly or store it in the fridge, is this true? Great video!! Thank you
I make my own chili oil and I also garden so I ordered and started some Heaven Facing Pepper plants. What is the scientific name of that other more mild chili that you couldn't find and had to use bell pepper instead?
Yeah my parents are quakers that're pretty involved with the community there, so when I'm in Philly I always just park at the meeting house at 4th and Arch. That supermarket was pretty decent, we generally use that place as a guide for what's available/unavailable for folks in the West.
Sorry if this has been addressed, the comment section became an angry minefield and I quit looking, but what do you call that box for dry ingredients? I can't seem to string together any useful description in amazon to find such a thing. Thanks!
Aw these comments weren't that bad... there was that one doofus telling everyone that Chinese products were intrinsically unsafe of something, but besides that everyone was pretty nice. What you'd want to look for on Amazon is a "Seasoning Box"... something like this would be pretty similar: www.amazon.com/Southern-Homewares-SH-10191-Seasoning-Container/dp/B06XMY5N4J That one's kinda ugly, but personally I'd suggest getting one with one lid and three sections for convenience factor. Similar seasoning boxes would still be solid though :)
A quick trip to my pantry confirm that my "shaoxing" is the cheap, salty variety ugh... Dried scallop is really expensive, and although very delicious, not very versatile (at least in my limited knowledge). I once saw a RUclips channel where this Japanese guy air dried a store bought scallop in a rack in his apartment for 8 days or so to make dried scallop, though i wonder whether normal STP-ladden scallop will behave on that procedure.
Haha don't worry about it too much... we've used the cheap-o salty stuff quite a bit. Unless you're working with a dish where it's the dominant flavor (e.g. Huadiao Chicken), it totally does the job. How expensive are dried scallops where you are? We're lucky we live in Guangdong, which's like dried seafood central.I love the ingredient but dried shrimp usually also work for the vast majority of applications.
Chinese Cooking Demystified its about USD25 (converted) per 100 gr of Japanese dried scallop. Plus it isnt easily sourced. Except if i try to shop it online or at chinatown
Hello, really enjoying your videos! We've been trying Sichuan recipes from Fuschia Dunlop's "Land of Plenty" and it's interesting to see the variations between yours and hers. I'm trying to figure out what chilis are used in some dishes I've had at non-Sichuan restaurants. They are larger diameter than "facing heaven" and not nearly as hot. They are often cooked well done, and many seeds left in. I don't really think they are erjingtiao because they are even larger. Must be something very common, but what! Any ideas? I have a picture but cannot upload it here.
as always, an informative video. im in tiny village 8510 near Jixi today, and i can confirm that my girlfriends mother has all these things in her cupboard
Hello. I'm from Malaysia. I really love chinese cooking but since I'm a muslim, Alcohol is a big no no. So my question is, what are the best substitute for Rice wince? Thanks!
There's a bunch of Muslims in the Chinese Northwest, so there's a lot of precedent for how to cook Chinese food without it :) Now, neither of us are experts on NW cooking so take this with a slight grain of salt. A large function liaojiu has is to remove the 'shanwei' from fresh meat (closest English translation being... 'gaminess'?) - for this, you can make 'ginger water' or 'ginger-Sichuan peppercorn water' like we detailed in the how to make dumplings video. Another function liaojiu has is to tenderize meat in marinades. For this, you can use egg white (if passing through oil) or a bit of baking soda. In many of these videos, we also add in a swirl of liaojiu when stir-frying. For this, you can just skip it.
@@ChineseCookingDemystified ahh. I see. Thank you! I've cooked a lot of chinese dish without it. But since I don't know how does it taste with liaojiu, I don't know if there is any distinct difference. I hope you can make a video about it! heheh Thanks again!
Thank you for this video. I have a question, and I really hope that you can answer it. I picked up some sichuan peppercorns that were really strange. I picked some up one time, and the inner part was a ball that looked shiny like a marble and felt like a glass between my teeth. When I broke them up, they broke up into weird shards. I couldn't find any information or similar situations online. Thanks in advance.
Sound like you had seeds in your peppercorns. Good quality sichuan peppercorns are just open flower petals, hence the Chinese name 花椒 or "flower pepper".
+M Gray Sorry for the delay in getting back to you (for some reason I only seem to get notifications for ~70% of comments) , but luckily it seems like Fred answered your question. Just a couple things to add: - At least here in China, even if you do get solid quality peppercorns, it's very likely that a couple of em'll still have pits (maybe... 2%?). Some people get paranoid about it, pick through em, and make sure to remove the pits... I personally don't bother. - We generally use Sichuan peppercorns in three ways: (1) toasting and grinding them into a powder (2) frying to flavor the oil and then removing or (3) using to flavor braises and the like. This is mimicking the style that's usually done in higher-end restaurants. If you eat homecooked meals or from small restaurants in China (usually where the best food's at!), often you'll see people just fry the peppercorn and leave them in. If you bite on a Sichuan peppercorn though, you get a very hard and IMO unpleasant texture, not unlike biting a whole black peppercorn.
