11 Comments

Phenomenal article, and I especially like the bits of history behind it. This comes at a perfect time as I am currently reading Invitation to a banquet: the story of Chinese food by Fuchsia Dunlop. Thank you and I’m looking forward to reading your other articles and recipes!

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thank you so much! I love the book Invitation to a banquet as well, a wealth of history on Chinese cuisine.

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Any other books you’d advise me to look at? Thank you!

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i love her other books such as "The food of Sichuan" as well.

nothing right off my mind besides that but you can check a Netflix documentary about regional Chinese food called Flavorful Origins made by one of the most renowned Chinese food directors

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Amazing, thanks for sharing about the documentary. I definitely have her other books in mind too! I’ll have to go to China myself at some point :)

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Great information! I've used sesame oil, but never the paste. You've encouraged me to try it. Thank you.

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Thank you!! I also only was introduced to cooking more with sesame paste in the recent years and it’s quite a versatile condiment! will share more recipes featuring both

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Qué grandísima información, muchas gracias!!!

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Thank you!!

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I've always had experiences where sesame oil over powers the food or when used in a sauce. Anytime a recipe calls for more than a drizzle, I have to scale it back. For example dumpling chili sauces that call for a tablespoon of sesame oil...

I suppose it's all proportional, but do you experience this or are the recipes I'm finding bad?

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hi!! I think this really is a personal preference thing, I actually like the taste, so for example in Sichuan we use a small bowl of sesame oil to dip hot pot, or the Taiwanese sesame chicken, which both use 3-4 tbsp sesame oil or even more.

For dumpling sauce and noodle dressing, it's fine to use less because the flavor lies mostly in the aroma, and mostly complimentary. You can always adjust to your taste.

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