We recently ran down some familiar ‘Chinese Food’ ingredients that actually entered the cuisine when it came to North America, as early as the mid-late 19th century. Now, we’ll flip the coin and look at some classic Real Chinese ingredients Western cooks often overlook…
There are some authentic Asian ingredients that no authentic Asian cook would be without. But most Western cooks tend to overlook, or actively avoid them. This may be because they are so different from anything we customarily eat in our hemisphere that folks don’t want to risk blowing the paring or prep. Or. it might just be that we’ve developed a deep-seated notion that Chinese Food’ is what we’ve grown up with – by that I mean the stuff we outed as ersatz in a recent post about ‘Canadian-Chinese’ foods.
Well, its time to embrace the real deal…
One of the first ingredients you’ll encounter in the produce department in an Asian grocery store is Bok Choy. That’s a leafy-green-on-the top, crunchy-white-on-the-bottom veggie that looks sort of like a cross between Lettuce and Celery.
The ubiquitous Bok Choy: Leafy-green on the top,
snow-white and crunchy on the bottom…
One testament to Bok Choy’s popularity among ‘real’ Asian Cooks is the potentially bewildering array of shapes and sizes it comes in – from the big foot-tall heads of regular Bokchoy, that are often sold one-at-a-time, to the tiny little ‘Thai’ Bok Choy often sold by the dozen in big plastic bags.
Each variant has its own specific detail characteristics, but all share the same distinctive configuration and all will remind the Western palate of a mild, slightly spicy Celery stick. The leafy part will probably remind you of a cross between Leaf Lettuce and Spinach. It’s no surprise that early Chinese immigrants to North America quickly adopted Celery from the market gardens of California’s central valley as a substitute for Bok Choy when they couldn’t get the real thing.
Beans are big…
And I mean that literally. In some parts of Asia, they have what they call Foot-Long beans, a jumbo cousin of the common Western Green String Bean. It is very similar in all respects to the Western version except that it grows, literally, to a foot in length. In Asia, (see the recent posting on Hunan cuisine), they usually French-cut them (on the diagonal) and stir-fry them. Now, here’s the clincher: There are also some even-longer variants, often touted as Yard-Long Beans! And some of them almost live up to that optimistic monicker. They’re really no different from their shorter cousins, once you get them Frenched and fried.
Hot Peppers…
In Asia, all peppers are what Westerners would call ‘hot’, even though they range in intensity from mildly zesty to Blazing. The world’s hottest naturally-occurring Hot pepper, the Naga Bhut Jolokia, or Ghost Pepper, is an Asian native. How hot is it? About 200 times hotter than your basic Jalapeño!
The legendary Ghost Pepper: Use with extreme caution!
Better yet, avoid it altogether…
There are more-tame Peppers that are commonly used in Asian cuisine, of course. Popular Thai Chilies come in Green and Red variants and form the basis for the famous Thai Red and Green Chili Pastes that are used to flavour so many Thai dishes. And don’t forget that recent craze that’s sweeping Western palates: Sriracha Sauce!
On a Tangent to the fresh and dried Chili Peppers, there’s the famous (or infamous, depending on your tastes) Szechwan Peppercorn. Use discretion when first trying it in your Asian dishes. A little bit packs a lot of heat!
And that’s just the start…
E-mail or comment me on Asian ingredients that remain mysteries to you! I’ll post a follow-up rundown covering readers’ requests…
~ Maggie J.