Cooking pantry
Chinese cooking pantry, sauces, and ingredients
Chinese cooking is easier when pantry items are understood by function rather than treated as a list of exotic bottles.
Core pantry
| Ingredient | What it does | Useful in |
|---|---|---|
| Light soy sauce | Salt and savoriness. | Stir-fries, marinades, soups, noodles. |
| Dark soy sauce | Color and mild sweetness. | Red-braises, fried rice, noodle dishes. |
| Shaoxing wine | Aroma and depth. | Marinades, braises, stir-fries. |
| Black vinegar | Sourness and depth. | Dumplings, noodles, soups, Jiangnan dishes. |
| Oyster sauce | Sweet-savory body. | Cantonese vegetables, noodles, stir-fries; check dietary needs. |
| Doubanjiang | Fermented chile-bean depth. | Sichuan dishes such as mapo tofu. |
| Sichuan peppercorn | Numbing aroma. | Sichuan ma-la dishes. |
| Chile oil | Heat, color, and aroma. | Noodles, dumplings, cold dishes. |
| Rice noodles | Southwestern, Fujian, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Southeast Asian starch. | Yunnan noodles, Guizhou noodles, laksa. |
| Pickled vegetables | Sourness and preserved flavor. | Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Taiwanese, and Hakka dishes. |
| Cumin | Northwestern aroma. | Shaanxi, Xinjiang, lamb, skewers. |
| Ginger, garlic, scallions | Aromatic foundation. | Nearly every regional style. |
Ingredient and sauce guides
What Is Light Soy Sauce?
What Is Light Soy Sauce?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Dark Soy Sauce?
What Is Dark Soy Sauce?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Chinese Black Vinegar?
What Is Chinese Black Vinegar?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Chinkiang Vinegar?
What Is Chinkiang Vinegar?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Shaoxing Wine?
What Is Shaoxing Wine?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Doubanjiang?
What Is Doubanjiang?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Lao Gan Ma?
What Is Lao Gan Ma?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Chili Crisp?
What Is Chili Crisp?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Sichuan Peppercorn?
What Is Sichuan Peppercorn?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is White Pepper in Chinese Cooking?
What Is White Pepper in Chinese Cooking?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Chinese Five-Spice?
What Is Chinese Five-Spice?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Oyster Sauce?
What Is Oyster Sauce?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Hoisin Sauce?
What Is Hoisin Sauce?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Plum Sauce?
What Is Plum Sauce?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is XO Sauce?
What Is XO Sauce?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Shacha Sauce?
What Is Shacha Sauce?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Fermented Tofu?
What Is Fermented Tofu?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Are Preserved Mustard Greens?
What Are Preserved Mustard Greens?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Ya Cai?
What Is Ya Cai?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Sui Mi Ya Cai?
What Is Sui Mi Ya Cai?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
What Is Chinese Broccoli?
What Is Chinese Broccoli?: what it is, what it tastes like, where it appears on Chinese menus, substitutions, dietary issues, and related dishes.
Pantry principles
Chinese pantry items are not interchangeable merely because they are salty, dark, sour, spicy, or fermented. Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce do different jobs. Black vinegar and rice vinegar do different jobs. Doubanjiang, chile crisp, chile oil, and fresh chiles do different jobs.
Build the pantry around techniques and dishes you actually cook. A Sichuan-heavy pantry needs doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorn, chile oil, and black vinegar. A Cantonese-heavy pantry needs light soy, oyster sauce or dietary substitutes, ginger, scallion, white pepper, and steaming-friendly aromatics.