Chinese Herbs and Spices

[liuzhou]

10 minutes ago, shain said:

 

Tahini is made from toasted seeds. I only ever saw non-toasted ones being sold in health-food stores, always poorly made.

Most tahini is indeed toasted much lighter than sesame paste, some are prized for being light in color and flavor. But some tahini are known for being boldly toasted and get close, tough it's still a different roast profile - dark toasted tahini have more bitter roasted notes.

The latter is (at least to my taste) is a very decent substitute where other flavors are involved, but those brands are few (like al-jamal).

 

On another note, does anyone else find black sesame to have a poppy-like flavor?

 

Well, I did say that tahini is lightly toasted, but not always.

Never noticed a poppy taste, but I very seldom use or eat black sesame seeds.

[chromedome]

Another option re: the diluted sesame oil is in the many "Asian-inspired" salads and vinaigrettes, wherever the recipe calls for both neutral oil (for volume) and sesame oil (for flavor). Taste as you go, and you can either dilute it more (if it's too strong) or reinforce it with the better sesame oil (if it's too weak) until you arrive at a flavor you're happy with.

[KennethT]

9 hours ago, liuzhou said:

17. 大蒜 (dà suàn) – Garlic – Allium sativum

 

 

This is the second of the Chinese culinary holy trinity to be covered here. I already did ginger.

 

Garlic has been used in China for thousands of years and appears in almost every savoury dish from soups to stir-fries. Today, China produces 76% of the world's garlic according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Statistics Division (FAOSTAT).

I almost decided not to cover it, as I thought there wasn’t really much to say; everyone knows garlic. But thinking a bit more, I found there is more to be said than I first thought.

 

First up, there is more than one type in China. What we consider to be regular garlic in the west is available everywhere and is the most used. But there is this other type which is my go-to. 独蒜 (dú suàn) is single-headed garlic. This cultivar does not split into separate cloves, but usually remains in one segment. (I have occasionally met twins.) They save on a lot of chopping and mincing. But best of all is that the skin falls off easily, if you so much as give it a dirty look. One bulb is equal to about two cloves of the regular stuff.

 

Single-headed garlic

独蒜 (dú suàn) is often associated with Sichuan, but actually originated in Yunnan.It is not so common in northern China. Many of my Chinese friends have ‘corrected’ me when I mention it, thinking I have mispronounced dà suàn as dú suàn. I then have to correct them!

Fuchsia Dunlop mentioned somewhere that she had found single-headed garlic in London’s Chinatown, so it may be available in Chinese or Asian stores elsewhere. If you find it, please let me know.

 

Black garlic

 

I can also find black garlic relatively easily. Both regular and single-headed varieties. I have never seen a Chinese recipe for it and none of my friends know it, so I don’t know how it is used here.

Note: Garlic powder is not really available here. The Maryland-based McCormick spice company, which very active in China, does do a version, but I’ve never seen it of that part of their range. That said, garlic powder is rare most places outside North America. It may be used industrially here, as the only way I can buy it, not that I want to, is on-line in 1 kg sacks.

 

Left to Right: Garlic powder; Garlic and Ginger powder; Ginger powder

 

There is a lovely Chinese idiom, 鸡毛蒜皮 (jī máo suàn pí), literally meaning ‘chicken feather, garlic skin’ but really meaning ‘a trivial matter’. It can also mean 'kitchen waste'.

 

Do you get the SE Asian type of garlic where you are?  The type with the really small cloves?

[liuzhou]

12 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Do you get the SE Asian type of garlic where you are?  The type with the really small cloves?

 

I know the type, but have never seen in China.

[Tropicalsenior]

10 hours ago, liuzhou said:

If you find it, please let me know.

I used to see it here frequently in the Farmers Market and in one of our more upscale markets, but then it just disappeared and I haven't seen it for several years. I don't know if it was because it was imported and slightly old, but I found it to have a milder taste than the garlic that was grown here.

[liuzhou]

9 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I used to see it here frequently in the Farmers Market and in one of our more upscale markets, but then it just disappeared and I haven't seen it for several years. I don't know if it was because it was imported and slightly old, but I found it to have a milder taste than the garlic that was grown here.

 

Thanks. I do find it to be slightly milder, but I find that with all Chinese garlic, compared to European garlic. But I also think it is more rounded in flavour and is missing those somewhat acrid flavours sometimes found in other garlics.

Edited August 24, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I do find it to be slightly milder,

One other thing that I found about it was that it almost never sprouted and got that bitter green center. I know that they say you should only buy what you need in the near future so you should never have sprouted garlic, but down here you are so delighted to find a rare item that you tend to get carried away.

