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« Hot and Sour Napa Cabbage Pickle |Main| Cornmeal Crusted Pork Chops Recipe: Fast Flavor in a Thin Cut »
April 19, 2013Flavorful Asian Cooking Oils to Try: Tea Seed, Semi-refined Peanut, Black SesameMany times when I write recipes, I call for canola oil andother neutral-flavored oils like grape seed because I want the other ingredientto shine. But there are situations when you want a flavor-forward oil topartner with other elements of a dish. That’s the case when you’re makingsimple foods that combine a minimal number of ingredients, say a stir-fry ofsnow peas and garlic, or when the oil is used as a finishing oil to add a final rich lick and tantalizingperfume.
So along with the neutrals, I have three flavorful Asian cookingin my pantry. I wrote about semi-refinedpeanut oil last year when we discussed our go-tocooking oils, and just want to reiterate that it’s damn good oil! The brandI buy at Asian markets in California is Lion and Globe’s pure peanut oil. It’s somewhatpricey – about $5 for the small bottle but it’s my secret to making fabuloustasting Chinese-style chile oil.
The chile oil recipe is in Asian Dumplings and AsianTofu. I use it all the time for dipping sauces, seasoning sauces, and as ahomemade finishing oil (use the chile flakes and the oil). Commercially madechile oil is lackluster and frankly a waste of money for what you get in asingle bottle. Make at batch at home and keep it around for months! Semi-refinedpeanut oil lends a wonderful nuttiness to compliment the toastiness of thechile flakes.
Your food will sing with good chile oil. When Charlotte Druckman madethe spicy yuba skin recipe from AsianTofu for her tofu skin story in the WallStreet Journal, she deliberated about using store bought chile oil as aconvenience. In the end, she tucked my chile oil into her story because “itmakes such a huge difference” in the final dish. I couldn’t agree with hermore. If you want to add one Asian cooking oil to your larder, go with thepeanut. And, Planter’s is not the same.
If you love regular toasted sesame oil, then try black sesame oil sold at Chinese markets.Yes, the color is darker and so is the flavor, which is slightly bitter on thetongue and earthier than regular toasted sesame oil. At first, I didn’t likeblack sesame oil because it seemed overwhelming. I kept the bottle around and gotto appreciate it over time.
Nowadays, when I want a slightly stronger sesame hit thanusual, I use the black sesame oil, backing off a bit because it packs a punch. Youcan cook with sesame oil (try frying Japanese gyoza dumplings!) or drizzle itonto a plate of fresh-from-the wok kimchi fried rice. Swoon.
Tea seed oil is abit harder to find than semi-refined peanut or black sesame oil. I buy mineonline and it’s got the most interesting, nutty-asparagus like flavor. It’sdelicateness shines with simple dishes.
When the oil hits the pan, I like to stick my head over itto inhale the fragrance. There are times when I say, “Wow, I’m getting extrawok goodness with tea seed oil.” I’m sure award-wining author and wok expert Grace Younghas an opinion on this.
Tea seed oil is rarely mentioned in Asian cookbooks but it’sa legit Asian cooking oil. I’ve only seen it in Fuchsia Dunlop’s Hunan cookbook anda few sites from Asia mention it. Don’t go looking for tea oil that comes fromthe Melaleucaplant that’s used for medicinal purposes. Tea seed oil made from a typeof Camelia. The tea leaves we drink come from a Camelia. Tea seed oil is sometimes marketed as "stir-frying oil."
Tea seed oil is a subtle oil that seems to really come alivewhen it’s heated. If you taste it cold, it will seems relatively bland. The EarthyDelights version of tea seed oil has better flavor than say, Republic of Tea,which even the representative I met deterred me from tasting his oil.
I’ve read online that tea seed oil is great for your hairtoo, keeps it healthy and dark. Maybe I’m onto something by standing over thehot pan while cooking with tea seed oil?
Next time you venture to a Chinese market or thinking of tryingnew cooking oils, check these out. They’re great to keep around for pumping upflavor and mixing things up a bit.
If you’ve experiencedthese oil, what are your thoughts?
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Comments Flavorful Asian Cooking Oils to Try: Tea Seed, Semi-refined Peanut, Black SesameMany times when I write recipes, I call for canola oil andother neutral-flavored oils like grape seed because I want the other ingredientto shine. But there are situations when you want a flavor-forward oil topartner with other elements of a dish. That’s the case when you’re makingsimple foods that combine a minimal number of ingredients, say a stir-fry ofsnow peas and garlic, or when the oil is used as a finishing oil to add a final rich lick and tantalizingperfume.
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