Sesame oil

[OliverB]

One thing that confuses me is the use of sesame oil. I have several, some in bottles the size of tabasco, others in larger bottles, around the size of a rice vinegar bottle maybe.

Now I come across Asian recipes frequently that ask for a teaspoon (or more) of 'sesame oil'. If I'd just grab any sesame oil off my shelf (or the shelf in the market) I'm sure I could easily destroy a dish. The labels don't indicate much, but some of these are so strong that a couple drops are enough, teaspoons or more would make everything taste like the oil. The bottles only indicate that it's 100% sesame oil, but the taste strength differs by a wide margin.

Anybody have an insight here? Are the small ones supposed to be used like a finishing spice? How come they are so different, if they're all 100% the same according to the label?

I'm not talking about hot sesame oil or toasted sesame oil, just "Sesame Oil".

Curious~

[scott123]

Are you sure you're not talking about toasted sesame oil? Because, by the sound of it (small 'rice vinegar-ish' bottles, Asian recipes that call for a teaspoon or more, that, in turn, ruin the dish), that's got toasted sesame oil written all over it.

'Regular' sesame oil is clear/light colored and has a very mild flavor profile, much like other nut oils such as peanut and sunflower. I'm not saying 'regular' sesame oil is never used in small amounts (a low fat dressing might use a teaspoon), but, generally speaking, like all cooking oils, sesame oil is used in larger amounts for things like frying and sauteeing.

If your oil is clear/light colored and has a 'strong' flavor, it's rancid. No doubt about it. Sesame oil, in the West, has a horrible turnover and it tends to be packaged in clear containers, which only compounds the light issue. If you want to spend your Whole Paycheck, Spectrum packs sesame oil in nitrogen (at least they did, it's been a few years since I checked), but even that is no guarantee of fresh oil, as the price tag guarantee that these bottle collect LOTS of dust.

If, on the other hand, your small rice vinegar-ish bottle contains a chocolate colored oil, than that's toasted sesame oil. In the whole of the Western culinary universe, I don't think any single ingredient is more misunderstood than toasted sesame oil. It's bad enough that a lot of people think 'sesame oil' and 'toasted sesame oil' are interchangeable, but the quantities you tend to see in recipes are obscene. As you've noticed, toasted sesame oil is very very powerful stuff. Your gut feeling to measure it in drops is right on the money. If you see a recipe that measures it in teaspoons (or greater, I've seen tablespoons *shuddering*) run away- as fast as you can. Toasted sesame oil should always be measured in drops- always.

One good thing does come from this culinary pooch screwing, though. Toasted sesame oil quantities are an excellent litmus test as to whether an Asian recipe holds water. If they measure it in anything other than drops, you can be safely assured that the author doesn't know what the hell he/she is talking about. Another ingredient that's used in similarly clueless/excessive amounts is garam masala. If I see a lot of that in a recipe, I know that this is coming from an untrustworthy source.

Edited November 11, 2009 by scott123 (log)

[Jenni]

Can we establish whether or not it's toasted first?

I would disagree that if the untoasted kind smells, then it must be gone off. I buy several Indian brands of untoasted sesame oil, and they have a wonderful smell and taste. It's just because they are not refined unlike many oils we get in the west.

As for the amount of toasted oil you need, no, you don't need much. However, I have used a tablespoon of toasted oil in a pancake recipe, and it added a great flavour. Not too strong at all actually, though I would never use so much in other recipes.

[PopsicleToze]

Now I come across Asian recipes frequently that ask for a teaspoon (or more) of 'sesame oil'. If I'd just grab any sesame oil off my shelf (or the shelf in the market) I'm sure I could easily destroy a dish.

Curious~

Sesame oil is highly fragile and needs to be kept in the refrigerator. If yours is in the pantry, it has very probably become rancid.

Rhonda

[OliverB]

it's not rancid

So, one bottle I have, the small one the size of a pepper sauce: Dynasty Sesame Oil. The contents are dark colored, so you're right, I guess it's toasted sesame oil, though it does not say anything about toasted anywhere on the label. This is the really strong one where a drop or two often is enough. The other is Spectrum Sesame Oil, larger bottle and yellowish in color, like any other oil.

So I guess they just don't label this correctly, which can potentially ruin somebody's dish. For a while I only ever had the small bottle and always wondered about the (never followed) instruction of adding a tsp, until I found the other bottle, which is much milder in taste.

I have all my specialty oils in the fridge, thinking of getting a small wine fridge or dorm fridge for just that purpose eventually. All that stuff takes up so much room.....

[scott123]

Improper labeling does certainly lend more confusion to an already confused state of affairs, but... I'll bet any amount of money that the 1 tsp recipe you were looking at was actually using toasted sesame oil. There's very little perspective when it comes to toasted sesame oil quantities. Regardless of whether or not the recipe states 'toasted sesame oil' or 'sesame oil,' if the dish is Asian and the quantities are 1 tablespoon or less, I'd be extremely suspect. Unless, of course, you're making pancakes

If you have the space, a dorm fridge for oils is an excellent idea. Instead of exposing the oils to light every time you need something from the big fridge, you're only exposing them when you need oil. Also, my experience with dorm fridges is pretty minimal, but if you could set the temperature so that it's not quite so cold, you could have a more pourable evoo longer (depending, of course, how long you store it).

Another nice thing about a not quite so cold fridge is laminated dough proofing. Laminated doughs are a lot more manageable when their temperature is uniform, but not quite butter-hardening fridge temps. If, for instance, you could set a dorm fridge to 50 degrees, that might make for a much happier laminated dough. That is, if laminated doughs are your thing.

[OliverB]

well, the recipes I've bee reading are in the new Mastering the art of Chineese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo that just came out. I had a 30% off coupon at Borders and not much time, this was the only book I could find that I did not yet have but figured I'd like to have. And I was right, I like it quite a bit. Recipes seem relatively easy to follow, once one added a couple things to the pantry. With two new big Asian markets within 10 min of my house I'm looking for more Asian cooking ideas. My guess is that Eileen knows what she's doing, I'd have to go back in the book to find the recipe that triggered my question here, but it was for a good portion of food and I'm pretty sure she meant regular, not toasted. I doubt you could eat anything made with a tsp of that stuff

The bottle does specify to use sparingly, but should specify that it's (most likely) made of toasted seeds and is more of a condiment.

I just read about laminated dough somewhere, but can't recall what it is? I'm almost ready to bake some sourdough bread with a San Francisco starter. Warming up more to that dorm fridge idea, could put all the hot sauces etc in there too, all the stuff that clutters my too small fridge. Not sure what temps you can set those to, but you can get one of those little wine fridges, they can be set to higher than fridge temps, some here use one as a curing chamber for charcuterie.

[Shel_B]

Is "toasted" sesame oil like this one

 

http://cdn1.viewpoints.com/pro-product-photos/000/015/335/300/1214384691-03182_full.jpg    

 

the same as "Chinese" sesame oil, like this example http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nHmPeVSdyk8/Sk1025ghA8I/AAAAAAAADfw/yHsFq1yd858/s400/Sesame+oil.jpg
 
Can they be used interchangeably?

Edited August 1, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[liuzhou]

Is "toasted" sesame oil like this one

 

http://cdn1.viewpoints.com/pro-product-photos/000/015/335/300/1214384691-03182_full.jpg    

 

the same as "Chinese" sesame oil, like this example http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nHmPeVSdyk8/Sk1025ghA8I/AAAAAAAADfw/yHsFq1yd858/s400/Sesame+oil.jpg

 

Can they be used interchangeably?

 

Yes.