The lack of proper mild chilies truly is the bane of attempting recipes from countries that actually like chili when in the west. Luckily in Denmark you can just go to a turkish grocer if you're in copenhagen, but anywhere else... fat chance. You can get spicy, more spicy, or bellpeppers. Your choice really. x.x
Yep, totally. A bit spicier but we also have those chilis in China and they definitely would do the trick for the vast, vast majority of dishes that use them.
OMG!! I used to shop at that supermarket! Are you from Philly or just visiting there? We're currently living in Vietnam but will be visiting Hong Kong (for two days) and Shanghai (for three days) Would love some food recs if you have any. Also BTW - That grocery store is fairly putrid when it comes to selection. I always preferred shopping down on Washington Ave (especially at the First Oriental (between 5th and 6th Streets - they sold better Sichuan Broad Bean Paste and items like Maltose.) Love your channel and can't wait to see more recipe content.
So I grew up outside of Pittsburgh, then when I was ~13 we moved and I when to high school outside of Philly (Kennet Sq/West Chester area specifically). Family still lives there, so every year around CNY I'll make the pilgrimage back and and visit them. I'm not the best person to ask for Shanghai (be sure to eat some shengjianbao though!), but I'll try to think on some stuff for Hong Kong. And yeah, I could imagine there's better options than that supermarket! What can I say, I'm not a Philly local ;) FWIW though, that place did have maltose
Wow, interesting. I worked for a large restaurant organization in Philly for over five years and one of my jobs was to source ingredients for menu testing. Never found maltose there but maybe I had to look harder. Thanks and if we ever make to Guangzhou I'll reach out. Also - If you're back in Philly again I can give you some good eating recs.
Man shaoxing/liaojiu is so weird and esoteric. I have two bottles, double phoenix huadiao (0.2 sodium p 100ml) and the wangzhihe type, any comments on the former?
Chinese Cooking Demystified Oh thats awesome!. I got it from an international grocery so i thought it might be a bit off kilter than one from a dedicated place. Thanks so much
I have been in search of ?Chinese? food additive that I’ve seen used when cooking/stir frying Chinese foods. It’s a silver or white colored powder. Have seen it used on one RUclips video and by watching Chinese chefs. When asked they quickly change subjects. Does anyone reading this possibly share what that food additive is please. This was a terrific/educational video. Thanks
@@mattwhitelock4725 not No not MSG which has a granular texture. It appears white or silvery in color with a fine powdery texture. Two squirts of that stuff and it adds a delicious flavor
Before you mentioned Philly, I saw the supermarket and was like "man. All chinese supermarket looks the same. That looks like one I go to" then bam- realization that it's the same underground supermarket
same! That was my go to market when I lived there.
Same!
lol yessss love this place
I literally had the exact same thought. It clicked seconds before he said Philadelphia (when you see the street level)
I did a double take rewind and thought... that looks so familiar. Then I see the highway scene I was like yep..thats 676
you guys are the most professional and authentic chinese cooking channel i ever found... love all of your videos... please continue making more!
t H agree
yeah, i love this channel too
Totally agree!
Agreed. They are phenomenal
You typed my thoughts.
EDIT: Holy shit guys, I think I might've finally figured out what "Erjingtiao" are. I'm not certain, but their similarities to cayenne made me go down a bit of a rabbit hole.
I'm 90% sure that Erjingtiao are a variety of cayenne that you can find in the West as "Joe's Long Cayenne". It's apparently also used in Cambrian cuisine in Italy, though I can't seem to find any more information on that front. So - if you need a sub, cayenne pepper or certain varieties of peperoncino might be what we're looking for! God that's a relief off my shoulders lol
_______
Hey, so apologies for the insane shakiness in those Chinese supermarket shots. You can uh... tell I'm not exactly a vlogger lol. Unfortunately I only had one crack at it, so I used some stabilization wherever possible. Still very far from ideal though.
I also had to cut a bunch of ingredients I wanted to talk about from this video so that it wouldn't run super long or anything. I focused on what I'd consider the *very most* essential ingredients, with an obvious bias towards Cantonese and Sichuanese cuisines. Because of those limitations, wrote out a pretty in-depth reddit post, which's here: www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/82enyj/guide_chinese_ingredients_how_to_use_buy_and_some/
Now even that post isn't quite as detailed as I would've hoped. In the end, I just ran out of hours. If you got anything to add, lemme know and I'll edit it in!