You said that you have never seen a recipe that uses black garlic. Is it just used as a garnish?

[liuzhou]

3 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

 

You said that you have never seen a recipe that uses black garlic. Is it just used as a garnish?
 

 

I don't know. I've never seen it used in any way. Obviously it must be, but everyone I ask looks at me blankly.

[Anna N]

11 hours ago, liuzhou said:

If you find it, please let me know.

It is readily available in the Asian groceries here.   Here being Ontario, Canada. 

[liuzhou]

18. 辣椒 (là jiāo) – Chilli – Capsicum

 

 

Let’s get the spelling of the name out of the way for a start. ‘Chilli’, ‘chili’ and ‘chile’ are all all acceptable somewhere. I use ‘chilli’ because a) it’s the preferred British English and I am British and b) it is the original romanisation of the Nahuatl ‘chīlli’. Just to confuse things further, the first recorded written use of the word in English (1662) was spelled ‘chille’. It is also spelled ‘chilly’ by some in the Indian subcontinent. It also has no connection to the country, Chile. So no silly arguments, please.

 

Native to Mexico, the plant was introduced to China by the Portuguese in the 16th century; however, it took a while to catch on, only really becoming popular in the 18th century. Prior to that spicy heat came mostly from white pepper, as is still used for some dishes today. In China today, it is most used in Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, as well as northern Guangxi where I am. But, it also turns up in other parts of China. Just less so.

 

Here and in the named provinces it is the third element of the culinary holy trinity after garlic and ginger (replacing scallions as third in the rest of China). There are many different, specifically Chinese cultivars and they are all sold fresh, crushed, dried, powdered and pickled. Here I will only be dealing with fresh and some dried.

 

Many chillies here are seasonal so, for today, I will just include what are the more perennial and what is in season now. I will add others and edit as they appear in the market. I am giving the local names out of interest and amusement. Chilli names are notoriously fluid here. One type may even have different names at adjacent market stalls. I have no idea how these may equate to American or other chillies. Looking similar is not enough. I will ignore bell peppers because I always do, for obvious reasons.

 

So. off to work.

 

指天椒 (zhǐ tiān jiāo)

 

Most common are the approximately 7 cm / 3 inch long 朝天椒 (cháo tiān jiāo), ‘facing heaven’ chillies or 指天椒 (zhǐ tiān jiāo), ‘pointing to heaven’ chillies (pictured above), the name coming from the fact that they grow pointing upwards unlike most varieties. They are a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens. There is also a very similar variety called 七星椒 (qī xīng jiāo) or ‘7 star chillies’, named so as they tend to grow in bunches of around seven. These chillies also turn up in their immature green state.

 

(Note: the Wikipedia page on ‘Facing Heaven Chilis’ is not about these, but a different American variety.)

 

Facing Heaven Chillies growing in my neighbour’s plot in my countryside home.

 

Green Facing Heaven  Chillies

 

These heavenly chillies are sold both fresh and dried; the dried being more commonly used in Sichuan cooking. They are also crushed and powdered. I’d describe them as medium hot. In many Sichuan dishes such as 宫保鸡丁 (gōng bǎo jī dīng), Kung-po chicken and, especially 辣子鸡 (là zi jī), Chicken with Chillies, the chillies are not actually eaten but merely used to flavour and colour the dishes. They are halved and the seeds removed before use.

 

干指天椒  （gān zhǐ tiān jiāo) - Dried Facing Heaven Chillies

 

辣子鸡 (là zi jī) - Chicken with Chilli

 

The same chillies are also considered best for making 红油 (hóng yóu), Sichuanese red chilli oil.

 

红油 (hóng yóu) - Sichuan Chilli Oil

 

Next, we have the beautiful people. As everyone knows, beautiful people come in two colours, red and green.

 

Green beautiful people chillies

 

青美人椒 (qīng měi rén jiāo) or ‘green beautiful people chilli’ is around 20 cm / 8 inches long, whereas 红美人椒 (hóng měi rén jiāo) ‘red beautiful people chili’ is about 14 cm / 5½ inches. Diameter at the widest is around 2cm / ¾ inch for both.

 

These can be hot, especially the red, but they are unpredictable. I use these a lot.

 

Red beautiful people chilllies

 

Here are the two side by side for size comparison.

 

 

Another year round chilli is the 青尖椒 (qīng jiān jiāo) or ‘green pointed chilli’.

 

青尖椒 (qīng jiān jiāo) or ‘green pointed chilli’.

