Category: Dessert

Dessert / How to Cook With Huajiao

Sichuan Pepper + Sesame Oil Fat-Washed Cocktail Recipes

Sichuan-Inspired Classic Cocktails~~ Look no further than these Sichuan-inspired fat-washed cocktail recipes for a new way to step up your hosting game. With a little 藤椒油 (téngjiāoyóu) rattan pepper oil and toasted sesame oil, you can use fat-washing to infuse your drinks—I’m drawing on the martini, gin fizz and Manhattan—with an unexpected savory hit rivaling the experimental chops of your favorite bar. For home cooks and serious chefs, the intense payoff of tengjiaoyou/rattan pepper oil (a variety of green Sichuan pepper) creates a bright, citrusy, mildly electric buzz unlike any other...

Dessert / How to Cook With Sesame

Miso Caramel Ice Cream w/ Maple Sesame Swirl

Headfirst With Sesame Paste Dessert Rivers of salted, maple syrup-infused sesame paste sing throughout this miso caramel ice cream base. Molten sugar bronzes the quick-simmered milk and cream first; then, the same cornstarch that coats stir-fries in glossy velvet suspension turns this yolkless ice cream thick and creamy and ready-to-sling, straight from the freezer. The result: A perfect multitasking ice cream for this holiday season. It is as versatile as vanilla but a hundred times more glamorous. Spin a quart the night before a potluck and save yourself the mayhem...

Dessert / Plant

Sichuan Pepper Ice Cream With (Optional) Brown Sugar Sesame Swirl (Hua Jiao Bingqilin, 花椒冰淇淋)

Flower Pepper Ice Cream~~ Believe me when I tell you that Sichuan pepper and ice cream are a case of opposites attract. I had heard tell of this ice cream flavor for a while, but was skeptical myself: “What?” I thought. The spice that brings the citrusy, numbing punch to mapo tofu and hot pot and numerous other fiery Sichuan dishes being used as the main flavor of a dessert? But then I finally made this ice cream, and—wowza—it was a revelation. We think of Sichuan pepper, or hua jiao,...

Baked Niangao

Chinese New Year / Dessert / Plant

Baked Niangao (年糕) Sticky Rice Cake

The Good Luck Cake Baked niangao: king of kings, the rice cake to end all rice cakes. O blonde mochi brownie, symbol of growth and prosperity, equalizer among Asian aunties. This is no lifeless Quaker rice cracker, nor even the stir-fried Chinese sticky rice cake by the same name. Baked niangao is traditional steamed 年糕 (niángāo)—soft, springy, sweet glutinous rice flour dessert—restyled. An auspicious Lunar New Year specialty and year-round treat now prepared with a fraction of the effort thanks to that staple of Western kitchens, the oven. Make it...

Dessert / Plant / Soups & Stews

Snow Fungus Jujube Dessert Soup (Yin’er Tang, 银耳汤)

Refreshing Summer Dessert~~ This version of 银耳汤 (yín’ěr tāng), or snow fungus jujube dessert soup as we’ll call it, is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) quadruple threat. Yin’er tang is often served after banquet meals, and it’s a frequent staple in our Chinese home. Moreover, with high quality jujubes as a natural sweetener, we rarely end up adding extra sugar. Better yet, it transitions seamlessly between the hottest and coldest of days. In the winter, yin’er tang is nourishing and delicious eaten warm straight from the pot. Then, once summer arrives,...