6 Chinese Ingredients That Will Elevate Any Cuisine

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Chinese cuisine is one of the oldest in the world, and some cities in China had vibrant restaurant scenes over half a millennium before restaurants were popping up in Europe. It's a remarkably diverse collection of cuisines, with distinct flavors and even philosophies toward cooking. However, many of us outside of the Middle Kingdom, or who didn't grow up in a Chinese family, rarely get to experience that culinary richness in its full glory. Besides dishes and techniques, the foodways of this East Asian country also feature a wealth of unique products — enough to fill a sizable supermarket. However, just as Europeans didn't use South American potatoes only to make traditional Inca recipes like huatia, Chinese ingredients don't need to be reserved solely for Chinese preparations.

I lived in mainland China for the better part of a year, and I enjoyed trying regional foods I couldn't find in the U.S. and cooking with new (to me) ingredients using techniques I learned from Eleanor Hoh, a Chinese cooking instructor based in Florida. However, I'd often crave familiar dishes, and it was difficult and expensive to source some foreign ingredients. As such, I improvised and began adapting local ingredients to make dishes from all over the world. When I moved back to the U.S., I found that I actually preferred these substitutions to the originals, and they were often much more affordable. 

Below are six Chinese ingredients that will upgrade your cooking, regardless of where in the world you get your culinary inspiration. You can find these at many Asian grocery stores, but I've also provided links to where you can order them online (just keep in mind that prices and availability can change depending on your location).

You may already be familiar with light soy sauce, which isn't the low-sodium variety but rather the stuff in which you dip frozen dumplings or serve alongside fresh sashimi. However, if you've ever tried to make homemade fried rice and noticed that the color is never quite as dark as what you can get from your favorite takeout spot, that's because they most likely used a combination of light and dark soy sauce. The latter is much darker than the former, hence the name, and has a thicker consistency. It also has a slightly sweeter flavor, is significantly less salty, and has an intensely deep flavor reminiscent of a well-seared steak.

A little bit goes a long way, so a bottle of dark soy sauce can last a long time in your pantry. Besides preparing fried rice and other Chinese dishes, this is an excellent ingredient for enhancing almost any recipe that can benefit from some extra meatiness, like a pan sauce, gravy, pot roast, or stew. It's also great for marinades and can upgrade a Philly cheesesteak recipe, as well as grilled and barbecued meats. And it can give intense umami and richness, as well as an appealing color, to plant-based recipes. You can use it on its own or in combination with light soy sauce or any savory seasoning or condiment you like.

You can get a bottle of Pearl River Bridge Superior Dark Soy Sauce from Amazon for $9.49.

Liaojiu, often referred to as Shaoxing cooking wine, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice and a little bit of wheat. While both terms are sometimes used interchangeably, Shaoxing traditionally refers to a variety of Chinese rice wine from the part of China where it's historically been produced, while liaojiu is a broader term for cooking wine and often contains salt, much like Western-style cooking wines. The flavor is similar to sherry, which is why some Chinese American recipes call for this Spanish fortified wine as a substitute. It's often the secret ingredient in many of your favorite Chinese dishes and adds something extra that you may not be able to pinpoint exactly, but you'll definitely notice if it's not present.

Because it has a similar flavor to sherry, it can take its place in many recipes that call for it, though I've found it has a more pronounced flavor than cooking sherry. It also makes a great alternative to grape wines or dry vermouth in creamy recipes where the acidity of those ingredients may curdle the dairy. As such, it's a beautiful addition to béchamel sauces, homemade fettuccine Alfredo, and even chowders, complementing and uplifting any seasonings you use. Besides sauces, try this Chinese ingredient in stews, marinades, and even casseroles. Look for a bottle with minimal ingredients. And if you can find real Shaoxing drinking wine, definitely add it to your cart.

A bottle of 52USA Shaoxing Cooking Wine is available from Amazon for $14.99.

Often just referred to as five-spice powder, this combination of seasonings includes ingredients that hit as many flavor notes as there are fingers on your hand. The exact components and proportions can vary depending on the cook or manufacturer, and they can include more than five ingredients, but a common recipe includes star anise, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves, and Sichuan peppercorns. It's a pleasant mix of warm and cool spices that gives dishes like char siu — or Chinese-style barbecue pork — their unmistakable flavor. Sichuan peppercorns add a bit of a tingling sensation to your palate, which you may be familiar with if you've ever had the fiery foods from the region of China that gives them their name, like hot pot. However, they also have a floral, citrusy flavor.

