What I Learned Cooking on the Mainland

I lived in Shanghai from 2001 to 2015. Among other things, I learned how to cook Chinese food.

Not mall Chinese food. Not breaded, deep-fried, sugar-glazed mystery meat.

This is the everyday food you actually find on the mainland: clean flavors, strong aromatics, balance, heat, texture, and restraint.

The system is simple once you understand it — and once you do, you can cook dozens of dishes from a handful of ingredients.

What follows are the core building blocks, not restaurant cosplay.

(Specialty ingredients only — fresh vegetables and proteins vary by recipe)

• Chinese cooking wine
• Chinkiang (black) vinegar
• Sesame seed oil
• Neutral vegetable oil
• Lee Kum Kee Guizhou-style black bean chili sauce
• Coconut sugar
• Raw peanuts
• Light soy sauce
• Star anise
• Cinnamon sticks
• Dried red chilies (pre-chopped if possible)
• Pickled radish
• Pickled chilies
• Sesame seeds
• Sichuan peppercorns
• Whole cumin

Fresh aromatics: cilantro, spring onions, ginger, garlic.

Chinese cooking relies on infused oil — a base that quietly flavors everything from cold dishes to stir-fries.

Adjust it to taste. If you love Sichuan pepper, add more. If chilies are your thing, go heavy. This oil is the system.

Ingredients

• 2–3 cups vegetable oil
• 3 whole spring onions
• 1 large knob of ginger, sliced thin
• 3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• A handful of dried red chilies
• 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns

Instructions

Simmer everything gently for 30 minutes or longer. Let cool. Strain if you like. Store in glass. Refrigerate.

Good for ~4 months.

(Put these on everything)

Amazing on fruit, ice cream, cold dishes, or straight out of the bag.

Instructions

• Broil raw peanuts for 3–5 minutes, watching closely
• Brown, don’t burn
• Store in a ziplock
• Only roast one bag at a time — peanuts go rancid if you overproduce

This dish alone is worth learning the system.

Prepare the Chicken

• Boil or steam chicken thighs until just cooked
• Shock immediately in ice water
• Pull into fine strands with a fork

Sauce (Adjust to taste)

• 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 2 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
• 2 tbsp infused Chinese oil
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Guizhou black bean chili sauce
• 1 tsp coconut sugar

Assemble

Mix chicken with sauce. Add more oil if needed to coat evenly.

Top with chopped spring onions, sesame seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, cilantro, oven-roasted peanuts.

Serve cold.

Two bowls. No drama.

Pickled radish in one. Roasted peanuts with a pinch of salt in the other.

Simple. Perfect.

This is the cheat code.

Method

• Roast pumpkin or eggplant
• Let cool
• Coat generously with Chinese oil
• Salt and serve

That’s it.

• Quarter baby cucumbers lengthwise
• Toss with Chinese oil
• Add 1 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
• Add 1 clove grated garlic

Cold. Sharp. Addictive.

• Toss green beans or asparagus with Chinese oil
• Add 2 tbsp soy sauce
• Roast or stir-fry
• Serve immediately

Check the Clams

Tap them. If they close or tense up, they’re alive. Good.

Ingredients

• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 knobs ginger
• Handful of chilies
• Soy sauce
• Chopped spring onions

Instructions

• Steam clams with a little water until they open
• Drain and set aside
• Clean wok
• Add oil, ginger, garlic, chilies, soy
• Before garlic browns, add clams
• Toss fast
• Finish with spring onions
• Serve immediately

Ingredients

• Salmon filet
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Pickled chilies

Instructions

• Rinse salmon, pat dry
• Layer thin ginger and garlic directly on flesh
• Top with pickled chilies
• Refrigerate 20 minutes
• Steam to desired doneness
• Finish with chopped cilantro

Clean. Elegant. No bullshit.

Step One: Tenderize

Simmer for 1 hour+:

• Meat
• Cooking wine
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Star anise
• Cinnamon stick

Drain. Remove aromatics.

Step Two: Finish

• 1 cup whole cumin
• Full head of crushed garlic
• Massive knob of ginger
• Unholy amount of sesame oil
• Chilies (optional)
• Soy sauce to taste

Drain on paper towel. Finish with spring onions.

Chinese cooking isn’t complicated. It’s systematic.

Once you understand: infused oil, acid, aromatics, texture, heat — you stop following recipes and start cooking.

That’s the point.