| They work wonders with the most familiar foods,even | | | | five-spice powder; hoisin sauce; bean curd; and |
| in your standard recipes. The subtle symphony of | | | | fermented bean cake. |
| tastes that makes Chinese cooking popular with | | | | Soy Sauce |
| practically, every nation of the world is no thing of | | | | There is a little more to soy sauce than meets the |
| mystery. If we try to boil it down to the bare essentials, | | | | eye. It is made from boiled, ground soybeans blended |
| we can do very well with just nine special seasonings. | | | | with ground roasted wheat, salt, water, and a culture |
| All are readily available, if not locally, then by mail order. | | | | of fermented rice. While there are now domestic |
| And while they are necessary for authentic Chinese | | | | brands, the best are imported from Hong Kong or |
| cooking, even more amazingly, they will also add a | | | | Japan, and there are at least three distinct varieties. |
| new fillip to your old standby recipes. | | | | One is a thick, dark, Chinese type of pungent flavor, |
| If they sound exotic, just wait until you try them. All at | | | | tasting like a good, salty, rich beef essence. It is |
| once they'll seem just as basic and indispensable | | | | usedboth for the table and for what the Chinese call |
| asvinegar, catsup, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, or | | | | "red cooking"-dishes incarnadined by this dark-colored |
| garlic. It may surprise you to know that even some of | | | | seasoner. But the Number One Boy among Chinese |
| these are as Oriental as a rickshaw. "Catsup" is a | | | | types is Sang Chau, light in density and color, with a |
| Malay word, and "Worcestershire" just an English | | | | pure, clean taste. It gives a more delicate flavoring for |
| name for a spiced-up soy sauce brought back from | | | | soups, salad dressings, egg dishes-almost anything, in |
| China by an early traveler. More recently the | | | | fact, except desserts. |
| Occidental kitchen has taken over monosodium | | | | Coming in between the thin, light brown Sang Chau |
| glutamate, an Oriental invention; peanut oil, a staple of | | | | and the dark, thick Chinese soy sauce in strength, in |
| Oriental cookery; and soy sauce itself as a prime | | | | natural full-bodied flavor, density, and degree of |
| basting ingredient for barbecued meats. | | | | saltiness is a Japanese brand called Kik-koman. In the |
| The nine candidates for your seasoning shelf are: soy | | | | recipes you'll find the whys and wherefores of these |
| sauce as a cooking ingredient; fresh ginger; sesame | | | | three varieties. |
| seed oil; oyster sauce; dried Japanese mushrooms; | | | | |