Category: How to Cook With Sesame

How to Cook With Chinese Black Vinegar / How to Cook With Sesame / How to Cook With Soy Sauce / Plant / Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan)

Foolproof Sichuan Tofu Pudding (Douhua, 豆花)

From Soy Milk to Douhua Tofu Pudding in Minutes (No GDL/Gypsum!) If you’ve eaten street foods in China (or Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and many others I’m missing!), there’s a good chance you’ve had 豆花 (dòuhuā), tofu pudding—or 豆花儿 (dòuhuā’er), as it’s called in Sichuan. Jiggly blocks of soy “pudding” cleave readily with just a spoon, each douhua bite as tender as the silkiest tofu. Fresh, just-barely-set douhua is backdrop to savory sauces and pickles in the North, sweet syrups in the South and spicy dressings in Sichuan....

Beef, Lamb & Game / How to Cook With Sesame / Noodles / Plant / Restaurant Classics / Soups & Stews / Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan)

Sichuan Malatang Recipe: DIY Personal Hotpot

Making Malatang Personal Hotpot at Home Malatang (麻辣烫, málàtàng), “spicy hotpot,” is an easily recognizable food trend from Sichuan beloved by on-the-fly diners, especially during the cold, damp winter. Whereas regular hotpot around a communal broth requires assembling whole groups for a 1-3 hour self-cooking affair, malatang vendors cook ingredients to order for you, then serve everything in a personal serving bowl with the piping hot hotpot broth. Notable for operating out of cramped stalls and carts on narrow streets, malatang shops allow you to choose ingredients (pre-skewered, for speed...

Chinese New Year / East (Jiangnan, Shanghai) / Fish & Seafood / How to Cook With Sesame / How to Cook With Shaoxing Wine / Non-Spicy / Noodles / Plant / Pork / Poultry / Restaurant Classics / Soups & Stews

Yangzhou Dazhu Gansi (Simmered Tofu Noodles, 大煮干丝) | Zoe Yang

A Jiangnan Test of Skill There is no dish more exemplary of Jiangnan cuisine than the Yangzhou classic 大煮干丝 (dàzhǔ gānsī), simmered tofu noodles. Every ingredient is an homage to the Yangtze River Delta—duck gizzards, miniature river shrimp, slivers of chicken and rich Jinhua ham, baby greens, fresh mushrooms and, of course, the tofu itself. I didn’t know all this on the first day of cooking school in Nanjing, 12 years ago, when I came to class dutifully toting the above ingredients. In fact, the other reason—perhaps the main reason—my...

Chinese New Year / Dessert / How to Cook With Huajiao / How to Cook With Sesame / Non-Spicy / Vegetarian

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...

Bao & Dumplings / How to Cook With Chinese Spices / How to Cook With Furu / How to Cook With Sesame / How to Cook With Shaoxing Wine / How to Cook With Soy Sauce / Non-Spicy / Pork / Restaurant Classics / South (Guangdong)

Chasiubao (叉烧包) BBQ Pork Buns: From Scratch

Red Chasiu Without Red Yeast Rice Powder or Food Dye Guangdong’s famous 叉烧包 (chāshāobāo/caa¹siu¹baau¹), aka chasiubao or “char siu bao,” are a dimsum staple!  Soft, fluffy buns envelop the chasiu—barbecue/roast pork—in these steamed bao that ooze with juicy filling. Although I didn’t grow up in a family that made or ate chasiu, we always bought chasiubao from Chinese bakeries. (Especially the “pineapple” bun version that took me 25 years to figure out had no pineapple whatsoever.) At home, Ma’s humble 包子 (bāozi) enclosed minced cabbage/chive and pork, a typical filling,...

Chinese New Year / Dessert / How to Cook With Sesame / Non-Spicy

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...

tossed reganmian in ceramic bowl

How to Cook With Chinese Spices / How to Cook With Sesame / How to Cook With Soy Sauce / Non-Spicy / Noodles / Plant / Restaurant Classics / South (Guangdong) / Vegetarian

Wuhan Reganmian Hot Dry Noodles (热干面) ft. Dried Jianshui Alkaline Noodles

Guozao With Wuhan’s Famous À La Minute Sesame Noodles In South-Central China’s landlocked Hubei province, the capital city Wuhan is beloved for its breakfast staples and snacks—chief among them 热干面 (règānmiàn) “hot dry noodles.”  Served steaming and soup-less in to-go bowls with a barely-saucy coat of ground sesame paste and simmered house stock, reganmian was invented and popularized around 1930 by two local noodle shop owners, Li Bao and his apprentice Cai Mingwei. Now, reganmian is regarded alongside Sichuan 担担面 (dàndànmiàn), Shanxi 刀削面 (dāoxiāomiàn) knife-cut noodles, and Beijing 炸酱面 (zhájiàngmiàn)—not to be...