Thanks a much needed video. Since it was hard to see the labels in this video, any chance you could also include the list of ingredients spelled out in Chinese characters with English? The grocers at the two Chinese grocery stores I frequent don't speak English well, so having a list in Mandarin might bridge the gap between me and them. Though I understand the difference between light and dark soy sauce, what I haven't been able to figure out is the difference in Sichuan bean pastes and cooking wines. There seem to be so many types.
Sure!
So the brand of light soy sauce we recommend is called 'yipinxian' (一品鲜). Our favorites are actually some of the smaller more local names, but that's a pretty good one. I'm not 100% if it's available everywhere, but it was in that place in Philly.
In the discussion on the cooking wine, 'liaojiu' (料酒) is the cheaper grade, and 'shaoxing' (绍兴酒 or sometimes written 'shao shing') is the nicer stuff. Abroad, it seems almost all of these sorts of wines are confusingly labeled 'shaoxing'. If you want to make sure it's a nicer one, try to pick up something that says it's 'huadiao' (花雕, sometimes written 'hua tiao'), or at least make sure it doesn't have any add salt.
For the doubanjiang, make sure it's labeled 'Pixian Doubanjiang' (郫县豆瓣酱), or at least otherwise states it has chilis in it. There'll be a more detailed discussion on that in the reddit post. That brand that I was holding was called 'juanchengpai' (鹃城牌) - it's not a nice one, so if your grocer has any recommendations go with that, but I've used it before and I know it's fine and not not overly salty.
The Oyster Sauce was Lee Kum Kee. They're a huge brand - generally their Cantonese ingredients are pretty trustworthy.
@@ChineseCookingDemystified I realize this may rankle a few expats out there, but in my experience I've NEVER ONCE had good results with italian peperonchino ... it's invariably in flake form, stale and oxidized to some degree, and without much flavor, savor or heat. Italian cuisine is a beautiful thing, but one area it clearly suffers with is when it comes to availability, proper storage, and proper use of good quality chilies, particularly dried chilies. There are exceptions, but they are sadly rare. It is nearly always best to buy chilies from an ethnic market whose shoppers knows quality chilies when they see it, and use it with love and respect in their cuisine. That means sichuan and hunan provinces, mexico, central america, jamaica, the south western region of the USA (ariz, new mexico, texas), southern india, malaysia and reputable online purveyors with high turnover specializing in same.
Always look for dried chilies vaccum packed in cryovac, that are as whole and unbroken as possible. They should be bright red (not brown ... unless they've been hot smoked), slightly pliable (not brittle), and have a decidedly fruity and peppery aromatic.
Thanks for the excellent video. I just had one question: you say that the sichuan peppercorns in the store didn't look good to you. What is it one should be looking for?
abydosianchulac2 If you want really good sichuan peppercorns and other ingredients check out TheMalaMarket.com please. Excellent sichuan ingredients and excellent service
your videos are concise, energetic, and informative. I often watch them in strings of three to six at a time. I take notes, read the recipes, and work towards making them myself. I actually feel as if i am going to Chinese cooking school, because I am learning a lot - and the homework is delicious.
I love how helpful Richard Dreyfus is about Chinese food.
Totally 😂😂
I’ve been an ardent subscriber for awhile but this ranks as my favorite of your videos simply because I finally got to see the face behind the voice. Awesome!
Haha I'm certainly not shy or anything, I make cameos in a couple videos we got here. It's generally Steph on camera because I feel these recipes already have a lot of 'Chris's voice' with my narrating and writing the Reddit posts :)
Ok, this guy knows what he is talking about.
yeah, for real. It's super refreshing to find a channel like this that actually understands and appreciates the culture instead of the normal "american sexpat" variety.
When I was looking for Sichuan Peppercorns in a big Canadian city, I could find them as I couldn’t read the Chinese. The English said Prickly Ash. Now I take a screen shot of what I’m looking for, that way I can match the characters or ask for help. I love your channel. Thanks!
Love the videos, it would be great if you would document the brands you prefer, since I don't speak mandarin/cantonese or read hanzi and you pass over them rather quickly.
I agree.
The content of this channel is just amazing.
Honestly one of the most professional RUclips channels
Thank you so much for these series. I am a culinary student and I really want to learn more about the different cuisines of the world besides my own home cuisine. I started with Chinese cuisine and your videos are helping me understand the basics which is the most important part. Thank you!
1:22 "Down in Philadelphia..." You're local! Next time you are in the area we would be happy to host a dinner. As a homebrewer and winemaker for 20+ years, I promise a good selection of beverages.
I'm part Chinese and I cook a lot of Chinese food at home (to my American husband's woe LOL--j/k, he loves them), the content in your videos seem to be on point (based on my home 'education' by my mom and grandmom). I just found your video a few days ago in my recommended. This video is so educational and great :D Keep up the good work.