 

These big fellows can be 23cm / 9 inches long and have a diameter of around 5cm / 2 inches. The are fairly mild and have a pleasant vegetal flavour, although they can sometimes creep up and hit you! I also use these a lot in 肉夹馍 (ròu jiā mó) and 青椒肉片 (qīng jiāo ròu piàn) a simple but common pork and chilli stir-fry. They are also often stuffed with ground pork and either steamed along with the rice in a rice cooker, or fried. Many supermarkets sell them pre-prepared and ready for you to cook, but I do them myself. I prefer to know what is in my minced / ground pork, thank you!

 

 

These next chillies are more seasonal, but the season is now. They are either called 五彩椒 (wǔ cǎi jiāo), five colour chillies or 七彩椒 (qī cǎi jiāo), seven colour chillies, although numbers in both are only approximate. They are sometimes also called 米椒 (mǐ jiāo), literally 'rice chillies', but 米 (mǐ) is often used as an adjective meaning 'small', that being the meaning here. They are about the size of grapes.

 

五彩椒 (wǔ cǎi jiāo), five colour chillies

 

七彩椒 (qī cǎi jiāo), seven colour chillies

 

However many colours there are , these are HOT.

 

Others that turn up from time time include:

 

青泡椒 (qīng pào jiāo) Green 'bubble' chillies. This name is a little confusing. 泡椒 (pào jiāo) usually means 'pickled chillies' but these are clearly not pickled. It is another meaning of the same character. They are  similar in shape to 灯笼椒 (dēng lóng jiāo) lantern chillies but those are more usually a bit larger and yellow or red. These are not available at the moment. Watch this space.

 

 

黄灯笼椒 (huáng dēng lóng jiāo)  - Yellow Lantern Chillies

 

Then there are the 螺丝椒 (luó sī jiāo), literally 'screw chillies'. These are what you may know as 'shishito chillies', the Japanese name. Mild and smoky flavoured. They had these in the market this morning, but I didn't bite. Already have plans.

 

 

Finally, for now, we also get these which are called 白辣椒 (bái là jiāo ) which means 'white chili'. They are more white at the beginning of their seasonability, but it's getting late in the summer now, so they tend to be this pale green colour. These are relatively hot. Another one I buy a lot.

 

 

Happy Heat!

Edited August 30, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have a packet of Penzeys "Tien Tsin China Chili Peppers."  What might these be?

 

 

[liuzhou]

51 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I have a packet of Penzeys "Tien Tsin China Chili Peppers."  What might these be?

 

 

Tien Tsin is the old romanization of 天津 (Tiān jīn) Tianjin, the large port city in northern China bordering Beijing. Tianjin and other northern cuisine seldom uses chillies.

The chillies are very similar in flavour and strength to those used in Sichuan and Hunan cuisine, but tend to be smaller at about 5 cm / 2 inches long. They are actually a Japanese cultivar that was introduced to China via Tianjin in the late 1970s, hence the name. There is no other connection to the city.

They are not so common in China as they appear to be abroad. The fact that they are using the old romanization tends to support that. It isn't used in China.

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

8 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Let’s get the spelling of the name out of the way for a start. ‘Chilli’, ‘chili’ and ‘chile’ are all all acceptable

Thank you so much. Fascinating article. It's interesting to see how few of the big chillis of Mexico actually made it to China. Also, they don't seem to use it in the powdered form there.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[liuzhou]

7 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Also, they don't seem to use it in the powdered form there.

 

Powdered and flaked chilli is available (as I mentioned), but is used much less often than we perhaps do in western countries. The Sichuan chilli oil I posted contains flaked chillies, for example. Chinese cuisine generally prefers whole or sliced fresh and dried chillies, though.

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

13 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Chinese cuisine generally prefers whole or sliced fresh and dried chillies, though.

Not surprising with the ready availability of the fresh produce.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[liuzhou]

5 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Not surprising with the ready availability fresh produce.

 

Yes. Another reason is that, as I said, in some dishes the chillies are not meant to be eaten. If the chillies in the 辣子鸡 (là zi jī) - Chicken with Chilli dish were to be substituted with the same amount in powdered form, the dish would be lethal!

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

19 肉豆蔻 (ròu dòu kòu) – Nutmeg – Myristica fragrans

 

When I'm 64 - 250 g

 

Having yesterday posted the chilli info above, I think that concludes the main herbs and spices used in a culinary context China-wide. However, there are many others which are more localised and limited.

 

Before I moved to Guangxi from Hunan in February 1999, I researched the place a bit. I had visited before but wanted to delve a bit deeper. One thing I learned was that although nutmeg is native to Indonesia, Guangxi is central to a belt of nutmeg production in south China which also includes Guangdong to our east and Yunnan to our west. “Oh good”, methought, “I like a bit of nutmeg from time to time.”

