Blogs

Turmeric in Chinese Cooking: Jiang Huang and How to Use It Almost everything written about turmeric places it in an Indian kitchen, and understandably so. But turmeric has a long history in China too, where it goes by the name Jiang Huang and occupies a rather different position: less an everyday base spice, more a specific ingredient used deliberately. This article looks at turmeric from that angle, plus the practical things worth knowing whichever tradition you're cooking in, including fresh versus dried, why fat and pepper turn up alongside it, and how to make a proper golden milk. Jiang Huang:...

Black Foods in Chinese Cooking: Sesame, Beans and the Autumn Kitchen Walk through a Chinese grocery in autumn and you'll notice something about what's stacked at the front: black sesame, black beans, black rice, black dates. It isn't a coincidence or a trend. Colour carries meaning in Chinese food culture, and black has a specific place in it, one tied to the colder half of the year. This article looks at what "black foods" means in the Chinese kitchen, and how to actually cook with the two most useful of them. Why Black? Chinese food thinking is organised around the...

Goji Berries: How to Use the Chinese Kitchen's Most Versatile Ingredient Goji berries had a strange journey into British kitchens. They arrived in the late 2000s as an expensive health food, sold in small pouches at high prices and eaten by the handful like sweets. That framing did them no favours, because in the kitchens they actually come from, goji berries are neither expensive nor exotic. They're a staple, one of the most frequently used ingredients in Chinese home cooking, and they're almost never eaten dry by the handful. Here's what they actually are, where the good ones come from,...

Chinese Five Spice: What's In It and How to Use It in Everyday Cooking Chinese five spice is one of those blends nearly everyone has at the back of a cupboard and almost nobody fully understands. What's actually in it? Why five? And why does a pinch of it make everything taste instantly, unmistakably like proper Chinese cooking? This article breaks down the classic blend spice by spice, explains the surprisingly deep thinking behind it, and covers how to use it well, including how to blend your own from whole spices, which beats the pre-ground jar every time. Why Five?...