You covered most of the "essential" things I see my family use, but I'd add in the Chinese "Worcestershire" sauce as well - Kimlan Oriental Worcestershire (Balsamic Black Vinegar). Tastes great in fried dumpling sauce :)
And Mirin and Sake
Thank you for sorting this out. The knowledge from this is like my Chinese grocery shopping tool box. We have a very comprehensive Asian market here in Tucson and once you learn it by trying new ingredients and the brands of such ingredients, shopping becomes a valuable learning experience. A point to this: There is a wall of different fish sauce but no Red Boat. After "learning the store" through experimentation shopping, the expensive Red Boat is kept on the coke machine next to the lead cashier where it can be guarded against shop-lifting. There is no one in the store that can tell you that because of the "Bable effect". You just have to know it.
1. White pepper
2. Aromatic : green onion, garlic, ginger
3. Another aromatic : white onion, cilantro , chinese celery, leaks.
4. Oil : sesame oil, peanut oil
5. Dark vinegar , white vinegar
6. Oyster sauce
7. Chilli bean paste
8. Spices : star anise, cinamon, cloves, sichuan pepper corn, dry bayleaves, ...
Thanks exactly what I am looking for. Last two trips to Asian market, I spent 30 mins staring at the different options, totally confused. Providing some easy to use recommendations will be very helpful
I used to shop at the underground market every weekend when I lived in Philly! Loved seeing the footage...I was like, wait...is that THE same supermarket?? LOL Just down the street two blocks are my favorite restaurants: Shiao Lan Kung and 4 Rivers Szechuan. Such great memories, and very informative video!
This video is so useful!!! I live in Chengdu but I can't read Chinese well so I always wondered what all those stuff in the local market were!
me too! Im in Chengdu and walk around the market like a lost sheep!
Oh my god, that Chinese supermarket you went to is the first one I ever entered! My friend Katie took me in college and opened up a whole new world of cooking for me
This was very useful for USA shoppers, but it’s a different experience here in Italy. There is by law a label in Italian pasted onto the container, but it’s pretty spare, consisting of the ingredients and sometimes a description such as “cooking sauce” or “spice/flavor mix”. It leaves one trying to gather any information already known to figure out what it is. The presence of soy is always marked, however. These items are not sold in supermarkets, but if you’re lucky enough to live close enough to a big city, there may be a Pan-Asian market. The one closest to me sells some things from almost every Asian country, but never all you find in genuine recipes. The one I can reach also sells some, but not all, ingredients for South American dishes and the same for African dishes. The net result is that you can almost, but not quite, cook from three continents, and it’s a challenge. Of course the stores exist to serve immigrant communities who can read the original labels, but I’m just trying to cook what I used to eat in restaurants, or what I’ve found in cookbooks.
It would be helpful too if each component has Chinese word added to the screen so that we can show to the seller what we are looking for.
Its really refreshing to hear you speak Chinese.
I definitely prefer the Lee Kum Kee douban jiang to the one shown in the video. I found the one shown to be super salty and not quite as deep as some of the other brands. Qiao Niang Fang is the brand I go for generally, but Lee Kum Kee is more readily available in the States. LKK has some extra garlic in it, but I put more garlic in most dishes so it works fine with my taste.
I love your channel. Very helpful for someone who's interested to learn how to cook different types of Chinese dishes.
Am also a Chinese chef from Uganda Kampala,am glad get more highlights 🙏
is that heaven facing chili a little weirdly small/thin compared to others? the ones i got at my chinese market listed as chao tian jiao are not that thin and look more squat
Oh hey, I know that supermarket!
Thank you so much, I really enjoyed this quick rundown and will definitely be coming back to it for reference!!
THE most useful content on this subject & accessible in a context that makes sense for my location. Subscribed. :-) Thanks tons...
Great videos - perhaps you could occasionally slow down and close up pictures on some of the names/ingredients - my head is spinning with the Chinese names - but thank you so much for all your videos and an intro in an ancient culture of great cuisine 😀👍
That 2018 sign gave me the chills. If you only knew back than how awful things are going to get.... Great guide. I wish we had an Asian grocery store where I live. I have to work with subs and be very cleaver when I cook.
New subscriber. Excellent intro. I'm hoping you have one on all the different vinegars.
If you guys are ever back in Philly, it would be so awesome if you held a meet-up for all of your fans here
I have virtually everything on your list on hand in my kitchen, except for the dried scallops, dried shitake, and 3 of the fresh chilies.
As for the hot oil ...always best to make your own. I usually whip up a 12 fl oz jar once or twice per year. I also double infuse ... once for flavor (spices discarded), and again to reinforce the flavor (that time theyre left on).
Thought you folks might want to know: I live in Philly and actually dropped by that market 2-3 weeks ago. They were closed, possibly permanently (the shelves on the ground floor were gone, and also it was like 2 pm on a Saturday). Whether this was the pandemic or the looting I don't know, and I suppose they might come back, but as of now they're no longer there.