 

Once I had settled in, I set off to what was then the only supermarket in town. No nutmeg there. (Still isn’t, for that matter.) “No worries! I’ll go to a proper market.” Nope. No nutmeg.

 

I was mystified. I asked a colleague why the supermarket and market didn’t have any. She looked at me as if I had just asked for information on sourcing polar bear droppings, then changed the subject. I often caught her giving me strange sideways looks after that.

 

Eventually the penny dropped. It turned out that nutmeg is only really used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and one of its uses is in the treatment of certain sexually transmitted diseases. (Note: there is no scientific evidence for nutmeg being beneficial for STD sufferers or any other ailments).

Now understanding my colleague’s reaction, but undaunted, I headed off to the local TCM pharmacy, hung around until a male assistant was available, winked at him, made my request and left with a bag of pristine nutmegs. I have since found online sources, so I don’t have to go through the humiliation any more!

My only problem now is that I can only buy them in 250 g bags. That is about 64 of the things. I don't use it that much.

 

I have also discovered that nutmegs are used in a very few sweet dishes and meat stews by a very few people who show no discerbable symptoms of lewd behaviour. It also appears as an ingredient in some industrially produced soft drinks.

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

So is mace, its lacy seed covering also used?

[liuzhou]

46 minutes ago, heidih said:

So is mace, its lacy seed covering also used?

 

Only the tear-gas. Never the spice, as far as I know.

[liuzhou]

20. 金钱草 (jīn qián cǎo) – Tick Trefoil – Desmodium cajanifolium

 

 

Here is a herb which I’m told comes from Shandong in the north-east of China. It is also used in TCM and is said to boost male virility (overuse may lead to the need for nutmeg!).

 

It comes under many names but 金钱草 (jīn qián cǎo) seems to be the most common. It literally means  'gold coin grass' as the fresh leaves are believed to resemble said coins.

 

I have only seen it twice, once in a local restaurant where it was served with stir-fried bull frog. I liked that dish so much that I searched for it and eventually found a large bag of the dried herb in my favourite unusual foods store. I often cooked it with chicken, frog, shrimp, crab etc. I must restock.

 

Bullfrog with Tick-trefoil

 

Note: Canada Tick Trefoil, Desmodium canadense is a related but different plant. Does anyone know if that is eaten?

 

It is also an ingredient in the popular herbal 'tea', sold in bottles, cans and cartons in every store and known as 王老吉 (wáng lǎo jí).

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[chromedome]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

19. 金钱草 (jīn qián cǎo) – Tick Trefoil – Desmodium cajanifolium

 

Here is a herb which I’m told comes from Shandong in the north-east of China. It is also used in TCM and is said to boost male virility (overuse may lead to the need for nutmeg!).

 

It comes under many names but 金钱草 (jīn qián cǎo) seems to be the most common. It literally means  'gold coin grass' as the fresh leaves are believed to resemble said coins.

 

I have only seen it twice, once in a local restaurant where it was served with stir-fried bull frog. I liked that dish so much that I searched for it and eventually found a large bag of the dried herb in my favourite unusual foods store. I often cooked it with chicken, frog, shrimp, crab etc. I must restock.

 

Note: Canada Tick Trefoil, Desmodium canadense is a related but different plant. Does anyone know if that is eaten?

 

 

I didn't find anything online to say that it's eaten or used medicinally, though I did find a research paper which concluded that its biologically active components were similar to those in D. cajanifolium. Even a site about plants which are "culturally significant" to indigenous peoples mentioned it only in passing as being good for wildlife forage.

At home I have a book on edible and medicinal plants of Canada, so once I return from NS I'll see if it's listed there.

[liuzhou]

6 minutes ago, chromedome said:

I didn't find anything online to say that it's eaten or used medicinall

 

I did search before posting my question.

[chromedome]

20 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

I did search before posting my question.

I should have assumed that, of course.

 

In my defense, I'm not yet fully caffeinated.

[Anna N]

7 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I often cooked it with chicken, frog, shrimp, crab etc. I must restock.

Can you relate its taste to anything I might recognize? The herb not the bullfrog!

Edited August 26, 2021 by Anna N
Damned AutoCorrect. (log)

[liuzhou]

39 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Can you relate its taste to anything I might recognize? The herb not the bullfrog!

 

I cant think of anything specific. It doesn't have a strong flavour like say, mint or coriander leaf / cilantro. More subtle and with slight citrusy notes. Also, a bit mushroomy.

 

Sorry. not a very adequate answer, I know. Next time I use it, I'll pay more attention.

Edited August 26, 2021 by liuzhou
typos (log)