Chinese Hot Pot

Shacha Sauce

Shacha Sauce (shāchá jiàng, 沙茶酱) is a Chinese condiment made from oil, garlic, shallots, chilies, and seafood (usually brill fish and dried shrimp). It has an intensely savory, mildly seafood-y flavor. The name 沙茶酱 translates to “sand tea sauce.” Unsure how it got this name, but as we already mentioned, it is usually described in English as, “Chinese BBQ sauce.”

Soy Sauce (Dark)

While you can get by with just regular or “light” soy sauce in some dishes, to get the right depth of flavor, color, and consistency for other dishes, dark soy sauce is critical! Pearl River Bridge brand soy sauce is a highly recommended brand of soy sauce by many cooks and Asian cookbooks.

Sichuan Peppercorn Oil

Sichuan peppercorn oil is a neutral oil infused with Sichuan peppercorns, a fragrant spice with a slightly floral, lemony taste and a numbing affect on the mouth! Along with chilies, Sichuan peppercorns create the distinctive mala (麻辣), or “numbing spicy” flavor of Sichuan cuisine. The oil comes in green and red varieties, meaning it was either made with green Sichuan peppercorns, or red Sichuan peppercorns. To find out more about the difference between the two, check out our Sichuan peppercorn glossary entry. Suffice it to say that the green version is more potent than the red version. Generally, we buy the red variety.

Sesame Oil

Sesame oil is one of the more recognizable flavors of Chinese and Asian cooking. Most of the sesame oils you see in markets are toasted, so they have a dark amber color and rich aroma. If you see a clear or yellow bottle of sesame oil, it is almost certainly not toasted and likely will not have as rich a fragrance and taste. Adding a little to stir-fry dishes helps give your dish that familiar Asian flavor. But remember you can really kill a dish by adding too much sesame oil. It can quickly become overpowering, so use sesame oil sparingly––just enough to complement your other ingredients and spices and sauces.

White Pepper (Ground)

White pepper is rarely used in Western cooking, but when it comes to Asian cooking, it’s used instead of black pepper. Freshly ground white pepper is always more fragrant than pre-ground white pepper, but pre-ground white pepper will do just fine in almost all cases. In certain applications, its powdery texture is preferred!