It's amazing how many of the "I couldn't find..." ingredients are easy to find on the West Coast
Thoughts on peppers....
If you're having trouble finding a "red mild pepper" remember that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A RIPE GREEN PEPPER. There just isn't. Get mild green peppers and ripen them. Keep them in a paper bag with a banana to help them ripen faster.
Ah, makes sense of course, guess I've just never thought about ripening chilis off the vine! The mild chili that's used in Cantonese cuisine is *super* similar to an anaheim, so grabbing those and leaving it out seems like it's probably the path of least resistance (I don't know about you but often I prefer the taste of mild chili to bell pepper).
Mild chilies are definitely a step up from bell peppers
For sure. The difficulty comes in that many Cantonese dishes use a mix of red and green mild chilis for color + a little flavor... and fresh mild red chilis seem to be AWOL from a lot of Western supermarkets. So our best recommendation is to simply use a mild green chili like an anaheim in conjuction with a red bell pepper when ppl need that combination :)
Shanxi black vinegar kicked up my dumpling sauce to an unbelievable level!
Very useful! I just put dried shrimp and Black bean chili sauce in my amazon cart because of this
TWO SAUCES I LOVE FOR ONE PARTICULAR DISH BRAISED PIG'S FEET. I LOVE BEAN SAUCE AND FERMENTED BLACK BEAN SAUCE. ONE OTHER DRY SPICE MIX MY DAD ALWAYS HAD WAS EIGHT SPICE. I CANNOT FIND THIS ANYWHERE ON THE 'NET BUT FOUND THE THREE MISSING SPICES FROM 5 SPICE. THIS MIX I NEVER GRIND UP AS I USE IT IN MY DAD'S BBQ DUCK RECIPE. LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!
Thought I recognized that supermarket sign in the beginning! Small world. Been watching your videos for the past few months. Keep it up they are great. I'm born and raised in Cherry Hill. Still here and I always go to philly.
Cheers! Family lives (and I went to high school) on the other side of the river... around West Chester, if you're familiar with the area.
Last year me and Steph were cooking a little Chinese New Year meal for my family, and we were honestly surprised and how much that little Chinese supermarket carried - produce excluded, really like 95% of what you'd find here in China. That place's sorta been our 'mental map' of sorts for the kind of things that'd be available outside of China - I'm sure there's better Chinese supermarkets, I'm sure there's worse, but that one was decently solid enough.
I've been to that exact super market and the restaurant right next to it when I used to work in Philly. That was awesome to see again! I need to go back there and get some sate beef ho fun.
This is really authentic stuff ......Wow Philly..... lots of memory......
We have 99 Ranch here in the Bay Area, they have literally everything. So much fun.
I've heard people absolutely rave about 99 Ranch. One of these year's I'll have to swing by the west coast, see some old college friends, and see what exactly 99 Ranch has to offer. What's the produce situation there?
Wow I just noticed that that's the exact grocery store I always go to. I live in Philadelphia and that's my go to Chinese grocery store. So cool!
Nice, I was pretty surprised at the selection of stuff that was available the first time I went there. That store's sorta been our 'mental map' of what ingredients are available outside of China, so if you shop there you should be able to source stuff for 90%+ of stuff we use in these recipes.
FWIW, people more knowledgeable about Philly than me've been saying that they prefer other places. Another commenter who used to work sourcing stuff for restaurants was saying that he greatly preferred "the First Oriental" on Washington Ave between 5th and 6th streets. Never been there myself, just passing along info :)
pulls up at chinese market "bout to blow em away with my chinese."
often sichuan peppercorn is labeled as "prickly-ash" here in america, especially at non-chinese asian supermarkets
Great video ☺. I don't read chinese, for authentic xiao shing wine, the "huwa geow", is that what I'm looking for? Or is it mostly in chinese on bottles?
I’m glad I finally found this video! I’m heading to find these ingredients soon!
Hope you had a great time in Philly! Never been but I've heard it's a very interesting city.
Enjoy your vacation and we'll be here when you get back.
Jenn 💖 in Canada 🍁
Thanks for the video. Will pick some stuff on my next Taobao buying trip.
I would love to see more videos like this, maybe reviews for some other popular Chinese sauces\pickles in jars.
Also I think r/HotPeppers might be interested in more detailed traditional Chinese chili varieties review. Er Jing Tiao (二荆条), Deng Long Jiao (灯笼辣椒), Xiao Mi La (小米辣 C. Frutescens), Chao Tian Jiao (朝天椒), Bullet head (子弹头), Shizhu Red Pepper (石柱红), Indian Devil King something (王魔鬼), Yunnan Wrinkled Skin Pepper (云南皱皮辣椒) and even Yunan Shabu Shabu (云南涮涮) - it would be interesting to know in whish dishes they usually used and in what form (some are just for decorations, some in powder, etc).