How to Cook With Sesame / How to Cook With Soy Sauce / Non-Spicy / Plant / Poultry / Vegetarian

Classic Chinese Steamed Egg (Zhengdan, 蒸蛋)

Universal Chinese Comfort Food It doesn’t matter how far removed you are from the mainland in the Chinese diaspora: At some point, a relative made you this Chinese steamed egg dish, and now it reappears in your thoughts and dreams every time you’re sick or ailing. Flu? Steamed egg. Broken toe? Steamed egg. Strep throat in June the week before graduation? Steamed egg. Heck, I got a cavity filled at home last year and what did Ma make when I came back hungry and numb? Steamed egg. I grew up calling...

Chinese New Year / Cold Dishes / How to Cook With Huajiao / How to Cook With Sesame / How to Cook With Soy Sauce / Pork / Restaurant Classics / Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan)

Homestyle Suanni Bairou (蒜泥白肉): Sichuan Garlic Pork

A One-Night Homestyle Special Consider this classic Sichuan dish the next time you want to impress a table: 蒜泥白肉 (suànní báiròu), thinly sliced pork (“white meat”) smothered in a red-oil garlic-paste concoction. The hardest part of suanni bairou is slicing the meat, and even then, the tantalizing red oil dressing hides any number of shoddy knife-work sins. Balanced by the fresh crunch of raw cucumber—or my favorite, spring celtuce, pictured above—your guests will be too busy sopping up every last drop of sauce to notice how simple suanni bairou really...

sichuan chili oil liangmian in white porcelain dish with black backdrop

Chinese New Year / Cold Dishes / How to Cook With Caiziyou / How to Cook With Chinese Black Vinegar / How to Cook With Huajiao / How to Cook With Sesame / How to Cook With Soy Sauce / Noodles / Restaurant Classics / Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan)

Ma’s Sichuan Liangmian (四川凉面) Spicy Cold Noodles

Ma’s Signature Potluck Dish If there’s one dish my mother is known for at potlucks, it’s spicy Sichuan 凉面 (liángmiàn), “cold noodles” in translation. The nature of this beloved 小吃 (xiǎochī) snack in Sichuan is such that everyone knows the dish on sight—and taste. Chewy but not sticky, springy and not slick, sour and spicy and cooling and fragrant all at once, a simple bowl of Sichuan liangmian makes my mouth water just thinking about it. If you host often, bringing nothing but cold noodles as your contribution to a...

Sichuan cold rabbit

Beef, Lamb & Game / Cold Dishes / How to Cook With Doubanjiang / How to Cook With Douchi / How to Cook With Huajiao / How to Cook With Sesame / How to Cook With Shaoxing Wine / How to Cook With Soy Sauce / Restaurant Classics / Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan)

Cooking with Pixian Doubanjiang: Erjie Tuding (二姐兔丁) Second Sister Rabbit Cubes

A Chengdu Hawker Original Chengdu’s famous Erjie Tuding is based off a Sichuan 凉拌 (liángbàn)/cold-dressed dish traditionally eaten in the fall. It belongs to our reader-favorite Cooking with Pixian Doubanjiang recipe series, which highlights Sichuan doubanjiang cooking methods that are less well-known than classics like Mapo Doufu and Twice-Cooked Pork. If you’ve never thought of using doubanjiang in a cold dish, this is your sign!  There are several variations of Sichuan’s cold-dressed rabbit (凉拌兔丁, liángbàn tùdīng; also 麻辣兔丁, málà tùdīng), but the most famous is Chengdu’s 二姐兔丁 (èrjiě tùdīng), “Second Sister Rabbit Cubes.”...

Sichuan pepper ice cream

Dessert / How to Cook With Huajiao / How to Cook With Sesame

Sichuan Pepper Ice Cream with Brown Sugar Sesame Swirl (Optional)

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 huajiao, as...