Walking into the condiments section of the Chinese supermarket can boggle the senses of the uninitiated. While shopping the other day I realised that even after several years in China I was unsure what many of the bottled condiments in the sauces and oils aisle of my local Jusco hypermarket tasted like. I realised that I usually take a quick glance down the aisle, pick out a soy sauce at random or maybe a jar of clearly marked chilli peppers and slink off to more familiar ground.

So, I convinced my significant other (he's the chef of the household anyway) that we should have a taste test of some of the more obscure sauces. A bowl of plain white rice and a glass of water standing ready nearby, we were ready for the Condiment Challenge. Read below to find out our results.

A disclaimer: I bought these sauces in Guangdong Province. I'm guessing that some of these brands cannot be purchased in other parts of China, and I know that other locales will have their own, quirky condiments. If you can't find these in a store near you, give your own region's sauces a quick taste-test, or see if you can order online.

1) Soy sauce (酱油)
First up, soy sauce. Anyone who's ever eaten Chinese food in their home country has seen these bottles of brown salty goodness. Put it on your rice, put it in your soup, marinate meat with it at home... it's delicious. When I used to buy soy sauce in the States, I never really paid attention to what kind I was buying. Here in China, however, there are many brands. You'll need to test the ones available at your supermarket to see what you like. Here in Guangdong, I like the 'premium deluxe light' version from local brand Pearl River Bridge.

2) Black bean paste (豆豉酱)
Another salty condiment to spice up your home cooked meals is black bean paste. Often blended in the jar with hot chillis, Sichuan pepper, garlic or a mix of other ingredients, this dark, thick sauce is good for meat marinades, a bit of texture to your stir fries, or as a flavour-adder for a homemade soup. Again, my supermarket has about ten different brands and varieties of this sauce; you'll have to find which one suits your palate best. My household's favourite is Hong Kong food company Lee Kum Kee's Spicy Black Bean Sauce.Vegetarians beware: the thick flavour of the condiment is sometimes obtained by meat stock.

3) Abalone sauce (鲍鱼汁)
A good fresh stocky flavour can come from abalone sauce. This bright, honey-colored sauce is made from abalone, but good ones don't have a fishy taste. It's good in Western cooking when cooked with pork or chicken, though the flavour might fight with beef. In fact, it could be used instead of beef, as you would beef stock in a soup or with steamed or fried vegetables. I have no brand preference.

4) Chicken marinade
A rather obvious addition to your kitchen if you like marinating meats is the ubiquitous bottled chicken marinade. This usually soy-based, sweet sauce pours thin but tastes thick. Honey barbecued chicken tastes great with this sauce in the marinade, or use it when you're cooking noodles and rice. Again, Lee Kum Kee makes a nice version of this and their English language website provides some recipes for this and other Chinese sauces. http://hk-kitchen.lkk.com/en_kit_hk.

5) Oyster sauce (蚝油)
A very popular condiment in Guangdong and in overseas Chinese communities is oyster sauce. Made from oyster extract and sugar, this thick, very dark sauce is often used on top of steamed vegetables or with seafood. A good one shouldn't smell strongly fishy, but does have a seafoody flavour at the back of the throat. I find if I eat a lot of this it makes my tongue tingle, so be warned: just a dollop goes a long way. No brand preference.

6) Sesame oil (香油)
Although sesame oil is sometimes shelved with olive oils or peanut oils, I wouldn't use it as a cooking oil as I would the other two. Instead, this light golden oil with its distinctive roasted smell can be used as a flavour picker-upper--for almost anything. It can do sweet or salty. Try it in glazes, stir fries, salad dressings, pumpkin soup or even in cookies or cakes. No brand preference.

7) Prickly ash oil (花椒油)
If you want to spice up your oil selection with a distinctively Chinese flavour, give prickly ash oil a whirl. Made from Sichuan peppers, this tingly, tongue-numbing flavour is a must if you want to try an at-home hot pot. Beware if you're not used to Sichuan cuisine—it can be an acquired taste so be conservative with your portions. It might also be nice added to spicy stir-fries, or as a topping with cumin and dried pepper for barbecued meat-sticks.

 

8) Lao Gan Ma (老干妈）
Gourmands looking for hot pepper condiments can't go wrong with Guizhou Province's Lao Gan Ma line of dried chillies in peanut oil. It even has an English website to help you distinguish between their ten kinds of sauces. My favourites are the 'beef soybean' and the 'flavoured chilli sauce'. Vegetarians can try the tofu in chilli oil, which isn't made with meat extract. These sauces are fantastic on everything I've tried them on—rice, noodles, steak, meat sandwiches, dumplings, soups. Some of them are strong-flavoured; they can overpower other ingredients if you use too much.

 

9) Aged vinegar (山西老陈醋)
What would Chinese cooking be without a few sour notes to balance the sweet and the salty? Pretty bland, that's what. Shanxi Province has the best aged vinegar to my palate. The distinctive-smelling dark vinegar doesn't have as much bite as normal white vinegar. It is similar to Balsamic vinegar and could be used successfully in an Asian-inspired vinaigrette. It's great as a dip for dumplings, splashed into soups or when cooking noodle dishes. No brand preference.

10) Rice wine (黄酒)
Cooks who enjoy making Western food with sherry can try rice wine in their dishes. We have started using yellow rice wine, sold in the cooking section, for meat marinades and on fish plates. It gives a nice toasted flavour with a hint of liquor to the tip of the tongue. No brand preference.

11) Fermented bean curd (豆腐乳)
Lastly for sour we tried fermented bean curd. Made with soybeans and vinegar or rice wine, this creamy, fragrant curd is probably only for expats who like stinky cheeses back home. Chinese diners use it to flavour rice, congee or vegetable dishes. Out of all the condiments we tried, this is the only one my boyfriend and I decided we'd probably never use at home!

The sauces we tried ranged in price between 3 and 20 RMB—an affordable as well as tasty experiment. And I know in the future, the next time I go to an unfamiliar supermarket, I'm going to venture past the soy sauce and bring some new flavours home.
 

Related links
Virtual Bite: Best Chinese Food Blogs
Wolf in Sheep’s Skin: Fake and Contaminated Foods in China
Viva Variety! Escaping Chinese Food

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