Great cooking channel! Which was the video you elaborated on dark vinegar from different provinces?
Philly,
Could you please show us how to cook chicken magic bowl (le bol renversé poulet).
Thanks a lot.
Are these industrially produced soy sauces and chili-bean pastes fermented using actual microbial cultures? I think they are not, but made with ready enzymes, that are supposed to do the very same job as fungi like Aspergillus, but obviously have much less complexity and not as much flavours.
ayyy I just became a fan of this channel...didn't know ur from philly!!! Now I'm a double fan ^_^
What is that 3 compartment storage container called and how do i buy one?
Mostly the imports here are Lee Kum Kee brand. Should be ok, I assume? This goes for all the products basically, not just oyster sauce.
Also no chinese cooking wines anywhere, and dry sherry which I'm told works as a substitute is expensive, at around $25 and up for a normal sized wine bottle.
I presume Sake would be too different
Christian brothers brandy is a good substitute. And the only good sauce lee kum kee makes is the oyster sauce the rest suck.
Excellent and concise. You guys rock. Have a great vacation.
Wow! I just found your channel and am an instant subscriber. I look forward to going through all your videos and also seeing more from you in the future. Thanks!
Kewl Video !!! Use most everything you mentioned. Fortunately we have a Chinese Supermarket here in Orlando.
You came up in my recommend. I quickly subscribed Midway this video. Thank God English speaking directions on authentic Chinese cooking. Yes I'm Chinese but of decent not native. I love my descendants food however I am clueless about all the spices and ingredients they are so wide and varied and I am so very very lost I'm looking forward to creating some authentic dishes with you guys in time.
Go philly! I actually know those stores!
Thank you for your suggestions... as I can see Chinese cuisine use "wine" & "rice wine vinegar".. but any kinds of "wine" & "wine or alcoholic flavors" are no no for me.. please advise me what can I use for "wine" or "wine vinegar"??? Thank you..
So it's really tough... a lot of Chinese cuisine's gunna be difficult without alcohol, as it's a hyper-common addition to... basically everything. So a general sub, I think, would be impossible. Feel free to comment on any of the vids on this channel that you're interested in though, alcohol's more important in some dishes than others and we'd prolly be able to help :)
Northwest Chinese cuisine would be completely open to ya, as they're Muslim and don't use alcohol in cooking. Unfortunately, we only have two NW recipes on this channel :/
What's the name of the container at 0:18? I'd love a link to buy one!
Also a good idea to check out similar products from Japan, such as soy sauce and sesame oil, as they are of superior quality to the ones from China. Same goes for some of the dried seafoods, like dried shrimps and dried scallops.
While I can't speak to the Japanese ingredients, one important thing to note is that the really excellent/artisinal stuff in China is generally made by small workshops and thus can't be exported.
Like, I know that Japan has a reputation and all, but there's some absurdly excellent first press soy sauce that's produced here that I would confidently put up against Japan's finest. If you look at our Char Siu video, the Mianchi that's produced by the workshop in Zengcheng blew the mass-produced Japanese akamiso out of the water quality wise.
While a more fair comparison would be artisinal artisinal, I'd disagree with the statement that Japanese ingredients are universally better than Chinese. What I could give you is that perhaps it's more legal/possible to import high-end Japanese ingredients than Chinese ones.
Very true, and I am not trying to knock the Chinese ingredients. I am only comparing similar products from the 2 countries which are available in the Asian supermarkets in North American cities.
Japan also has high end stuff too (e.g. high-end soy sauce from Kikkoman, some of which are available online), rather expensive, and in very small formats.
Just curious, but is this filmed on an original Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera?
0:18 does anyone know where I can find one of those cool spice boxes?
So, seems like I'd need some pictures of the brands in question. My area does have a Little China, but there isn't much for the average Anglophone
Could you please make a video on Tofu?
I live in London and I am unable to find my favourite ingredient Tofu pi. ( my Chinese not so good so can’t make the Chinese shopkeeper understand here) I tried by saying Tofu Skin but still they don’t understand it. Please help if you could.🙏
Delighted to see the screenshot of that spice shop in Montreal. :)
What a coincidence. I am from Philly and I do go to that Chinese store sometimes.
A few days ago I bought sesame oil and I loved the taste and aroma it has, however I wonder how it should be kept, since I have heard that you have to consume it quickly or store it in the fridge, is this true? Great video!! Thank you
FWIW, we just store ours in the cabinet :)
You are amazing guys :) I feel like I will hang around your channel for a while!
I make my own chili oil and I also garden so I ordered and started some Heaven Facing Pepper plants. What is the scientific name of that other more mild chili that you couldn't find and had to use bell pepper instead?
