5 Essential Chinese Spices and Sauces You Need in Your Kitchen

If you are a fan of cooking and you want to have some basic essentials at home for whipping up some authentic Chinese dishes, then we can help. We have included five of the most important spices and sauces that you should have to hand for when you want to impress guests with your culinary skills, or if you are just looking to excite your own taste buds!

So, the next time you are doing your shopping, make sure these things are included on the list:

Soy sauce

Did you know that soy sauce is thought to be one of the oldest condiments in the world? Made through fermenting the soybean, it is largely thought that soy sauce was first discovered in China, more than 3,500 years ago and was associated with the preserving of the fish process. Soy sauce can be used in a broad range of dishes, from meat to seafood, vegetable options as well as being a base for other sauces, such as teriyaki, for example.

You can get your hands on several versions of soy sauce; light, dark, low-sodium and blended.

Five-spice powder

For those looking to have a dish positively bursting with flavour, look no further than five-spice powder! This oriental spice has a simple base, as the name suggests, it’s the five spices that make up its ingredients. Five-spice powder is not something that can be altered in its ingredients, and therefore, only the exact combo will suffice. Adding just a small amount has the potential to give meat dishes, vegetable dishes, and even fruits a welcome burst of added flavour.

So, what is five-spice powder made with? The basic blend is made up of Szechuan pepper, star anise, fennel seed, cloves and cinnamon (or cassia).

Sweet & Sour sauce

You may well be aware of sweet and sour sauce as far as Chinese dishes are concerned as it can be used with many dishes. This sauce is there to help excite the taste buds due to the fact that it combines two strong flavour perceptions in one sauce. A good sweet and sour sauce will be thick, rich and quite an effervescent cherry-like red colour, and is good for masking the greasy flavour of fried foods, such as chicken balls, for example. For vegetable ingredients, it enhances the subtle textures, while offering a nice boost of the flavours that mild meats give you.

Why not try making the sauce yourself, using any form of vinegar (red wine vinegar, white vinegar, or rice vinegar) which will cover the sour side of the sauce, while the sweet contribution is combined using corn syrup, sugar, fruit juice, marmalade or jelly.

Sesame oil

By adding in just two or three drops of sesame oil, with its light, fragrant properties, your dishes will be spruced up with a welcome addition of taste and aroma, ideal for wok dishes. If you aren’t cooking the hot dishes, then you can still utilise sesame oil, as it can be used to create dressings, cold dishes, and dipping sauces too!

You can pick up sesame oil in different types; cold-pressed and toasted. Cold-pressed oil gives you a lighter flavour – ideal for salad dressings, whereas the toasted option provides a nuttier, more smoky flavour.

Ginger

Ginger is a vital spice that has the ability to give dishes the additional heat and delicate flavour, not just to meat, but fish and vegetable dishes too. A shoot which grows from the Zingiber officinale plant, ginger can be bought in fresh, pickled powdered, and candied forms, depending on your requirements.

The different forms of ginger will give you a range of flavours. Ginger is like a knobby beige root with a papery covering. Once you've stripped off the outer layer, the light yellow, fibrous flesh can either be finely chopped or grated and what’s more, you can add it to hot or cold dishes.

Ginger freezes well, so if you want to have a stock of it at home, then you can wrap it up in cling film and freeze it for future use.

Image: Tim Sackton under Creative Commons.