Chinese five-spice powder is reminiscent of popular seasonings used in American baked goods, like apple pie spice and pumpkin spice, with a little extra complexity. Cloves, cinnamon, and star anise provide warmth and sweetness, while fennel seeds cool things down, and Sichuan pepper acts as the wild card that will have people asking, "What did you put in this?" as they swoon over your homemade gingerbread cheesecake cookies. It is simply marvelous in any apple or pear dessert, like crumbles, crisps, and cakes; it can uplift an otherwise boring chocolate chip cookie recipe; and it can make your sweet potato casserole the star of a holiday spread. It's even an excellent addition to store-bought barbecue sauce.

You can find a jar of Simply Organic Five Spice Powder at Walmart for $9.99.

You may know the Lao Gan Ma brand even if the name doesn't ring any bells — it's the company responsible for the cult-favorite chili crisp and chili crunch, whose red label features a portrait of the "old godmother" who created the brand. The brand's star product is known for its hot and savory flavor profile, with some varieties featuring the numbing quality associated with ma la in Mandarin, along with intense umami from fermented black soybeans and MSG. However, it's far from the only product in this brand's roster. Its tomato chili sauce tastes like one of the most flavorful, savory, and spicy salsas you'll ever enjoy. It features a base of coarsely ground tomatoes, a ton of chiles, garlic, MSG, salt, and sugar — ingredients that are found in a huge variety of cuisines. As such, this condiment is incredibly versatile.

Use it as a starting point for making fiery salsas by adding some lime juice or vinegar, or dip tortilla chips straight into the jar. It also makes an incendiary contribution to pasta dishes, either on its own or mixed into your favorite sauce. Seafood boils, chili recipes, curries, and even burgers and hot dogs can benefit from this condiment. It's not always available on the shelves of your local Asian grocery store, though, but if you find it and love spicy foods, stock up. If you can't find it, show a store employee a photo on your phone, and they may be able to order it for you. The more people who ask about this sauce, the easier it will be to readily source it in the future.

Lao Gan Ma Tomato Chili Sauce is available from Weee! for $12.80.

Shiitake mushrooms are often associated with Japanese cuisine, but they're actually native to East Asia and are especially prized in Chinese cuisine, where they're sometimes used as a celebratory food and associated with longevity. Most commercially available Chinese shiitakes are cultivated and can be much more affordable than some Japanese varieties. While they're delicious fresh, the dried fungi have a more concentrated earthy aroma that adds a lot of umami to a dish, helping give it mouthwateringly savory qualities.

They keep for a very long time in a sealed container, and if you live in a humid environment, a small food-safe desiccant packet can help preserve them even longer. Soak them in room-temperature water for about an hour until they're juicy and plump. You can use hot water if you're pressed for time, but high heat may diminish some of the mushrooms' more nuanced flavors. Whatever you do, don't throw out the soaking liquid, as it's packed with flavor. And cut off the stems, which can be unpleasantly woody.

Dried shiitakes can be used in many recipes that call for mushrooms, and they can be a fraction of the price of some European counterparts, like porcini and chanterelles. But they're particularly useful in dishes where you need mushrooms to really shine, such as beef or venison stroganoff. They also work beautifully in a beef Wellington recipe. Add them to pasta sauces and gravies, include them in holiday stuffing, or use them to fill an omelet. You can even pickle the reconstituted mushrooms for a meaty but plant-based accoutrement for a charcuterie board.

Vigorous Mountains Dried Shiitake Mushrooms are available at Walmart for $5.99.

Also known as jujubes and native to China, red dates are not closely related to the brown, jammy dates that grow on date palms, and their texture and flavor are distinct from the Middle Eastern fruit. Red dates are about the size of prunes and have thin skins with a deep ochre color. They can be consumed fresh, but it's more common to find them dried in the United States. Their flavor is reminiscent of baked apples, raisins, and just a little bit of caramel, and they have a fluffy, almost marshmallow-like texture. They are employed in traditional Chinese medicine for purposes including improving digestion and sleep quality, and they feature in herbal teas.

Use jujubes in place of apples to make a comforting mug of fall-ready tea, along with a pinch of five-spice powder and some brown sugar. A few of them in a braise or stew can balance out the more savory flavors without making the final dish too sweet. But they work best in recipes that call for dried fruit, like cookies, trail mix, and flavorful miso granola bars. You can add them to yogurt parfaits and overnight oats, and they're fabulous strewn over melted chocolate for a holiday bark, along with some walnuts. They're available pitted and sliced, but these may dry out more quickly over time, so you may want to opt for whole red dates if you want to keep them longer. Just be careful with the pits, as they can have very sharp points.

You can purchase Bulk Dried Organic Jujubes from Just Jujubes for $20.99 per pound.