Thanks for the channel, really helping to understand chinese cookin. And by the way you should do asmr vids your voice is great Haha
Hey that was the supermarket I used to go to back in Philadelphia. The parking was terrible so I ended up going to 槟城 more often.
Yeah my parents are quakers that're pretty involved with the community there, so when I'm in Philly I always just park at the meeting house at 4th and Arch. That supermarket was pretty decent, we generally use that place as a guide for what's available/unavailable for folks in the West.
Sorry if this has been addressed, the comment section became an angry minefield and I quit looking, but what do you call that box for dry ingredients? I can't seem to string together any useful description in amazon to find such a thing. Thanks!
Aw these comments weren't that bad... there was that one doofus telling everyone that Chinese products were intrinsically unsafe of something, but besides that everyone was pretty nice. What you'd want to look for on Amazon is a "Seasoning Box"... something like this would be pretty similar: www.amazon.com/Southern-Homewares-SH-10191-Seasoning-Container/dp/B06XMY5N4J
That one's kinda ugly, but personally I'd suggest getting one with one lid and three sections for convenience factor. Similar seasoning boxes would still be solid though :)
Are any of your recommendations available via Amazon? I live in a small town with no Chinese market even close.
A quick trip to my pantry confirm that my "shaoxing" is the cheap, salty variety ugh...
Dried scallop is really expensive, and although very delicious, not very versatile (at least in my limited knowledge).
I once saw a RUclips channel where this Japanese guy air dried a store bought scallop in a rack in his apartment for 8 days or so to make dried scallop, though i wonder whether normal STP-ladden scallop will behave on that procedure.
Haha don't worry about it too much... we've used the cheap-o salty stuff quite a bit. Unless you're working with a dish where it's the dominant flavor (e.g. Huadiao Chicken), it totally does the job.
How expensive are dried scallops where you are? We're lucky we live in Guangdong, which's like dried seafood central.I love the ingredient but dried shrimp usually also work for the vast majority of applications.
Chinese Cooking Demystified its about USD25 (converted) per 100 gr of Japanese dried scallop. Plus it isnt easily sourced. Except if i try to shop it online or at chinatown
Hello, really enjoying your videos! We've been trying Sichuan recipes from Fuschia Dunlop's "Land of Plenty" and it's interesting to see the variations between yours and hers.
I'm trying to figure out what chilis are used in some dishes I've had at non-Sichuan restaurants. They are larger diameter than "facing heaven" and not nearly as hot. They are often cooked well done, and many seeds left in. I don't really think they are erjingtiao because they are even larger. Must be something very common, but what! Any ideas? I have a picture but cannot upload it here.
Can u list the scientific names for me? I'm a gardener. I've already got heaven facing peppers. What are the other ones?
as always, an informative video. im in tiny village 8510 near Jixi today, and i can confirm that my girlfriends mother has all these things in her cupboard
How do you keep your ginger fresh? And any ingredient sub suggestions for sesame oil?
Peel, wrap in saran and freeze
Really enjoyed this. Thank you.
Can Sichuan or Paprika Chilies be grown in the UK?
Hello. I'm from Malaysia. I really love chinese cooking but since I'm a muslim, Alcohol is a big no no. So my question is, what are the best substitute for Rice wince? Thanks!
There's a bunch of Muslims in the Chinese Northwest, so there's a lot of precedent for how to cook Chinese food without it :)
Now, neither of us are experts on NW cooking so take this with a slight grain of salt. A large function liaojiu has is to remove the 'shanwei' from fresh meat (closest English translation being... 'gaminess'?) - for this, you can make 'ginger water' or 'ginger-Sichuan peppercorn water' like we detailed in the how to make dumplings video.
Another function liaojiu has is to tenderize meat in marinades. For this, you can use egg white (if passing through oil) or a bit of baking soda.
In many of these videos, we also add in a swirl of liaojiu when stir-frying. For this, you can just skip it.
@@ChineseCookingDemystified ahh. I see. Thank you! I've cooked a lot of chinese dish without it. But since I don't know how does it taste with liaojiu, I don't know if there is any distinct difference. I hope you can make a video about it! heheh Thanks again!
There is very little alcohol in rice "wine" and once cooked, what little alcohol evaporates and only leaves a sweetness to the dish.
excelent but a little too fast to catch the lables. do yo you have
a video All the chinese vegies most common in chinese markets?
Subtitles would be really useful for all the things you're recommending...
Cloves are native to Indonesia, Maluku Island, the spice island
Thank you for this video. I have a question, and I really hope that you can answer it. I picked up some sichuan peppercorns that were really strange. I picked some up one time, and the inner part was a ball that looked shiny like a marble and felt like a glass between my teeth. When I broke them up, they broke up into weird shards. I couldn't find any information or similar situations online. Thanks in advance.
