The Sauces You Need for Chinese Food

The Sauces You Need for Chinese Food

While reading Chinese food recipes, you might find there are some sauces or paste you have no idea what they are. So, in this post, a brief introduction for some common used sauces and pastes will be introduced.  If you’re a Chinese Food enthusiastic, here are some Sauce & Paste you should always have in your kitchen.

Soy Sauce

Soy Sauce is a traditional sauce made of soybeans which widely spread in Asia. There are lots of variations among different countries like Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. But today we’ll be focused on the Chinese Style soy sauce.

Light soy sauce

Bottled after the first fermented process, it has a light color and mainly used for adding flavor. It is the most common sauce you would see & use in a recipe. If no further details about what kind of soy sauce you should use, than light soy sauce it is.

Dark soy sauce

Based on a light soy sauce, but fermented longer. Dark soy sauce is darker and thicker in texture. However, it is less salty than light soy sauce. It is mainly used for adding color to the dish.

Oyster Sauce

Oyster Sauce is made from oyster extract, sugar, water, soy sauce and corn starch. It is a thick, brownish sauce with fantastic flavor. Often used in Cantonese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc.

Sesame oil

A vegetable oil made from sesame seeds, has rich nutty taste and smelling. A common flavor enhancer for all the Chinese food; goes well with almost everything.

Vinegar

Fermented product made of a mixture of rice, wheat, millet, etc. Has a strong sour taste, often used to enhance the umami of a cuisine. There are lots of different Vinegar been used in China, we’ll only gonna pick the most common ones to introduce.

Black Vinegar

Vinegar with a caramel color, it has malty, woody, and smoky flavor. Black vinegar can be used on soup, stir-fry, salad, roast meat, etc. It is also a common sauce for dumplings.

White Vinegar

Without the dark color and the smoky flavor, white vinegar focused on its sourness. It is also a wide used ingredient for all the Chinese food.

Cooking wine

Obviously, cooking wine is made for cooking purpose. It is widely used in Chinese food because cooking wine can not only enhance the flavor, but also cover the bad smelling of meat and seafood.