Sound like you had seeds in your peppercorns. Good quality sichuan peppercorns are just open flower petals, hence the Chinese name 花椒 or "flower pepper".
Thank you so much. That makes sense.
If you’re interested, I’ve recently been getting my peppercorns from themalamarket.com Definitely the best you will find.
Thank you so much for the link. I appreciate your help immensely
+M Gray Sorry for the delay in getting back to you (for some reason I only seem to get notifications for ~70% of comments) , but luckily it seems like Fred answered your question. Just a couple things to add:
- At least here in China, even if you do get solid quality peppercorns, it's very likely that a couple of em'll still have pits (maybe... 2%?). Some people get paranoid about it, pick through em, and make sure to remove the pits... I personally don't bother.
- We generally use Sichuan peppercorns in three ways: (1) toasting and grinding them into a powder (2) frying to flavor the oil and then removing or (3) using to flavor braises and the like. This is mimicking the style that's usually done in higher-end restaurants. If you eat homecooked meals or from small restaurants in China (usually where the best food's at!), often you'll see people just fry the peppercorn and leave them in. If you bite on a Sichuan peppercorn though, you get a very hard and IMO unpleasant texture, not unlike biting a whole black peppercorn.
I'm surprised you were in Philadelphia and you didn't go to the Chinese grocer on Washington Street. I think there's two f them and they're both huge.
Does chinese rice cooking wine goes bad quick after opening like western wine, or can it stand longer like soy sauce?
It can last quite awhile. Just keep in a cool, dark place.
The lack of proper mild chilies truly is the bane of attempting recipes from countries that actually like chili when in the west. Luckily in Denmark you can just go to a turkish grocer if you're in copenhagen, but anywhere else... fat chance. You can get spicy, more spicy, or bellpeppers. Your choice really. x.x
Didn't realize that you are from Philly. Are you a Sixers fan by any chance?
could you substitute hungarian wax pepper for paprika chile?
Yep, totally. A bit spicier but we also have those chilis in China and they definitely would do the trick for the vast, vast majority of dishes that use them.
which lao gan ma is the best to get please? the one with black beans?
I personally like the san ding - it's the one with the crispy tofu in it
OMG!! I used to shop at that supermarket! Are you from Philly or just visiting there? We're currently living in Vietnam but will be visiting Hong Kong (for two days) and Shanghai (for three days) Would love some food recs if you have any. Also BTW - That grocery store is fairly putrid when it comes to selection. I always preferred shopping down on Washington Ave (especially at the First Oriental (between 5th and 6th Streets - they sold better Sichuan Broad Bean Paste and items like Maltose.) Love your channel and can't wait to see more recipe content.
So I grew up outside of Pittsburgh, then when I was ~13 we moved and I when to high school outside of Philly (Kennet Sq/West Chester area specifically). Family still lives there, so every year around CNY I'll make the pilgrimage back and and visit them. I'm not the best person to ask for Shanghai (be sure to eat some shengjianbao though!), but I'll try to think on some stuff for Hong Kong.
And yeah, I could imagine there's better options than that supermarket! What can I say, I'm not a Philly local ;) FWIW though, that place did have maltose
Wow, interesting. I worked for a large restaurant organization in Philly for over five years and one of my jobs was to source ingredients for menu testing. Never found maltose there but maybe I had to look harder. Thanks and if we ever make to Guangzhou I'll reach out. Also - If you're back in Philly again I can give you some good eating recs.
Man shaoxing/liaojiu is so weird and esoteric. I have two bottles, double phoenix huadiao (0.2 sodium p 100ml) and the wangzhihe type, any comments on the former?
Former's a pretty solid one, used it when I've been in the USA. You can use it when a recipe calls for either huadiao/shaoxing or liaojiu.
Chinese Cooking Demystified Oh thats awesome!. I got it from an international grocery so i thought it might be a bit off kilter than one from a dedicated place. Thanks so much
I'm surprised Cumin wasn't included. My bf's family use it alot
I have been in search of ?Chinese? food additive that I’ve seen used when cooking/stir frying Chinese foods. It’s a silver or white colored powder. Have seen it used on one RUclips video and by watching Chinese chefs. When asked they quickly change subjects. Does anyone reading this possibly share what that food additive is please.
This was a terrific/educational video. Thanks
Msg?
@@mattwhitelock4725 not No not MSG which has a granular texture. It appears white or silvery in color with a fine powdery texture. Two squirts of that stuff and it adds a delicious flavor
@@edwinmendija8087 it’s just starch powder, added to concentrate the sauce
@@kerryjang9244 I need to look for that ingredient. My friend won’t tell me what it is and sprinkles it in when he think no ones looking
I just gave this a like because you actually took a shot of Shaoxing wine lmao
Good video - practical and very useful.